Dallas ? As far as the Boy Scouts of America is concerned, knowing how to confront a bully is now as important as mastering a slip knot.

For the first time in the 97-year history of the nation’s largest youth organization, newcomers must show they have learned Scout-approved ways to avoid being pushed around and called names, if they want to advance through the ranks.

Shaken down for your lunch money? Tell the bully how it hurts. Called a crater face? The 2008 Boy Scout Handbook recommends this comeback: “So what if I have a face full of zits. What’s it to you?”

“We’ve always emphasized bullying – how to recognize it, how to prevent it,” said Jim Terry, assistant chief executive of the Boy Scouts. “This is just a reinforcement of those principles.”

The Scouts say the move isn’t in response to increased bullying in their ranks. But some critics are already picking on the organization for its new curriculum.

“I don’t see it as radically changing anything,” said John Dandurand, executive director of Creating Caring Communities, a Denver-based nonprofit that advises schools on ways to discourage bullying.

“It’s just a set of things to memorize,” said Dandurand, who as a youth attained the rank of Eagle Scout. “Those of us who were adept at memorizing got more merit badges.”

The 472-page Boy Scouts Handbook devotes a half-page to bullies, and Scouts are required to discuss the material with a troop leader to reach the beginner rank of Tenderfoot.

Terry said the measures help reinforce personal safety lessons the Boy Scouts have taught all along. Bullying has long been the subject of informal troop leader talks, and the Boy Scouts have even published a comic book on the subject.

The handbook also now covers cyberbullying.

Aspiring Scouts must demonstrate they know how to show restraint when taunted online.