,,adolescence                           
,,adolescence                           
,,by                                    
,,stephen ,,paget                       
,,constable  ,,company                  
,,limited      ,,london                 
,first printed #aiag4          ,this    
lecture was read to ,oxford ,university 
,extension ,students1 in  the           
,sheldonian ,theatre1 in ,august1 #aiag4
 ,the general subject of the  lectures  
and classes was 8,the ,near ,future3    
problems of construction and            
reconstruction40    ,the ,master of     
,university ,college1 who presided over 
the meeting1  pointed out that ,i had   
said nothing of the help which is given 
to young  men by their sisters4 ,he     
spoke of the legions of young men who   
8keep  straight0 because they keep in   
mind what their sisters are to them4 ,i 
ought to have said something of this    
influence of home-life4    ,and ,i      
ought1 perhaps1 to have defined with    
more exactness the very  words which ,i 

would use1 if it were my duty to attempt
 a boy's  8sex-education0we could hardly
 find an uglier title for it4 ,but ,i   
was  afraid to say more than ,i did say4
 ,the great thing is1 that the parent1  
or it may be the teacher1 should be able
 to tell the child1 8,do come  to me1   
right away1 whenever you are puzzled or 
shocked at anything  that you read1 or  
hear1 or notice3 and ,i will tell you1  
as well as ,i  can1 all that you need to
 know about it40 ,and the greatest thing
 of all  is careful self-preparation4   
,to answer a child with evasive or lying
  nonsense is to offend the child3 and  
we have it on good authority that  we   
deserve for that offence the millstone  
round our necks1 and the  depth of the  
sea4                                    
,,adolescence      ,the honour of coming
 here was embittered by the difficulty  
of deciding  what to say and how to say 
it4 ,one of the hardest of all subjects1
  adolescence1 was given to me3 with    
this added hardship1 that ,i was  to    

consider it as something which may be   
reconstructed in the near  future2 or as
 a problem which we may somehow solve4  
,it needs more than  a man to understand
 adolescence3 it needs1 at the very     
least1 a ,royal  ,commission4 ,i do not 
understand1 really understand1 anybody  
except  myself2 indeed1 ,i do not       
thoroughly understand even me4 ,one     
thing1 to  begin with1 ,i did know about
 adolescence4 ,i knew that it was a     
,latin  word4 ,so ,i looked it up in the
 ,latin dictionary4 ,and there ,i found 
to my surprise that the ancients were   
not agreed as to the term of            
adolescence4 ,varro reckons it from the 
#aeth to the #cjth year of life4        
,cicero speaks of ,crassus1 at #cd1 as  
adolescent3 he even uses the word  of   
,brutus and ,cassius1 when they were    
#dj2 and1 what is most unexpected  of   
all1 he uses it of himself1 in the year 
of his ,consulship1 when he  was #dd4   
,nothing could be more incorrigibly     
middle-aged than ,cicero  at #dd2       

nothing could be more finally settled   
beyond all possibility  of unsettlement4
 ,we cannot discuss adolescence1 if it  
is to include  persons of that standing4
    ,shall we therefore put this word   
back in the ,latin dictionary1 and      
speak not of adolescence but of youth8  
,but the word youth hardly takes  into  
account the bodily changes which occur  
between childhood and adult  life4 ,we  
are concerned here with the schoolroom  
years1 the threshold  years1 say1 from  
#ad to #ah4 ,all of us1 when we think   
seriously about  boys and girls from #ad
 to #ah years old1 have at the back of  
our minds  the thought of sex4 ,and you 
must forgive me1 if ,i use very plain   
words  this evening3 for ,i hope and    
believe that you will prefer1 from a man
  of my profession1 plain speaking to   
roundabout phrases4    ,my theme is     
adolescence3 ,i have no right to talk   
about small children4  ,but how can ,i  
help myself8 ,boys and girls begin to be
 vaguely conscious  of sex1 long before 

they are #ad2 some of them get into     
unclean habits1  or say unclean things1 
when they are nearer to #d than they are
 to #ad2  indeed1 they may get into     
unclean habits before they are #d4 ,if  
we are  to understand the schoolroom1 we
 must first understand the nursery4     
,children1 by the time that they are    
#ad1 are what those #ad years have  made
 them1 with our assistance1 or with our 
neglect4    ,but1 as all of us are well 
aware1 no two children are exactly alike
  in this matter4 ,the differences      
between them are finely graduated2  but 
the extremes of difference are miles    
apart4 ,some children are  wholly       
incurious about sex2 some are slightly  
inquisitive1 some are  very inquisitive1
 and some1 but very few1 not one in a   
thousand1 are  downright vicious and    
obsessed4    ,we are too ready1 it may  
be1 to give all our praise to those who 
are  wholly incurious2 we call them     
healthy-minded1 pure-minded1 and so     
forth4 ,we admire them because they take

 no interest in this part  of their     
natural life1 just as we admire them    
because they take no  interest in the   
working of their brains and their       
digestive organs4 ,but  there is nothing
 very admirable in this blank           
indifference toward the  affairs of the 
body2 it is good common sense1 but we   
ought to think  twice before we regard  
it as a virtue3 it is altogether        
negative1 and  virtues are something    
positive4 ,we can safely afford to keep 
some of  our admiration for the children
 who are inquisitive4 ,besides1 we have 
no business to put the possession of sex
 on a level with the possession  of     
digestive organs4 ,the facts of         
digestion are merely physiological3  you
 can take them or leave them4 ,the facts
 of sex are not merely  physiological3  
and it is perilous1 either to take them 
or to leave them4    ,of course1 the    
incurious child is more easy to talk to1
 more easy  to get on with1 than the    
inquisitive child2 but we can hardly    

wish all boys and girls from #ad to #ah 
to remain thus childish in  their       
knowledge of themselves4 ,i do not      
believe that what we call  8innocence0  
is any sure protection to boys or to    
girls against impure  or perverted ways 
in adolescence4 ,indeed1 ,i am inclined 
to believe that  innocence1 or          
ignorance1 may even betray them instead 
of protecting  them4    ,besides1 it is 
the accepted way of intelligent children
 to be  inquisitive3 it is their        
birthright to ask us any amount of      
questions4  ,a child who never asks a   
question about sex is indeed1 so far as 
that  goes1 a backward child3 what we   
call unobservant4 ,in some ways1 this   
non-questioning mind is good for young  
children2 but surely it is  unnatural   
that the children should attain to      
adolescence and still be  ignorant of   
what they are4    ,whether these        
incurious children tend to be           
passionless in early adult  life1 ,i do 
not know2 nor can ,i make any guess as  

to the proportion1 in  adolescence1 of  
temperaments devoid of passion4 ,only1  
if they who are  incurious during       
childhood do tend to be passionless in  
later years1  that is no reason why we  
should admire them as children4 ,for1 in
 the  design of our nature1 and in the  
fabric of our nature1 there is a  place1
 and a very honourable place1 for       
passion held under control4 ,and  they  
who have nothing to control are to be   
congratulated1 because they  are out of 
the way of temptation2 but we admire1   
even more1 those who  are in the way of 
temptation and withstand it4    ,if this
 be true1 or anywhere near true1 that a 
measure of inquisitiveness  in          
childhood1 and a measure of passion in  
early adult life1 are welcome  signs of 
a sane mind in a sane body1 such as     
,juvenal bids us pray for1  then it     
follows that we ought to give careful   
regard to these  inquisitive children1  
and wise and honest answers to their    
embarrassing  questions4    ,but we     

grown-up folk are not agreed1 nor ever  
shall be1 what to tell  them1 and when  
to tell it4 ,we have no set method of   
talking to children  about sex1 nor of  
warning older boys and girls against the
 miseries  into which it may1 if they   
let it1 bring them4 ,of course1 this    
want of  agreement is not altogether our
 fault2 we are so divided1 because the  
children are so diverse4 ,their         
differences of temperament are reflected
  in our different ways of dealing with 
them4 ,the fact remains1 that we  have  
no common plan1 no authorised programme3
 and1 if ever we do invent  one1 which  
we never shall1 it will not suit all the
 children4 ,each of  us1 in this        
perplexity1 judges for himself or       
herself2 there is nothing  else to be   
done4    ,still1 we can be agreed over  
some points2 we can make one or two     
rules1  and keep them before us4 ,it is 
a good rule1 surely1 that we should     
prepare ourselves and arm ourselves     
against the shock of a sudden  question4

 ,we must have our answers ready4 ,we   
must rehearse1 we must  learn almost    
word for word1 as it were by heart1 what
 we will say1 when  the inevitable      
demand for facts is sprung on us4 ,that 
is our bounden  duty1 to make up our    
phrases beforehand1 so that we shall not
 be caught  unawares4 ,it is not fair to
 the children that we should give them  
stupid floundering answers1 or snub     
them1 or shut them up4 ,they have  a    
perfect right to a well thought out     
answer4 ,that is the meaning of  what   
,horace says1 that the utmost reverence 
is due to them4 ,we cannot  better      
reverence them than by deciding1 long   
before the question comes1  how we will 
handle it4 ,think for a moment what     
silly things are said to  children1 all 
for want of careful self-preparation4   
,to this good rule we might add         
anotherthat we must never tell them a   
lie4 ,we ought not to be liars1 not even
 to small children4 ,take1 for          
instance1 one of the best of all        

opportunities for telling the truth2    
take the arrival of a baby brother or   
sister4 ,where did it come from8  ,i    
have no patience with people who say    
that the angels1 or the doctor1  brought
 it4 ,there is enough nonsense already  
talked about my profession  without     
that4 ,what business have they to lie to
 an honest child8 ,or  take a more      
heart-searching instance4 ,imagine a    
child at ,christmas-time  playing with  
that most beautiful of all ,christmas   
toys1 a little  crche1 with little      
figures of ,mary and ,joseph and the    
,babe lying in  a manger2 and the child 
turns round and asks you where ,baby    
,jesus came  from4 ,what answer will you
 give8 ,what harm can it do to a child1 
to  know that children are born of their
 mothers8 ,what does harm the minds  of 
children is not our plain speaking2 it  
is their own secret reading1  gossiping1
 and imagining4    ,now let me venture a
 bit further4 ,in the kingdom of a      
child's mind1 it  is not one set of     

thoughts1 but two1 which gradually rise 
to power1  as the child grows to adult  
life4 ,right away from the nursery age1 
these two ideas are important above all 
others2 important alike to  the child   
and to us4 ,one is the child's notions  
about sex2 the other  is the child's    
notions about ,god4 ,everything else    
wavers and shifts2  we see the children 
change every scrap of their minds over  
and over  again3 their likes and their  
dislikes1 their plans and their         
decisions1  flourish and perish1 and are
 no more than stages or phases4 ,but    
these  two purposes of their            
curiositythe desire to know what sex is1
 and  the desire to know what ,god      
isthese endure1 and are more imperative 
with every added year of life4    ,as   
the children ask very absurd questions  
about sex1 so they ask very  absurd     
questions about ,god4 ,as we are taken  
aback1 and say foolish  things to them  
over the one subject1 so we do over the 
other4 ,as we  ought to prepare         

ourselves for the one opportunity1 so we
 ought for the  other4 ,as we must      
answer properly about sex1 so we must   
answer properly  about ,god4 ,it is bad 
enough to shut them up over sex2 it is  
worse to  shut them up over ,god4 ,they 
are trying to get at something4 ,they1  
at  their end of life1 are like ,sir    
,john ,falstaff at his end of lifeyou   
remember the account of his death1 by   
the hostess of the ,boar's ,head        
,tavern3        ,so 'a cried out,god1   
,god1 ,god6three or four times4 ,now ,i1
      to comfort him1 bid him 'a should 
not think of ,god2 ,i hoped      there  
was no need to trouble himself with any 
such thoughts      yet4    ,whatever we 
say to the children we must never say   
that4 ,but who will  teach us what we   
ought to say8 ,perhaps we might make a  
rule that we  will try not to play down 
to their childish notions4 ,on the      
contrary1  we will try to tell them that
 our grown-up notions are hardly less   
childish than theirs4 ,we cannot worship

 their little graven image1  but we can 
confess to them that our own image is a 
very poor thing4  ,they will be glad to 
hear of the feebleness of our thoughts4 
,we want  to lead them out of their     
first position3 we want to get them a   
little  further on the interminable     
quest4 ,we shall not do that by         
accepting  and adopting their idea of   
,god1 using it as an argument or weapon 
against them4 ,but we may perhaps be of 
use to them1 if we explain to  them that
 we1 even we1 are nothing better than   
babies1 when it comes  to attempting to 
think of what we really mean by the     
,divine ,name4  ,let us inform them     
plainly1 that the best that we can do   
for them is  to conduct them out of the 
poverty of their minds into the poverty 
of  ours4 ,it is possible1 also1 that we
 might find it a good rule with         
children1 to make less use of the word  
8,god10 and more use of the  word 8the  
,spirit10 or 8the ,holy ,spirit40 ,this 
word 8,spirit0 is not  associated in    

their minds with any bodily shape2 it   
may thus help them1  as time goes on1 to
 forsake their little graven image4     
,i do believe that these two ideasthe   
idea of sex1 and the idea  of ,godare of
 the utmost importance to us in our     
dealings with  children and with        
adolescents4 ,if we are to think of     
constructing and  reconstructing human  
lives as if they were houses1 let us    
have the  proper materials for it1 and  
let us handle them wisely4 ,these two   
ideas  are good materials2 they will    
take any amount of construction and of  
reconstruction1 and1 if we build as we  
ought1 they will stand the very  heavy  
strain which will be put on them4       
,please forgive me1 that ,i am  treating
 my subject on these old-fashioned      
lines2 ,i did not choose it3  the       
authorities chose it for me4 ,they ought
 to have given it not to  a mere        
grandpapa1 but to somebody worthy of the
 unmusical name of an  educationalist4  
,in adolescence1 in early adult life1   

there comes a heavy strain on  these two
 ideas1 and unless we have built as we  
ought1 some portion of  the edifice will
 be in danger of falling4 ,the point is1
 that we must  somehow manage to build  
these two ideas together2 we must adjust
 and  fit them together1 giving to each 
of them its due place in the house  of  
life1 not opposing but conjoining them  
to each other1 as a builder  conjoins   
bricks and mortar4 ,it is a true saying1
 8,the reasonable soul  and flesh is one
 man40 ,please observe that they not    
are1 but is1  one man2 they are so      
closely united that they is one man4 ,it
 follows1  that what we call temptation 
addresses itself not to the flesh alone1
  but also to the reasonable soul4      
,consider the predicament of a young    
man who up to now has1 as we call it1   
8kept straight40 ,all round him1  day   
after day1 newspapers and books and shop
 windows and theatres1  and other men's 
talk1 and the look of the crowd in the  
streets1 are  alluding to it4 ,his pride

 is wounded1 and the more he tries not  
to  think of it1 the more it hurts4 ,all
 young men covet and pursue the         
experiences of life2 he is vexed and    
resentful that he should be thus        
incomplete4 ,he has given up what a     
young man most hates to give up3 he  has
 given up something which would make him
 just like other young men4  ,not only  
his body1 but his reasonable soul1 is   
restless and impatient4  ,that which    
impels him to the edge of temptation is 
not his animal  nature but his whole    
human nature4    ,other motives1 alike  
in boys and in girls1 are vanity1       
sentimentality1  and intolerance1       
especially in these tremendous days1 of 
the monotonous  narrowness of their work
 and the fretful discipline of their    
homes4 ,and  there are some boys and    
girlshappily it is a small minoritywho  
are  so passionate and so wilful that   
they hardly stop to reckon what they    
are doing4    ,of course1 we have some  
antidotes against temptation4 ,one of   

them  is the right employment of mind   
and body2 but the mind must not  be     
employed at haphazard1 and the body must
 not be over-fatigued4  ,the employment 
of the mind must have a touch of        
refinement or  fastidiousness3 things   
which are lurid and vulgar must be      
recognised  for what they are3 the boys 
and girls must be fond of 8good form02  
they must be picksome over books and    
theatres and picture-palaces and        
friendships4 ,the employment of the body
 must have a touch of discipline  or    
training3 outdoor exercise1 athletics in
 moderation1 fresh air1  plain food1    
cold water4 ,if ,i could be a little boy
 again1 ,i would join  the ,boy ,scouts2
 if ,i could be a young man again1 ,i   
would get on without  alcohol and       
cigarettes4    ,to these approved       
antidotes1 let me1 as a doctor1 add a   
good tonic1  to steady the nerves of    
adolescence4 ,i prescribe a full dose of
 the  natural sciences4 ,some people    
believe in what are called 8hobbies0 for

  boys and girls4 ,i do not think much  
of hobbies1 if it comes to nothing  more
 than photographing or stamp-collecting 
or carpentering at odd  moments2 but ,i 
love to see boys and girls working hard 
at physics and  chemistry4 ,it is a     
grand thing for them3 it really does    
tranquillise  and strengthen them2 ,i   
like to believe that it even tends1 as  
it were1  to reduce their high          
temperature and their rapid pulse4 ,all 
other  employments of the adolescent    
mindas ,mrs4 ,tulliver1 in ,the ,mill   
on the ,floss1 says of the crowns of    
bonnetsthey are 8so chancy3  never two  
summers alike40 ,books1 art1 politics1  
amusements1 outward  observances of     
religionall of them are so chancy3 all  
of them are  open to the criticism of   
the young people4 ,i remember1 ages ago1
 a  ,german professor dining at my      
father's house2 and in the course of    
the talk some reference was made to ,st4
 ,paul4 8,ah6 ,paulus10 said the        
,professor1 8,i have read his works2 but

 ,i do not agree with ,paulus40         
,science is not like that3 there is no  
chanciness in her3 we inevitably  agree 
with her4 ,if a chemical test goes      
wrong1 we know that we have  done it    
wrong4 ,this eternal certainty gives to 
physics and chemistry1  somehow1        
authority over the vagrant minds of boys
 and girls2 and this  authority1 surely1
 must help to keep them able to resist  
temptation4    ,these antidotes and this
 tonic are all very well2 but the best  
thing of  all would be1 for all boys and
 girls1 unfailing belief in what we call
  the ,spirit of ,god1 or the ,presence 
of ,god1 in their daily affairs4 ,i     
feel sure that there are many of them   
who are more likely to be kept  straight
 by that than by anything else4    ,and1
 of course1 it is our business to       
prepare them1 with all the  wisdom and  
forethought that we can manage to find  
in ourselves1 for  these dangerous years
 of early adult life4 ,but we must begin
 while  they are children2 we must begin

 with careful answers to their          
ridiculous questions about sex and about
 ,god4 ,these two ideas are  our        
building-materials3 we must work them   
together1 not keep them  apart1 nor     
oppose them to each other2 we must go   
on1 constructing and  reconstructing    
them in the growing fabric of the mind1 
adapting and  adjusting them to each    
other3 so that the children1 when they  
come to  adolescence1 shall come to it  
neither ignorant nor helpless4    ,so   
many of us hang about the child's mind1 
in a timid sort of way1  hesitating to  
go in4 ,we look up at the windows1 we   
peep through the  letter-box1 we try the
 back door1 we ring the bell very       
gentlythe  left-hand bell1 which is     
marked ,servants2 we dare not ring the  
visitors' bell1 nor ply the knocker4    
,and the child1 all the while1 is       
expecting us4 ,we wait for              
opportunities4 ,it is probable1 with    
some  children1 that we ought to make   
them1 not wait for them4 ,i do not      

altogether like the word 8initiate02 yet
 ,i have in my imagination some  special
 day set and appointed for a grave      
little home-ceremony2 the  whole thing  
well thought out1 the exhortation       
written down beforehand1  every word of 
it4 ,the occasion of telling boys and   
girls the truth  about their bodily     
nature would thus be made solemn and    
memorable1 as  an act of their lives4 ,i
 have been reading again that scene in  
,tom  ,brown's ,schooldays1 where the   
,squire gives his parting advice to     
,tom1  on the way to ,rugby4 ,it is one 
of the hundred best things in one of the
  hundred best books4 ,only1 all boys   
and girls are not alike3 there is  need1
 with some of them1 of saying more than 
the ,squire said4 ,perhaps a  birthday  
would afford a good opportunity4 ,and1  
of course1 it ought to  be done at home3
 it ought to be done by the child's     
parents4 ,most of  us here1 when we were
 #ad or #ae years old1 were confirmed1  
and received  the ,holy ,communion4 ,it 

was a little time of quiet self-judgment
 and  good resolutions2 it really did   
help us4 ,if ,i could have my life back1
  ,i should like to be told about my    
bodily nature in that devout and        
premeditated way4 ,it ought to be done  
at home1 and my father ought to  do it1 
probably on my birthday4 ,instead of    
that1 it was done by another  boy1 at a 
preparatory school4 ,i still remember   
the exact words that we  used1 and ,i   
could still find almost the very        
paving-stone on which ,i  was standing4 
,there are things to be said to         
children2 and there are things to be    
said to older boys and girls going out  
into the world4 ,i cannot fix  the right
 ages for it3 no two children are alike4
 ,i feel1 also1 that  first-rate school 
teachers are more likely than           
second-rate parents to  say the right   
thing to children4 ,there is a place1   
doubtless1 in school  teaching1 for     
lessons in botany and in natural        
history4 ,the trouble is1  that some of 

the children may fail to see what you   
are driving at4 ,you  can lead them to  
the very edge of the stream of analogy1 
but you cannot  make them drink4 ,they  
may remain1 at the last moment1         
recalcitrant2  and you may never get    
quite so far as to tell them what you   
were  intending to tell them4    ,if it 
were my duty to inform a boy1 between   
#ab and #ad years oldand  it certainly  
is not the business of any man to speak 
to girls about  their bodily nature,i   
would not begin with botany4 ,i would   
begin with  mankind4 ,i would tell him  
that all of us come out of the bodies of
 our  mothers3 and in that way come all 
creatures4 ,i would argue from us to    
animals1 not from animals to us4 ,then  
,i would say something about  the       
anatomical differences between male and 
female children3 and ,i  would tell him 
that this difference runs through all   
creation1 all the  distance from us down
 to plants and flowers4 ,and ,i would   
say to him1  8,all creatures are formed 

in this way1 in the bodies of their     
mothers1  before they are born3 but they
 cannot begin to be formed1 till the    
male  and the female have actually come 
together3 and that is all that you  need
 to know40 ,if it were my duty to talk  
to a young man #ah or #ai years  old1 ,i
 would talk to him as to any other man1 
freely and explicitly2 ,i  would also   
warn him of the disastrous bodily       
results which may follow  even one act  
of wrong-doing1 and how these results   
might be visited1  years hence1 on his  
children4 ,and1 of course1 whatever the 
age1 ,i would  not only lecture1 ,i     
would also preach4 ,if ,i am to help a  
boy to 8keep  straight10 ,i must appeal 
from that which is natural in him to    
that  which is spiritual in him4        
,andso far as adolescence is concernedif
 ever there was a time when  we ought to
 speak plainly1 it is now4 ,whether we  
like it or not1 the  old habit of       
silence has for some years been falling 
away from us4  ,even before the ,war1 we

 had begun to talk more freely1 and to  
be less  offended by plain speaking4    
,the ,war has made it still harder for  
us  to remain silent4 ,we have seen1    
everywhere1 boys and girls1 all of a    
sudden1 as it were transfigured3 the    
boys turned into men1 the girls  turned 
into women2 courage1 obedience1         
endurance1 flaming up in them1  so that 
we marvel at them4 ,but we have seen1   
also1 the dark side  of their life4     
,they have gone ahead so fast1 and their
 eyes are so  dazzled1 that some of them
 will not stop to read our              
danger-signals4  ,most of us have some  
influence over them1 some of us have    
great  influence4 ,things already are   
bad enough1 and1 in all probability1    
will  be worse in the near future4 ,our 
influence was not given to us for       
nothing3 and if we do not exercise it   
now1 we shall be sorry1 too late4       
,there is one more bit of advice1 in    
these days1 which we might give  to     
young men4 ,the ,war seems to make it   

somehow wrong1 that a young  man1 of    
decent character1 in good health and    
steady work1 should  remain unmarried4  
,he ought to marry1 that sons of his may
 serve their  country1 filling the empty
 places of the young men who have died  
for  their country4 ,before the ,war1 it
 was nobody's business but his own1     
whether a young man were married or     
single4 ,we observe him now from        
another point of view1 with every added 
month of the ,war1 and every            
casualty-list2 we say that he is not    
doing his duty1 if he prefers  the      
comfort and the freedom of bachelor-life
 to the cares of marriage  and          
parentage4 ,let him so live now1 in     
these terrible days1 that his  children 
shall be born healthy1 a blessing alike 
to him and to his  country4    ,now1 to 
finish with1 let me dot the i's and     
cross the t's of  this paper4 ,it is    
likely enough that ,i have been talking 
more of  things as they were in my      
boyhood than of things as they are now4 

,the  ,victorian ,age was in many ways  
magnificent2 but it neither approved  of
 inquisitive children1 nor enlightened  
them4 ,for exampleone  of my            
contemporaries tells me that she was    
taught botany out of a  book called     
,lindley's ,ladies' ,botany4 ,in this   
book1 the fact that  flowers are male   
and female was carefully left out4 ,she 
learned this  fact when she was #ah2 she
 gathered it from a sermon in church1   
and it  vexed and offended her4 ,we have
 got past all that sort of nonsense4    
,but we are still at sixes and sevens   
how to tell children about their  bodily
 nature4 ,we let them alone1 they let us
 alone2 we wait1 they  wait2 neither we 
nor they like to begin4 ,we do not know 
what they  are thinking of4 ,but we know
 this much1 that there are two sets of  
thoughts which must1 simply must1 be    
growing up together in their  mindsthe  
idea of sex1 and the idea of ,god4 ,we  
cannot help them  without               
self-preparation2 we muddle them1 not   

educate them1 on these  two subjects1   
unless we have made up our own minds how
 we will answer  their questions4       
,further1 ,i do believe that some       
parents might well make a solemn little 
home-ceremony of telling a child about  
his or her bodily nature2 not  leave it 
to chance1 nor to the unclean talk of   
schoolfellows2 no1 nor  even leave it to
 the child's teachers4 ,father or mother
 ought to do it4  ,and1 when the        
children are grown up1 it ought to be   
done again1 with  clear warning against 
the dangers which they are going into4  
,finally1 what they need is not         
physiology alone1 but physiology and    
faith together4 ,there has been a great 
deal too much science talked  about     
adolescence4 ,too much physiology1      
pathology1 psychologynot  that          
psychology really is a sciencetoo much  
analysis1 too many  statistics4 ,if any 
of you1 as parents or as teachers1 do   
require a  short science-book1 there is 
,dr4 ,starr's ,the ,adolescent ,period4 

,it  has its faults4 ,it is unduly      
apprehensive of some things which are   
not  important4 ,it makes too much of   
those boys and girls who are abnormal4  
,some children are abnormal2 and some1  
but very few1 are as it were  demoniac1 
to their own misery and the misery of   
others4 ,these most  unhappy children   
have been put under the microscope for  
us by our kind  friends the             
psychologists4 ,but the vast majority of
 boys and girls are  normal4    ,dr4    
,starr's book is not for general        
reading4 ,still1 for the right sort  of 
readers1 it is a good and useful book4  
,but what1 after all1 do we  want with  
books8 ,it is the children that we have 
got to read2 not books  about them1 but 
them4 ,i doubt whether psychologists    
understand ordinary  children better    
than a wise old family nurse understands
 them4 ,boys  and girls are human       
beings3 they were not discovered by     
science3 they  refuse to be elucidated  
by science4 ,the way for us to help them

 is  not by psychology1 but by faith1   
self-preparation1 courage1 and common   
sense4                                  
,printed in ,england by                 
,butler and ,tanner1                    
,frome and ,london                      
,transcriber's ,notes3     ,text in     
italics is enclosed by underscores      
7italics74     ,punctuation and spelling
 inaccuracies were silently corrected4  
,archaic and variable spelling has been 
preserved4