Baden-Powell undone as today's Scouts are told: Forget the knot-tying and earn badges in IT and public relations Boy scout leaders no longer need to know how to tie a knot Officials said woodland crafts are not relevant to the many new badges It's been a proud tradition since Robert Baden-Powell first wore the woggle - but the Scouting movement says its leaders no longer need to know how to tie knots. Officials say modern recruits are too busy earning badges in public relations, circus skills and IT to bother mastering a sheepshank or a clove hitch. In his handbook Scouting for Boys, first published in 1908, Baden-Powell stressed the importance of knot-tying and told of how three people were swept to their deaths near Niagara Falls because rescue ropes were not secured properly. New rules: Boy scout leaders no longer need to know how to tie a knot, as officials say woodland crafts are not relevant to the many new badges, which include IT and PR He wrote: "People often think, "What's the good of learning such a simple thing as tying knots?" Well, here is a case in which that knowledge might have saved three lives. To tie a knot seems to be a simple thing, and yet there are right ways and wrong ways of doing it, and Scouts ought to know the right way. A life may depend on a knot being tied properly. However, a Scout Association spokesman said the movement was "very different" from Baden-Powell's founding days and now offers members "a lot of exciting challenges and the chance to contribute to the community." "Clearly, tying knots is a useful thing if leaders are taking young people rock climbing or on raft-building expeditions," said the spokesman. Boy Scouts founder Lord Baden-Powell, with a group of boy scouts in the early 20th century, 'would have been outraged' had he known knots were no longer required, says GP Taylor But the reality is what's important now is their ability to do youth work - not climb mountains or do knots. It is all about inspiring young minds. In the old days, you had to do much more hardcore activities yourself - but now there is an activities centre down the road. Officials said woodland crafts are not relevant to the many new badges introduced and today's volunteer leaders do not need any basic skills to begin training. However, former Scout and best-selling children's author GP Taylor said Baden-Powell would be "spinning in his grave." "Scouting changed my life and I found the knot-tying and woodland craft side of it fascinating," he said. It is something we have taken from the past and preserved for the future. That's part of our heritage. This just shows what a pathetic society we are becoming. Baden-Powell would be outraged by this.