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Kids. Whaddya gonna do with them? Now comes word that nudists are having a tough time attracting the younger generation.

According to a story by The Associated Press, most of this country's organized nudists — 50,000 in all — are older than 35.

It gets worse. At Solair Recreation League, a nudist camp in Connecticut, the median age is 55.

Well, it was bound to happen, wasn't it? Just as all those fraternal organizations named after various forest animals — think the Loyal Order of Moose — are growing grayer, so, apparently, are nudists.

"We don't want the place to turn into a gated assisted-living facility," Gorden Adams, membership director at Solair, told the AP.

(No word on whether Mr. Adams also happens to be, perhaps, a moose, or even an owl.)

But his point is well taken. Nudists, just like everyone else in the country, have jumped on the youth wagon.

(Surely there must be a line of mortuary makeup out there promising to make your Loved One look 10 years younger.)

Back to the problem at hand: How ya gonna get young men and women who've never heard of Sandra Dee to take off their clothes to play volleyball, or do whatever it is nudists do.

Speaking of volleyball, have you seen those professional women's volleyball teams? They might as well be nekkid.

Maybe that's the problem. Young people today are so used to almost virtual nudity — at the beach, at the movies, on TV — that they see little reason to pay a yearly membership for the same privilege.

Then there's the ageism factor. Nudists are always yakking about how it's not a sex thing, it's a health thing. And I'm sure they're right about that.

At the same time, we all know what the sun does to our skin. Can you imagine what it does to skin that's been totally exposed, say, for, a quarter-century or so?

Who wants to bounce a ball around with folks who look like they're three years away from the handbag factory?

To entice the younger crowds, some nudist camps are cutting their yearly fees, especially for college students.

Younger members are also being enlisted to recruit their friends. The idea is to start small, perhaps by suggesting a little skinny dipping.

Hmmmm. Sounds like a slippery slope to me.

Meanwhile, over at Tucson's Mira Vista Resort, which became clothing optional about a year ago, general manager Jan Pitts thinks she knows the answer.

"I think young people get very busy in their own social lives. It's harder to get the younger crowd and even families."

What the resort is getting are nudists, mostly couples, between the ages of 40 and 60.

Yearly memberships are $675 a couple, $350 for singles, which includes membership in the American Association for Nude Recreation.

For that price, members get full use of the resort during the day. A free day pass is also offered to those who'd like to see what it's all about.

Incidentally, for all you nudist neophytes out there, protocol, says Pitts, demands that you always sit on a towel.

Because of Arizona's liquor laws, nudists in the dining room must also be covered from the waist down. "If the regulations change, then you can be totally nude," says Pitts.

And despite the dire warnings, Pitts appears unfazed about the future of nudity.

"Nudism will never go away," she says.