,,your ,,boy ,,and ,,his ,,training ,,your ,,boy ,,and ,,his ,,training ,a ,,practical ,,treatise ,,on ,,boy-,,training ,,by ,,edwin ,,puller ,,former ,,president1 ,,scoutmasters' ,,association ,,of ,,st4 ,,louis ,illustration ,,new ,,york ,,london ,d4 ,,appleton ,,and ,,company #aiaf ,,copyright1 #aiaf1 ,,by ,d4 ,,appleton ,,and ,,company ,printed in the ,united ,states of ,america ,,this ,,volume ,,is ,,affectionately ,,dedicated ,,to ,,the ,,men ,,of ,,tomorrow1 ,,with ,,the ,,hope ,,that ,,the ,,thoughts ,,expressed ,,in ,,these ,,pages ,,will ,,aid ,,their ,,parents ,,and ,,teachers1 ,,in ,,some ,,degree1 ,,to ,a ,,better ,,understanding ,,of ,,boy-,,nature ,,and ,,boy-,,training4 ,,preface ,the average boy is not understood by the average parent4 ,this misunderstanding produces not only indifferent training of the boy but also soul-stress for the parent and his son4 ,intelligent training will improve the quality of the man into whom your son will develop4 ,to be able to give such training1 the parent must first know how4 ,the education of the parent in the subject of boy-training is the pretentious purpose of this volume1 which ,i approach with full consciousness of my own limitations4 ,this book is the result of my association with and study of large numbers of boys from ten to twenty years of age1 and in it have been embodied1 consciously or unconsciously1 some ideas of other writers on this subject4 ,i have endeavored to present in elementary form a brief1 practical study in adolescent psychology and its application to boy-training1 written in language which the average parent1 guardian or teacher can readily understand4 ,with this end in view1 there has been an elimination of technical terms1 as far as may be--even at possible risk of scientific inaccuracy of statement4 ,it will not be necessary for the average reader to peruse these pages with a dictionary at hand4 ,they were written not for psychologists1 but for parents1 in the hope that a work both readable and comprehensible will acquaint the average reader with the laws governing boy-life and their application to his training with greater clarity than a work abounding in abstruse phraseology and scientific nomenclature4 ,the pages which follow will be devoted to a discussion of the problems of the normal boy--the same red-blooded1 harum-scarum youngster who occupies such a large place in your life--and not especially to the delinquent boy4 ,i indulge the hope that this volume may aid you1 in some degree1 to a better understanding of your boy1 his problems and their solution4 ,,edwin ,,puller4 ,,contents ,,chapter ,,page ,i4 ,,the ,,eternal ,,boy-,,problem #a ,boy-problems are as universal as boys--,boys too often regarded as necessary evils--,necessity for training--,how to study the boy--,tendencies in present-day education of children--,character- culture should come first--,the home is the place and the parent the agency--,boys more difficult to train than girls--,the boy's viewpoint--,parental indifference to boy-training--,each boy is an individual problem4 ,,ii4 ,,parental ,,responsibility #ae ,causes of waywardness--,wrong training and bad environment-- ,parental ignorance concerning boy-training--,an instance-- ,heredity--,accountability of the parent--,spending money--,laxity of discipline--,average parent not fully equipped for his job4 ,,iii4 ,,child ,,psychology #cj ,table of psychic characteristics at several ages--,infancy and imagination--,early boyhood and individualism--,early adolescence and hero-worship--,later adolescence and thoughtful mental attitude--,age when puberty occurs--,period of motor activity4 ,,iv4 ,,adolescent ,,psychology #eb ,adolescence the period of storm and stress--,change from childhood to manhood--,puberty--,physical indicia--,mental indicia--,psychic disturbances--,truancy and wanderlust--,lack of continuity of purpose and action--,proximity to the savage state--,humor--,sex-consciousness and its manifestations--,love affairs--,plasticity of mind--,will-power appears--,age of discretion--,cycles of susceptibility to religious influences-- ,age of experimentation--,hero-worship and its manifestations-- ,object of hero-worship--,gratitude lacking--,reflective period-- ,introspection--,sense of perspective is distorted--,visionary ambitions--,dislike of older boy for younger--,will-power1 mental and moral stature attained4 ,v4 ,,the ,,boy',s ,,viewpoint #hj ,difference of viewpoint at differing psychic ages--,youth and age contrasted--,the boy's desire for physical expression-- ,inability for sustained mental or physical effort--,adult must put himself in boy's place to understand him--,the natural adult leader of boys--,boy lives in the present--,parent must do child's thinking for him--,injustice to boy from failure to consider his standards4 ,,vi4 ,,obedience #ib ,the cornerstone of child-training--,children's attitude toward parents--,its causes and effects--,character is predicated on obedience--,parental prohibitions which cause disobedience--,habit of obedience formed most easily in early childhood--,how obedience may be cultivated--,commands must be founded on justice and reason--,disobedience results from parental caprice or injustice--,illustrations--,the rational quality in the boy-- ,importance of paternal example4 ,,vii4 ,,the ,,repressive ,,method ,,of ,,training #ajd ,age when training should begin--,repressive method is negative-- ,illustrations of repressive commands--,their effect on the boy-- ,the play spirit in the young--,a factor in mental and moral growth--,the passive system of training--,evils of lavish supply of money--,effects of repression are depressing--,acts should not be prohibited without suggestion of other acts to fill the void created--,mental inspiration of praise4 ,,viii4 ,,the ,,suggestive ,,method ,,of ,,training #aag ,necessity for formulating definite plan of training--,impossible to state a simple rule--,american habit of drifting out of touch with offspring--,duty of fathers to continue intimacy with sons through adolescence--,american children not generally well bred-- ,english1 ,german1 ,french and ,japanese methods contrasted-- ,suggestion is informative and inspirational--,negative commands produce mental hostility and will combat--,illustrations of effect of suggestion--,a father's plan--,the big brother comradeship of father and son4 ,,ix4 ,,the ,,habit ,,of ,,falsehood #acb ,imagination a characteristic of childhood--,fantasy as real to childhood as reality--,the cause of lies--,illustrations--,the fisherman's lie--,clarity of mental processes largely determines whether a statement is a lie or an untruth--,the lie of the older boy--,desire to avoid punishment the chief cause of falsehood--,the remedy for falsehood--,moral suasion1 its definition and application4 ,x4 ,,corporal ,,punishment #adc ,the place occupied by corporal punishment as a corrective measure--,reasons advanced for its use--,illustration from a banker's experience--,average child does not rebel against authority--,but only against authority unjustly or harshly exercised--,the boy's view of corporal punishment--,breaking the boy's will--,unjust or excessive punishments conduce to lying--,effect of nagging on children--,mental versus physical punishment--,effective substitutes for corporal punishment4 ,,xi4 ,,the ,,cigarette ,,habit #aeg ,effect of nicotine on human organism--,a physician's opinion-- ,tobacco and the adult--,age when boys acquire the habit--,effects of tobacco on adolescents--,opinion of ,dr4 ,seaver based on physical measurements of smokers and non-smokers--,cigarette most pernicious form of tobacco--,influences which actuate boys to acquire the habit--,poisons in the cigarette--,acrolein and carbonic oxide--,moral effects--,juvenile criminals are generally cigarette fiends--,methods used to dissuade boys from beginning-- ,suggestion of a remedy for those who have contracted the habit4 ,,xii4 ,,boy ,,gangs #agc ,gregarious instinct in boys--,craving for association with their own kind--,two kinds of boy gangs--,the supervised gang--,the unsupervised gang--,illustrations of each--,the gang leader and his qualifications--,the necessity for a meeting place--,morals of unsupervised gang always lower than morals of its individual constituents--,motives for gang activities--,their code of honor--,street gangs are training schools for delinquents--,gang spirit inherent in all boy-nature--,supervised gangs and their influence on character development--,necessity for urging boy to join good gang4 ,,xiii4 ,,the ,,boy ,,scout ,,influence #ahc ,the magic of the name ,scout--,the ,boy ,scouts of ,america--,what the movement is--,ranks and requirements--,good turns and illustrations--,appeal of uniform and hikes to boy before joining--,purpose of organization is character-building--,a former method of teaching ethics--,scout camps and hikes--,the camp-fire tale as a means of training--,the qualities which ,scout associations develop--,boy ,scout organization founded on sound psychology--,a denatured gang--,opinions of sociologists-- ,the universality of its appeal to boyhood--,an efficient method of training boys in mass--,it keeps the boy busy--,the busy boy is the best boy--,a field of social service for the adult4 ,,xiv4 ,,juvenile ,,reading #bjf ,potent influence of books on the boy--,next to environment and companions--,two-fold value of literature--,desire of boy for something to read--,he reads for entertainment2 studies because compelled to--,reading must be suited to mental and psychological requirements--,fairy tales--,adventure tales--,informative books-- ,dime novel and nickel library--,their effect on morals and literary taste--,the bad book in the outward dress of good fiction--,the psychological requirement for thrilling adventure tales--,comic ,sunday supplements--,ideal companions for boys found in best books--,doses of literature as remedies for diseases of character--,stories of animal life--,the juvenile magazine--,a list of books useful for outlining a course of juvenile reading4 ,,xv4 ,,agencies ,,for ,,sex-,,instruction #bbg ,importance of accurate sex knowledge--,misinformation acquired at a very early age--,necessity for scientific instruction--,former antipathy to discussion--,parent is natural teacher of sex-- ,neglect of parental duty--,necessity for other agencies of instruction--,grammar schools1 high schools1 colleges1 etc4-- ,danger of premature sex excitation--,individuals who are best adapted to teach--,teacher1 physician1 biologist1 special lecturer--,opinions for and against the school as agency for sex-instruction4 ,,xvi4 ,,on ,,outline ,,of ,,sex-,,instruction #bch ,periods in child's life when instruction should be given-- ,instruction should be suited to his psychological requirements-- ,mother should begin instruction--,method known as the biological approach--,nature and amount of instruction necessary--,father should assume instruction at puberty--,necessary admonitions-- ,influence of theatrical productions with a sex-appeal--,musical comedies1 burlesque and vaudeville shows--,sex-hygiene societies--,a list of pamphlets published--,a list of books recommended4 ,,xvii4 ,,children',s ,,courts #bed ,an instrumentality for reclaiming the wayward boy--,the state formerly regarded delinquent boy as a criminal--,new attitude toward dependent and delinquent children--,their mental and moral concepts not matured--,infractions of law are manifestations of moral disease which it is the state's business to cure--,child under sixteen cannot be a criminal-- ,delinquent child is a ward of the state--,the ,juvenile ,court-- ,methods of dealing with boys--,the probation officer--,laws for control of delinquent parents4 ,,xviii4 ,,conclusions #bgj ,every boy has inalienable right to be well trained--,basis of boy-training is parent-training--,insight1 tact and patience necessary--,boy's need of father's companionship--,certain physical abnormalities affect intellect and character--,effects of heredity contrasted with environment--,all boys possess a common nature--,summary of rules bearing on boy-training4 ,,your ,,boy ,,and ,,his ,,training ,,your ,,boy ,,and ,,his ,,training ,,chapter ,i ,,the ,,eternal ,,boy-,,problem ,he who helps a child helps humanity with a distinctness1 with an immediateness1 which no other help given to human creatures in any other stage of their human life can possibly give again4 --,,bishop ,,phillips ,,brooks4 ,boy-problems1 like boys1 are always with us4 ,wherever there is a boy there are problems to be solved4 ,the perfect boy may live somewhere--but not in my immediate neighborhood4 ,even though he possesses many of the attributes of perfection1 he will be found wanting in industry1 or thrift1 or orderliness1 or courtesy1 or studiousness4 ,he may even show such traits as disobedience1 untruthfulness1 selfishness1 truancy1 thievery1 or immorality4 ,the complete boy does not just grow--he is builded and the parent is both architect and builder4 ,all parents at some time1 and some parents at all times1 regard boys as necessary evils1 to be endured with varying degrees of patience4 ,we formerly believed that boys should be seldom seen and less frequently heard4 ,the young barbarian was and is now tolerated for the time being because of our hope that he will outgrow his rowdyism4 ,we are disposed to let nature take its course with the juvenile savage instead of bothering our heads with the effort to understand him or to solve his problems4 ,but to train the boy intelligently we must first train ourselves so that we can understand him and guide him through the various stages of his development4 ,intelligent training is the birthright of every child4 ,if he has not received it1 he has been cheated4 ,the training of the child up to perfect maturity is the highest duty as well as the most difficult task which devolves upon parents4 ,the performance of this duty is1 fortunately1 lightened by the pleasure of association with the joyousness of childhood1 but the real reward of the parent for years of patient1 watchful1 intelligent supervision is not only the consciousness of duty well done but the profound joy experienced in aiding the unfoldment of an immortal soul4 ,the study of childhood possesses a fascination for the student commensurate with its importance to humanity4 ,it is both easier and pleasanter to study the child in the concrete than children in the abstract4 ,but it is obvious that no comprehensive conclusions on the subject of child-training can be deduced from the study of a single child4 ,the varying manifestations of different natures and temperaments require wide observation1 covering many subjects1 before correct conclusions as to cause and effect can be drawn or a systematic philosophy can be evolved4 ,we must study the concrete boy in large numbers to be able to formulate abstract principles of boy-training4 8,the proper study of mankind is man10 may be paraphrased into 8the proper study of boykind is boy40 ,today we know the boy better than ever before4 ,he has been studied1 watched1 weighed1 analyzed1 synthesized1 tested1 classified and labeled in all his varied aspects4 ,we have transformed our personal knowledge of him into scientific knowledge2 and various manifestations of his activities which were formerly called 8pure cussedness0 are now recognized as ebullitions of superabundant vitality which have been denied a natural outlet and therefore find expression in prohibited forms4 ,the present-day tendency in the education of ,american children is to emphasize the importance of knowledge1 health1 and character in the order in which they are here set down4 ,to confine the term 8education0 solely or chiefly to the acquisition of knowledge is to limit its meaning to its usual synonym of instruction or teaching4 ,in its truer and broader sense it implies the discipline and development of the moral1 physical1 and spiritual faculties1 as well as the purely intellectual faculty1 for it is only through such comprehensive development that ideal maturity can be approached4 ,sheer intellectual power1 resulting from the systematic acquisition of knowledge and training of the mind1 produces a one-sided individual who lacks the restraints and guidance imposed by moral and ethical concepts4 ,he is like an ocean liner of tremendous speed and power but without chart1 compass1 or rudder4 ,it is obvious that the intellectually brilliant crook1 devoting his mental gifts to the accomplishment of his criminal purposes1 is a less worthy and less useful citizen than the laborer of high character but limited knowledge4 ,the entire trend of our present system of education is to overemphasize the importance of the acquisition of knowledge and to underemphasize the necessity for the building of character4 ,and this is the chief fault with our otherwise excellent public-school system of education1 which1 circumscribed by public prejudices grounded in widely differing religious beliefs1 steers clear of comprehensive moral training because of its intimate coherence with religious and spiritual training4 ,the meager moral training which the public school affords is merely incidental to its primary function of imparting knowledge4 ,this deficiency must be supplied primarily by the home1 and secondarily by the ,sunday school and the church in laying the foundations of character strong and deep before the child reaches the school age and by continuing the work on the moral and spiritual super-structure until maturity beholds the building completed on all sides4 ,when we come to realize that the true function of education is first of all to build strong character1 second to develop a virile physique1 and last of all to impart knowledge and discipline the mental faculties1 we then will have evolved an educational system which will be effective in accomplishing its real purpose--the evolution of the child into the symmetrically equipped adult4 ,this is the eternal boy-problem4 ,the home is the place and the parent is the agency for character-culture4 ,every father of boys ought to be a boy-expert4 ,and he can be1 by devoting to this most important of all subjects a tithe of the study which he devotes to his business or to his profession4 ,many parents rely entirely upon instinct or natural inclinations--which are influenced largely by mental and temperamental conditions--as their guide in boy-training4 ,an inactive liver too frequently determines our attitude toward our offspring4 ,is it fair to the son that the parent blindly and blunderingly pursues his natural inclinations in training his son1 instead of availing himself of the results of the research and the thought which have already been given to this subject8 ,more boys go wrong than girls1 of which fact the records of juvenile courts1 reformatories1 and houses of detention bear ample evidence2 and they are more difficult to train1 develop1 and discipline than girls4 ,this is due to the differences in their psychological processes4 ,girlhood finds ample opportunity for its development in the seclusion of the home4 ,the future function of the woman child is to be the home-maker and the bearer of children1 and her training for this divine responsibility can be accomplished best amid the refining influences and protecting care which the home affords4 ,the future of the man child is to be the breadwinner of the family and the burden-bearer of civilization4 ,the training necessary to produce such diverse results must be as different as the respective life-works of man and woman4 ,boyhood requires1 among other things1 adventure1 rough sports and out-of-door activities for its development4 ,boys are less obedient1 less tractable1 and less amenable to discipline than girls1 therefore their training is correspondingly difficult and involved4 ,we should not expect to understand the heart and soul of the boy more easily than his anatomy and physiology4 ,the boy sees things from a point of view different from that of the adult1 based on psychological differences4 ,the mature individual cannot obtain the boy's viewpoint unless he is able to put himself in his place4 ,to do this he must know the child's changing mental processes and the evolution of his moral perceptions which are manifested in the four periods of his development1 in each of which he exhibits a personality as far apart as those of four individuals of widely differing natures4 ,the boy at six1 ten1 fourteen1 and eighteen years of age is four different personalities1 and he requires four different methods of treatment4 ,these psychological prescriptions are as dissimilar as the medical prescriptions for boils1 measles1 influenza1 and typhoid4 ,the methods and plans suited for one period are unsuited for another4 ,the realization of this basic truth is the first step toward the solution of your boy's problems4 ,no parent who stops with provision for the physical and intellectual demands of his child has done his full duty4 ,it may appear trite to say that he should go further and train the character and the soul2 but failure in this essential is a standing indictment against many ,christian homes today4 ,parental indifference to and ignorance of boy-psychology are the causes which have produced untold thousands of delinquent or semi-delinquent boys4 ,your boy may1 and thousands of boys do1 weather the storm of adolescence1 guided only by the blundering but loving heart which has neither accurate knowledge nor understanding of his nature2 but such results are fortuitous rather than certain4 ,more parents have mastered the rules of bridge than have mastered the principles of child-culture4 ,the training of the boy1 despite its tremendous personal significance to him and to our homes1 is less frequently and less seriously discussed than politics1 the weather1 or the latest style of dress4 ,too many boys are reared like their colored sister1 ,topsy1 who 8jest growed40 ,deep down in our hearts we feel that we know much more than our neighbors about the upbringing of a son1 because of our superior intuition and better judgment1 even though we have never qualified for the job by study1 research1 or thought4 ,too many of us believe we are 8natural-born0 boy trainers4 ,when our boy goes wrong1 it is our profound conviction that it is due wholly to the influence of the bad boys with whom he associates4 ,as a matter of fact1 it is just as likely that our ,johnny has corrupted his associates as that they are the cause of his moral infractions4 ,never1 under any circumstances1 do we blame ourselves either for the poor quality of his training or for permitting his evil associations4 ,his delinquencies reflect on us and hurt our pride1 but we palliate the hurt by attributing them to causes which do not involve us4 ,we are too ready to prove an alibi when called to the court of conscience and charged with responsibility4 ,the average parent bitterly resents personal advice relating to the upbringing of his children1 but this resentment probably has less relevancy to reading a book on boy-training because it is impersonal in its application and affords the reader the election of taking as much or as little of it to himself as his reason1 judgment1 vanity1 or egotism may dictate4 ,all boys have a common nature whose development proceeds according to fixed laws2 but diversities of temperament and character differentiate individuals and thus make each boy an individual problem4 ,the solution of that problem is your job4 ,,chapter ,,ii ,,parental ,,responsibility ,the wayward boy is often the son of a wayward parent4 ,waywardness results not so much from the effects of heredity as from lack of training4 ,wrong training1 lack of training1 and bad environment are the great1 compelling influences toward delinquency1 which overshadow all other causes of juvenile waywardness2 and for such causes parents are directly and primarily responsible4 ,this is a severe indictment of parents1 but not more severe than the consequences of their neglect of duty warrant4 ,many parents act on the presumption that their obligation is fulfilled by supplying the child with food1 clothing1 shelter1 and school1 forgetting the equally important duty of developing his moral and spiritual nature4 ,such conditions are usually the result of indifference1 a sin of omission1 and only rarely do they result from bad precept and example4 ,in the larger number of cases1 the wayward parent is such because of ignorance of the scope of his duty1 or because of his delegation of moral and religious training to the school or some other agency not fully equipped for the task4 ,it is seldom that a parent does not earnestly desire high moral character in his offspring4 ,he hopes in a blind1 inchoate way that his son will become a well-rounded man--physically1 mentally1 morally1 socially1 spiritually4 ,by what means that hope is to fructify he does not know4 ,he is groping in the dark1 hoping against hope that the miracle of evolution will result in perfection1 without the employment of the methods and agencies at his command which will assist to that end4 ,the first step1 then1 in the training of the boy is the training of the parent4 ,and what applies to the father usually applies1 with less force1 to the mother4 ,when we reclaim wayward parents1 we shall reclaim wayward boys4 ,the first step toward reclamation is the awakening of their sense of responsibility--the driving home of the consciousness of stewardship4 8,am ,i my brother's keeper80 has still stronger application to the father and the mother of a son4 ,yours is the responsibility for the child's presence in the world2 yours is the responsibility for supplying the conventional comforts on which physical life depends2 but still more emphatically yours is the responsibility of furnishing the guiding hand which will pilot the frail bark of youth through the storm and stress of adolescence4 ,during infancy he is anchored in the harbor of home1 surrounded by love and physical comfort2 during early boyhood his bark is drifting on the current toward the sea2 while the dawn of adolescence plunges him into an unknown and uncharted ocean1 without rudder or compass by which to avoid the sunken reefs of danger and the rocks which wreck the development of character4 ,the morally obligatory duty of child-culture must be encouraged1 revived1 trained1 and put into operation4 ,eugene ----1 age #ac1 was reared by an indulgent father1 after his mother's death4 ,a stepmother entered the home when the lad was nine4 ,he was a robust boy1 athletic and active1 handsome1 lovable1 but mentally lazy1 backward in school1 without continuity of purpose or action1 inclined to falsehood and evasion1 willful1 disobedient1 extravagant and spoiled4 ,he remarked one day to a companion1 in my hearing1 8,dad's a stingy guy4 ,he only gives me five dollars a week spending money40 ,this boy's problem was a serious one1 but not hopeless by any means4 ,the delinquent parent was responsible for the delinquency of his son4 ,engrossed in the cares of manifold business interests1 he 8had no time0 for the training of his boy4 ,he failed to realize that making a son is more important than making money4 ,if he had given his business no more thought and judgment than he gave his son1 he would be a financial bankrupt4 ,as it is1 the son probably will be a character bankrupt4 ,at the present time his moral liabilities exceed his assets--a poor beginning for the business of building a human life4 ,his affairs should be in the hands of a receiver--a boy-expert who will rehabilitate the boy--or1 better still1 who will arouse the parent to recognize his duty and do it4 ,the intelligent parent is the natural and best teacher of his own child4 ,up-to-date horticulturists and agriculturists avail themselves of the sum total of scientific knowledge concerning their respective professions4 ,unscientific1 misdirected1 and indifferent methods produce failure2 inferior fruits and grains of limited yield do not pay4 ,the importance of many things is measured by a financial standard4 ,when reduced to a monetary basis1 production is of sufficient importance to call forth the best research1 skill1 and thought of the individual4 ,child-culture is more important than horticulture1 even though its benefits cannot be measured in dollars and cents4 ,the ,department of ,agriculture spends millions of dollars every year1 largely in the perfection of cattle and hogs4 ,the improvement of the breed of hogs is not more important than the improvement of the breed of boys4 ,personally1 ,i prefer the boy to the hog4 ,he is just as great a necessity in the human economy and1 besides1 he is much more companionable4 ,the best crop we raise is children4 ,why not improve their breed8 ,the vanity of the parent may answer that they already are splendidly endowed by heredity with all the virtues of mind1 morals1 and body possessed by their progenitors4 ,but heredity is no such miracle worker4 ,if heredity has equipped the child with a perfect physical machine it still remains necessary to teach him not only how to run it1 but how to keep it in good condition4 ,the perfect body will not1 unaided1 stay perfect1 nor will it develop the strong mind and character4 ,all of these--and more--are required to make the perfect man4 8,better boys0 should be our slogan4 ,the accountability of the parent for his sacred trust cannot be evaded4 ,it is the one great1 upstanding1 overshadowing duty concurrent with parenthood4 ,the failure to appreciate its importance is due to many causes4 ,among them may be mentioned the complexity of our present-day civilization with its incessant demands upon the time and strength of parents4 ,in some instances the stress and struggle incident to earning a living leave little time for the development of the child4 ,this is especially true in those homes where squalid poverty abides4 ,the husband1 exhausted by the grinding toil which he has exchanged for a scant wage1 returns home at night and finds a wife worn in mind and body by her task of maintaining a home on less than is requisite for livable conditions4 ,neither is fit to perform the larger duties of parenthood4 ,add to this1 sickness1 accident1 unemployment1 intemperance1 and child labor1 and the cup is full4 ,the toll of toil is wretched childhood4 ,the children are neglected in everything except a bare physical existence4 ,the son of such a home naturally takes to the street where he pursues his play1 unguided and untaught4 ,the result is a street gamin with all his inherent potentialities for good submerged beneath the delinquency and vice which are bred in the street4 ,a continuous procession of such children passes through our juvenile courts every day4 ,such pitiable cases--and they are many--are partly grounded in the maladjustment of economic conditions4 ,the remedy lies in a change of environment in which society as a whole must take part2 in vocational training2 a more equitable adjustment of wage to labor2 workmen's compensation laws2 health and accident insurance2 inculcation of ideas of temperance2 training along moral1 domestic1 sanitary1 and hygienic lines2 and general education1 including a knowledge of child-training4 ,conditions are different1 however1 in the better homes of our citizens4 ,there the debasing consequences of sordid poverty are absent4 ,but still the two homes are1 in many instances1 identical in their lack of moral training1 although the causes are different4 ,in the one home1 knowledge and capacity are wanting4 ,in the other1 knowledge and capacity are present but neglected4 ,it is these latter cases of parental neglect of duty which warrant the appellation1 8wayward parent40 ,it sometimes requires the alarm clock of filial delinquency to awaken the parent from his somnolence of indifference4 ,the damage has then been done4 ,they hasten to lock the stable after the horse is stolen1 instead of taking precautionary measures at the needful time4 8,the difficult cases to deal with10 remarks ,judge ,julius ,n4 ,mayer of the ,court of ,special ,sessions 7,children's ,court7 of ,new ,york ,city1 8are the cases of children whose parents are industrious and reputable1 but who seem to have no conception at all of their duties toward their children4 ,they fail to make a study of the child4 ,they fail to understand him4 ,frequently the father1 who could well afford to give his child recreation1 or a little spending money1 will hold his son by so tight a rein that the child is bound to break away4 ,it may seem a little thing1 but ,i firmly believe that many a child would be saved from his initial wrong step if the parent would make him a small allowance4 ,in the cases where such a course is pursued the child usually becomes a sort of a little business man1 husbanding his resources and willing to spend no more than his allowance2 but where the child has nothing it is not strange that he should fall into temptation40 ,the state of ,colorado1 in an important addition to the juvenile law1 recognizes the existence of the wayward parent by declaring that all parents1 guardians1 and other persons1 who in any manner cause or contribute to the delinquency of any child1 shall be guilty of a misdemeanor4 ,judge ,lindsey of the ,juvenile ,court of ,denver has this excoriation for such parents3 8,careless and incompetent parents are by no means confined to the poor4 ,in fact1 in my experience1 the most blameworthy of such parents are among the so-called business men and prominent citizens4 ,they seem to think their duty is ended when they have debauched the boy with luxury and the free use of money4 ,they permit him to fill his life with a round of pleasure1 and let him satiate his appetite without knowing what he is doing or whither he is drifting4 ,they are too busy to become his chum or companion1 and so he soon develops a secret and private life1 which is often filled with corruption1 and because of his standing or influence and money he may be kept out of the courts or the jails1 but nevertheless is eventually added to society as a more dangerous citizen than many men who have been subjected to both4 ,a financially well-to-do father once said to me that he was too busy to look after his boys1 to be companionable1 or take an interest in them4 ,we have no more dangerous citizens than such men4 ,in the end1 ,i believe such a man would profit more by less business and better boys40 ,parental laxness in the enforcement of discipline may be due to indifference1 obtuseness1 or a false sense of affection which rebels at stern correctional measures4 ,whatever may be the motive of the parent1 the effect on the child is the same4 ,obedience is largely a matter of habit which becomes fixed1 as do other habits1 by continued repetition4 ,dr4 ,william ,byron ,forbush stated the thought in this language3 8,in the ,american home1 especially where there is not sore poverty1 the cause of delinquency in children is1 without question1 the flabbiness and slovenliness of parents in training their children to obedience and to orderly habits40 ,too often the training of the boy is shunted back and forth from father to mother like a shuttlecock which is finally knocked out of bounds4 ,the father more frequently than the mother succeeds in evading the obligation and thereafter he rarely attempts to interfere unless we consider an occasional walloping of his son in anger the accomplishment of his duty4 ,the average parent is not fully equipped for his job4 ,he is either unskilled or underskilled in boy-training4 ,he needs education1 insight1 and understanding to cope with the problems of his son4 ,if the parents default in the training of the boy--even through ignorance--need we wonder that the boy defaults in the making of the man8 ,numerous boys attain the average perfection of manhood in spite of poor training--but none of them because of it4 ,many a father1 because his son has turned out well1 is wearing a self-imposed halo--when he is only lucky4 ,,chapter ,,iii ,,child ,,psychology ,a systematic knowledge of the powers and limitations of the human mind and soul before maturity and the characteristic changes which they undergo at puberty will throw a flood of light on the boy-problem4 ,juvenile psychology may be divided into child psychology1 covering the period from birth to puberty1 and adolescent psychology1 covering the period from puberty to maturity4 ,boyhood is the interval between birth and physical maturity1 the latter being reached at the age of twenty-four or twenty-five1 when the bones1 muscles1 and organs of the body have attained their complete development4 ,legal maturity1 or majority1 comes at the end of the twenty-first year1 when the disabilities of infancy are removed and the boy is presumed by law to have acquired sufficient intelligence1 judgment1 and moral discernment to take his place in the community as a citizen1 and is then vested with all the rights1 duties1 and obligations of an adult1 even though mental maturity 7reckoned at the time the brain cells cease to grow and judgment and reason have fully ripened7 is deferred until he is approximately fifty years of age4 ,we may roughly divide the boy's life into four periods of psychic unfolding in accordance with the table on page #cb4 ---------------------------------------- -------------------------- ,,period ,,age ,,characteristics ---------------------------------------- -------------------------- ,imaginative faculty is ,,imaginative ,birth to #h dominant2 acquisition of ,infancy locomotion1 speech and elementary knowledge2 birth of moral concepts4 ---------------------------------------- -------------------------- ,individualism2 selfish ,,individualistic #h to #ab propensities2 want of regard ,early for rights of others2 imitative ,boyhood faculty is ascendant4 ---------------------------------------- -------------------------- ,hero-worship2 gang affiliations2 ,,heroic #ab to #af puberty and early ,early adolescence2 fundamental ,adolescence organic changes2 sex-consciousness2 age of experimentation2 character-building period2 psychic disturbances2 exceptional plasticity of mind2 high degree of emotionalism2 susceptibility to religious influences2 development of will-power4 ---------------------------------------- -------------------------- ,thoughtful mental ,,reflective #af to #bd attitude2 habit of introspection2 ,later evolution of ,adolescence sociological consciousness2 development of altruism2 growth of ethical concepts2 perfection of will-power4 ---------------------------------------- -------------------------- ,during the imaginative period covering infancy1 from birth to eight years1 the child lives in a land of air castles1 daydreams and mental inventions1 interspersed with periodic pangs of hunger which assail him at intervals of great frequency4 ,his world is peopled with fairies1 gnomes1 nymphs1 dryads1 goblins1 and hobgoblins4 ,elfin images are his daily playmates4 ,imagination runs riot and dominates his viewpoint4 ,it is the period in which make-believe is as real as reality1 and this furnishes the explanation of many of the so-called falsehoods of this age4 ,but the development of the imagination should be guarded1 not suppressed4 ,through imagination we visualize the future and effect world progress4 ,all the great inventions which have advanced civilization1 the political reforms which have contributed to our liberties and happiness1 and the monumental works of literature1 music1 art1 and science1 would have been impossible without the exercise of the imaginative faculty4 ,imagination is not only of great value in educating the intellect and morals1 but it is a desirable mental attribute which promotes sympathy1 discloses latent possibilities of things and situations1 and broadens one's appreciation of life4 ,it is needed by the laborer1 ditch-digger and sewer-cleaner as well as by the musician1 artist1 and author4 ,in this period the child learns more than in all his subsequent life4 ,he learns to talk1 to walk1 to feed himself and to play2 he learns the rudiments of written and printed language1 and the names and uses of the various objects he sees about him2 he comprehends form1 color1 perspective1 and harmony2 his imagination1 so useful in later life1 blossoms forth2 his moral sense buds and the capacity to distinguish between right and wrong unfolds2 the intense desire to learn and to know is born--evidenced by his rapid-fire and continuous questions2 he is possessed by a voracious appetite for knowledge which must be fed by a harvest of information2 and the habit of obedience and the recognition of parental authority become fixed4 ,his horizon is bounded by physical growth and the acquisition of knowledge4 ,all subsequent knowledge is either a variant of or a supplement to the basic knowledge acquired during infancy4 ,the ascendant trait of the imaginative period is the faculty of make-believe4 ,it is the ability of the mind to create mental images of objects previously perceived by the senses4 ,it involves the power to reconstruct and recombine materials1 already known1 into others of like symbolic purport4 ,it is exhibited when ,johnny mounts a broomstick1 shouting1 8,get up1 horsie60 and 8,whoa60 ,the imagination builds up a mental image of a real horse1 which he has seen1 out of the stick-and-string substitute4 ,through fancy1 he endows the counterfeit with all the attributes of the original and for the time being the broomstick is a real1 living1 bucking horse4 ,such make-believe is an important factor in the development and cordination of ideas and the acquisition of knowledge4 ,and so in the innumerable instances of make-believe plays1 whether he pretends in fancy to be papa1 a ravenous bear1 a soldier1 a policeman1 or what not1 he temporarily lives the part he is playing and merges his personality into the assumed character with an abandon which should excite the envy of an actor4 ,witness also the imagination displayed by ,mary when she builds a house with a line of chairs1 and peoples it with imaginary friends with whom she carries on extended conversations1 and takes the several parts in the dialogue when the absence of playmates renders such expedient necessary4 ,impersonation is grounded in imagination4 ,every little girl impersonates her mother1 with a doll as her make-believe self1 and spends many hours in pretending to care for its physical needs1 teaching it mentally1 and even correcting its morals with some form of punishment with which she herself is acquainted1 whether corporal or otherwise4 ,the stolid1 dull child exhibits less of fancy and imagination than his keen bright companion and therefore is less frequently engaged in the numberless activities prompted by imagination1 which require supervision4 ,his very stolidity keeps him out of many acts termed 8mischief0 and therefore he is more easily 8managed0 in the sense that he does not require such continuous oversight and direction4 ,the stolid one must be set going by being told how1 what1 and when to play1 while the imaginative one1 without aid1 conjures up many fanciful dramas in which he plays the leading rle and thus occupies the years of infancy4 ,these figments of the brain give rise to stories and fanciful tales which are called 8lies0 by adults who fail to understand their psychology4 ,these are of sufficient importance to warrant their discussion in a separate chapter of this volume4 ,it is during this period that the mother1 with her ,heaven-sent gift of love1 sympathy1 tenderness1 and insight into the soul of childhood1 is the effective teacher4 ,coming home one evening1 ,i found a neighbor's son of six years sitting on his front steps awaiting his mother's return4 ,he was sobbing to himself4 ,i approached him and inquired1 8,well1 ,robbie6 ,what's the matter80 ,he replied1 through a mist of tears1 8,i fell down and bumped my head40 8,does it hurt you80 ,i continued1 in my helpless way1 unable to fathom the soul-depths of his disaster4 8,no10 was the response1 8it don't hurt1 but ,i want muvver so ,i can cry in her arms1 an' it will be well40 ,he needed first aid to his feelings--not to his body--and only mother with her infinite love1 sympathy1 and understanding could apply it4 ,with a deep consciousness of the limitations of his sex1 the author withdrew to await the balm of mother-love--that unfailing remedy for the physical and mental hurts of childhood4 ,blest hour of childhood6 then1 and then alone1 ,dance we the revels close round pleasure's throne1 ,quaff the bright nectar from her fountain-springs1 ,and laugh beneath the rainbow of her wings4 ,oh6 time of promise1 hope and innocence1 ,of trust1 and love1 and happy ignorance6 ,whose every dream is heaven1 in whose fair joy1 ,experience has thrown no black alloy4 --,,thoughts ,,of ,a ,,recluse4 ,at the age of eight or nine1 when the child emerges from infancy into early boyhood1 he begins gradually and imperfectly to leave behind the characteristics of childhood and1 with the development of his mental and physical processes1 he acquires the distinguishing traits of the individualistic period4 ,it should be borne in mind that the characteristic changes from one period to another are not abrupt transitions1 but easy gradations2 a gradual dropping of the distinctive features of the period left behind for the essentials of the period just attained4 ,the progression is by easy1 continuous stages1 effected unconsciously and unobtrusively4 ,this growth may be compared to the four periods of the development of a plant2 first1 the bursting of the seed into life and the tender stalk forcing its way upward into the light--the infantile period2 then the formation of branches and leaves and the growth of stalk--the early boyhood period2 then the putting forth of the bud which is the precursor of the flower1 and the formation and development of petals1 stamen1 pistils1 and pollen--the adolescent period2 and finally the blossoming forth of the full-blown flower1 the fertilization of the pistil by the pollen of the anther1 the whole marvelous process of reproduction culminating in the formation of the embryonic plant contained in the seed--the period of maturity4 ,all of these stages are characterized by an evolution which is as gradual as it is silent4 ,in like manner it should be understood that the ages delimiting the four periods of boyhood are somewhat arbitrary and are subject to the controlling factors of race1 climate1 health1 and individual temperament4 ,the ,latin races mature earlier than the ,anglo-,saxon2 the boy in the tropics reaches puberty more quickly than one in a colder zone2 certain abnormalities of physical condition1 as well as environment and heredity1 conduce to early maturity2 and temperamental characteristics contribute1 in some degree1 to a difference in the time required to traverse the various periods of boyhood4 ,i have known boys of ten who were still infants1 and ,i have in mind a boy friend of sixteen years1 with the normal mental development of one of that age1 in whom adolescence has not begun4 ,physically and psychologically he is eleven years old1 although chronologically he is sixteen4 ,he is1 therefore1 in the individualistic period of his existence and1 in a large degree1 he should be judged1 governed1 and trained by the rules applicable to that period4 ,in so far as his moral concepts are influenced by mentality1 his responsibility for deflection is that of one of his chronological age2 but in that class of cases in which his moral viewpoint is controlled by his undeveloped physical or psychic state1 his responsibility belongs to the individualistic period to which these qualities are attributable4 ,the individualistic period between eight and twelve is the era in which the boy regards himself as an individual not correlated to other individuals of society4 ,he is essentially selfish1 and individualism is his dominant characteristic4 ,he has an excessive and exclusive regard for his personal interests4 ,the great world of men forming society is beyond his perceptions4 ,his thoughts chiefly concern himself and seldom embrace others1 except when they cause him pleasure1 annoyance1 or pain4 ,he recognizes them only as they contribute to his emotions4 ,this tendency manifests itself in the selfishness exhibited in play and his unwillingness to perform the trifling services required of him by his elders1 if they in any way interfere with his present enjoyment4 ,sociological consciousness1 with its recognition of the duties and obligations of the individual toward the mass of individuals termed society1 is still dormant4 ,its first awakening is seen in his recognition of duty toward his family1 and later toward his playmates and friends1 and last of all toward society--which is reached in the reflective period4 ,his mental horizon is bounded entirely by his own activities and interests in which he is the central figure4 ,carelessness1 forgetfulness1 and thoughtlessness of others are incidents common to childhood which gradually wane and disappear at the age when he enters the reflective period4 ,as he lives in the immediate present1 he does not plan for the future--not even for the morrow4 ,johnny comes home to supper from the playground1 whirling through the house with cyclonic energy and leaving a trail of gloves1 hat1 overcoat1 and superfluous garments in his wake1 intent on the only thing which is of absorbing interest to him at that moment--his immediate presence at table to alleviate the excruciating pangs of hunger which are gnawing at his vitals4 ,everything else is forgotten in his efforts to satisfy the desires of the present4 ,the next morning1 when preparations for school are begun1 all remembrance of the places where his wearing apparel was deposited is forgotten4 ,then ensues the daily hunt for the missing garments1 interspersed with vociferous requests to all members of the household for assistance4 ,the interrogatory1 8,where's my hat80 is as common as oatmeal for breakfast4 ,order and system have little place in a routine which is regulated by present necessity4 ,a strong sense of proprietorship in personal possessions is now manifest1 and is closely allied to the acquisitive faculty4 ,about the ninth year he begins to make collections of various sorts of junk4 ,this is the beginning of the collection craze which lasts throughout the individualistic period4 ,its initial manifestation is usually the collection of foreign and domestic postage stamps1 which lasts from three to five years and furnishes one of the best methods for elementary scientific training4 ,the term science implies knowledge systematized and reduced to an orderly and logical arrangement1 with classification as its basis4 ,such collections teach him to group and classify their component parts according to some definite plan4 ,the intellectual training afforded by the grouping and classifying necessary to preserve his collection possesses educational value of the highest quality4 ,geography now has a new and personal meaning as 8the places where his stamps came from40 ,other phases of this tendency may be seen in collections of marbles1 agates1 tops1 buttons1 bird eggs1 leaves1 minerals1 monograms1 crest impressions1 cigarette pictures1 and cigar bands4 ,one boy proved his industry and trend toward personal acquisition by collecting and classifying several hundred tin cans which were formerly receptacles for fruit1 beans1 and meats1 and the odors emanating from the mass in no wise diminished his pride in the collection1 which he regarded in the same light as the connoisseur views his art treasures4 ,a wise provision of nature has made the acquisition of knowledge pleasant and agreeable4 ,it prompts the boy to fire continuous volleys of questions and has caused him to be described as the human interrogation mark4 ,he looks on every adult as a wellspring of knowledge whose stream of information can be started flowing by tapping it with a question4 ,the knowledge received and digested from the answers to his questions supplies him with food by which he grows intellectually4 ,this inquisitiveness exhibits itself1 before puberty1 in frank1 nave questions--even of the most personal nature4 ,on one occasion the author appeared in evening dress at a meeting of his troop of ,boy ,scouts preparatory to a later attendance upon a social function4 ,he was immediately surrounded by that part of the troop of preadolescent age who subjected his wearing apparel to minute examination1 during which they felt the cloth1 inquired its cost1 and commented freely1 frankly1 and unreservedly on matters pertaining to material1 cut1 style1 price1 and workmanship1 with never a thought of giving offense4 ,while one who is the object of such attention would ordinarily feel a degree of embarrassment at such familiarity1 the author recognized it as a manifestation of the curiosity inherent in the preadolescent age1 as well as evidence of a complete confidence and rapport which could be possible only toward one with whom they were on terms of sympathetic and understandable companionship4 ,the sages say1 ,dame ,truth delights to dwell1 ,strange mansion6 in the bottom of a well4 ,questions are1 then1 the windlass and the rope ,that pull the grave old gentlewoman up4 --,dr4 ,walcot's ,,peter ,,pindar4 ,during this age the imitative faculty is born1 reaches its development1 and is carried over into the heroic period4 ,he follows companions in the kind of games and the seasons when they are played4 ,if a playmate is the possessor of a sled1 a bicycle1 or a pair of skates1 he must needs have their duplicates4 ,he begins to follow closely the opinions1 pastimes1 games1 and even the style of dress affected by others of his own class4 ,if it is the fashion of his set1 he will1 with a persistency worthy of a better cause1 wear the brim of his hat turned down and decorated with a multicolored hat band4 ,he revels in a riot of color because sthetics is an unexplored and unsuspected world4 ,his proximity to the savage state is reflected in his love of the garish colors which are affected by savage peoples4 ,his faculty for imitation renders him highly susceptible to the influences of his environment4 ,he imitates what he sees and hears4 ,therefore the influence of companions for good or evil1 as well as the persuasive control of his parents by example1 is potent4 ,to a somewhat lesser degree is he affected by the class of literature which he reads4 ,in the absence of stories suited to his psychological needs1 he acquires a taste for the dime novel1 nickel library1 and other blood-and-thunder stories1 the reading of which1 if continued through the heroic period1 frequently results in truancy and leaving home to 8see the world40 ,concurrent with all the psychic development of this period he shows himself to be a human dynamo of physical energy which manifests itself in ceaseless action4 ,this period of motor activity should find its outlet1 as well as its control1 in play1 athletics1 and manual training4 ,he is a bundle of twist1 squirm1 and wiggle which only time can convert into useful and productive activity4 ,,chapter ,,iv ,,adolescent ,,psychology ,the period of adolescence is truly one of storm and stress1 caused by the wrecking of boy-nature to rebuild it into man-nature2 it is a cataclysmic bursting of the bonds of infancy in preparation for the larger stature of manhood4 ,in early adolescence the boy is neither child nor man4 ,he is in the chrysalis stage of metamorphosis1 which is shedding the characteristics of childhood and putting on the maturity of the adult4 ,neither one nor the other1 he is a part of both4 ,adolescence covers the period of the boy's life between puberty and maturity4 ,puberty is the earliest age at which the individual is capable of reproducing the species and it usually begins at the age of thirteen or fourteen1 subject to the influence of the factors stated in the preceding chapter4 ,the growth and development of the sex organs during adolescence produce changes which are revolutionary rather than evolutionary in their nature4 ,marked physical alterations are always attended by still more marked psychic disturbances4 ,the physical indicia of puberty are the lengthening of the vocal cords1 which causes the voice to change from the treble of boyhood to the bass of manhood and manifests itself in sudden and uncontrollable breaks in the voice in speaking and singing2 the growth of the organs of reproduction and the filling of the seminal glands2 the growth of hair on the pubes and face2 the coarsening of the skin2 broadening of the shoulders1 deepening of the chest1 and general change from the slenderness of childhood to the compactness of maturity4 ,this is the period of rapid physical growth wherein he shoots upwards like a cornstalk under the impulse of a ,july sun4 ,elongated arms and legs are now as conspicuous as they are unwieldy1 and efforts to discipline them are futile4 ,the demand for 8long pants10 heretofore quiescent or erupting intermittently1 now becomes insistent and finally bursts forth with a fury produced by accumulated repression and fortified by the assertion that 8,johnny ,jones wears 'em and ,i'm bigger'n him0--the last word in argumentative conclusiveness4 ,physical awkwardness and ungainliness1 illustrated in his inability to manage his hands and feet easily or gracefully1 is due both to the extraordinary and rapid growth of the body and nervous system which takes place at this time1 and to his instability of mind1 wholly apart from his knowledge of social usages4 ,the psychic disturbances produced by adolescence are still more pronounced4 ,the adolescent is in the throes of discarding the mental concepts of the child and adopting those of the adult4 ,his viewpoint is lifted until his mental and moral horizon broadens to distances heretofore undreamed of and discloses new and strange moral and ethical problems4 ,old concepts melt away in the light of a newer and stronger vision4 ,sex-consciousness overwhelms him with its complexity and unrecognized import4 ,the mental concepts of maturity clash with those of childhood4 ,his barque is sailing on uncharted waters1 without compass or rudder1 while a fierce storm of uncertainty and instability beats about him as he experiences the travail of the birth of a new soul4 ,it is truly the age 8when a feller needs a friend0--one who can pilot him safely through the storm of adolescence to the calm of manhood4 ,truancy reaches its flood tide during adolescence4 ,the instinct of wanderlust appears in response to the promptings of his savage nature1 his unease of mind1 and his desire to know the unknown in the world about him1 and culminates in runaways as a revolt against the exercise of parental authority which he believes to be unnecessarily restrictive or severe4 ,he is now in the formative1 fermenting period when he is reaching out to find himself1 with indifferent success4 ,there is at this time a noticeable want of continuity of purpose or action4 ,he jumps from one interest to another1 evincing little stability of mind4 ,there is want of psychophysical cordination4 ,the transmission between mind and body is faulty2 and the imperfect gear of intellect and will frequently fails to engage the cogwheels of morals4 ,the machine works poorly because it is neither complete nor fully equipped4 ,workmen are still engaged on the unfinished job4 ,william now evinces a disposition to find fault with his home1 his clothing1 his food1 and restrictions on his conduct and routine4 ,he betrays a mental uneasiness unknown to prepubertal days1 and a willingness to argue with his parents in a self-assertive or combative mood quite unlike his former self4 ,incongruities of character are shown in petulance1 irritability1 disobedience1 stubbornness1 and rebellion1 sometimes even taking the form of cruelty to persons or animals4 ,this latter manifestation has been ascribed to atavism which manifests itself in the recurrence of the savage traits of his primeval ancestors4 ,dr4 ,g4 ,stanley ,hall thus comments on this tendency in his exhaustive work on adolescence3 8,assuming the bionomic law1 infant growth means being loaded with paleoatavistic qualities in a manner more conformable to ,weismannism1 embryonic growth being yet purer1 while the pubescent increment is relatively neoatavistic40 ,his proximity to the savage state is shown in his appreciation of primitive humor4 ,the unexpected which causes discomfiture or pain is excruciatingly ludicrous4 ,it is the crude1 slap-stick comedy which excites his disposition to risibility4 ,the knockabout comedian who falls down stairs or beats his partner over the head with an inflated bladder produces the same degree of laughter in a boy as the felling of one savage by another with a war club produces in the onlooking members of their tribe4 ,the rapier wit of keen intellectuality and the subtle humor of fine distinctions observed in a play on words all pass over his unscathed head4 ,he is a living paradox who displays at times the gallantry1 courtesy and chivalry of the knight-errant with the thoughtlessness1 rudeness1 and boisterousness of the harum-scarum rowdy4 ,sex-consciousness now asserts itself in an increased but diffident interest in the opposite sex1 accompanied by blushes1 embarrassment1 and self-consciousness when in their presence4 ,the desire to appear attractive in the eyes of his girl friends prompts minute and painstaking attention to dress1 and the brilliant plumage of the male bird is reflected in the bright colors of his attire4 ,formerly he regarded girl playmates from the same viewpoint from which he regarded boys and they were placed on the same plane and received the same consideration as that accorded to those of his own sex1 except where the teaching of the sex-conscious parent required him to display a gentleness toward them which his own lack of sex-consciousness failed to prompt4 ,now1 gentleness1 courtesy1 and gallantry are inspired by adolescence from within4 ,the companionship of the adolescent with pure1 high-minded girls of his own age is beneficial to both in the greatest degree4 ,such associations are of educational value in that they project high ideals of the feminine traits of gentleness1 sweetness1 and purity whose influence is reflected in his improved manners1 dress1 and conduct4 ,it fosters the idealistic and spiritual phase of love and removes it from the coarseness and baseness engendered by the purely sexual appeal4 ,these love affairs are numerous but transitory--their duration being dependent upon the time required to satisfy his idealism2 and at the first suggestion that his idol has feet of clay his affection is transferred to another pretty face and sweet nature4 ,not infrequently he bestows his affection upon a girl several years older than himself1 to which he is actuated by two impulses--the half-formed sex-impulse of the man to seek a mate1 and his adolescent need of 8mothering10 both of which are measurably gratified by the reciprocal love of an older girl4 ,he begins his love-making slyly and shamefacedly4 ,george waits after school1 occupied with an ostensible engagement which will consume the time until ,mary shall appear4 ,his meeting with her1 after all these elaborate plans1 appears to be quite unexpected4 ,a diffident greeting is followed by an inquiry as to whether she is going home4 ,her affirmative answer is seized upon as his excuse for walking in her direction4 ,then follows his request to be permitted to carry her books4 ,they discuss matters of mutual interest in school or social life1 while he1 with furtive glances1 notes the beauty of her face1 the wealth of her hair1 and the velvet of her cheek4 ,sunlight is playing hide-and-seek in her eyes1 while the roses in her cheeks blush a deeper red1 matching the ribbon which adorns her pigtails as she feels the flood of his unexpressed admiration surging over her4 ,never was there such a wondrous being in all the world6 ,he idealizes her every attribute until she surmounts a pedestal far removed from things earthy4 ,a smile of approval from this young goddess is treasured in his heart of hearts1 sacred from the misunderstandings of a profane world4 ,he is assailed by daydreams of knight-errantry in which he is performing some chivalrous act of heroism to which the maiden shall be a witness4 ,or better still1 he imagines himself playing the part of a cavalier rescuing her own sweet self from distress or danger and then receiving as his reward her avowal of affection1 while he protests that his heroism is nothing and that he would do a thousand times more for her4 ,evidences of his tender regard for the girl of his choice are given in secret1 as too holy for an unappreciative world to comprehend1 and the twittings of his elders on the subject of puppy love 7cruel in their unsound psychology7 are met with prompt and positive denials4 ,such manifestations of incipient affection should be recognized as the intermediary elaboration of a high and spiritual love whose ultimate fruition will be matrimony4 ,all the world loves a lover--provided he is not a boy4 ,the adult who cannot see the psychology in such incidents must be blind indeed4 ,the exceptional plasticity of mind characteristic of this age renders him highly susceptible to influences for good or evil4 ,it is the great character-building period of his life in which are crystallized his moral and ethical concepts which attain their latter perfection in the succeeding period4 ,your boy is putty in your hands4 ,he is a superlative impressionist4 ,his impressionistic mind is molded as deeply by evil as by good4 ,for this reason1 it is necessary that his environment--which is the cumulative influence of the precept1 example1 and conditions which surround him--should be good and wholesome4 ,as the drip-drip-drip of water wears away the stone1 so the constant drip of environing influences wears its way into character4 ,the foundations of will-power are now laid in his efforts to propel himself into a choice between the good and the bad1 between right and wrong4 ,judgment and discretion appear in embryonic form and slowly and laboriously develop into cautious discernment and the faculty of deciding justly and wisely1 which reach their approximate maturity late in the reflective period4 ,it may be interesting to note that the law presumes that every person at the age of fourteen has common discretion and understanding1 until the contrary is made out2 but under that age there is no such presumption4 ,it therefore follows that when a child under fourteen years of age is offered as a witness in a court of law1 a preliminary examination conducted by the judge must be made to ascertain whether he has sufficient intelligence to relate the facts as they occurred and sufficient moral sense to comprehend the nature and obligation of an oath4 ,but the law is conservative in its presumption1 as such intelligence and moral comprehension are1 in most instances1 developed in the child at a much earlier age and numerous cases are cited in the law reports in which children as young as seven or eight have qualified1 after examination1 as witnesses competent to testify4 ,during this period occur three cycles of particular susceptibility to religious influence4 ,the first appears about the age of twelve under the stimulus of witnessing the conversion or affiliation with the church of some adult whom he looks up to1 and is chiefly due to the faculty of imitation--one of the characteristics carried over from the individualistic period2 the next occurs at age of fourteen1 when his emotionalism is dominant1 under the excitement of a powerful emotional experience2 the third cycle of religious conversion appears at sixteen when he is leaving the heroic period and entering the thoughtful or reflective stage of his adolescence and such a conversion is grounded in the thoughtful promptings of the intellect1 rather than the emotions4 ,this is also the age of experimentation in which his longing to know the unknown leads him to make short excursions into the fields of mechanics1 physics1 electricity1 hydraulics1 magic1 and others which hide their secrets from the casual observer4 ,this trend of his activities may be directed by suggestion1 supplemented with the necessary equipment1 toward manual training and handicraft--ideal employments for the early adolescent4 ,this is the age of hero-worship and every boy in this period1 without exception1 has a personal hero4 ,he may not take the world into his confidence by divulging his secret1 but whether admitted or not1 he possesses a hero whom he looks up to1 admires1 and copies4 ,i know a thirteen-year-old lad whose hero is his eighteen-year-old cousin for whom his admiration manifests itself to the extent of trying to imitate his tone of voice1 his walk1 his gestures1 and personal appearance1 including the wearing of the same kind of ties which his cousin affects4 ,he never ceases praising the football prowess of his relative and continually quotes him as an authority on athletics4 ,the boy of this age worships a physical hero4 ,power1 strength1 and authority make a powerful appeal4 ,his hero may be the policeman on his beat who is the emblem of physical strength and vested with the authority of law to make arrests2 the fireman who displays wonderful courage in the rescue of imperiled persons from burning buildings2 the engineer who guides the locomotive dashing like a meteor through the blackness of night2 the prize fighter who has won a championship in the squared ring2 or the baseball or football athlete whose name is on every tongue4 ,his hero must be a mighty man of action1 for he worships at the shrine of athletic prowess4 ,to test the truth of this statement1 ask any boy you may meet1 between the ages of twelve and sixteen1 whether he would rather be the winner of the ,nobel prize for scientific achievement or ,ty ,cobb 7with a batting average of approximately 4#cgj71 and the unanimous verdict will be in favor of the ballplayer4 ,so strongly is hero-worship implanted in his nature and so completely does it dominate his viewpoint that it remains1 with gradually diminishing intensity1 for many years thereafter4 ,happy the boy whose father is his hero and happy the father who is a hero to his son6 ,the objective of hero-worship is always an older male--never a female4 ,no instance of normal heroine-worship has ever been noted4 ,the wealth of love which he may manifest toward his mother1 female friend or teacher is entirely disassociated from hero-worship4 ,it lacks the sex-element necessary to inspire emulation4 ,he wants to be a man--not a woman4 ,for this reason1 it is desirable that he should have opportunity for association1 during adolescence1 with men of strong character and personality4 ,the differences between the psychologic processes of the male and the female adult are too well known to require discussion here4 ,widows who keenly appreciate the absence of the father's guiding hand frequently attempt to be both father and mother to their sons1 and in so doing the apron strings are knotted doubly hard and fast4 ,then ensues a conflict between the feminine and maternal policy and the adolescent longing and reaching out for ultimate masculinity4 ,the mother is the last person to recognize adolescence in her son2 she wants him to remain the infant she has always regarded him4 ,his beginnings to emulate masculinity clash with her desire to keep him a child4 ,i have in mind a mother who is rearing the most lady-like boy in my acquaintance4 ,her inherent delicacy and refinement of nature prompt her to develop these same qualities in her son as the ultimate end to be attained4 ,with no qualifications for boy-training except mother-love1 feminine ideals1 and an ambition to rear her son to beautiful manhood1 she refuses him participation in rough and tumble sports and games because they are 8rude and ungentlemanly0 and besides1 they would soil his clothes4 ,many mothers of the neighborhood hold him up to their own unregenerate offspring as a model of neatness and a paragon of propriety1 but the boys call him 8,sissy40 ,the author has witnessed many examples of apron-string policy whose unpsychological and repressive tendencies cannot fail to be detrimental to the ideal development of adolescence4 ,gratitude is a virtue displayed by few boys prior to the reflective period1 because they fail to appreciate the motives which inspire the act which should call forth expressions of gratitude1 especially if the act or service is of an altruistic nature4 ,of course1 he will thank you for a gift of candy or a toy2 but never for the time and thought expended in giving him instruction or moral training1 or taking him in the woods for a day1 or pointing out to him the constellations at night4 ,he is not ungrateful4 ,he merely accepts these things as a matter of course until he reaches the age which recognizes and appreciates the sacrifices incurred by the giver of altruistic service4 ,the beginning of the reflective period witnesses the subsidence of the fierce storms of earlier adolescence and is followed by comparative physical and emotional calm1 although attended by intellectual agitations of lesser import4 ,the boy now enters an era of mental development characterized by a thoughtful1 reflective attitude toward the great problems of life4 ,a serious viewpoint is developed which changes the previous aspect of the world4 ,he devotes much thought to his life-work2 to making choice of an occupation or profession and preparing for it4 ,his future career looms large in the foreground of his problems1 and prompts a close analysis of his inclinations1 aptitudes1 and qualifications for special lines of work4 ,the realization that he must soon take his place among the men who are doing the world's work overwhelms him1 at times1 with the immensity of his job4 ,introspection1 as a part of his self-analysis1 becomes a habit which induces him to make continual comparisons between his own natural endowments and those of others of his own age4 ,he seeks1 with all the faculties at his command1 to find that niche in the business1 professional1 or industrial world which he can best fill and it is at this time that he needs the vocational guidance of his father4 ,early in this period a morbid self-consciousness frequently appears as the result of a too minute introspection with eyes whose views of life are not correlated4 ,he discovers defects in his personal appearance1 faults of character and deficiencies of intellect which are magnified out of their true proportions4 ,his sense of perspective is in its formative stage and this causes many molehills to loom high as mountains4 ,he is now his own most severe critic and imagines that his immature conclusions as to his personality are shared by all others2 and many hours of humility and mental depression ensue from this condition4 ,egotism and an exalted appreciation of his own worth are also manifest1 due to the same uncoordinated sense of values4 ,he often exhibits alternate states of exaltation and depression produced by a trifling remark or a trivial incident which is given an importance it does not deserve4 ,as he advances through this period1 his perspective finds truer adjustment1 his sense of values becomes settled1 his judgment ripens and these anomalies disappear4 ,but he may be saved many hours of soul-stress by the father who is able to diagnose his condition1 or who is on sufficiently intimate terms of confidence with his son to inspire a frank avowal of his troubles4 ,here is the opportunity for the father to apply his common sense1 ripe judgment and experience to the solution of these problems of the later adolescent4 ,attention has already been called to his impressionability to religious influences during the early part of this period through an appeal based in intellectualism 7as distinguished from the emotionalism of the preceding period71 to which the ethical concepts now being formed are closely related4 ,another distinguishing trait is the evolution of his sociological consciousness through which he recognizes himself as a unit in the social economy1 with all its attendant rights and duties4 ,he discards the selfishness and individualism of an earlier era and adopts the obligations of altruism4 ,his desire to be of genuine service to his fellow man seeks expression first in visionary plans to reform the world1 followed afterward by practical work in help for others1 such as leadership in boys' clubs1 secretarial duties or teaching in ,sunday schools1 or similar employments of altruistic purport4 ,government under processes of law takes on a newer1 clearer and more personal meaning4 ,and with it comes recognition of civic responsibility4 ,intellectual storms gather when vague1 unassorted1 inchoate1 and impossible theories of social and political reform--long since tried and discarded--loom big on his horizon and are eagerly seized upon and advocated as original discoveries4 ,his opinions are expressed with a dogmatism which characterizes the cocksureness of youth4 ,verbal limitations inspired by sound judgment and broad experience1 as well as the cautious phraseology of scientific conservatism have no place in his vocabulary4 ,his theories are all promulgated with an arrogant assertiveness born of the optimism of inexperience4 ,he is now fairly bursting with self-importance4 ,but all these manifestations are important only as indicating his desire to solve the great problems of life and are the precursors of a sounder judgment which will come with maturity of intellect and experience4 ,it is at or near the beginning of this period that the youth looks down on the younger boy1 whom he characterizes as a 8kid40 ,the dislike and even positive aversion of the older boy for companionship with the younger has its basis not so much in their differing physical and mental attainments as in their differing viewpoints caused by their unequal psychological development4 ,illustration of this may be observed in two boys1 both of whom are sixteen years of age and of equal mentality and physique1 one of whom has and the other has not entered the reflective period4 ,such boys are out of harmony with each other in every taste1 desire1 and predilection which is actuated by psychological impulse1 and find a common ground of companionship only in athletics and classroom studies4 ,will power1 born during the heroic period1 is now stimulated to rapid growth which culminates during the latter part of the reflective period4 ,no longer is he a straw borne on every passing wind of influence1 but a human being capable of exercising a moral choice between two courses of action4 ,his mental and moral stature has been reached by gradual and almost unnoticed gradations2 and such growth1 which had its beginning in blank chaos1 has been even greater and more marvelous than his physical growth between birth and maturity4 ,self-flattered1 unexperienced1 high in hope1 ,when young1 with sanguine cheer and streamers gay1 ,we cut our cable1 launch into the world ,and fondly dream each wind and star our friend4 --,young's ,,night ,,thoughts4 ,,chapter ,v ,,the ,,boy',s ,,viewpoint ,a correct understanding of boy-nature is conditioned on one's ability to obtain his point of view1 which differs widely from that of the adult4 ,it has been stated in a previous chapter that the viewpoints of a boy at six1 ten1 fourteen1 and eighteen years of age differ as widely from each other as those of four adults of remotely differing natures and temperaments4 ,we frequently make the mistake of assuming that the boy is a small edition of a man1 possessing faculties1 emotions1 desires1 and understanding the same as in the adult but developed in a lesser degree4 ,on the contrary1 his mental and psychological processes differ fundamentally from those of maturity4 ,boys are not little men and should not be judged by men's standards4 ,the ignorant peasant who views the masterpieces of the ,louvre sees them through dull1 uncomprehending eyes4 ,he sees but does not perceive1 because his appreciation of artistic beauty is limited by a circumscribed capacity4 ,just so1 the boy1 circumscribed by the limitations of his mind and soul1 views life and its complex manifestations with such capacities as he possesses4 ,if your mental and psychological limits were those of a boy in the hero-worship period1 your tastes1 desires1 judgments1 opinions1 and actions would conform exactly to that boy-standard4 ,your standards of ambition and achievement would be purely physical and therefore you would prefer the prize fighter to the scientist4 ,the physical and mental requirements for youth and age are as wide apart as the two poles4 ,as reminiscence characterizes old age1 so enjoyment of the present typifies young age4 ,the ,bard of ,avon has thus compared their physical and mental characteristics3 ,crabbed age and youth1 ,cannot live together2 ,youth is full of pleasure1 ,age is full of care3 ,youth like summer morn1 ,age like winter weather2 ,youth like summer brave1 ,age like winter bare2 ,youth is full of sport1 ,age's breath is short2 ,youth is nimble1 age is lame2 ,youth is hot and bold1 ,age is weak and cold2 ,youth is wild and age is tame4 ,age ,i do abhor thee2 ,o1 my love1 my love is young3 ,age ,i do defy thee2 ,o sweet shepherd hie thee1 ,for methinks thou stay'st too long4 ,an elderly maiden sat one sunny afternoon in ,may engrossed with her knitting1 while a crowd of boys were engaged in the great ,american game of baseball on the lot beneath her window4 ,it would be superfluous to say they were noisy4 ,from her viewpoint both noise and violent physical activity were unnecessary1 disagreeable1 and trying to one's nerves4 ,the nuisance must be suppressed4 ,accordingly she poked her head out of the window and directed a shrill scream at the disturbers of her peace1 8,go away from here1 you bad boys1 and stop making that noise60 ,in a flash came back the retort1 8,g'wan away yourself60 while a boy grumbled to his companion1 8,she don't know nothin' 'bout having fun40 ,both were right1 judging from their respective points of view1 and both were wrong when considered from the other's viewpoint4 ,neither understood the other4 ,old age requires peace1 silence1 and cessation from physical activity4 ,youth requires noise1 bustle1 and violent exercise for its growth4 ,activity symbolizes success4 ,passivity spells failure4 ,the boy in athletics1 like the adult laborer in his daily toil1 uses the primary muscles of his arms1 legs1 and torso4 ,with the development of his mentality1 he develops and employs his secondary muscles4 ,psychology is intimately related to athletics4 ,for this reason1 the gymnastic apparatus which is suited to adults is wholly unsuited to boys1 and this is quite apart from differences due to the unequal size and strength of the users4 ,witness the aversion of the boy to the use of ,indian clubs whose intricate manipulations require the employment of the secondary muscles of the wrist and arm1 while he willingly uses dumb bells which call into play his primary muscles4 ,his inability for sustained mental effort is cordinated with his disability for sustained physical effort4 ,hence he passes by1 with a curiosity-satisfying trial1 the chest weights and rowing machines of the adult which require the continuous expenditure of energy4 ,so also the competitive spirit of boyhood must be gratified by the use of such gymnastic apparatus and games as develop competition4 ,the boy will not exercise for exercise's sake4 ,he will not even do it to achieve the altruistic result of a strong physique4 ,but he will exercise and play games to excel the other fellow4 ,the boy who is alone in a gymnasium has as stupid a time as the boy who is compelled by necessity to play baseball with himself4 ,it would be interesting to learn the boy's opinion of certain adults if he were able to accurately analyze and express his conclusions4 ,the crabbed demeanor of the pessimist out of touch with boy-life is as offensive to the boy as the latter's noise and giddiness are objectionable to the former4 ,observe the mental rheumatics of the misanthrope in these grouchy grumblings from ,beaumont and ,fletcher's 8,wit ,without ,money03 ,what benefit can children be but charges and disobedience8 ,what's the love they render at one and twenty years8 ,i pray die1 father3 when they are young1 they are like bells rung backwards1 nothing but noise and giddiness4 ,and from what a different vision-vantage were penned these lines1 overflowing with love and understanding of childhood1 which are a model of sympathetic comprehension of the child's needs3 ,delightful task6 to rear the tender thought1 ,to teach the young idea how to shoot1 ,to pour fresh instruction o'er the mind1 ,to breathe the enlivening spirit and to fix ,the generous purpose in the glowing breast6 --,thomson's ,,seasons4 ,to understand the boy's viewpoint we must be able to put ourselves in his place4 ,we must renew our youth4 ,the trouble with so many of us is that we never acquire juvenescence until second-childhood4 ,we should be able to assign the boy to the psychological period to which he belongs by reason of his development1 and thus knowing the mental and moral status of an inhabitant of that period1 we are able to see things through his glasses4 ,the mental myopia and moral astigmatism of youth will then be recognized as a defect of immaturity which training and years will cure4 ,juvenility may be reacquired in maturity if we string-halted adults would only seek rejuvenation at the fountain of youthful understanding where we may obtain a flood of knowledge concerning boy-life4 ,the journey is apparently too long and too difficult for the lazy or indifferent grown-up4 ,the heart of a boy is not worn on his sleeve4 ,he reveals it only to those who command his perfect confidence and such confidence is given to those1 and to those only1 who understand him4 ,the aloofness of children toward certain adults is because they have nothing in common4 ,each misunderstands the other4 ,as it is obviously impossible for the child to understand and attune himself to adult mental processes1 it becomes necessary for the adult to comprehend child-nature and to put himself in harmony with it4 ,happy the man who can make himself a boy again6 ,he retains a thousand joys which other adults have irretrievably lost4 ,such a one is a natural leader and teacher of boys4 ,they delight to make him their hero4 ,his influence with boys is commensurate with his understanding of life in ,boyville4 ,you must go to this juvenile city and live there1 learn its laws1 customs1 and manners1 and if possible place yourself in a sympathetic attitude of understanding without which you can never hope to be initiated into the mysteries of adolescence4 ,the honor of being admitted to the confidence and fellowship of boys is not permitted to all men--only to those who have retained or who are able to acquire the boy's viewpoint4 8,there is a wall around the town of ,boyville10 says ,william ,allen ,white1 8which is impenetrable when its gates have once shut upon youth4 ,an adult may peer over the wall and try to ape the games inside1 but finds it all a mockery and himself banished among purblind grown-ups4 ,the town of ,boyville was old when ,nineveh was a hamlet2 it is ruled by ancient laws2 has its own rules and idols2 and only the dim1 unreal noises of the adult world about it have changed40 ,the boy lives in the present1 with little thought of the future2 he is concerned with today1 not the next decade4 ,his mental processes do not prompt him to speculate as to the effect of present acts on future character4 ,he has neither the mental nor moral equipment for such foresight or deduction2 it is a task beyond his capabilities4 ,this burden must be shouldered by the parent who should not only do the child's thinking for him until the latter is able to do it for himself1 but should also drill1 train1 and educate the boy until he is able to make nice distinctions between right and wrong1 and should cultivate his will-power until he can school himself into an acceptance of the good as against the bad4 ,until the child's mind1 will1 and moral sense have reached this stage of growth1 the parent must substitute his own mind1 will1 and moral sense4 ,in determining the degree of capability of a child's offense1 we should ask ourselves the question3 8,what is the developmental stage of his faculties which made the offense possible80 ,harsh and stern estimates of childish frailties usually result from the application of the adult viewpoint and the adult standard4 ,the failure to consider the viewpoint and standards of the adolescent causes much injustice to the boy and results in many mistakes in his training4 ,the brightness1 joyousness1 and optimism of youth suffuses life with an iridescent glow4 ,all the world is bathed in roseate hues when seen through the rose-colored glasses of youth4 ,when we get so old that we delight in sitting by the fire1 toasting our slippered feet1 and prefer to listen to our arteries harden rather than to hear the noise and laughter of boyhood1 we are out of tune with the harmonies of boy-life4 ,,chapter ,,vi ,,obedience ,there hangs in the bedroom of the children of a certain devout mother a large frame which contains1 in illuminated letters1 the twentieth verse of the third chapter of ,paul's 8,epistle to the ,colossians03 8,children1 obey your parents in all things2 for this is well pleasing to the ,lord40 ,in commenting on this visual injunction she said3 8,obedience is the chief cornerstone of child-training and ,i have thus endeavored to fix it in the memories of my children for all time40 ,the commandment--8,honor thy father and thy mother0--is just as real and vital today as it was in the time of ,moses1 although present-day home conditions are not always conducive to its observance4 ,too many children of the present1 especially during adolescence1 regard their parents with an attitude of tolerant sufferance--as necessary evils to be endured by them but exhibiting little patience in their toleration4 ,they consider them old-fogy1 behind the times1 uncomprehending and unsympathetic with their interests1 plans1 and aspirations4 ,father is esteemed largely in proportion to his success as a producer2 while mother is valued in accordance with her contributions to their physical comfort2 and this imperfect recognition of parental aid comprises the sum total of their gratitude2 for no acknowledgment is ever made of their obligation for the years of watchfulness of health or solicitude for morals or cultivation of the spiritual life4 ,this attitude is due partly to the psychological unbalance of the adolescent and partly to the slovenly1 inconsistent1 and wishy-washy methods of government used by the parent1 which inspire in the youth not only disobedience but contempt for parental authority which is as vacillating as a weather cock4 ,without obedience the child drifts aimlessly and develops a character as unstable as the parental system of training is fluctuating4 ,confirmed cases of juvenile disobedience can be traced1 almost without exception1 to the jellyfish methods of spineless parents4 ,an increase in rigidity of parental backbone will result in a corresponding increase in filial obedience4 ,obedience is the fundamental law of child-training and upon it the development of future character is predicated4 ,obedience in children is too frequently regarded by parents as the chief end of training1 and not as the means to the end1 which is character4 ,the young child has neither code of morals nor a standard of ethics1 but is a rule unto himself1 propelled only by impulses of selfish interest4 ,the chief objective of child-training is the cultivation and fixation of a high moral code which produces character4 ,the secondary objectives are the conservation of health and discipline of the intellectual faculties1 the latter including the communication of knowledge4 ,parental prohibitions of undesirable acts1 as well as suggestions of wished-for conduct1 should be so uniform1 constant1 and consistent that the child will be able to deduce from them what his course of conduct should be when confronted in the future with the desire to do or not to do an act of similar nature4 ,it is thus that he builds up his standard of conduct and formulates his code of morals4 ,trivial objections to acts or conduct1 not grounded in reason and justice1 inspire disrespect for parents and disobedience to their authority1 and befog the moral vision of childhood4 ,if the child is to respect parental authority1 he must have been so habituated to obedience by the parental system of government that he will obey easily and involuntarily from force of habit4 ,habit is the tendency to do naturally1 easily1 and with growing certainty those things which we are accustomed by constant repetition to do4 ,the habit of obedience is formed most easily in early childhood and when obedience becomes crystallized into habit1 a strong foundation has been laid for the building of strong character4 ,obedience is cultivated by consistency in parental commands which invariably must be founded on reason and justice and enforced with a firmness of will which cannot be swayed by sentimental considerations of leniency4 ,consistency is a jewel which shines nowhere so brightly as in the crown of child-training1 but it must be mounted in resolute adherence to fixed ideals of character-culture4 ,obedience should be distinguished from unwilling submission to a superior force4 ,the former implies subjection of the will and actions to rightful restraint and not servile submission to authority which is exercised unjustly4 ,the founders of our republic were obedient to the highest promptings of liberty and justice when they revolted against the many acts of injustice imposed by the mother country4 ,likewise the obedience of a child can be enforced only through parental commands which are founded on justice and reason2 and we should even go a step farther and convince him that they are just and reasonable4 ,here is a typical case3 ,a boy requested permission of his mother to go swimming--as boys are wont to do4 ,she replied1 8,no6 you may not go60 8,but why not1 mother80 was the natural and reasonable inquiry of her son4 8,just because ,i don't want you to go10 was the unconvincing answer4 8,ah6 that's no reason1 mother4 ,why can't ,i go80 8,because ,i have said no6 ,now1 that settles it60 ,and with this answer she concluded the colloquy4 ,defeated and depressed1 but unconvinced1 the boy shuffled sullenly around the corner of the house and out behind the barn where he raged and rebelled at the autocratic exercise of the authority of which he had been the victim1 until present desire overcame the fear of future punishment and soon the old swimming hole resounded with the splash of another lithe1 young body4 ,his disobedience was the logical sequence of an attitude which violated both the principles of psychology and the dictates of reason and justice4 ,if the mother had assigned any reasonable excuse for withholding her permission she would have measurably satisfied her son's sense of fairness and justice1 however reluctantly his acquiescence1 prompted by the denial of personal pleasure1 may have been given4 ,instead1 she unconsciously chose a course which planted the seed of disobedience and evasion whose ultimate fruition might even be rebellion against all maternal authority1 and following that--delinquency4 ,the boy is a rational human being1 however much we may ignore his capacity for reason1 and the continued violation of his standards of right and justice will ultimately destroy those standards and compel him to adopt a code based on expediency instead of morals4 ,laws are obeyed by adults in the proportion that they are supported by public opinion as being just and reasonable2 and1 conversely1 they are disobeyed when deemed unjustly restrictive or violative of personal rights4 ,witness the disregard for sumptuary laws in certain local communities which entertain convictions against the abridgment of their so-called personal liberties1 where such laws have been imposed by the legislative enactment of a state the majority of whose voters favor prohibition4 ,some of our reputedly good citizens evade the payment of a large part of the taxes imposed on them by law for the reason that they believe the tax laws to be inequitable and unjust in placing too great a burden on one class1 with a corresponding exemption to another class4 ,from general observation1 as well as from the records of our penal courts1 we may deduce the proposition that obedience to statute by normal men rests largely on their belief in the justice of law and the reasonableness of the exercise of the authority which is predicated on such law4 ,law1 in the domain of childhood1 is parental command2 and even though the child's sense of justice may not be as discriminating as that of the parent1 nevertheless it is strong enough and deep enough to impel him to resist1 by evasion1 subterfuge1 deceit1 or other means at hand1 those parental laws which he believes to be founded on mere caprice or positive injustice4 ,we must promulgate reasonable commands if we are to expect reasonable compliance with them1 and we shall suffer no loss of dignity by frankly explaining to our children the reasons which underlie our mandates4 ,although the child may be unable at all times to follow our line of reasoning1 or to agree wholly with our conclusions1 he will1 at any rate1 be convinced that our orders do not emanate from capricious fancy1 but have a semblance of justice as their basis4 ,even paternal example is not without its influence on the keenly observing mind of youth4 ,the seventeen-year-old son of a neighbor was detected smoking a cigarette the day following the direct injunction of his father that he should not do so4 ,when reproved by his father for disobedience1 the son retorted3 8,well1 dad1 why don't you obey the law8 ,you shot ducks out of season40 ,the delinquent children who flow in a steady stream through our juvenile courts are undisciplined1 self-willed1 and rebellious against authority and are governed only by impulse which is as spasmodic as their conduct is abnormal4 ,obedience has never found a place in the poor moral equipment with which they are endowed4 ,practically every moral derelict stranded on the human scrap-pile can trace his failure in life to his disobedience in childhood2 and the fault is not wholly his own but rests largely on the shoulders of parents who failed to compel obedience in the early years when compulsion was possible through firm and just regulation4 ,the boy who is early indoctrinated in obedience becomes plastic material ready to be shaped1 through training1 in the stature of a man of fine moral quality4 ,,chapter ,,vii ,,the ,,repressive ,,method ,,of ,,training ,the training of the child should begin as soon as it is able to comprehend spoken language4 ,a venerable mother who had reared eleven children and had seen them attain successful and honorable positions in life was asked the question3 8,at what time should the training of a child begin80 ,her answer was3 8,in the cradle40 ,and1 it is needless to add1 it should be continued to maturity4 ,there are1 broadly speaking1 two general plans of training which may be termed respectively the repressive method and the suggestive method4 ,the repressive method of training is founded on the principle of negation4 ,it seeks to make the boy do right by constant admonition not to do wrong4 ,it proceeds on the theory that elimination of the bad will1 leave the good4 ,it is indirect in its methods as well as its results4 ,the negative system of training manifests itself in such commands as1 8,don't make that noise20 8,don't bother me1 ,i'm busy20 8,don't slide down the cellar door20 8,don't talk so loud20 8,don't play in the house20 8,don't tease sister20 8,don't eat so much20 8,don't soil your clothes20 8,don't bring those boys into the house20 8,don't scuff out your shoes20 8,don't get your hands dirty20 8,don't be tardy at school20 8,don't wear out the seat of your pants20 and so on without end4 ,no boy ever thrived on an indigestible diet of don'ts4 ,jacob ,riis1 writing in the ,outlook1 says3 8,write the one word #8,don't' there1 and only that1 and the boy if he has any spirit will take to the jungle4 ,every father knows it2 every teacher has learned it1 if he has learned anything40 ,while this system has a modicum of worth in certain of its applications1 it lacks the comprehensiveness and directness necessary to accomplish the best results4 ,the prohibition of reading dime novels1 nickel libraries and other blood-and-thunder tales1 without the suggestion of adventure stories of definite ethical and moral value to fill the vacuum thus created in his emotional life1 is another conspicuous example of the repressive method of training--which does not repress but impels the boy to continue his lurid reading in secret4 ,the error of the system lies in taking something essential away from the boy without giving him an adequate substitute4 ,it is damming up the stream without providing a spillway1 and is as ineffective as it is unpsychological4 ,the current of his activities will find a channel as surely as water will find its level4 ,instead of attempting to check the flow1 we should direct it into channels for good4 ,this repression1 if persistent1 will dwarf the child's initiative and compel him to grope in the dark to find out what is permissible4 ,it is as fallacious in practice as a system of teaching1 if such could be conceived1 which would give the boy a hundred guesses to learn a fact1 instead of the teacher's direct statement of the fact4 ,it is the maze of a labyrinth which envelops the traveler in hopeless confusion and its effect can only be depressing and disheartening to the child4 ,we frequently make the mistake of underestimating the reasoning powers of our children1 which prompts us with autocratic dogmatism to forbid their acts without an explanation of the reasons why or the suggestion of a substitute to fill the void caused by the prohibition4 8,stop making that noise60 is a command hurled at the playful boy with such frequency that it no longer excites comment4 ,it is natural for boys to play1 yell1 make a noise1 and wear out clothes4 ,they are the exuberant manifestations of his physical and emotional nature2 the expression of the atavistic tendencies of man2 the safety valve which relieves the pressure of superabundant vitality4 ,as he is in the savage period of his life he yells like a savage4 ,you may as well tell a pup not to bark as to tell a boy not to yell4 ,it is the nature of the animal4 ,we should recognize this fact by conforming to nature--not opposing it--because it is the normal condition of the normal boy4 ,i have a profound pity for the boy who prefers to sit by his mother's knee and read a book on his holiday1 instead of joining the gang in playing tag or getting up a scrub game of baseball4 ,such a boy is abnormal2 he is not 8all boy02 he is either sick or mentally deficient and either condition should inspire the grayest solicitude of his parents as to his future4 ,we do not want to rear a race of anemic runts4 ,the young of all mammals manifest the play spirit as a means of growth4 ,colt1 calf1 lamb1 kitten1 pup1 and boy all exhibit this tendency of nature4 ,these things are the cause of growth1 not only physical1 but mental and moral as well4 ,the educational value of play is one of the most important factors in the boy's evolution4 ,it is the expression of his being1 his growth1 his aspirations and his future4 ,by play1 he trains his eye1 his hand1 his mind and his muscles2 his moral conceptions are formed2 he learns to distinguish between right and wrong1 and the recognition of individual and property rights begins to emerge from his nascent moral consciousness4 ,games with companions develop the social instincts4 ,through them he first realizes that he is a social unit--a thread in the social fabric of humanity4 ,action1 constant action1 is the keynote to his present and the hope of his future4 ,he aches for action4 ,if the boy's play and noise disturb you1 do not squelch him1 but rather provide him with a place in which he may exercise these manifestations of his nature without causing you annoyance4 ,a playroom in the house or barn1 a tent1 the lawn1 the park1 the great woods of the country are all ideal playgrounds for boys which satisfy the savage spirit of his nature4 ,there ought to be ample room in this great world of ours for the growth and development of our future men4 ,objection is sometimes made that sports are a non-productive form of energy--a waste of time and strength which might be employed in manual training or in work of economic value capable of being measured in terms of money4 ,it is true that the athletics and games of boys have no money value1 nor are they designed for such purpose1 but the energy expended is not wasted4 ,on the contrary1 it is highly productive of both physical and moral growth4 ,it is productive of strong bodies1 clear eyes1 speed1 agility1 strength1 quick thinking1 sound judgment1 a sense of fair play1 self-confidence1 control of temper1 cordination of brain and muscle1 and respect for the rights of others4 ,their value is educational and cultural--a means to an end and not the end itself4 ,the boy who by reason of financial necessity is required to become a breadwinner is deprived not only of a large part of the joys of boyhood which should be his as a matter of right1 but of many physical activities1 educational in their effect1 which would otherwise train and equip him both mentally and physically for service in adult vocations and good citizenship4 ,the repression of play and its attendant noise is always inspired by motives of consideration for the convenience of the adult and never by a thought of its effect on the boy himself4 ,the repressive method of training1 alone1 is ineffective at any age1 but if it is used sparingly in early childhood and then only when combined with suggestions and directions for activities to replace those prohibited it produces good results4 ,as the child grows in years the positive1 constructive1 suggestive method of training should be employed exclusively4 ,quite as pernicious as the repressive method is the passive system of training--in effect no training at all--which permits the boy to have his own way in everything4 ,it is the resource of the indulgent and lazy parent who seeks the line of least resistance4 ,when combined with a lavish supply of money1 its effects are usually ruinous4 ,i know a boy now fifteen years of age1 a typical spoiled son of a wealthy father4 ,at our first meeting1 a year ago1 the sartorial display on his stunted physique was loud and elaborate and was the work1 he volunteered1 of his father's tailor4 ,he was decorated with a gold watch and chain1 an elaborate scarf pin and two finger rings conspicuous for their size4 ,he immediately began to boast to the little group of boys who surrounded him of the cost and superiority of his clothes1 his rifle1 his canoe and his pony4 ,at first1 the group looked on in mingled awe and admiration4 ,then their keen insight and sense of humor were betrayed in the knowing winks and nods which they exchanged1 followed by a volley of questions designed to hold him up to ridicule1 until the poor little sham of a boy1 unable to bear their raillery longer1 finally blurted out in an attempt to silence his inquisitors1 8,my father's got more money than all of your fathers put together40 ,i have long held the belief that the boy is the mirror of his home4 ,a subsequent acquaintance with the lad's father and his home life confirmed my impression that the sum total of this boy's training consisted in gratifying his every wish4 ,for the boy to ask was to receive4 ,while the father expended a wealth of money1 he did not expend a single thought concerning its effect on his son4 ,only pity can be evoked at the plight of such a boy handicapped as he is by these false ideals and standards of life4 ,it is doubtful whether even the unsympathetic1 stern and harsh discipline of the brutalist is more conducive to crippled character than the methods of the lavish1 coddling and cosseting parent4 ,parents have the choice of two plans in correcting faults and developing character in the boy4 ,one consists in the prohibition of acts and the application of censure for wrongdoing1 and proceeds on the theory that the consequences of wrongdoing will be made so unpleasant that he will abandon the acts complained of to avoid the resulting censure4 ,the other plan is to suggest the desired course of conduct and to praise the boy for his good acts and qualities to the extent that he will continually seek to earn approval by doing the things which call forth approbation4 ,the boy1 like the adult1 is keenly susceptible to praise4 ,the exaltation of spirit which follows the word of approval given as a reward for good deeds is a continued inspiration to future goodness4 ,the effects of blame are depressing2 of praise1 stimulating4 ,a certain boy has hanging on the wall of his bedroom an honor shield on which silver 8merit stars0 are placed for conspicuous good deeds1 deportment1 and scholarship4 ,as each unworthy act or failure of duty causes the removal of a star1 the owner is keenly alive to keeping his escutcheon bright with evidences of merit4 ,the boy is intensely human1 although we may not at all times treat him like a human being4 ,as our own best efforts are inspired by commendation or reward1 so the boy is quickened to highest endeavor by praise and not by blame4 ,rewards are more effective incentives to excellence than demerits or punishments4 ,the constant repression of a child's actions by prohibition is a cruel form of punishment which drives him farther and farther out of the range of the parent's influence for suggestive helpfulness4 8,do this60 is more effective than 8,don't do that60 ,,chapter ,,viii ,,the ,,suggestive ,,method ,,of ,,training ,every parent of a son should formulate some definite1 determinate plan for his training1 and this can be done even though original research and the formation of plans deduced therefrom are not always possible to the parent whose life is bulging with other activities necessitated by our hurrying civilization4 ,any definite plan of training is better than no plan1 inasmuch as it will cause us to think and to use our best judgment on this important topic and so tend to a clarification of preformed vague or inchoate opinions4 ,would it were possible to state a simple golden rule for boy-training6 ,unfortunately such a complex subject cannot be reduced to fixed rules or mechanical formulas4 ,the complexity of the problem is grounded in the complexity of life2 its solution is found in methods as variant as the diverse needs of mind1 soul1 and body4 ,the author has stressed parental responsibility and the need of parental training as a basic preliminary to solving the boy-problem4 ,the far-flung necessity for parental instruction is made imperative by the racial habit1 of ,americans especially1 of drifting out of touch with their children during adolescence4 ,in the preadolescent period--when our children are childish--we preserve the closest intimacy and companionship by unbending our mature dignity1 at least in the privacy of home1 to a degree which puts us in perfect accord with their natures4 ,under such conditions we are the recipients of their confidences and intimacies which they give freely1 navely and trustfully4 ,in return for the gift of our love1 our own lives are rejuvenated by association with the light1 joy1 and laughter of youth4 ,but the arrival of puberty marks a change in our attitude toward our children of which we are not wholly conscious4 ,at this age the boy is neither man nor child1 but part of both1 and we become impatient with the idiosyncrasies of his nature and conduct which constantly assert themselves at this period of life4 ,our annoyance at the manifestations of his psychic changes1 which is caused by our failure to understand them1 arouses in him the suspicion that he is neither loved nor appreciated and he drifts farther and farther out of the range of our influence until he reaches the hinterland from which little tidings of his inner self ever reach us4 ,the realization of this fact comes to the boy much earlier and with more poignant force than to the parent4 ,the consciousness of his isolation is evidenced by his secretiveness1 his opinion that he is not understood and his belief in parental lack of sympathy4 ,the former relationship of chum and comrade has been superseded by an attitude of unresponsiveness or even hostility4 ,the secretiveness of the boy toward those who do not have his confidence is only equalled by his frankness toward the adult with whom he is on terms of intimate companionship4 ,how many fathers take the time to tell a story to their sons after puberty8 ,or to explain the phenomena of the business1 banking1 industrial1 or mechanical world8 ,the busy parent usually esteems himself fortunate if he can escape the importunate inquiries of his offspring concerning the facts of the man's world2 and the boy1 seeking the companionship of men for which he yearns during adolescence1 is led to the society of the drunken hostler who is ever ready to regale him with a collection of stories replete with profanity and obscenity4 ,american children1 during adolescence1 are reputed to be the most ill-bred children in the world4 ,the apparently lax methods of the ,french and the ,japanese as well as the severe discipline of ,english and ,german parents are both attended by a greater degree of filial respect1 obedience1 and reverence for their elders than is exhibited by our own children4 ,americans have been characterized as bringing up their children by a series of fits and starts1 which accounts for much of the disrespect shown them by their children4 ,at any rate1 it must be admitted that we have no settled1 definite philosophy to guide us in this important function1 and the lack of a determinate system may justly be assigned as a cause for such indeterminate results4 ,the delightful camaraderie between the ,french youth and his father is conspicuous in this country by its relatively infrequent occurrence4 ,our slap-bang1 haphazard plans of boy-culture produce results in conformity with the methods employed4 ,but whatever may be the system used1 any definite1 thoughtful1 continuous policy is better than no policy at all4 ,the author is of the opinion that intimate companionship continued through adolescence1 combined with a median course between ,french laxity and ,english strictness1 will conduce to virile character and manhood1 and love and respect for parents4 ,happy is the man for whom time has not rung down the curtain of oblivion on the scenes of youth2 for only in this state of mental attunement is he able to retain the boy's point of view which is an indispensable requisite to chumship and comradeship with his son4 ,a delightful state of intimacy and confidence with his son makes it possible for the father to guide his conduct by suggestion and counsel which carry a weight and potency unattainable under other conditions2 and that counsel is most productive of results1 which is positive--not negative--for the reason that it is founded on sound psychology4 ,the evils of the repressive method of training find their antithesis in the happy results of the suggestive method which is constructive in principle4 ,suggestion is informative1 optimistic1 and inspirational1 and finds quick lodgment in the inquiring and acquisitive mind4 ,as negative commands are unwelcome because they produce mental hostility and will combat1 so constructive suggestions are welcomed because of their friendly helpfulness4 ,witness how enthusiastically a group of boys will accept the suggestion of an adult who proposes a new game1 sport1 manual activity1 or work along the lines of social or civil service6 ,a patrol of ,boy ,scouts1 under the suggestion of their ,master1 provided food1 fuel1 and clothing for three destitute families during a winter of unusual severity1 until the heads of these families had recovered from sickness and resumed their places as breadwinners4 ,the intensity of their boyish enthusiasm for this work of charity drove from their minds all thought of the peccadillos which1 to a greater or lesser degree1 occupy the minds of idle youths4 ,the idle brain is still the devil's workshop4 ,the boy hails as a friend and companion the adult who understands his needs and who points out to him the clean activities which he loves and for which he is blindly groping4 ,no one is more 8open to suggestion0 than the boy4 ,one winter's day a gentleman encountered a lot gang who had captured a stray cur1 bound him to a post1 and were bombarding him with snow balls and chunks of ice as an expression of their desire for mental and physical excitement4 ,the yelps of pain which told that the missiles had found their mark were greeted with shouts of exultation4 ,instead of reproving them for their cruelty1 he incited their curiosity by tactfully inquiring if they had a mascot4 ,on receiving a negative answer1 he suggested that every crowd of boys ought to have a mascot and then began to discuss the fine points of the cur--more or less hidden from the non-expert eye--and finally suggested that the dog would make an ideal mascot1 provided the boys knew how to take proper care of an animal occupying such an exalted station4 ,spontaneous yells of assent elected the dog to this honor and then the crowd1 at the suggestion of the adult1 spent the remainder of the day bringing him food and building a kennel which was copiously furnished with discarded bed coverings1 after which1 on their own initiative1 they combed his hair and manicured his claws until he presented the well-groomed appearance of a lady of fashion4 ,many subsequent hours were spent in earning pennies with which they purchased a license and a collar on which was a plate engraved with the name 8,rags0 which had been unanimously conferred on him4 ,the quarrels and disputes which arose over their respective rights to the possession of the dog were settled1 at the suggestion of this same gentleman1 by the organization of the gang into a club which elected officers and adopted by-laws1 the president of which awarded the custody of the dog daily in turn to each member--beginning with himself4 ,the necessity for more pets to occupy their attention resulted in the addition of a rabbit1 two chickens1 a guinea pig and a goat to their embryonic menagerie4 ,their next step was the giving of a 8show0 7admission one cent7 in which the menagerie was the chief attraction1 closely followed in popular favor by 8,rags0 doing tricks which the gang had taught him4 ,then they added more fowls to their collection which proved to be the forerunner of a successful poultry yard from which they made a profit by selling eggs and chickens4 ,a boy in an ,iowa city1 rejoicing in a superior physique but lacking the brains to use it wisely1 had bullied1 beaten1 and terrorized the smaller boys of his acquaintance in spite of parental commands1 reproof1 and repeated chastisements4 ,a continuation of his brutality finally landed him in the ,juvenile ,court1 the judge of which was sufficiently versed in boy-psychology to attempt the experiment of making him a 8boy-policeman0 decorated with a tin star1 authorizing him to preserve order among the boys of his neighborhood and especially charging him with the duty of protecting the smaller boys from the assaults of the larger4 ,from that time forward1 the bully was prepared to 8punch the head off'n any feller wot licked a kid40 ,it is needless to say that there were no more assaults on small boys in that locality4 ,suggestion had diverted the exercise of his physical prowess from unlawful into lawful channels4 ,james ----1 age #ae1 was changed from a prodigal to a thrifty boy through a plan for saving suggested and encouraged by his father who opened a bank account in his son's name and offered to add a dollar for every dollar earned by his son4 ,it proved to be a tremendous incentive to industry as well as to thrift4 ,the foregoing incidents furnish typical illustrations of the application of the suggestive method of training as distinguished from the repressive method2 and it may be applied either to the individual or to the group with equally good results4 ,the mental and physical energy ordinarily expended in various forms of lawlessness can be directed1 unconsciously1 into fields of economic and ethical value by the application of suitable suggestions4 ,negation arouses the spirit of combat2 and obedience under these conditions tends to inspire a feeling of surrender and defeat whose influence on character is obviously prejudicial4 ,a father once said1 8,i have never commanded my son not to do a thing4 ,instead1 ,i have suggested that ,i would prefer him to do the other40 ,in this way1 conflict of wills was avoided and the youth was required to make a voluntary choice between two courses in which the father's preference invariably turned the balance in the desired direction4 ,on one such occasion the boy replied1 8,dad1 ,i wish you would tell me ,i cannot do it and then ,i would go and do it to show you ,i can2 but when you tell me that it would hurt you1 ,i just can't do it40 ,the prohibition of a proposed action arouses all the resentment of thwarted desire and unfulfilled attainment4 ,such consequences may be avoided by the suggestion of better plans1 methods1 or acts1 concurrent with the reasons why such change is desirable or necessary4 ,the substitution of other activities or another course of conduct fills the void made by denial and satisfies his psychological requirement of being kept busy4 ,every normal boy is a safety-valveless steam boiler1 stored full of dynamic energy which expends itself in constant action--usually physical--and failure to provide for the utilization and consumption of this energy will result in an explosion in some form of delinquency4 ,cheerful1 helpful1 informative1 intelligent1 and inspirational suggestion is the boy's greatest need and he will accept it willingly from a father who is joined to him by ties of sympathetic comradeship which are long enough to encompass his needs within their bonds4 ,if a father's influence is to count for much1 he should be both a chum and a big brother to his son4 ,,chapter ,,ix ,,the ,,habit ,,of ,,falsehood ,the continued reiteration of a fantasy produces an impression on the brain cells akin to the impression produced by a fact4 ,the fantasy of imagination roams without check or hindrance by childhood until it reaches a land which is believed to be reality4 ,the borderland between fiction and fact is not always clearly defined and the immature mind of youth generally fails to distinguish the line where the one ends and the other begins4 ,fantasy is as real to childhood as reality4 ,who cannot recall in his own childhood an event which illustrates the point8 ,i was once the happy owner of a snare drum which filled a large place in my life4 ,but ,i repeatedly and proudly claimed the ownership of two drums--a bass as well as a snare drum4 ,my claim to the possession of a bass drum was founded on the discovery of a board in the wall of the barn1 which1 when struck with the fist1 gave forth a sound which my childish fancy decided could be only the boom of a bass drum4 ,while a companion beat this sounding board with his fist1 ,i played the snare drum in unison4 ,i never realized that ,i was lying when ,i said ,i owned two drums4 ,i was not4 ,the sounding board was as real a drum to the mind of my childhood as it is unreal to the mind of my maturity4 ,a little lad rushed into his mother's room exclaiming1 8,mamma1 a hundred big ,indians tried to catch me4 ,i shot 'em4 ,i killed two or free40 ,he was arrayed in an ,indian suit1 with a toy bow and arrows4 ,the back yard was the battle field which his imagination filled with blood-thirsty warriors seeking his scalp4 ,his vivid imagination was running riot4 ,it made every bush and tree an aboriginal4 ,shooting an arrow into a bush he shouted1 8,i gotcha1 you bad ,indian6 ,i killed ye dead60 until his victory was complete and he ran to share his conquest with his mother4 ,painters1 while at work on a residence1 climbed up and down a tall ladder extending to the roof4 ,when the owner of the house returned home from business he was met by his five-year-old son who1 pointing to the ladder1 said proudly1 8,papa1 ,i climbed to the top of that ladder today40 ,it was physically impossible for a child of such tender years to accomplish this feat4 ,his statement was not true but the child had not lied4 ,with intense admiration he had watched the painters climb the ladder until in boyish fancy he himself was playing this heroic and dangerous rle4 ,all day long he had marveled at the feat in which he pictured himself placing the principal part1 until his obsession became a conviction4 ,the actual facts photographed themselves in a blur on the poor film of his brain1 already impressed with the clear-cut picture of his imagination1 until the composite result was a mental image in which fancy predominated4 ,if a lie is the voluntary and conscious perversion of the truth1 he did not lie4 ,an untruth is a misstatement of fact due to ignorance or misconception4 ,he was not conscious of a misstatement of fact because he stated the facts as his mental processes recalled them4 ,his inability to distinguish between the real and the unreal resulted in an error for which he was not morally responsible4 ,he related the incident as a fact because his brain1 powerfully impressed by the fancy1 believed it to be a fact2 therefore the boy told it as a fact4 ,fancy is a fairy1 that can hear1 ,ever1 the melody of nature's voice1 ,and see all lovely visions that she will4 --,,frances ,s4 ,,osgood4 ,when his mental development advances to a stage where he can differentiate clearly between fact and fancy2 when the maturity of his mind enables him to draw clearer distinction between the real and the unreal1 when1 in a word1 imagination is superseded by reason1 then such errors will be impossible4 ,his mistake was mental--not moral4 ,therefore1 he was not culpable4 ,i knew a loving mother who washed out her child's mouth with soap as punishment for a similar 8lie40 ,no graver injustice can be perpetrated by a parent than punishment for such an alleged offense4 ,it should be recognized and accepted as an incident which is natural to mental immaturity4 ,the thought is expressed by ,dr4 ,g4 ,stanley ,hall in these words3 8,sometimes their fancy is almost a visualization and develops a kind of mythopic faculty which spins clever yarns and suggests a sense1 quite as pregnant as ,froschmer asserts of all mental activity and of all universe itself1 that all their life is imagination40 ,but ,i hear a mother1 holding up her hands in horror1 exclaiming1 8,i cannot let my child prevaricate6 ,i must punish him or the habit will become fixed40 ,her solicitude for the child's moral welfare is as commendable as it is necessary and her desire to prevent such incidents from becoming a habit is praiseworthy4 ,her methods1 only1 are wrong4 ,instead of punishment the child is entitled to instruction which will develop his mentality until he can distinguish between fact and fancy4 ,with growth in mental stature comes cordination of ideas and a clearer discernment of the line of demarcation between the real and the unreal1 and when the child becomes mentally able to distinguish between the two1 such misstatements of fact will be at an end4 ,falsehood in young children has been characterized by ,dr4 ,hall as 8a new mental combination independent of experience40 ,in rare cases this mental fog continues1 with diminishing intensity1 through maturity4 ,everyone knows of the man who told a story so often that he himself finally believed it4 ,it chiefly manifests itself in adults in exaggeration of the qualities1 abilities1 or prowess of the teller4 ,witness the fisherman of your acquaintance whose account of the weight and size of his biggest fish grows with each succeeding recital4 ,he does not mean to lie4 ,he thinks he is telling the truth4 ,in the beginning he justified his exaggeration of weight and size by doubting the accuracy of the scale and rule by which he weighed and measured the fish4 ,the continued repetition of his yarn produced an impression on his brain closely resembling actuality4 ,he deceived himself4 ,pride in his piscatorial prowess made deception easy4 ,his error was partly mental1 partly moral1 the latter being in direct ratio to the clarity of his mental processes4 ,it is a tremendous tribute to the mental stability and moral discernment of a fisherman to be able to refrain1 in after years1 from overstating the weight of his biggest fish4 ,we now consider another phase of misstatement of fact--the falsehood of the older boy4 ,at the age of six or seven the mental fog begins to clear4 ,he sees things in a truer1 brighter light4 ,the relationship of facts to each other becomes more and more cognizable4 ,his moral faculties are emerging from a chaos of mental impressions4 ,this age1 approximately1 marks the birth of moral consciousness4 ,his conception of right and wrong takes form and begins its process of development4 ,at this period he begins to distinguish between fact and fancy and as his mental processes become clarified by increasing maturity1 so in a corresponding degree his confusion of the unreal with the real disappears4 ,mentality begins to dominate imagination4 ,what of the boy1 under these conditions1 who tells a lie8 ,an inquiry into the motives which prompt his falsehoods may clarify the problem and afford a solution4 ,the study of a large number of untruthful boys has developed the fact that their motives for mendacity are few and are usually comprehended under one class--the desire to escape punishment for an offense4 ,other and lesser incentives to lying are envy1 boasting1 revenge1 jealousy1 and imitation1 but none of these is as potent as the fear of a reprimand1 a scolding1 or corporal punishment4 ,a scolding and a whipping are both painful--one in mind1 the other in body4 ,it is natural for one to seek to avoid pain and suffering4 ,it is equally certain that punishment must inevitably follow the violation of law--whether parental law1 physical law1 or the law of the land4 ,loading the stomach with indigestible food brings its own punishment in the disturbance of the bodily functions4 ,the commission of a felony necessitates a term of imprisonment after conviction2 and with equal certainty punishment should follow the violation of parental law4 ,but if that punishment is unnecessarily severe or if it violates the boy's sense of fairness and justice1 he will seek to avoid it by the most effective weapon of defense at hand--falsehood4 ,nothing is more conducive to deceit than frequent scoldings or floggings for trivial offenses1 and the elimination of corporal and unduly severe mental punishments will remove the chief incentive to falsehood4 ,the remedy for the falsehoods which have their origin in the lesser provocatives referred to above is moral suasion1 a hackneyed phrase often used and little understood4 ,literally it implies the persuasive influence of moral teaching4 ,in its broader aspect and as a cure for lying1 it comprehends the culture of moral consciousness2 training of the will2 fixation of the habit of obedience2 teaching the evil results which always follow falsehood2 the development of mentality 7without which there can be no comprehension of moral concepts72 and the influence of parental example in the exact and scrupulous adherence to truth4 ,all these combined produce the composite result called moral suasion1 which is generally effective4 ,,chapter ,x ,,corporal ,,punishment ,among the corrective measures used in child-training since time immemorial1 corporal punishment occupies a large and conspicuous place4 ,while such punishment is1 at present1 on the decline1 still it is sufficiently widespread and frequent in its application to warrant a discussion of its effectiveness in accomplishng the ends desired1 as well as a word concerning its moral effect on the child4 ,the infliction of corporal punishment implies the inability of the parent to govern the child without it4 ,it must be predicated on the belief of the parent in its superior merits1 which causes him to submerge its humanitarian aspects beneath its supposedly utilitarian effectiveness1 or because he is unacquainted with other methods4 ,it would be difficult to conceive a parent who would beat a child from personal choice when there were other corrective methods at hand which he believed to be of equal efficiency4 ,the author recalls a man of high standing in the financial world--successful in business1 but cold1 stern1 austere and puritanical in his personal code1 who thrashed his son1 from his tenth to his fifteenth year1 frequently as often as once a week4 ,then the boy ran away from home to escape the tyranny and is now a wanderer over the earth1 his heart filled with bitter hatred toward his father1 while the latter deems himself a much abused parent and his son an ungrateful and wayward boy4 ,at no time during the many hundred beatings which he administered did it occur to him that bodily punishment was not a salutary corrective2 he failed to realize the futility of a means which did not accomplish the desired results4 ,had an analogous problem arisen in his business1 he would quickly have discarded any plan which so thoroughly demonstrated its uselessness4 ,this man had a profound and earnest desire to rear his son to perfect manhood4 ,he adopted the method which seemed to him best designed to accomplish that result4 ,today he is a broken-hearted man grieving over his lost son4 ,again we hark back to the wayward parent4 8,fathers1 provoke not your children to anger lest they be discouraged40 ,col4 #c3ba4 ,the average child does not rebel against authority but only against authority which he thinks is unjustly or harshly exercised4 ,he invariably revolts against corporal punishment because he believes any degree of it to be excessive4 ,from the boy's point of view he is a ,lilliputian whom the ,gargantuan parent abuses because of greater brute strength4 ,a fourteen-year-old boy who was being beaten by his father for failure to perform some chore shouted in his face1 8,you wouldn't dare do that if ,i was as big as you40 ,and the boy spoke the truth4 ,the father who is addicted to the corporal form of punishment is deterred1 when his son approaches maturity1 as much by fear of being vanquished in the contest as by a realization of its futility as a corrective of the later adolescent4 ,this form of punishment is commonly adopted to 8break the will0 of the disobedient and rebellious boy4 ,if breaking the will of the boy means making it conform to that of the physically stronger father1 the attempt is as ineffective as it is brutal1 for acquiescence under such circumstances never is evidence of mental consent4 ,servile subjection of will is out of harmony with that growth of will-power which is necessary to the ideal development of the adolescent4 ,persistent1 unjust1 or excessive punishments1 either of body or mind1 furnish a powerful incentive for the boy to invoke his chief means of defense against superior force--evasion and prevarication4 ,such conduct is guaranteed to produce a youthful ,munchausen4 ,what are a boy's means of defense against a beating which he regards1 either rightly or wrongly1 as excessive or brutal8 ,he has only two--flight and falsehood4 ,he knows that he is incapable of matching physical strength with his parent4 ,this knowledge1 combined with whatever love for the parent has not been extinguished1 prevents a contest of strength which the child realizes would be futile4 ,flight is frequently out of the question because of the boy's dependency and his inability to earn his own living4 ,his last means of defense is falsehood1 the use of which he justifies as his only method of escape from unwarranted or excessive punishment4 ,fully conscious of the wrong of lying he considers it the lesser of the two evils4 ,similar in its effect is the nagging of children1 in which mothers are more prone to indulge than fathers4 ,exhibitions of constant scolding1 faultfinding1 and querulous temper1 interspersed with boxing of ears1 smacking of cheeks1 and slapping of hands1 all tend to thwart the child's mental and moral growth and contribute to the making of a wayward son4 ,such punishment is largely mental but none the less reprehensible because it lacks the element of physical pain4 ,to slap a child's hand as a correctional measure1 with the sharp word of reproof which accompanies it1 gives the child a mental instead of a physical shock2 a slap of the same degree given in a playful mood will cause him to laugh4 ,when a boy1 especially in the adolescent period1 begins to complain of the injustice of constant nagging1 scolding1 and corporal punishment1 it is a danger signal which should cause the parent to stop1 look1 and listen4 ,such conduct on the part of the parent alienates the love and sympathy of the child1 conduces to lying1 secretiveness and evasion1 and is productive of truancy and the development of the wanderlust4 ,its psychological effect on the parent is the loss of self-respect which is the inevitable accompaniment of punitive injustice4 ,the punitive theory of the correction of youthful offenses is archaic and should be relegated to the ,paleolithic era from whence it sprang4 ,to mete out punishment as such is vengeance pure and simple2 an eye-for-an-eye-and-a-tooth-for-a-tooth policy which has no place in modern child-culture4 ,with our present-day scientific knowledge of the boy1 as distinguished from our personal knowledge of him in the past1 we recognize the trend of tendencies and understand the portent of symptoms which formerly were either unnoticed or disregarded4 ,we have brought minute investigation1 analysis1 and cold logic into the solution of his problems over which we were wont to blunder4 ,we have made no greater blunders in the past than those we have committed in connection with the corrective measures which it has been the custom of certain parents to employ4 ,the necessity for physical punishment has been superseded by persuasive methods based on a more accurate understanding of the boy's mental and moral processes and his impulses for good and bad4 ,love1 sympathy1 and justice beget loyalty where fear fails4 ,moral suasion1 mental development1 the cultivation of will-power1 the appeal to reason1 the deprivation of liberties and privileges1 rewards for merit1 the exhibition of love1 insight and sympathy1 the use of tact and the honor system1 all are effective substitutes for physical chastisement4 ,the preponderating weight of authority among sociologists and penologists supports the view that the attitude of the parent toward his filial offender and of the state toward the adult misdemeanant should be on the one hand formatory and on the other reformatory--but never punitory4 ,the desire to avoid punishment which the prospective recipient regards as unjust1 whether rightly or wrongly does not matter1 results in the concoction of many ingenious stories and schemes4 ,again the author draws on his own boyhood experience for an illustration4 ,at the age of nine ,i was threatened by my mother with a severe switching for an offense the nature of which has long since been forgotten4 ,the timely arrival of callers postponed the dreaded event and afforded me ample time for reflection4 ,the anticipatory torture which ,i suffered during the hour preceding their departure was greater punishment than the actuality4 ,my mental processes during that hour were these3 8,i didn't do anything very bad4 ,i don't deserve a whipping for it4 ,i am sorry for what ,i have done and won't do it again4 ,it's unfair to whip me for such a little thing4 ,how can ,i escape this unjust licking80 ,at last1 after long and labored mental effort1 ,i evolved a scheme which to my youthful mind seemed the last word in ingenuity and effectiveness2 it would appeal to her pity and give her an object lesson she would never forget4 ,my plan was to obtain some oatmeal from the pantry1 chew it until my mouth was filled with froth and saliva and at the first blow of punishment ,i would fall to the floor in simulation of unconsciousness1 frothing at the mouth4 ,these alarming physical symptoms were designed to touch the wellsprings of pity in my mother's heart and ,i would thus escape this threatened chastisement1 as well as future ones4 ,at last the callers departed and the hour of my doom arrived4 ,she cut two switches from a peach tree and entered the spareroom--that chamber of horrors--and ,i followed reluctantly with halting steps4 ,when the first blow fell1 my instinctive and unconscious activity in endeavoring to avoid it caused it to strike my ear instead of my back at which it was aimed4 8,the best laid plans of mice and men gang aft agley40 ,the lusty yell of pain which followed the contact of the switch with my ear caused me to eject the oatmeal2 and with succeeding yells vanished all recollection of my carefully laid plans for pseudo-fainting4 ,boys frequently show great power of invention in minimizing or evading punishment about to be inflicted4 ,one boy pads the seat of his trousers to mitigate the ordeal1 where the anticipated weapon is the slipper2 another puts on three undershirts where the customary instrument of torture is the switch or rod4 ,still another1 suffering the indignity of being compelled to cut his own switches1 has been known to exceed his instructions and cut the castigatory branch half way through in many places4 ,the spare-the-rod-and-spoil-the-child policy has lost its significance in these latter days4 ,the rod is the emblem of parental ignorance and incapacity4 ,to beat a defenseless child is proof of lack of ability to govern it through moral forces4 ,it is a humiliating admission that one is not qualified for his job as parent4 ,the confirmed user of the rod is either the parent whose neglect of training or wrong methods of training have already produced delinquency in his offspring1 or the parent who believes that a liberal application of the birch will atone for his ignorance on the subject of boy-training4 ,to all other parents the resort to the rod is as unnecessary as it is abhorrent4 ,the final question remains3 ,should the rod ever be used1 and1 if so1 under what circumstances8 ,when lack of training or poor training has produced delinquency in the boy and all other corrective measures have failed--as they usually will fail when applied too late--then corporal punishment1 if not carried to the degree of brutality1 may be attempted as a last resort before confinement in the reform school or house of detention4 ,i have profound pity for the fathers who expend less gray matter in the training of their sons than they do in the training of their hunting dogs4 ,give each the same thoughtful1 intelligent1 patient training and the boy will surpass the dog in docility1 obedience1 and understanding4 ,with better knowledge of the boy and his psychology1 and with better trained parents1 the necessity for the use of the rod has disappeared4 8,train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it40 ,prov4 #bb3f4 ,,chapter ,,xi ,,the ,,cigarette ,,habit ,the widespread use of tobacco has given rise to an equally wide discussion as to its effects on the human organism4 ,medical men are divided into hostile camps by their diversity of opinion as to the effects of nicotine on the adult4 ,the subject has engaged the attention of reformers1 educators1 physical directors1 scientists and physicians for many generations4 ,without attempting an exhaustive discussion of the subject1 the author quotes the following from ,dr4 ,clouston1 an eminent ,english physician1 as to the effect of tobacco upon the adult male3 8,the use of tobacco has become the rule rather than the exception among the grown men of ,europe and ,america and of some parts of ,asia4 ,if its use is restricted to full-grown men1 if only good tobacco is used1 not of too great strength1 and if it is not used to excess1 then there are no scientific proofs that it has any injurious effects1 if there is no idiosyncrasy against it4 ,speaking generally1 it exercises a soothing influence when the nervous system is in any way irritable4 ,it tends to calm and continuous thinking1 and in many men promotes the digestion of food4 ,to those good results there are1 however1 exceptions4 ,it sometimes sets up a very strong desire for its excessive use2 this often passing into a morbid craving which leads to excess and hurt4 ,used in such excessive quantity tobacco acts injuriously on the heart1 weakens digestion1 and causes congestion of the throat as well as hindering mental action4 ,in many people its use tends towards a desire for alcohol as well4 ,i have repeatedly seen persons of a nervous temperament where the two excesses in tobacco and alcohol were linked together4 ,tobacco1 properly used1 may1 in some cases1 undoubtedly be made a mental hygienic40 ,notwithstanding the insufficient scientific data available as to the results of nicotine on mature men1 there is a strong belief on the part of numerous physicians and others that its effect is deleterious4 ,there is no diversity of opinion1 however1 as to the injury wrought by nicotine on the morals1 mind1 and body of the adolescent boy4 ,authorities who have given the subject exhaustive investigation and careful thought are unanimous in their conclusions that the use of tobacco in any form before maturity is injurious4 ,physical deterioration as a result of tobacco and especially of cigarettes has been conclusively demonstrated by measurements and tests of large numbers of young men in colleges1 which show beyond question that physical growth is stunted2 lung capacity1 without which an athlete cannot achieve distinction1 is lessened2 the nervous system is irritated and the heart action is depressed4 ,the lungs are rendered susceptible to pulmonary and tubercular infection and the mental development of the boy receives a serious check4 ,such physical and mental influences cannot fail in producing moral defects as well4 ,dr4 ,george ,l4 ,meylan of ,columbia ,university has compiled some interesting data from his observations of a large number of college students covering the three and one-half or four years of their undergraduate life at age approximately of seventeen to twenty at entrance and twenty-one to twenty-four at graduation4 ,the following instructive table prepared by him shows the age when smokers acquired the habit3 ---------------------------------------- ----- ,age #g #h #i #aj #aa #ab #ac #ad ------------------------------------- ,number #a #j #j #b #j #b #j #aa ---------------------------------------- ----- ---------------------------------------- ----- ,age #ae #af #ag #ah #ai #bj #ba -------------------------------------- ,number #aa #ah #cj #bc #af #j #a ---------------------------------------- ----- ,it will be observed that the largest number of boys contracted the habit at age seventeen1 with ages sixteen and eighteen next in point of numbers4 ,few boys of the one hundred and fifteen observed in the above table began the habit before the fourteenth year1 the age near which adolescence begins4 ,dr4 ,meylan reached the following conclusions based on many years of medical examination of boys and young men and his experience in teaching hygiene3 8#a4 ,all scientists are agreed that the use of tobacco by adolescents is injurious2 parents1 teachers1 and physicians should strive earnestly to warn youths against its use4 8#b4 ,there is no scientific evidence that the moderate use of tobacco by healthy mature men produces any beneficial or injurious physical effects that can be measured4 8#c4 ,there is an abundance of evidence that tobacco produces injurious effects on 7a7 certain individuals suffering from various nervous affections2 7b7 persons with an idiosyncrasy against tobacco2 7c7 all persons who use it excessively4 8#d4 ,it has been shown conclusively in this study and also by ,mr4 ,clarke that the use of tobacco by college students is closely associated with idleness1 lack of ambition1 lack of application and low scholarship40 ,dr4 ,jay ,w4 ,seaver of ,yale ,university has expressed the following opinion as the result of his examination of thousands of university students3 8,the effect of nicotine on the growth is very measurable1 and the following figures are presented as a fairly satisfactory demonstration of the extent of the interference with growth that may be expected in boys from sixteen to twenty-five years of age1 when they are believed to have reached full maturity4 ,for purposes of comparison the men composing a class in ,yale have been divided into three groups4 ,the first is made up of those who do not use tobacco in any form2 the second consists of those who have used tobacco for at least a year of the college course2 the third group includes the irregular users4 ,a compilation of the anthropometric data on this basis shows that during the period of undergraduate life1 which is essentially three and a half years1 the first group grows in weight #aj4d per cent4 more than the second1 and #f4f per cent4 more than the third2 in girth of chest the first group grows #bf4g per cent4 more than the second1 and #bc per cent1 more than the third2 in capacity of lungs the first group gains #gg4e per cent4 more than the second1 and #di4e per cent4 more than the third40 ,the figures quoted above furnish a powerful and convincing argument against the use of tobacco in any form by the person who has not attained maturity4 ,the cigarette is generally considered the most pernicious form in which tobacco can be used and this is the form in which boys generally begin its use4 ,both before and after puberty the boy is imitative of his elders4 8,the boy apes the man0 and the desire to appear 8manly0 in the eyes of his companions is one of the strongest incentives to acquire the habit4 ,as smoking is common among men1 he seeks to acquire this evidence of masculinity by adopting its semblance4 ,it possesses an insidious attraction in its daintiness and apparent harmlessness4 ,the phenomenon of combustion1 the ascending ribbon of smoke which vanishes to nothingness1 the cohesiveness of the ash1 the experiment of blowing smoke rings in the air and the curiosity to learn the effect of smoking on the individual1 all are powerful incitements to the inquisitive mind of a boy4 ,the cigarette habit is usually contracted during the period of adolescence1 or even earlier1 when the organs1 glands1 tissues1 and muscles of his body are in a formative stage of development4 ,it requires no corroboration from medical experts to convince the man of average intelligence that such a powerful narcotic as nicotine cannot be beneficial to growth under these conditions4 ,common sense as well as expert opinion join in condemning the nicotine drug habit of children4 ,you will find nicotine classified in pharmacopias as a drug whose effects are somewhat similar to those of opium and morphine4 ,from #c to #h per cent4 of tobacco is composed of nicotine1 of which #ej to #fj per cent4 is inhaled in smoking1 the remainder being consumed in combustion4 ,the use of tobacco in the cigar or the pipe is less objectionable than in the cigarette for many reasons4 ,it is the almost universal custom of those addicted to the cigarette to inhale the smoke1 which is the exception with the pipe and cigar smoker4 ,but nicotine is not the only poison generated in the cigarette even where tobacco is not combined with opium or other drugs used to contribute to its flavor and aroma2 the combustion of tobacco with the rice paper in which it is rolled makes a compound which is neither tobacco smoke nor paper smoke1 but an alkaloid known as acrolein1 8the name of which is known to all scientists and the smell of which is known to everyone40 ,another injurious product of cigarette combustion is carbonic oxide4 ,these two products of the cigarette are far more virulent than tobacco smoke4 ,they enter the blood through the mucous membranes of the mouth1 throat1 bronchial tubes1 and lungs and act as powerful depressives on the heart4 ,cigarette poisoning manifests itself in lung and throat irritation1 restlessness1 nervousness1 petulance1 inability to concentrate thought1 and depression of the nervous system4 ,the effect is not only physical but moral4 ,the keen sense of discrimination between right and wrong is blunted and the finer moral conceptions become obtused4 ,the highest scholarship in our colleges and universities is attained by men who are non-smokers4 ,the famous college athletes have a smaller proportion of smokers than those who have not achieved distinction in athletics4 ,if these facts are true of college men approaching maturity1 they will be still more apparent in younger boys4 ,unfortunately1 there has been no scientific investigation along these lines among boys in our secondary schools4 ,but the head of one of our leading preparatory schools is authority for the statement that tobacco is the bane of his school and that more boys break down in health and are sent home from its influence than from any other4 ,a recognition of the evil results of cigarette smoking by minors is crystallized in the enactment of laws in more than a dozen states against selling cigarettes to minors1 as well as making it an offense for adolescents under specified ages to smoke cigarettes on the streets4 ,the records of juvenile and criminal courts disclose the fact that the cigarette fiends furnish #ij per cent4 of their young criminals4 ,dr4 ,george ,f4 ,butler of ,chicago gives this testimony as to the moral weakening of the boy from the cigarette habit3 8,in my work some years ago at the ,chicago police stations and later as county physician in the detention hospital ,i found that almost without exception the young criminal1 dement or delinquent1 was a cigarette fiend4 ,i am forced to believe that this habit has largely to do with these mental and moral infirmities40 ,the boy at the rear end of a lighted cigarette has little chance of obtaining a position from a business man4 ,even the telltale yellowish discoloration of the fingers and the cigarette stench of his breath give sufficient warning for the employer to inform the applicant that he is not wanted4 ,it takes a strong body and a clear mind to succeed in competitive business4 ,the boy handicapped in the race of life by the cigarette habit is in the same condition as the sprinter who is hopelessly handicapped in a hundred-yard dash2 neither has any chance of winning4 ,john ,v4 ,farwell1 the ,chicago merchant1 is quoted as saying3 8,i would as lief employ a boy who steals sheep as one who smokes cigarettes4 ,one is no more to be trusted than the other40 ,to the same effect is this warning of a well-known ,english physician3 8,a boy who early smokes is rarely known to make a man of much energy and character and he generally lacks physical and mental as well as moral energy40 ,this subject is big with importance for the boy's future4 ,it is one of the great boy-problems and it should be discussed frankly by father and son before puberty1 soon after which period so many boys acquire the habit4 ,it may be difficult for the father1 with a cigar in his mouth1 to persuade his son that tobacco is injurious1 but whether the father is a smoker or not1 a thorough discussion of the subject in all its aspects is sure to prove beneficial4 ,as the boy at this age is in the hero-worship period and as his heroes in early adolescence are always athletes1 an appeal to his innate longing to attain physical perfection and athletic distinction will be found more potent than the appeal for mental or moral perfection1 although the latter should not be neglected4 ,the additional grounds of abstinence from motives of personal purity and self-respect have their effect1 although the argument that he should not needlessly cause annoyance or discomfort to others has little weight with a boy prior to the reflective period4 ,if such warning is given to the boy before he contracts the habit it will usually prove effective4 ,some parents conclude their instruction with the statement that the son1 on attaining his physical maturity at approximately twenty-four years of age--when the danger of nicotine poisoning on the growing boy has passed--may then make his own decision as to whether he will or will not smoke4 ,in conclusion a word of suggestion is offered as to the means which should be employed with boys who have already contracted the habit4 ,dr4 ,h4 ,krebs of ,chicago1 ,secretary of the ,anti-,cigarette ,league1 has used in his practice a simple remedy for the cigarette habit which is reputed to be of great effectiveness4 ,its base is the chemical reaction of a weak solution of silver nitrate with nicotine1 which creates an intensely disagreeable taste in the mouth4 ,after the smoker has rinsed his mouth with this solution and draws in a whiff of cigarette smoke1 the chemical effect of the nicotine in combination with the solution produces such a nauseating taste that further smoking for that day is impossible4 ,the treatment should be protracted until desire has waned and will-power has become restablished4 ,,chapter ,,xii ,,boy ,,gangs ,boys are as gregarious as sheep4 ,their desire to herd together and have a leader is one of the requisites of play1 a most important factor in their educational development4 ,the call of the wild to you is not half so loud as the call of the lot to your boy4 ,it is as natural for boys to run in gangs as it is for minnows to run in schools2 youth calls to youth4 ,there they find others possessing the same viewpoint1 tastes1 desires1 ambitions1 and occupations as their own4 ,to the active boy the gang is a democracy made up of those of his own kind in which he is a free citizen without paternal or maternal restraint4 ,in his new world there is no querulous nor uncomprehending adult to shout repressive commands directed at conduct or action4 ,all is as wild and free as his own wild nature4 ,there are two classes of organization to which boys belong--those formed by themselves without supervision2 and those formed and supervised by adults for them4 ,in the former class are the street and alley gangs1 the 8,dirty ,dozen10 the 8,noisy ,nine10 the 8,pirates' ,crew10 the scrub baseball team1 the 8,swipers0 7organized for petty depredations71 the lot loafers1 school fraternities1 school 8crowds10 8bunches0 or cliques1 and other loose organizations whose only bond of cohesion is some common interest4 ,the latter class comprises boys' clubs2 ,boy ,scout patrols2 ,sunday-school classes2 nature-study clubs2 baseball1 football1 and basketball teams under the direction of a coach2 and numerous other boy organizations having a common interest1 which are controlled by an adult4 ,the gang spirit is strongest between the tenth and fifteenth years and it is at this period that boys spontaneously form themselves into a gang4 ,the leader of the gang is the member who is best equipped for the position by reason of age1 courage1 physical prowess1 and inherent qualities of leadership and the selection is never made by formal vote but by tacit recognition of the leader's superiority and by willing obedience to his commands4 ,a place of meeting or 8hang out0 is essential to every gang4 ,it may be a room behind a shop1 an attic1 a stable loft1 a dugout1 or a shack built of old boards1 scrap tin1 and paper4 ,such shelter supplies the place for their meetings1 houses their communal property1 and satisfies their atavistic desire for cover1 privacy1 and security4 ,they exhibit a strong sense of proprietorship in such a retreat4 ,it is all their own and is guarded from intrusion by other boys with all the physical force necessary to accomplish this result4 ,the morale of an unsupervised gang 7just as of a mob7 is never so high as the individual morale of its constituents--while in the supervised gang it is higher4 ,the gang will steal milk bottles from a back door-step1 loot a fruit stand1 or smash a window1 when no individual in it would commit the same acts4 ,the love of excitement and adventure and the desire to be 8doing something0--including the joy of being chased by the police without capture--are the motives which prompted a certain gang to grease street car rails and to derail cars by placing spikes in the switches2 none of which depredations would have been committed had the interest of the members been directed to legitimate activities and sports which would occupy their leisure time and satisfy their need of physical activity and mental occupation4 ,such offenses are unnatural manifestations of natural tendencies--exuberance run wild1 because unrestrained4 ,the contest of matching wits with the police is thrilling in its possibilities for adventure4 ,hours of time are occupied in planning depredations and much ingenuity is afterwards shown in evading detection and capture4 ,their common danger is the bond which knits them together4 ,they have a code of honor--exhibited principally in their dealings with one another--the first and chief rule of which is that no member shall 8snitch0 on any other member of the gang4 ,and woe betide the gangster who violates this cardinal principle6 ,he may confess as to himself1 but under no circumstances may he include the others1 under the certain penalty of a beating--or worse still1 in the eyes of the boy--ostracism by the gang4 ,psychologically considered1 this trait is a manifestation of loyalty gone wrong4 ,it is as unwise as it is useless to attempt to stamp it out1 when it can and should be directed into its proper channel of manifestation in which it becomes one of the highly prized virtues4 ,the great mass of male offenders haled to our juvenile courts are members of uncontrolled gangs and only rarely is there seen a member of a controlled gang4 ,street and alley gangs are the training schools for delinquent boys and from them is graduated the juvenile criminal4 ,the arrest1 conviction1 and imprisonment of such offenders will not work their reformation4 ,it can be accomplished only through the parent on whom the duty naturally devolves1 or1 in the event of parental default1 through the ,judge of the ,juvenile ,court1 by patiently pointing out the evil results of such lawlessness to themselves as well as to others1 by the stimulation of their pride and honor1 and most of all through diverting the gang's activities1 by parent or probation officer1 to lawful channels such as the school1 office1 workshop1 athletic field1 and supervised society4 ,here may be seen the beneficent results flowing from the application of positive suggestions for employments which will supersede those of harmful import4 ,the inhibition of a lawless activity without the substitution of a lawful one to fill the void thus created has always proven resultless4 ,the gang spirit is inherent in boy-nature and can never be suppressed4 ,no one who understands the boy would attempt to suppress it4 ,objection should not be made that your boy belongs to a gang--and he does belong to one of some sort--but only to the kind of gang with which he is associated4 ,it is your concern whether he belongs to a ,boy ,scout gang or a ,dirty ,dozen gang4 ,the good gang should be encouraged2 it is good because it is supervised2 and the bad gang should be converted into a good one by adult direction4 ,the recognition of the psychologic necessity for gangdom has changed the former prohibition against gang association to the encouragement of the boy to join a clean crowd engaged in clean activities4 ,this innate tendency to gangdom furnishes the cue for his reclamation4 ,supervised gangs are the tongs by which many boys have been pulled from the fires of delinquency4 ,they furnish the means for his reformation as well as for his formation4 ,it is an everlasting stigma on the parent that his son needs reformation4 ,if the boy's formation has been properly nurtured there will be no need for his reformation4 ,the supervised gang forms the normal boy and reforms the delinquent boy1 while the unsupervised gang unforms both4 ,recognizing this intuitive tendency of boys to organize and maintain gangs1 in whatever multifarious forms it may take1 and the pernicious influence of unguided and unrestrained organizations on his moral and physical life1 it is incumbent on parents and those standing in loco parentis to supply him with an organization which will satisfy the gang spirit in his nature4 ,a failure in this regard will drive the boy to association with the unsupervised gang which is frequently the school for dishonesty1 untruthfulness1 bullying1 profanity1 unclean speech1 disregard of the personal and property rights of others1 cigarette smoking1 and social impurity4 ,the unclean gang exerts a powerful pull toward criminality1 while the clean gang stands as a barrier between the boy and delinquency4 ,your boy is a natural gangster1 therefore encourage him to join a clean gang4 ,,chapter ,,xiii ,,the ,,boy ,,scout ,,influence ,what magic there is in the name of ,scout6 ,it calls up before the mind's eye the vision of a buckskin-clad pioneer1 inured to the hardships of the trail and endowed with the virtues of strength1 fortitude1 clear thinking1 and courage which boys admire so much2 one whose everyday life is made up of a series of thrilling adventures and hairbreadth escapes4 ,is it to be wondered at that the hero-worshiping boy1 still in the semi-savage state1 should desire to emulate such a romantic figure in our national life8 ,the organization known as the ,boy ,scouts of ,america is a national movement1 rather than an organization1 whose primary object is character-building4 ,it is non-sectarian and non-military4 ,it furnishes the adolescent boy with facilities for the expression of his growing body1 mind1 and soul and inspires the virtues of patriotism1 chivalry1 honor1 courtesy1 loyalty1 self-respect1 faithfulness1 cheerfulness1 thoughtfulness1 and obedience4 ,there are three classes of ,scouts2 the tenderfoot1 the second-class ,scout and the ,first-class ,scout1 advancement being made according to the proficiency shown by examination4 ,suitable badges awarded for each class are prized as great honors and furnish the incentive to further progress in ,scoutcraft4 ,the reader is referred to the official handbook of the organization for a detailed statement of the many subjects included in their curriculum4 ,these subjects cover practically the entire range of an adolescent's interests and activities apart from the home1 the school1 and the church4 ,not the least important among the many requirements of the scout is the good turn or kindness which he must do for someone every day without financial reward4 ,the performance of the daily good turn develops courtesy1 gallantry and social consciousness and fixes in his mind a realization of the fact that he is one of the threads in the social fabric of humanity4 ,the boy-training of today1 whether parental or organizational1 should emphasize the importance of service to others1 and the boy in whom this altruistic idea is grounded will not give his parents great cause for worry4 ,if this organization had no requirement other than the daily good turn1 that fact alone would be sufficient excuse for its existence4 ,these samples of good turns1 taken from the records of a ,scout troop1 are as varied as the natures and opportunities of the boys themselves and afford an interesting study in adolescent psychology3 #a4 ,i helped a blind man 'cross the street4 #b4 ,a steam roller was passing and frightened a horse1 ,i held the horse until the roller went by4 #c4 ,fed a starving cat4 #d4 ,i gave a dime to a orfun asilam4 #e4 ,picked up a broken bottle from the road so it wouldn't cut a horse's foot or an automobile tire4 #f4 ,gave a lady my seat in a street car4 #g4 ,i helped my mother clean out the garret4 #h4 ,i gave a nickel to a poor lame hobo4 #i4 ,i loaned your chauffeur a dime when he was broke4 #aj4 ,i picked up a girl's slate in school when she dropped it and sharpened her pencil4 #aa4 ,helped an old lady with a lot of bundles get on a street car4 #ab4 ,put out a fire in the weeds in a lot4 #ac4 ,ran after a girl's hat which blew off and brought it back to her4 #ad4 ,a team hitched to an ice wagon was walking down the street and ,i climbed in the back way and stopped them and drove them to the police station4 ,just then the driver came running up for his team and cussed me for driving them off1 when ,i was only doing him a good turn4 #ae4 ,i found a borde in the street with a nail stickken up and ,i threw it in a vacunt lot and pushed the nail in the ground4 #af4 ,i uncanned a dog 7i4 e41 removed can from dog's tail74 #ag4 ,i build a bird house in my back yard4 #ah4 ,i licked a big boy for licking a little boy4 #ai4 ,i run errands for my mother when ,i ot to have bin playin ball4 #bj4 ,took some pervisions to a pore fambly near the gas wurks4 #ba4 ,helped a boy with his arithmetic lessons4 #bb4 ,showed a man where ,washington street was4 #bc4 ,i stopped two kids from fighting4 #bd4 ,when my mother was sick1 ,i worked all day helping her on ,sattiday4 #be4 ,i went and staid with a sick boy and cheered him up4 #bf4 ,i found a dog which was lost and ,i ast ,scotty who belonged to the dog and he sed he thot ,mr4 ,edwards up the street1 so ,i took the dog back to ,mr4 ,edwards and he sed thank you and offured me a quarter and ,i sed ,boy ,scouts do not take tips4 #bg4 ,i swore off smokin cigerets4 #bh4 ,i turned in my wages to my mother4 #bi4 ,i cleaned up the alley back of the house4 #cj4 ,i helped a little girl pick up a bag of potatoes when the bag busted and made another kid quit laffing at her4 #ca4 ,i went for a can of beer for ,mrs4 ,schwartzberger4 ,it is evident that the last good turn was performed by a slum boy who had recently joined the troop4 ,it requires no student of psychology to recognize the different developments of moral concepts shown in these replies4 ,some betray the first signs of the dawning of moral consciousness1 while others show a keen appreciation of altruistic ideals1 the result of ennobling home influence and proper training4 ,the performance of the daily good turn develops the faculty for the formulation of ideals4 ,a new relationship to duty is thus fixed and the boy's moral nature is builded1 slowly but surely1 until one can visualize the completed character of the future4 ,of all this1 the boy himself is wholly unconscious4 ,the boy knows little1 if anything1 of the principles or purposes of the ,boy ,scouts before he becomes a member4 ,for that matter1 the average parent has made no great effort to inform himself on the objects1 scope and workings of the organization1 as too frequently he assumes it to be a method devised for his son's amusement1 which will relieve the parent of the duty of personal supervision while the boy is so occupied4 ,he regards it as a species of boy entertainment1 wholly disassociated from its educational and ethical import4 ,the youth knows only two things about ,boy ,scouts1 which he has learned from observation--that they wear uniforms and go on hikes4 ,both of these make a powerful appeal to his imagination and interest4 ,the uniform and the parade satisfy the spectacular and dramatic needs of his nature and the hikes gratify his savage and atavistic tendencies which prompt him to seek the wilds and live temporarily as did his remote ancestor--the primeval man4 ,he joins the organization to satisfy these primitive desires and thus effects a return to the simple life1 which furnishes1 to the city youth especially1 an antidote for the injury wrought by our increasingly complex civilization and hurried methods of living4 ,he does not dream nor care that the fundamental purpose of the organization is character-building2 indeed1 if he were informed of this fact1 his interest would probably wane4 ,he dislikes character-building in the abstract1 but is intensely interested in concrete scout activities which silently and inevitably produce character4 ,the system of teaching a boy ethics and morals by lecturing him or by feeding him with tracts which hold up to view the abstract beauties of morality has long since been thrown into the discard as archaic and useless4 ,it is one of the relics of unscientific training--,puritanical1 wasteful1 inefficient4 ,the keen discernment of the boy's mind sees the dry bones of such methods4 ,the boy is red-blooded and alive and wants live methods4 ,some of our forefathers truly believed they had found the secret of boy-training in the cultivation in him of a sense of self-abasement1 personal unworthiness1 and insignificance which they fostered by requiring the boy to sing hymns which likened him to a poor worm groveling in the dust4 ,i have never yet met a boy who admitted his relationship to the worm--apart from his compulsory expression of the sentiment in song4 ,the ,scout idea is to get back to elemental things by contact with the earth1 the ozone of the open1 the wild life of the forest and stream4 ,these things not only make him a strong1 healthy animal1 but teach him the joy of living and how to live4 ,they train the boy to 8,be ,prepared0 for all the various contingencies of life and thus exemplify the motto of the organization4 ,scout camps and hikes are a school for training the imagination in the legends of the woods and of animal life1 which are inspired by the mystery of the camp fire and the glorious solitude of the starry night1 faintly stirred by the wind in the tree tops4 ,the gleam of wavering lights from the camp fire transforms the faces of the circling scouts into animated sprites4 ,ascending flames split the darkness into dancing shadows which people the surrounding woods with living myths and fables4 ,a kaleidoscopic riot of color mounts upward1 painting luminous images on the retina as it sketches in chromatic outline the heroes of fantasy4 ,it is such things which inspire the poetry of life4 ,nothing furnishes such stimulus to the imagination as the camp fire4 ,it calls into play all the mystery and mysticism of the human mind2 it discovers the hidden wellsprings of romance1 legend and adventure2 it inspires the art of the story-teller as nothing else can do and furnishes a perfect stage setting for the dramatic tale which unobtrusively carries its own moral4 ,it is here that the raconteur can weave his tale from the warp of adventure and the woof of romance until the resulting mantle of heroism fits every boyish auditor4 ,deeds of daylight loom large with valor against the background of night4 ,the potent influence of such surroundings for driving home lasting impressions on the imaginative and sensitive mind of youth has never been equaled4 ,around the nightly camp-fire 8council0 are recounted the events of the day2 awards for merit are given2 songs breathing the martial spirit which boys love so well are sung2 the ,scout ,master's story of heroism and adventure is heard with eager ears and is followed invariably by frank comments indicating the manner of its reception2 finally a drowsy song like 8,my ,old ,kentucky ,home10 reflecting the somnolent spirit of the lengthening hours1 brings the 8council0 to a close2 soon the soft tones of 8taps0 are heard droning from the bugle and1 rolled in their blankets1 the little tourists quickly journey to slumberland4 ,scout associations foster esprit de corps and team work1 as well as a recognition of relative rights and duties which is in the highest degree cultural4 ,the appreciation of property rights is cultivated to such an extent that a scout will not willfully damage the property of another4 ,not the least beneficent influence exerted by the organization is its inculcation of obedience1 discipline1 loyalty1 truthfulness1 chivalry1 courtesy1 respect for women1 helpfulness to others1 patriotism1 and manliness4 ,these qualities are unconsciously and unobtrusively impressed on his plastic character during the formative age until they become a component part of it4 ,a scout is taught that he is always 8on honor10 and that his word is accepted unreservedly1 as the truth4 ,the youth feels more needs than the home1 school1 and church can supply--the need for companionship1 play1 sports1 adventure1 and romance4 ,his gregarious and social instincts must be fed by association with those of his own age2 his love of adventure and physical expression must be gratified by the clean activities of the forest1 the stream1 the ball field2 his love of romance needs find expression in the extraordinary experiences of woodcraft1 pathfinding and cave exploration2 and his love of play must be satiated by rough sports1 games1 and athletics through which he attains his physical1 mental1 and ethical development4 ,it is an application of ,froebel's epoch-making theory of training and developing boys by means of play4 ,it is the utilization of his 8wild period0 by systematic direction and oversight for the upbuilding of character and manhood4 ,the ,scout movement is playing a huge joke on the boy in supplying him1 under the guise of fun1 play1 sport1 and adventure with work1 study1 and developmental activities whose real import is the upbuilding of character1 mind1 and body2 but this ulterior motive is never suspected by the boy until after these results have been accomplished4 ,if the instinctive tendencies to companionship with those of his own age are not normally gratified by membership in a supervised gang they will find expression in his association with an unsupervised gang with the evil results which inevitably flow from such association4 ,the ,boy ,scout organization is the ideal gang because it satisfies his natural desires for gangdom while it is silently and surely building both body and character4 8,of all present-day organizations for the improvement and happiness of normal boyhood10 ,dr4 ,g4 ,s4 ,hall has written1 8the institution of the ,boy ,scouts is built at once on the soundest psychology and the shrewdest insight into boy-nature4 ,the ,scout ,patrol is simply a boy's gang1 systematized1 overseen1 affiliated with other like bodies1 made efficient and interesting1 as boys alone could never make it1 and yet everywhere1 from top to bottom1 essentially a gang4 ,other organizations have adopted gang features4 ,others have built themselves around various gang elements4 ,the ,boy ,scout ,patrol alone is the gang4 ,the whole ,boy ,scout movement is a shrewd and highly successful attempt to take the natural1 instinctive1 spontaneous boys' society1 to add nothing to what is already there1 but deliberately to guide the boy into getting completely just that for which he blindly gropes4 ,the obvious answer to the whole gang problem1 therefore1 is this3 ,turn your gang into a ,boy ,scout ,patrol40 ,a troop of ,scouts is only a denatured gang whose activities have been changed from vicious to character-building tendencies1 a result which is accomplished by the systematic1 helpful1 and inspirational guidance of the ,scout ,master along the lines of the ,scout curriculum4 ,the potent influence of activities disguised as play1 which produce physical and moral betterment1 is nowhere more apparent than in this organization4 ,the things for which the unsupervised gang was blindly seeking have been completely furnished by the supervised ,scout ,patrol4 ,judge ,edward ,porterfield of the ,kansas ,city ,juvenile ,court paid this tremendous tribute to the influence of the ,boy ,scouts3 8,if every boy in the city would join1 the gangs would disappear1 the juvenile court would soon be a stranger to the youth1 and we would rear a generation of men that would not require much police protection4 ,i have never had a boy scout in my court and there are twelve hundred of them in ,kansas ,city40 ,president-emeritus ,charles ,w4 ,eliot of ,harvard stated in a recent address3 8,i feel sure that nothing but good will come from the educational or training qualities of the ,boy ,scout movement as a whole4 ,it is setting an example that our whole public-school system ought to follow40 ,the scheme supplies the companionship of those of his own age and the opportunity1 under competent supervision1 for the exercise of physical1 mental1 and manual activities which make for his betterment4 ,its effectiveness lies in the universality of its appeal2 it touches the life of every boy regardless of social status or religious affiliations2 it gets a moral grip on boys of every phase of temperamental condition2 and its moral virus gets under a boy's hide like a hypodermic injection4 ,the universality of its appeal to boyhood is shown by its membership which is recruited from all ranks of society--from the slum to the palace4 ,it touches the boy on every side of his manifold interests4 ,the best proof that the organization is founded on correct psychologic principles is its popularity with the boys themselves and the splendid caliber of the boys who are graduated from it4 ,its strong appeal is grounded in its harmony with boy-nature4 ,without understanding his mental processes or the psychology of his preferences1 the boy knows what he likes and what he dislikes4 ,he loves the ,boy ,scouts because it is an organization which satisfies the cravings of his boy heart4 ,one ,scout expressed the thought in these words1 8,scouts are always doin' things and they have the most fun40 ,always doin' things6 ,what a world of psychological truth is crystallized in this youthful statement6 ,it drops the plummet in the wellsprings of truth4 ,continuous action is the key to his evolution and by it the budding boy blossoms into the mature man4 ,in a word1 the entire ,scout plan consists of crowding the boy's life so full of agreeable activities of useful and ethical import that he has no time for noxious things4 ,the busy boy is the best boy4 ,the ,scout influence is one of the most powerful factors for good in the boy's life and is the most potent supplemental agency which has yet been devised for adolescent development4 ,we hear much1 in these latter days1 of business and industrial efficiency4 ,experts in this line are able to systematize a business1 a railroad1 or a factory so that a given amount of labor will produce a maximum of results4 ,even such unskilled labor as shoveling is susceptible of scientific improvement4 ,an efficiency expert employed by a great corporation decreased the number of movements of ore shovelers one-half1 with a corresponding increase in tonnage of ore handled1 and without an increase in the expenditure of physical energy4 ,it is equally important that efficiency methods should be employed in the training of boys4 ,scientific methods applied to boy-culture will increase the quality of the output as well as make the work easier for the boy and the parent4 ,the ,boy ,scout movement is an efficiency method of scientific boy-training in mass4 ,it supplements perfectly the work of the home1 the school1 the church4 ,it furnishes a kind of training which none of these supplies and in making this statement ,i do not undervalue the inestimable influence of these institutions on the life of the boy today4 ,the home is the primary and most important agency for the boy's general training1 the school for mental development1 and the church for moral and religious culture2 but in the wide field of boy-nature not reached by these agencies the ,boy ,scout organization directs his development from the child into the man4 ,the organization has passed the experimental stage and is now on the highway of proved success4 ,thousands of boys are clamoring for admission which must be denied until ,scout ,masters can be enlisted and trained to take charge of troops4 ,here is a wonderful field for social service1 ripe for harvest1 awaiting the man who loves boys and who recognizes his duty in having some part in raising the standard of our future citizenship4 ,,chapter ,,xiv ,,juvenile ,,reading ,next to environment and companions1 books exercise the most powerful influence for good or evil on the life of the boy4 ,his companionship with books is as intimate as his companionship with playmates and usually occupies as large a portion of his life1 especially after puberty4 ,the value of literature is two-fold3 it molds the character and develops the taste1 both of which processes are closely related4 ,it is natural for the boy to want 8something to read0 and this desire is not satisfied by schoolbooks1 biographies1 or histories4 ,history which is a mere recital of facts1 names1 and dates in which the human element is little emphasized becomes wearisome and unprofitable4 ,the boy voluntarily reads for entertainment2 he studies because he is compelled to4 ,it is1 of course1 apparent that the child's reading should be suited to his mental and psychological requirements4 ,he begins with nursery rhymes and jingles and then follow fairy tales1 folklore and wonder-tales told by the parent4 ,these serve as an introduction to tales and stories of mythology1 which are in turn stepping stones to history and biography4 ,at the age of nine or ten he begins to develop a taste for fiction1 tales of adventure1 chivalry1 and daring experience which exploit the virtues of some hero1 on which he feeds for a number of years4 ,still another class of reading not denominated literature is contained in the so-called 8useful0 books which are purely informative and educational in character4 ,shortly before the 8teen age10 when he is interested in experimentation and construction1 he seeks books giving information about gardening1 handicrafts1 mechanics1 physics1 magic1 and manual training1 the latter usually accompanied by plans and diagrams for making such things as sleds1 boats1 model aroplanes1 and electrical apparatus4 ,the boy whose reading has been properly directed graduates from tales of adventure into the better forms of literature1 including standard fiction1 imaginative narration1 history1 historical novels1 essays1 and poetry4 ,few children1 unaided1 develop a taste for good literature2 it must be cultivated by judicious direction4 ,the best literature is as potent in its influence for good as trashy reading is for evil4 ,the boy's love for the thrilling1 exciting story of adventure beyond the realms of his own experience leads him to devour the so-called 8nickel library0 and 8dime novel10 which may be easily procured from certain news-stands and provides his private reading of which the parent knows nothing4 ,these paper-back pamphlets are usually brilliantly illuminated in colors to attract the eye and exhibit a thrilling picture illustrating some incident in the story4 ,a few of the titles of these 8yellow0 books afford ample evidence of their contents and influence4 ,i recall through the aid of boyhood recollection such titles as 8,hobo ,harry1 the ,boy ,tramp02 8,reckless ,rob1 the ,red ,ranger of the ,rockies02 8,dare ,devil ,dick1 the ,boy ,bandit02 8,the ,jesse ,james ,weekly10 devoted to the exploits of that outlaw gang2 8,slippery ,sam1 the ,boy ,detective10 and others of that ilk4 ,the widespread demand for such stories is shown by their circulation which now exceeds a million copies annually4 ,in all these lurid tales1 the detective1 outlaw1 vagabond1 adventurer1 bandit1 or tramp is made the hero4 ,their pernicious effect on the boy's character results from idealizing the reputed virtues of the criminal or semi-criminal hero until the lad's moral sense is debased2 and this is quite apart from the vitiating effect on the boy's literary taste which is the inevitable result of feeding on these potboilers and penny-a-liners4 ,such reading matter may be instantly recognized by the parent from its outward dress and should be as promptly banished4 ,but not all trashy reading bears such open and extraneous evidence of its character4 ,another equally vicious class of books appears in the outward form of good fiction1 bound in boards1 with attractive titles and covers1 and sometimes written by authors of well-known reputations4 ,they consist of stories that fascinate the boy with their thrills but inspire false ideals of life even though they do not always possess the fault of openly idealizing vice2 the story of the cabin boy who advanced to captain through some impossible deed of heroism or adventitious circumstance1 without the training or experience necessary to qualify him for the position2 the story of the boy who achieved honor and distinction by trickery or sharp practice2 the story of the hero who gained wealth by some get-rich-quick method1 all are as vicious in their suggestion and influence as the 8nickel library40 ,and the poison of such literature is as subtle as it is fatal4 ,mr4 ,e4 ,w4 ,mumford is authority for the following statement3 8,many a parent1 who would promptly take ,john out to the woodshed if he learned that the boy was collecting dime novels1 himself frequently adds to ,john's library a book quite as bad40 ,the author once requested a twelve-year-old boy friend to tell him about the best book he had ever read4 ,here is his reply3 8,it is a story about two boys who went to ,florida in an aroplane to explore the ,everglades4 ,they got lost in the swamps and jungles and were captured by a tribe of wild ,indians4 ,these ,indians had also captured a little white girl who had wandered away from her parents4 ,one night1 the boys killed nearly all the ,indians with tomahawks as they slept and escaped with the little girl in the aroplane followed by a volley of poisoned arrows which just grazed 'em but didn't hit 'em40 ,the impossibility of the situations1 the false ideals presented1 the mock heroics and the lack of literary quality in the story all were unnoticed by the boy4 ,he saw only a youthful hero engaged in a thrilling adventure which culminated in a rescue of chivalric idealism4 ,the danger from such books is even greater than from the 8nickels0 because1 coming in the guise of good fiction1 their appeal is more insidious4 ,the average boy knows1 either by intuition or by direct statement of the fact1 that the 8blood-and-thunder nickel0 is prohibited by his parents2 hence he reads them in the barn or in the privacy of his room and hides them meantime where they will be safe from the inquisitive eyes of spying parents4 ,i once asked a boy who was engaged in this prohibited reading if he knew the reasons for his parents' opposition4 ,his reply was characteristic3 8,they don't want me to read nothin' excitin'40 ,they committed the mistake of attempting to crush his natural desire for exciting tales of adventure and heroism by confiscating 8nickels0 without giving him equally exciting books of daring enterprise which breathed a high moral spirit4 ,instead1 they fed him on goody-goody books which he accepted with the same grace with which one takes a dose of bitter medicine1 until finally he rebelled4 ,by outside suggestion1 conveyed through his parents1 this boy is now reading 8thrillers0 of some ethical and moral value1 which already give evidence of becoming the gateway to a desire for good literature4 ,the 8yellow0 tale bound in boards should be confiscated and destroyed by the parent as quickly as he would cast an armful of paper-bound 8libraries0 into the furnace4 ,the reading of this stuff by boys is much more common than is ever suspected by parents4 ,boys exchange these books with each other until they become dog-eared and dirty through repeated readings1 and the supposed merit of each is passed from lip to lip as the reader lends the book to a companion with the statement1 8,it's a pippin40 ,the continued reading of this trash cannot fail to have its effect in a lower standard of morals and a longing to achieve the fruits of industry1 ability1 and experience by impossible short-cuts2 in addition to which it keeps him out of touch with good literature4 ,equally detrimental in their influence are most of the comic ,sunday supplements of the newspapers1 especially where they picture the small boy engaged in vicious or mischievous acts alleged to be humorous4 ,no parent would wish to see his own offspring copy the examples set by these comic heroes--yet the inspiration to emulate them is furnished when the parent hands the supplement to his son4 ,there are many books of fiction which give the boy the thrills he seeks for and at the same time present high ideals1 a decent standard of morals1 and such reasonable approach to probable conditions as will not destroy the boy's perspective by their illogicality or impossibility4 ,such books do not always possess the highest literary quality--but they do serve as stepping stones by which the blood-and-thunder addict mounts to better literature1 and1 as such1 they have a definite and valuable place in juvenile reading4 ,it must be apparent that morals cannot be acquired by committing to memory a set of rules1 but are unconsciously fashioned by every influence which strikes the impressionistic and receptive character of youth and leaves its indelible imprint for good or evil throughout the life of the individual4 ,character is formed during the short period of boyhood4 ,it is1 therefore1 of superlative importance that all character forming influences to which the boy is subjected1 including his reading1 shall be of the best and highest type4 ,ideal companions for our sons are more difficult to find in real life than in fiction4 ,the perfect boy may live somewhere--but not in my immediate neighborhood4 ,the companions of our boy are usually worse than he--at any rate we think them so2 if one is good-natured he may be a bully2 if another is of high moral character he may be so lazy and untidy that his influence is unwholesome2 a third may be untruthful1 while still another may be so goody-goody that his influence is positively depressing4 ,but in the carefully selected literature of today may be found suitable companions for your son--the heroes who exemplify in the achievement of enterprises of adventure and daring the virtues which all boys should seek to emulate4 ,manly models are unconsciously copied4 ,from the intimate companionship with such heroes gained by reading1 the boy obtains inspiration for bravery1 truth1 obedience1 honor1 loyalty1 industry1 manliness1 courtesy1 and ambition4 ,chumming with virtue inspires virtue4 8,there is a world10 says ,walter ,taylor ,field1 8into which children may enter and find noble companionship4 ,it is the world of books4 ,let your boy escape for a time from the meanness of the boy across the street1 and let him roam the woods with ,hiawatha1 sail the seas with ,sindbad1 build stockades with ,crusoe1 fight dragons with ,jason1 joust with ,galahad2 let him play at quoits with ,odysseus1 and at football with ,tom ,brown4 ,these are playmates who will never quarrel with him nor bully him1 but from whom he will learn to be brave1 self-reliant1 manly1 quick to do for others1 and set with his face toward the light40 ,the character-building qualities of such books are as unquestioned as their intellectual value4 ,a library has been termed by ,lord ,lytton a 8literary pharmacopia0 which contains the remedies for mental and moral shortcomings4 ,modified to suit the requirements of boyhood it means that doses of literature should be administered as specifics for diseases of character1 as well as to act as tonics to build up the moral virtues4 ,for the boy inclined to deceit books are prescribed in which truthfulness and honor are exalted2 for the lazy boy is prescribed the tale of monumental achievement through industry2 the anemic bookworm should receive a course of reading concerning athletics1 sports1 and life in the open2 disloyalty and disobedience would call for a diet of stories in which the antithesis of these defects is exploited4 ,in a word1 it is an attempt to correct his moral and temperamental deficiencies by placing him under the influence of the heroic characters of fiction who exhibit the moral qualities which the boy lacks4 ,this device is no longer a mere theory2 it has been tried in innumerable instances and always with good1 if variable1 results4 ,the effectiveness of this unique plan will doubtless be in proportion to the skill of the diagnostician in recognizing the exact moral ailment and the accuracy of the literary physician in prescribing the corrective reading4 ,every boy admires a hero and seeks to emulate him4 ,if his hero is one of questionable morals1 the effect of his companionship on the boy reader will be almost as pernicious as the influence of an evil chum in daily life4 ,on the other hand1 companionship with the noble characters of fiction cultivates in the reader the same virtues as those exhibited by the hero and inevitably establishes moral standards4 ,when the boy demands that virtue shall be rewarded and vice punished it is an evidence of his ethical evolution1 and the continued recurrence of these instances in his reading finally fixes for all time his criterion of moral values4 ,the dust-covered books which formerly filled the shelves of our ,sunday-school libraries depicting milk-and-water characters and heroes of immaculate goody-goodyness1 happily1 have been replaced by books portraying virile1 red-blooded1 intensely human heroes who are not afraid to get their clothes dirty4 ,no dust ever accumulates on such books but they do become worn and soiled with constant reading4 ,stories of animal life are valuable when informative of their customs and habits and they generally inspire a love for animal heroes which prompts a manifestation of kindness toward all dumb creatures4 ,not infrequently the hidden moral contained in these stories is driven home as forcibly as in the best fiction in which human beings play the principal rles4 ,a well selected juvenile magazine should find a place on every boy's reading table1 not so much for the value of its fiction--which is so variable in quality--as for its news features concerning the things which loom big in the boy's life--school and college athletic events1 ,boy ,scout meets1 new games and sports1 the latest improvements in wireless construction1 and new ideas in handicraft4 ,it is from such a journal that he obtains information of current events which are commanding the attention of all boys and he thus keeps abreast of the times in ,boyville4 ,the book which furnishes entertainment as well as inspires interest commands the attention of the adolescent in the direct ratio that these elements conform to his psychological development4 ,juvenile fiction is usually interesting to the adult only when read from the juvenile viewpoint4 ,when so read it may prove a fascinating recital of human aspirations and achievements as well as a profound study in the covert psychological impulses which actuate the several characters of the story4 8,the great problem in juvenile reading for the parent10 to quote ,franklin ,k4 ,mathiews1 librarian of the ,boy ,scouts1 8is to choose from the huge mass of boy's books the ones the boy will like best and yet those which will be best for the boy40 ,it is obvious that he will not read what he does not like1 but it does not follow that he should be given all books that he likes irrespective of their influence4 ,rest assured that your boy does not himself select a book because of its high moral tone or its qualities of uplift4 ,he would doubtless side-step it if he suspected such influence4 ,he is looking for thrills1 excitement and adventure--something outside the domain of his everyday experience4 ,if he finds them he is satisfied with the book irrespective of its tendencies for good or bad4 ,i am now speaking of the average red-blooded boy and not the halo-crowned youth of supernal goodness4 ,as long as we supply him with the needed thrills coupled with good influence1 he will not go after the thrills coupled with bad influence4 ,juvenile fiction which does not count for character-culture is worthless4 ,as he advances in years and increases his intellectual equipment his love for lurid tales will wane1 and if his reading has been supervised1 a desire for the best fiction1 history1 biography1 essays1 ethics1 and poetry will easily and naturally take its place4 ,the limitations of this chapter have prevented more than a brief discussion of the influence of literature in shaping the boy's character and intellect and the reader is referred to those books which will be found useful by the parent in outlining and directing a course of reading for the boy at his several periods of development from infancy to manhood4 ,the first two volumes given below are especially valuable for their comprehensive lists of suitable books4 ,,title ,,author ,the ,children's ,reading ,olcott ,fingerposts to ,children's ,reading ,field ,how to ,tell ,stories to ,children ,bryant ,how to ,teach ,reading ,clark ,special ,method in ,primary ,reading ,mc,murray ,special ,method in the ,english ,classics ,mc,murray ,books and ,libraries ,lowell ,books and ,culture ,mabie ,biblical ,masterpieces ,moulton ,readings in ,folklore ,skinner ,history and ,literature ,rice ,childhood in ,literature and ,art ,scudder ,little ,folks' ,lyrics ,sherman ,counsel upon the ,reading of ,books ,van ,dyke ,kindergarten ,stories and ,morning ,talks ,wiltse ,,chapter ,,xv ,,agencies ,,for ,,sex-,,instruction ,the importance of educating the young in the physiology and hygiene of sex is no longer doubted4 ,the widespread ignorance and misinformation among boys concerning the human sexual function is proof of the necessity of substituting therefor normal1 accurate knowledge which will conduce to hygienic and eugenic betterment4 ,however much one may close his eyes to the fact1 it is nevertheless true that many children acquire distorted information about matters of sex at a very early age--much earlier than the average parent ever suspects4 ,among boys1 misinformation on sex matters is the rule and correct information the exception4 ,the necessity for scientific knowledge on the subject is based on 7#a7 the preservation of individual sex health1 7#b7 the improvement of the progeny2 7#c7 the relief of boys from the mental disquietude caused by certain normal manifestations of adolescence2 7#d7 his rescue from the clutches of quack 8medical specialists02 7#e7 the suppression or control of venereal diseases2 7#f7 the abatement of false modesty which prevents sane discussion among adults of a question so important to humanity1 to pave the way for sex-education backed by an enlightened and coperating public opinion1 without which a general dissemination of knowledge covering the dangers to health and morals resulting from wrong sex habits is impossible4 ,there is an ever-present disposition to ring down the curtain of taboo on the discussion of sex4 ,a subject which so vitally affects the health and morals of both the individual and the community should warrant such discreet discussion and thoughtful consideration as will best conserve these vital fundamentals of life4 ,the former antipathy to any reference to the subject is now being slowly superseded by a nobler and purer sentiment which invites the formation of plans and methods designed to obviate the grave physical and moral dangers attendant on ignorance and misinformation4 ,a healthier public opinion and enlightened conscience will clear the way for the instruction not only of the young but of adults concerning the sacred processes of human reproduction4 ,it is obvious to say that instruction on sex can best be given the child by his parents2 they are his natural teachers1 possessing the confidence of the child and having the intimate relationship1 affection and sympathetic understanding which renders personal instruction effective4 ,but the neglect of this parental duty is so prevalent even among educated parents who are solicitous for their children's future1 that courses of instruction in our grammar and high schools and colleges are now being advocated to supply this parental omission4 ,indeed1 one or more public high schools in our large cities have already added sex-instruction to their course of study1 while a number of normal schools and colleges have for some years included it in their curriculums4 ,such a revolutionary innovation has not been unattended by opposition1 chiefly from parents and public school boards1 but only rarely from the heads of educational institutions of advanced grades4 ,the introduction of such a course is attended by some impediments1 not the least of which is the difficulty of procuring teachers who possess both the tact and the pedagogic knowledge necessary to give instruction on the subject in its biological1 hygienic1 and ethical aspects in such a manner as will inform and warn the child against the dangers of premature sex excitation and satisfy his curiosity without stimulating his interest4 ,another difficulty in the way of teaching the subject in public and other schools--even when classes are segregated by sex--is the psychology of the mob1 evident in a large group of boys who already are possessed of copious misinformation which tends to a more flippant and prurient reception of the subject than when the information is given privately4 ,this is evident even in advanced schools4 ,one of our greatest institutions of learning has two courses of lectures on sex-hygiene for freshmen and seniors1 which are generally referred to by the students as 8,smut ,one0 and 8,smut ,two40 ,the ,american ,federation for ,sex ,hygiene is perhaps the leading advocate of the policy of sex-education in graded and high schools1 to be given in conformity with a thoughtful and conservative plan which has its basis in biological study4 ,the heads of many prominent colleges and universities have given their indorsement to this plan which is endowed with such elasticity that it may be varied to meet the needs of the differing mental and physical requirements of the young4 ,conceding that the average public-school teacher has one essential qualification for giving such instruction1 i4 e41 the confidence of the children1 her incapacity because of the lack of a broad scientific knowledge of the subject1 or youth1 or both1 is generally recognized4 ,the other alternative--special lecturers of known scientific qualifications--is open to the suggestion that they would soon be known as 8sex specialists0 and the presentation of the subject under these conditions would place upon it an undue emphasis instead of having it taught in its natural and orderly sequence as a part of nature-study1 biology1 and ethics where it belongs4 ,so1 also1 the children's lack of confidence in an outside lecturer would minimize the good results of such information4 ,physicians are generally regarded as the proper persons to give this instruction1 although the suggestion has been made that inasmuch as the ideal instruction must concern the normal function of sex1 and that a physician's work is chiefly along the abnormal line 7disease7 and a tendency to the development of certain morbidity necessarily results therefrom--the biologist1 especially if a regular instructor1 is the one best equipped for this delicate task4 ,there is an ever-present danger1 either from unqualified teachers or wrong pedagogic methods1 of unduly emphasizing the topic in such a manner that the curiosity of the child will be stimulated4 ,this is the very result which should be avoided2 the boy should be given only enough instruction1 as an incidental part of one of the broader subjects with which it is intimately related1 to satisfy his natural curiosity and suffice the physical and ethical requirements of his particular stage of development4 ,on the other hand1 the difficulties connected with sex-instruction should not be unduly stressed1 for they are not insurmountable4 ,by whatever instrumentality the instruction is given to classes it is agreed that1 as in private instruction1 the information should be only sufficient to satisfy the psychological and physical needs of the child at the period of development which he has then attained4 ,during the period of adolescence the scope of information is1 therefore1 greatly broadened to meet the requirements of that period4 ,the opponents of sex-instruction in schools believe that it will obtrude the subject too prominently in the consciousness of the youth and thereby destroy the restraints of modesty which were intended to be conserved4 ,the advocates of the school plan insist that the beneficent results of such instruction will greatly outweigh any possible evil which may follow from it4 ,they submit that the moral and physical dangers to which children are subject as the result of ignorance1 and the presence of venereal disease in boys to a degree not understood by the general public1 are sufficient warrant for such instruction--wholly apart from other considerations4 ,the entire subject is of tremendous moment and worthy of the careful study1 thought1 and judgment of parents and scientists for the formulation of a future policy which can adequately cope with this great problem4 ,in a report of the ,special ,committee of the ,american ,federation for ,sex ,hygiene on the matter and methods of sex-education this recommendation is made3 8,your committee would emphasize the necessity of good judgment and tact in introducing sex-instruction into schools4 ,it should not be introduced prematurely1 but only so fast as teachers can be found or trained who are competent to give it1 and so fast as public sentiment will support it4 ,on the other hand1 undue weight must not be given to the difficulties attending such instruction even under present conditions1 inasmuch as even occasional mistakes will do far less harm than allowing children to continue to gain this knowledge1 as many of them now do1 from impure sources--receiving a pernicious first impression which induces in them an attitude of mind toward the subject that makes it extremely difficult later to give them the best instruction4 ,in not a few such cases subsequent sound teaching is practically fruitless40 ,,chapter ,,xvi ,,an ,,outline ,,of ,,sex-,,instruction ,the limitations of this chapter will prevent more than a mere outline of the periods in a child's life when sex-information should be imparted and the character of it4 ,familiarity with the boy's psychology given in ,chapters ,,iii and ,,iv will be of value in its application4 ,from birth until the child is six years old--the prescholastic age--he is at home under the care and guidance of his mother1 excluding the kindergarten which is attended by a small proportion of children4 ,during this period the mother's chief concern should be the hygienic care of the child's body and the prevention of danger which may come from an injudicious or immoral nurse4 ,the only sex-instruction should be a simple answer to his question as to the origin of human life--usually prompted by the birth of a baby whom he has seen or of whom he has heard4 ,this may be done by the statement that ,god sent it in a human basket and the doctor delivered it1 or other phraseology which carries the same import and will satisfy his curiosity for the time being until another inquiry is made4 ,it is desirable to remember that the child up to approximately ten years of age will continue these interrogatories to his mother from time to time and that whenever he ceases to make such inquiries it is evidence that he believes he has obtained full information on the subject either from parental or from outside sources4 ,the mother1 not the father1 should begin the sex-education of her son4 ,the most effective method of imparting sex-information is by what is called the biological approach4 ,at age seven or eight the foundation for sex-instruction should be laid by information concerning plant production2 that the pollen dust of the father plant becomes attached to the legs of the honey-seeking bee and is transferred to the mother plant1 where it fertilizes the seed from which a baby plant grows4 ,the function of the wind1 also1 in effecting the conjunction of pollen with the ovule of the stigma should be explained2 and how the pollen or male principle fertilizes and gives life to the female ovule1 making seed from which a new plant is born4 ,now by successive stages and in detail his mind should be directed to the processes of reproduction in the lower forms of animal life1 such as fishes1 snakes1 and frogs2 then to the higher forms of life represented in birds and domestic fowl1 and then to the still higher form of mammals1 and finally to reproduction in the human being1 emphasizing its biological and sacred aspects4 ,the wonderful workings of nature should be made predominant in explaining the reproduction of the lower orders of life while the pure and spiritual phase of human reproduction should be stressed4 ,coincident with the conclusion of such instruction1 there should be given a brief explanation of the functions of the generative organs in the process of reproducing the species1 the injury of secret vice and the necessity for personal purity4 ,at this first sign of approaching puberty the father should assume the duty of further instruction1 which should now advise the boy of the wonderful sexual changes about to take place in his body and the new and powerful desires about to be awakened4 ,the normal development of adolescence should be pointed out and a warning sounded as to the error of mistaking certain natural phenomena for the abnormal4 ,at the age of fifteen to sixteen the necessity arises for admonition against sexual promiscuity and its relationship to the hygienic health of the individual and its eugenic influence on coming generations4 ,during the entire period the note of personal purity should be sounded by a strong appeal to his moral and religious sense4 ,untold numbers of boys go wrong sexually through ignorance1 who would have kept to the paths of purity had they but known4 ,it is important that the boy1 especially during adolescence1 shall be kept from the contaminating influences of theatrical productions whose sex-appeal is conspicuous4 ,the moving picture show1 which fascinates children with its interest1 is objectionable chiefly because of its connection with the cheap vaudeville so commonly associated with it4 ,few vaudeville 8turns0 have any ethical1 moral1 or intellectual value4 ,they are1 at best1 ephemeral entertainment and frequently are so coarse as to be unmoral if not positively immoral in their persuasiveness4 ,the sex excitation produced by the physical display of the partly clothed female1 risqu dialogues and suggestive songs which are common1 in some degree1 to a certain class of musical comedies1 burlesques1 and vaudeville shows is a potent reason for keeping the adolescent away from their influence4 ,and it must be obvious that the sex-problem play is equally unsuited to his needs4 ,as a guide to the subject matter and methods of sex-instruction the author appends a brief bibliography culled from the flood of literature on the subject4 ,much that has been published is good2 some is bad and some is indifferent4 ,the necessity for widespread sex-education has resulted in the formation of many societies whose primary object is the dissemination of knowledge on the subject through lectures and the publication of pamphlets designed for the education of the parent in how and when to impart sex-instruction to his child4 ,other pamphlets1 graded according to the age of the reader1 are to be placed in the hands of the boy himself4 ,such leaflets may be purchased from these societies for the few cents which they cost to publish1 and samples are frequently issued gratuitously4 ,among the many pamphlets1 leaflets1 and circulars issued by the several societies for sex-hygiene1 the following are suitable for the instruction of parents or may be placed in the hands of the boy himself if so indicated3 ,,american ,,federation ,,for ,,sex ,,hygiene4 #aje ,west #djth ,st41 ,new ,york ,city4 8,report of the ,special ,committee on the ,matter and ,methods of ,sex ,education40 ,thomas ,m4 ,balliet1 ,dean of the ,school of ,pedagogy1 ,new ,york ,university2 ,maurice ,a4 ,bigelow1 ,professor of ,biology1 ,teachers ,college1 ,columbia ,university2 ,prince ,a4 ,morrow1 ,m4,d4 #cd pp41 ,december1 #aiab4 ,copies upon request4 8,the ,teaching of ,sex ,hygiene40 ,prince ,a4 ,morrow1 ,m4,d4 ,copies upon request4 ,,california ,,social ,,hygiene ,,society4 ,u4 ,s4 ,custom ,house1 ,san ,francisco1 ,cal4 ,four circulars as follows3 8,the ,four ,sex ,lies40 #d pp4 8,when and ,how to ,tell the ,children40 ,for parents4 #g pp4 8,the ,secret of ,strength40 ,for boys ten to thirteen years of age4 #e pp4 8,virility and ,physical ,development40 ,for boys thirteen to eighteen years of age4 #g pp4 ,samples upon request with postage4 ,,colorado ,,society ,,for ,,social ,,health4 #adcd ,glenarm ,st41 ,denver1 ,colo4 8,teaching ,regarding ,sex in the ,public ,schools40 ,edward ,jackson1 ,m4,d4 ,reprint from ,denver ,medical ,times4 #g pp4 ,samples upon request with postage4 ,,connecticut ,,society ,,of ,,social ,,hygiene4 #db ,high ,street1 ,hartford1 ,connecticut4 8,sex ,hygiene for ,young ,men40 #h pp4 ,,chicago ,,society ,,of ,,social ,,hygiene4 #cje ,reliance ,building1 ,chicago1 ,ill4 ,a circular3 8,self ,protection40 ,sexual ,hygiene for ,young ,men4 #d pp4 ,,maryland ,,society ,,of ,,social ,,hygiene4 #ae ,east ,pleasant ,street4 ,baltimore1 ,md4 ,two circulars on ,social ,hygiene3 8,sex ,hygiene for ,young ,men40 #aiab4 #d pp4 ,reprint of seven ,charts1 on 8,methods of ,teaching ,sex ,hygiene10 from the exhibit of ,the ,american ,federation for ,sex ,hygiene4 #aiac4 #h pp4 ,samples and prices upon request4 ,,detroit ,,society ,,for ,,sex ,,hygiene4 ,wayne ,county ,medical ,society's ,building1 ,detroit1 ,mich4 ,three leaflets3 8,a ,word to ,parents on ,sex ,hygiene40 #f pp4 8,a ,plain ,talk with ,boys40 ,for parents to tell boys from six to fourteen years old4 #d pp4 8,some ,plain ,facts for ,young ,men upon ,sexual ,matters40 #f pp4 ,single copies upon request with postage2 #be cents per #ajj4 ,,st4 ,,louis ,,society ,,for ,,social ,,hygiene4 #djfi ,shenandoah ,ave41 ,st4 ,louis1 ,missouri4 ,two circulars3 8,a ,plain ,talk with ,boys on ,sex ,hygiene40 #d pp4 8,the ,effect of ,venereal ,diseases on ,young ,men40 #d pp4 ,samples upon request4 ,,the ,,society ,,of ,,sanitary ,,and ,,moral ,,prophylaxis4 #aje ,west ,fortieth ,st41 ,new ,york ,city4 ,educational pamphlets3 8,the ,young ,man's ,problem40 #cb pp4 8,instruction in the ,physiology and ,hygiene of ,sex40 ,for teachers4 #bd pp4 8,the ,boy ,problem40 ,for parents and teachers4 #cb pp4 8,how ,my ,uncle1 the ,doctor1 ,instructed ,me in ,matters of ,sex40 #cb pp4 8,health and ,hygiene of ,sex40 #cb pp4 ,each #aj cents4 ,,the ,,oregon ,,social ,,hygiene ,,society4 #gai ,selling ,building1 ,portland1 ,oregon4 ,five circulars3 8,the ,four ,sex ,lies40 #d pp4 8,when and ,how to ,tell the ,children40 #h pp4 8,books for ,use in the ,family on ,sex ,education40 #b pp4 8,the ,secret of ,strength40 ,for younger boys1 ten to thirteen years of age4 #f pp4 8,virility and ,physical ,development40 ,for older boys1 thirteen to eighteen years of age4 #h pp4 ,,pennsylvania ,,society ,,for ,,the ,,prevention ,,of ,,social ,,disease4 #agjh ,locust ,st41 ,philadelphia1 ,penna4 8,the ,social ,evil in ,university ,life40 ,robert ,n4 ,willson1 ,m4,d4 #aiab4 ,reprint from the ,new ,york ,medical ,news4 #ai pp4 ,prices upon request4 ,,the ,,texas ,,state ,,society ,,of ,,social ,,hygiene4 ,t4 ,y4 ,hull1 ,m4,d41 ,secretary1 ,san ,antonio1 ,texas4 8,instructions ,our ,children ,need to ,form ,ideas of ,personal ,purity40 ,malone ,duggan1 ,m4,d4 #aj pp4 8,the ,child40 ,theo4 ,y4 ,hull1 ,m4,d4 ,reprint from ,club ,woman's ,argosy1 ,december1 #aiaj4 #h pp4 ,,the ,,society ,,of ,,social ,,and ,,moral ,,hygiene ,,of ,,seattle4 ,league ,building1 ,seattle1 ,washington4 8,stamp ,out the ,black ,plague40 ,an envelope containing three circulars3 8,four ,sex ,lies40 8,the ,black ,plague40 8,why1 ,what1 ,when and ,how ,parents should ,instruct ,children in ,sex ,matters40 ,samples and prices upon request4 ,,the ,,spokane ,,society ,,of ,,social ,,and ,,moral ,,hygiene4 #dbb ,old ,national ,bank ,building1 ,spokane1 ,washington4 ,five circulars3 8,the ,need for ,education in ,sexual ,hygiene40 #d pp4 8,a ,frank ,talk with ,boys and ,girls ,about ,their ,birth40 ,children six to ten4 #d pp4 8,a ,straight ,talk with ,boys ,about ,their ,birth and ,early ,boyhood40 ,boys ten to thirteen4 #d pp4 8,a ,plain ,talk with ,boys ,about ,their ,physical ,development40 ,for boys approaching puberty and during puberty4 #f pp4 8,sexual ,hygiene for ,young ,men40 #h pp4 ,sample ,set upon request for #aj cents in stamps4 ,the following books1 among others1 are recommended3 8,truths4 ,talks with a ,boy40 ,dr4 ,e4 ,b4 ,lowry1 ,forbes ,co41 ,chicago4 8,from ,youth to ,manhood40 ,dr4 ,winfield ,s4 ,hall4 ,association ,press4 ,new ,york4 8,what a ,father ,should ,tell ,his ,little ,boy40 ,isabelle ,t4 ,smart4 ,bodmer ,co41 ,new ,york4 8,what a ,father ,should ,tell ,his ,son40 ,isabelle ,t4 ,smart4 ,bodmer ,co41 ,new ,york4 8,the ,renewal of ,life4 ,how and ,when to ,tell the ,story to the ,young40 ,margaret ,w4 ,morley1 ,a4 ,c4 ,mc,clurg ,co41 ,chicago4 ,,chapter ,,xvii ,,children',s ,,courts ,no work on boy-training would be complete without a reference to an instrumentality of recent origin for reclaiming the wayward boy which marks a forward step in the solution of the child problem--the juvenile court4 ,the most notable change in ,american jurisprudence in the last decade has been the establishment and development of such courts for child saving and the prevention of crime4 ,before the advent of these courts1 all children charged with the commission of offenses were tried in criminal and police courts as criminals and with criminals4 ,while awaiting trial1 they were confined in jail with thieves1 confidence men1 beggars1 drunkards1 burglars1 hold-up men1 and murderers1 because the state had made no provision for their separate detention pending trial4 ,under such conditions the child acquired through association and conversation the viewpoint of the criminal as well as an education in crime which he would put into practice after his release4 ,amid such surroundings were laid the foundations for the careers of many of the criminals who now crowd our jails and penitentiaries to overflowing4 ,speaking of such conditions1 ,judge ,richard ,s4 ,tuthill of the ,children's ,court of ,chicago said1 8,the ,state had educated innocent children in crime and the harvest was great40 ,a thoughtful police official once remarked of a boy in such surroundings1 8,he is on a toboggan1 the lower end of which rests in hell40 ,the gradual recognition1 by an aroused public conscience1 of the evil results of such a system put into operation the forces which in many states have abolished the old plan of regarding and punishing the child as a criminal and substituted the principle that the wayward child is a dependent whom the state1 like a wise parent1 will restrain from evil and educate in the paths leading to good citizenship1 through the agency of the juvenile court and its efficient aid1 the probation officer4 ,we now recognize the inability of the child to commit a crime1 judged by the standards applicable to the adult criminal1 for the reason that his mental and moral concepts have not yet reached the stage of development which can distinguish between right and wrong with the clearness of the adult4 ,what in the adult with full consciousness of the import and effects of his acts would be trespass1 assault and battery1 larceny1 and burglary1 are in the child varied forms of moral disease which it is the state's business to cure--not punish4 ,it is conceded that it would be monstrous and brutal to punish a child for contracting measles1 scarlet fever1 or whooping cough1 and it is equally monstrous for the state to punish the same child before he attains moral maturity1 for contracting a moral disease which manifests itself in acts which are crimes only when committed by adults with full comprehension of their moral significance4 ,again we revert for our guidance to the child's viewpoint which in many instances is closely akin to that of the untutored savage4 ,during a summer which ,i spent in the wilderness of the great woods of the ,north ,i encountered an ,indian who habitually killed deer out of season and in violation of the laws of the state in which he lived4 ,when ,i asked him why he did not obey the law1 he replied1 8,god made deer for ,indian before white man made book the law40 ,from his viewpoint1 he was not guilty of wrongdoing in killing deer to supply food for his family2 from the viewpoint of the law he was a lawbreaker4 ,the underlying principle of the operation of children's courts is the recognition of the fact that the offender under sixteen years of age should not be judged or punished by adult standards2 that he should not be arrested1 indicted1 convicted1 imprisoned1 or punished as a criminal4 ,evidence of the offense is not regarded as proof of criminality but rather as light on the question as to how the state1 standing in loco parentis1 can best exercise its parental function in the formation of the embryo character needed to make the boy a good citizen4 ,the child is not punished to make an example of him1 nor to reform him--but to form him4 ,reformation implies the change of a character already formed4 ,the child's character is in an evolutionary period1 susceptible to formation but not to reformation4 ,the criminal power of the state metes out punishment for reformation and as a deterrent to other persons who may be tempted to violate the law4 ,the parental authority of the state is exercised to train the boy to be good and to remove him from the vicious environments which chain him to delinquency4 ,boys are naturally good--not bad4 ,a study of the records of juvenile offenders will show that there are four dominant causes of delinquency1 stated here in the order of their importance1 for none of which is the boy himself directly responsible1 namely3 environment1 poor training or lack of training1 the bad example of parents1 and heredity4 ,i do not subscribe to the theory of the 8innate cussedness0 of boys4 ,the 8innate cussedness0 of parents1 in the last analysis1 is usually the propelling factor in juvenile delinquency4 ,the establishment of children's courts has been significant in the awakening of the public mind to the state's duty toward those of its children who from parental neglect or otherwise are delinquent or dependent4 ,this moral awakening to the consciousness of governmental responsibility for the child has manifested itself in many states in the enactment of laws for the establishment of juvenile courts1 and in others in the revivification and enforcement of sleeping statutes designed to meet the juvenile problem4 ,but the state's duty does not end with the placing of laws on the statute books2 it still remains for them to be made effective by a judge who not only knows the law but who is inspired by a sympathetic understanding of child problems and child-nature2 one who is able to ingratiate himself into the confidence of the boy and thereby become his friend1 helper1 and co-worker in his salvation4 ,a knowledge of adolescent psychology will be of great help in getting the juvenile viewpoint which is so essential for a solution of the problems of wayward children4 ,in a report by the ,honorable ,samuel ,j4 ,barrows1 ,commissioner for the ,united ,states on the ,international ,prison ,commission1 he has this to say concerning the fitness of a judge of such court3 8,the personality of the judge1 as well as that of the probation officer1 is an element of vast importance in the success of any juvenile court4 ,such a court cannot be run on automatic or mechanical methods4 ,let it be reduced to a mere technical mechanism of rules and procedure and it will fail altogether4 ,a firm yet sympathetic1 tactful man of magnetic personality1 as well as of legal knowledge1 who understands boys and can secure their confidence is the man needed for this work2 and some such men have already been called to this position40 ,to the same effect is the testimony of ,judge ,stubbs of the ,juvenile ,court of ,indianapolis as to the necessity of securing the offender's confidence3 8,it is the personal touch that does it4 ,i have often observed that if ,i sat on a high platform behind a high desk1 such as we had in our city court1 with the boy on the prisoner's bench some distance away1 that my words had little effect on him2 but if ,i could get close enough to him to put my hand on his head or shoulder1 or my arm around him1 in nearly every such case ,i could get his confidence40 ,the probation system and probation officers are necessary and effective elements in the operation of juvenile courts4 ,the function of the probation officer is to investigate the facts before trial1 and after probation to visit the child in his home2 keep in close touch with his conduct and school attendance2 admonish or cite for punishment parents who in any way have contributed to the child's delinquency2 advise and encourage the child and report conditions to the court4 ,most courts have one or more paid probation officers1 the others being volunteers4 ,one ,indiana court was fortunate in having the assistance of two hundred volunteer probation officers who responded in turn whenever needed to assist in the work of probation and parole4 ,the effectiveness of a juvenile court is measured by the ability1 efficiency1 and character of its judge and probation officers4 ,judge ,ben ,b4 ,lindsey of the ,juvenile ,court of ,denver1 a leading authority on this subject1 said3 8,of course a juvenile-court system1 while under any average circumstance1 is bound to be a step in advance of the old methods of the criminal law in dealing with children1 yet its permanent and more complete success depends upon the individuals to whom its execution is intrusted4 ,we have heard a great deal about probation officers4 ,upon the character1 tact1 skill and intelligence of the judge and his assistants--the probation officers--largely depends the success of the court4 ,without personal touch1 influence1 patience1 encouragement of the child1 and attempt to arouse all the nobler and better impulses1 and to subdue and suppress the discords of the soul1 complete success is not likely to be attained4 ,the law itself is of small importance compared to these elements4 ,there is no higher or more important position of a public character in the community than that of a probation officer1 unless it be the judge of the juvenile court4 ,perhaps this might illy come from one occupying that position1 yet ,i have no apology to make for the statement4 ,i am sure the statement can be appreciated by few more than by one who occupied so important a position4 ,as this work progresses and its wonderful results are constantly observed1 the force of the statement impresses itself more and more upon the mind of the judge of the juvenile court40 ,the same authority gives the following rsum of his method of dealing with the boys brought within the jurisdiction of his court3 8,in my opinion the best way to reform a boy waywardly disposed is first to understand him4 ,you have got to get inside of him and see through his eyes1 understand his motives1 have sympathy and patience with his faults1 just as far as you can1 remembering that more can be accomplished through love than by any other method4 ,but ,i would not have you misunderstand me4 ,it has been well said that love without justice is sentiment and weakness6 ,we must be just4 ,there is no justice without love and yet we can judge in the light of both1 forgetting not firmness and the right of others4 ,we cannot be just without the exercise of patience and a plentiful supply of those higher qualities of the soul which must be brought to bear if we are able to call out the noblest impulses and the highest and most energetic forces of a child4 ,the juvenile court and the probation system simply supply the machinery for doing this where heretofore such machinery was not permitted by the law4 ,we pursued the blind1 brutal1 incongruous methods of recognizing a child as an irresponsible being in dealing with its dollars and cents1 and denied it the right of contracting even while it was a minor1 whereas when it came to offending against the law1 when its moral welfare1 its very soul1 was involved1 we denied its irresponsibility and placed it upon the same plane and in the same category with an adult40 ,supplemental to the juvenile law is the adult delinquency law1 now on the statute books of certain states1 which makes it a misdemeanor for any parent or other person to encourage1 cause1 or by any act contribute to the delinquency of a child1 punishable by a fine not to exceed #a1jjj or by imprisonment not to exceed one year or by both such fine and imprisonment2 and the juvenile court is given exclusive jurisdiction over such offenders4 ,such statutes are a complete recognition of parental responsibility for many cases of juvenile wrongdoing1 such as visiting saloons to obtain beer for parents2 stealing coal from railroad yards2 stealing brasses or appliances from cars2 breaking open cars and stealing goods1 usually edibles1 which are taken home and used either with the tacit or express consent of the parents2 and many other thefts the fruits of which are shared directly or indirectly by the parents4 ,from this class of depredations the boy graduates into burglary and highway robbery4 ,the adult delinquency law punishes such parents and drives home the consciousness of their responsibility to their children4 ,practically all delinquent boys who appear in our juvenile courts have one or both parents delinquent--delinquent either in the active1 direct sense stated above1 or in the passive1 indirect sense of indifference or ignorance whereby their sons do not receive the moral training which is their birthright4 ,the result of the new method of boy-control now used by children's courts is to reduce the number of commitments to industrial schools1 reform schools1 and other similar agencies of detention and correction from seventy-five to approximately ten in each hundred4 ,where the environment of home life is bad1 the court does not hesitate to remove the child from his home to a place in which he will not be handicapped by such influence4 ,our juvenile courts are at once a standing reproach to thoughtless1 indifferent1 ignorant1 and wayward parents and a beacon light for the guidance of the unhappy children of such parents to useful citizenship4 ,they inspire the admiration1 sympathy1 and coperation of every lover of children who sees in them the future of our great republic4 ,,chapter ,,xviii ,,conclusions ,every boy is endowed 8with certain inalienable rights10 not the least of which is the right to be so trained that he will approach the stature of perfect manhood4 ,it is a birthright in the same sense as his right from birth to food1 clothing1 and shelter4 ,and this right of the child fixes upon the parent the corresponding duty of supplying intelligent training and character-building environment4 ,the basis of all boy-training is parent-training1 which ,i wish to emphasize even at the risk of continued reiteration4 ,and parent-training should be based on a knowledge of boy-psychology and its application to the evolution of the boy1 which will throw a flood of light on many of the problems which we formerly attempted to solve in the dark4 ,his physical and moral growth are so dependent upon or intimately related to his mental growth that the solution of his psychological problems will1 in most cases1 tend to solve the others4 ,the subject presents no serious difficulties to the parent who possesses a consciousness of its importance to the welfare of his son4 ,all of us have certain preconceived ideas on boy-training which emanate from the adult viewpoint and the adult standard of morals4 ,we realize how1 if we were in our son's place1 we would act or ought to act1 but too often we forget that this is an application of the adult standard which is psychologically impossible to the boy4 ,get the boy's viewpoint4 ,patience1 tact1 and insight2 insight1 tact1 and patience will work wonders with your boy4 ,insight is but another name for the boy's viewpoint2 it implies acquaintance with his psychology4 ,the adult viewpoint of boy-problems is out of focus4 ,we must re-adjust our psychologic lenses to see and perceive the motives which actuate his conduct1 if we are to judge justly and sentence righteously4 ,while the parent is passing judgment on his son's acts1 he should not forget to pass judgment on his own judgment4 ,in training your boy1 8you are handling soul-stuff and destiny waits just around the corner40 ,again ,i would stress the need of a companionship between father and son which should attain the intimacy of chumship4 ,such relationship is indispensable to a knowledge of all his difficulties1 trials and troubles1 for he will attempt to solve them in his own crude way if there is no one to whom he can lay bare his soul in the belief that he will find sympathetic understanding and advice4 ,fewer sons would go astray if more fathers would be big brothers to them4 ,the foundation of such companionship is laid in infancy and early boyhood1 but it is neglected and frequently lost at puberty1 at which time it is most needed4 ,we are quite willing to accept the pleasures of association with the light-hearted frankness and joyousness of infancy1 but too often we evade the responsibility of sharing the burdens of the adolescent4 ,few fathers know their adolescent sons4 ,it is true that they recognize the exterior boy and are familiar with his patent activities1 but they seldom know his inner self and it is his inner self which needs help4 ,unfortunately1 we men are endowed with a superfluous amount of egotism which causes us to assume that our sons will1 through heredity or force of our example1 absorb or inhale much of our surplus moral virtue4 ,few boys can work out their own salvation4 ,the let-alone policy is no policy at all4 ,a passive system of training cannot be commended for results4 ,instead1 a plan of active1 suggestive1 sympathetic1 intelligent1 and informative coperation will produce the same beneficial results when applied to the boy-problem as to a business problem4 ,certain apparent deficiencies of intellect as well as of character are often the result of influences far removed from those which are commonly assigned as their compelling causes4 ,it is usual for us to look for the immediate and proximate causes of ailments while remote causes are often unsuspected4 ,among such causes are the physical abnormalities known as adenoids and hypertrophied tonsils1 both of which exercise sinister influence in repressing the growth of intellect and character4 ,it is now generally conceded by the medical profession that these conditions exercise such a profound influence on the physical and nervous system that the free and normal development of intellect as well as of character is retarded4 ,frequently the boy who is backward in school and who often displays tendencies toward truancy1 evasion1 and falsehood because of his mental retardation has reached this state on account of his physical condition4 ,the correction of astigmatism1 myopia1 and other defects of eyesight 7alarmingly prevalent among children7 by supplying him with proper eyeglasses uniformly results in better school grades as well as marked improvement in cheerfulness4 ,the evil effects of impaired hearing1 decayed teeth1 and malnutrition on intellectual progress are also noticeable4 ,the backward1 indolent boy should always have the advice and assistance of the physician1 the oculist1 and the dentist before he receives blame for either mental deficiency or laziness4 ,the effects of heredity and prenatal influence in determining the character of the child have been1 in the opinion of many investigators1 greatly overestimated by the popular mind4 ,the causative influence of training 7and environment which is a part of training7 is immeasurably more potent in the upbuilding of strong moral qualities than heredity4 ,the records of the ,children's ,aid ,society of ,new ,york1 covering more than #ch1jjj children1 many of whom are the offspring of drunken and criminal fathers and dissolute mothers1 show beyond cavil that a good home with love and moral training will usually submerge hereditary tendencies be they ever so vicious4 ,a very large proportion of these children of delinquent parents1 stamped 7according to the theory of heredity7 with rotten physiques and rottener characters1 have1 through good training and good environment1 developed into law-abiding and useful citizens4 ,among them may be mentioned two governors of states1 two congressmen1 four judges1 one justice of the ,supreme ,court1 nine members of state legislatures1 thirty-five lawyers1 eighty-six teachers1 nineteen physicians1 twenty-four ministers1 sixteen journalists1 twenty-nine bankers1 and countless farmers1 mechanics1 clerks and business men4 ,the theory of the 8inherent depravity0 of the boy1 whether attributed to heredity or to an act of ,god1 is a rapidly fading myth4 ,the boy is inherently good--not bad4 ,first know your son and love him2 then you will be able to help him4 ,when you come to know the boy--even the adolescent--he is an exceedingly lovable creature2 and his inherent potentialities for future excellence should be our inspiration for such assistance as will build them into perfect manhood4 ,do not deceive yourself with the belief that your ,johnny is different from other boys and that therefore the principles of boy-psychology have no application to him and to his problems4 ,diversities of temperament and character differentiate individuals1 but all boys possess a common nature whose evolution progresses according to fixed laws4 ,idiosyncrasies and abnormalities of character are of slow growth4 ,they do not erupt suddenly like the measles4 ,it must be obvious1 on consideration1 that no simple panacea can be found for the speedy cure of such complex and diverse diseases of character4 ,good training and wholesome environment supplied throughout boyhood will make good1 wholesome character in manhood4 ,we may summarize1 in so far as it is possible to do so 7of necessity1 crudely and imperfectly7 the principles of boy-training in the following statements3 8,better boys60 should be our slogan4 ,intelligent training is the birthright of every child4 ,the boy is the mirror of his home4 ,the wayward boy is usually the son of a wayward parent4 ,when we reclaim wayward parents we will reclaim wayward boys4 ,the average parent is either unskilled or underskilled in boy-training4 ,the first step in boy-training is the education of the parent4 ,the intelligent parent is the natural and best teacher of his own child4 ,the busy boy is the best boy4 ,constant activity is the key to his evolution4 ,encourage athletics and out-of-door activities for the growing boy4 ,work with boys1 not for them1 produces the best results4 ,get the juvenile viewpoint4 ,insight and patience are the corner stones of boy-training4 ,every father can become a hero to his son through chumship4 ,through play the boy attains a large part of his growth--physical1 mental1 and moral4 ,fix the habit of obedience early4 ,every boy is a gangster at heart4 ,encourage him to join a good gang instead of a bad one4 ,never punish him in anger4 ,he has a keen sense of justice4 ,let the punishment fit the 8crime40 ,the mother's influence on the child is most potent before puberty--the father's after puberty4 ,adolescence is the period of storm and stress in which incongruities of conduct and character are certain to appear4 ,with your patient helpfulness he will outgrow them4 ,train by positive1 helpful suggestion1 rather than negative repression4 ,never prohibit an act without suggesting a substitute to fill the void4 ,give him your reasons for the change4 ,environment molds a score1 where heredity molds one4 ,do your part in building up symmetrically all four sides of his nature--physical1 mental1 moral1 and spiritual--and the result will be ,god's noblest work--a ,man6 ,what profound emotions are stirred in the father's breast when he realizes that his long years of intelligent training have borne fruit in the son he has sired2 and what supreme joy comes to the mother when she beholds her son standing at the threshold of superb manhood and she can truly say1 8,i mothered a man60 ,if ,i have seemed too severe in my strictures of delinquent parents1 it is because of a desire1 grounded in the necessities of the case1 to impress upon them duties and responsibilities which are so frequently neglected4 ,if ,i have seemed too ardent a champion of the adolescent1 ,i offer no apology but the fact that he is often misunderstood and needs an advocate to present his side of the case at the bar of parental judgment4 ,happy the man who has a son and thrice happy he who has three6 ,,transcriber',s ,,notes3 ,italicized text is surrounded by underscores3 italics4 ,obvious typographical errors have been corrected4 ,inconsistencies in hyphenation have been standardized4 ,archaic or variant spelling has been retained4