aass_LBM£ Book. .^''-" The Parent's Library Nine Volumes, Uniformly Bound. 12 mo. Cloth. Per Volume, $1.50 First Steps in Child Training By PROFESSOR M. V. O'SHEA The Trend of the Teens By PROFESSOR M. V. O'SHEA The Faults of Childhood and Youth By PROFESSOR M. V. O'SHEA Everyday Problems in Child Training By PROFESSOR M. V. O'SHEA Putting Young America in Tune How to Teach the Child Appreciation of Mu«iic By HENRIETTE WEBER The Home Guide to Good Reading With Notes By PROFESSOR DAVID HARRISON STEVENS The Proper Feeding of Infants By W. H. GALLAND. M. D. Diseases of Infancy and Childhood By W. H. GALLAND, M. D. Maternity and Infant Care The Liives of Mothers and Children, How "We Can Save Them By W. H. GALLAND, M. D. TliK AUVKNT OF THE TKENS. gbe parent's Uibrarg The Trend of the Teens Mt V;0'SHEA Professor of Education, The University of Wisconsin and Educational Director, Mother's Magazine and Home Life CHICAGO FREDERICK J. DRAKE & CO. PUBLISHERS ^^'^ Copyrig-ht, 1920 By B>edoritk J. Drake & Co. ChicasTo All Riijhts Reserved XLbc parent*6 OLtbrari? A series of practical books relating to the care and' culture of the young, published under the editorial supervision of Profess'^r M. V. O'Shea of the University of Wisconsin, Educa- tional Director, and Mr. Paul E. Watson, Editorial Director, of Mother's Magazine and Home Life, in cooperation with which magazine this Library has been prepared. FOREWORD Tko anthor of this volume has served for many years as educational director of M other ^s Maga- zine and Home Life and also as chairman of the department of education of the National Con- gress of Mothers and Parent-Teacher Associa- tions. During these years he has discussed a large number of problems of child training with parents and teachers whom he has addressed, and who have taken advantage of the opportunity offered by the Personal Service Bureau of Mother's Magazine and Home Life to seek coun- sel and assistance in the rearing of their children. They have freely sought the author's advice and they have given him their experiences in employ- ing various methods in the instruction and dis- cipline of their children. It has been his custom to select the more fundamental and important questions asked by parents and teachers and sub- mit them for investigation to groups of advanced students engaged in the study of child nature and education. It has generally turned out that the author has made practical suggestions to those who have consulted him, and they have in most cases made a trial of these suggestions and have 8 FOREWORD reported the results to the author. In this way a great many concrete instances illustrating char- acteristic traits of childhood and youth have been accumulated, and the outcome of different meth- ods of dealing with them has been accurately recorded. In the preparation of this volume the author has chosen for discussion the more vital of the problems which have been treated in the manner indicated, and he has suggested how these may best be solved under the conditions existing in different types of homes, schools and communities. The author has kept constantly in mind that most parents and teachers are neither familiar with nor interested in technical psychology, biology, or hygiene. They are concerned with the immediate and pressing problems of guiding chil- dren in their intellectual, physical, ethical and temperamental development. They wish to un- derstand why children act in certain ways and how they can most effectively divert them from wrong action. Parents and teachers are so en- grossed with the concrete activities of childhood and youth that they have little time to consider academic questions pertaining either to the nature of children or to their training; and consequently the author has avoided practically all merely theoretical exposition in this volume. He has confined the discussion throughout to typical situ- ations which confront most parents continually FOREWORD 9 in the upbringing of their children. He has used terms which can be understood by those who have had little or no study of psychology, physiology and related sciences, though the suggestions for child training given herein are based upon data derived from these sciences. The author has not allowed himself to forget at any time that this book is designed for prac- titioners who are every hour face to face with childhood and youth in the concrete, and who are training their children in some way whether right or wrong. He has undertaken the difficult task of applying science to practice without leading the practitioner over the technical ground upon which the practice is based. It would have been a sim- pler matter to have dwelt principally in the realm of theory and only occasionally to have made practical application of scientific principles. This is one of a series of four volumes pre- pared for the Parent's Library. These volumes supplement one another and are published simul- taneously. The title of each indicates that? it deals with particular phases of the training of childhood and youth but it has been written with relation to the others in the series. The titles of the four volumes are: ''First Steps in Child Training"; ''Faults of Childhood and Youth"; ' ' The Trend of the Teens " ; " Every-day Problems in Child Training." The reader should bear in mind that the aim 10 FOREWORD throughout eaxjh and all of these books has been to make the discussion intelligible and practical by presenting typical traits of childhood as ex- hibited in the ordinary situations of daily life, and then endeavoring to explain these traits and to indicate how they should be dealt with when they are not in accord with the requirements of life in the home, in the school and in the com- munity. M. V. O'Shba. The University of Wisconsin. TABLE OF CONTBNTS CHAPTER PA6E I The Ceucial Age 13 II Boy Problems 38 III Girl Problems 65 IV When the Tender Passion Appears 95 V Distractions in American Life 141 VI The Role op the Father in the Training OP Youth 1^^ VII The Government of Youth 189 VIII Questions Frequently Asked by Parents AND Teachers 220 IX Books for Parents • -264 Index • • • ^ ' ^ THE TREND OF THE TEENS CHAPTER I THE CRUCIAL AGE The Seven Ages of Man. — Of the seven ages of man, youth is without doubt the most im- portant, the most significant, the most difficult to comprehend and to handle. So men must have always felt, for the literature of the world is burdened with the story of this epoch, reciting its excesses, its passions, its madnesses, as well as its glories and its posibilities. The very term *' youth" is for many of us synonymous with joy, gladness, exhilaration, courage, hope, endurance — all that makes life fresh and enjoyable and promising, as well as unstable and erratic. ** Youth holds no society with grief," says Eurip- ides. The artist who wishes to portray light- heartedness or optimism or daring chooses youth as his symbol. The reformer, too, realizes that if he would get his cause adopted he must appeal to youth, for then all is plastic and possible. Then vision is turned forward and upward. The youth longs for a new order of things — for novel ex- periences. The old and familiar are too tame and commonplace to interest him. The blood of 13 14 THE TREND OF THE TEENS youth is fired with the desire for discovery in every field of interest and action. But the mature man dislikes a changing world, because this re- quires him continually to readjust himself, which comes hard when the bones have got their set, so to speak. As Bacon puts it, — "Young men are fitter for execution than for counsel; and fitter for new projects than for settled business. ' ' So, too, with Shakespeare: ''For youth no less becomes The light and careless livery that it wears. Than settled age his sables, and his weeds Importing health and graveness." Again, the corrupter of youth, the flatterer, as Plutarch calls him, is also aware that youth is the time for him to make his appeal. Now the com and the weeds, the wheat and the tares are springing up together. All sorts of seeds are sown in the soul, and when the warmth and mois- ture of adolescence comes they are ready to start into life. If the weeds and tares are nourished they will thrive, and the corn and wheat will be choked out, and the flatterer knows this. He understands that if the weeds do not get a start now they can not gain much strength when the springtime is past, and the heat of the sum- mer is reached. Youth Among Primitive People. — Not only have the seers of all times appreciated that youth is a period of regeneration, the epoch when the THE CRUCIAL AGE 15 spirit is bom, but nature men have appreciated the same fact, as their ceremonials show. They have observed that there is an age when the boy is being transformed into a man and the girl into a woman with extraordinary rapidity, and they must be given some serious lessons which will make them ready for their new duties. Savage life is above all else a life of physical hardship; it is in unceasing conflict with crude nature. The savage is like an animal among other animals, hunting and being hunted, and there are cer- tain special qualities which he must possess if he would succeed in the struggle. He must en- dure physical pain without a murmur. He must go for long periods without food. He must face danger without flinching. Eastman in his ''Indian Boyhood" tells us very vividly how when the Indian boy shows the first symptoms of adolescent upheaval he is subjected to severe treatment to test his staying qualities, and to impress upon him the fundamental ideals of his race. The boy's teeth are knocked out, blood is drawn from his skin, long fasting is required, and grave dangers must be faced. Familiar Adolescent Phenomena. — Any one who has lived with children passing through this epoch must have observed the rapid outward changes that take place, — the remodeling of the features, the expansion of the chest, the altera- tion of the voice, and the like. Recent investiga- 16 THE TREND OF THE TEENS tion is in a way confirming what people have casually observed in their dealing with adolescent boys and girls. To begin with, hundreds of thousands of children in our own country and abroad have been carefully weighed and meas- ured from infancy to maturity, and the results show markedly accelerated growth during two or three years at the onset of . adolescence. The bones often feel the impetus of growth first, and spring forward more rapidly than the muscles which are attached to them, and this sometimes produces uneasiness in the individual, or even pains," — ''growing" pains. The heart soon re- sponds and its working power is increased, so that the needs of the rapidly expanding organism may be properly attended to. The lungs increase rapidly; the digestive system is affected; and indeed every vital process seems to feel the stir of new life, as it were. The brain could not, of course, remain dormant while all the other or- gans were undergoing metamorphosis. It is the last to receive the adolescent stimulus, but the change is most profound when it does come. The cerebral tissues are more plastic at this time than they were before or will be afterward, due to the fact, possibly, that there is an unusually large proportion of water in the composition of brain cells. Cerebral areas that have lain dormant up until this time now make ready for functioning. So there are other profound changes which really THE CRUCIAI. AGE 17 make adolescence a kind of second birth spirit- ually. The First Effect of Adolescent Development. — We should expect that the effect of this influx of new life would manifest itself in heightened activity in every direction. If we may trust the testimony of poets and ordinary observers, this is generally the case; yet there is a certain sense in which quite the opposite seems to be true. Present-day conceptions of the physical organism as a device for generating and expending energy leads us to the view that activity and growth are under certain conditions antagonistic processes. When an organ is expanding with extraordinary rapidity it cannot expend as relatively large an amount of energy in action as under normal conditions. It may become more responsive to stimulation, but it cannot endure so long in any activity making heavy drafts on vital force. En- ergy may be expended in building the organism, or in repairing it, or in warming it; or it may be utilized in the accomplishment of work of some kind. When it is largely drawn upon at one point, however, as for constructive purposes, the amount which can be employed at other points must be decreased. Adolescent Moodiness. — Maudsley, Clouston, Starr, Marro, Christopher, and other physicians tell us that the nervous system is frequently so disturbed at adolescence that insanity results. 18 THE TREND OF THE TEENS Melancholia often overtakes the adolescent, and so does hysteria and kindred maladies. LaFetra says that during this period ^'morbid introspec- tion into the physical or mental life may lead to hypochondriasis or melancholia. If the normal emotions are overactive at the same time, the 'New England conscience' may be developed, making the individual utterly miserable for months or years. There may be a religious type of melancholia, with dread of having committed the unpardonable sin. Conversions are apt to take place at this time, or calls to enter the ministry, convent, or sisterhood. At times the melancholia may be so profound that a suicidal tendency is observed. Every year, for trivial causes students of both sexes commit suicide. Fear of some terrible disease or of early decay is one type (hypochondriasis), and this is exag- gerated through the agency of quack advertise- ments and pamphlets read by the apprehensive boy or girl." Professor Coe, discussing the tendency of the adolescent toward abnormal introspection says that ''the highly sensitive adolescent conscience is a special feature of the reflectiveness, intro- spection, and self-criticism that tends to set in somewhat preceding the advent of puberty. The absorption of the child-consciousness in objects now gives place to self-consciousness destined soon to become most intense. Heretofore the THE CRUCIAL AGE 19 child has been to himself merely one object among others; he has taken himself objectively. But now he discovers himself and this self is a quivering mass of sensibility. The things about him also get an inner side now, and it is their ultimate principles and their hidden relations to him that interest him. He can no longer take things as they appear; nor can he take anything for granted; much less can he believe anything merely because other persons do so. Nothing short of absolute, undubitable truth, the true inwardness, the complete subjectivising of every- thing, will satisfy him. Nothing less than abso- lutely right principles of conduct can be right at all, and everything in himself that falls short of absolute demands is hateful to him. Heretofore, moral law has been an authority imposing itself upon him from outside; now he discovers that the law speaks loudest within him. Heretofore right conduct has consisted for him in obedience to formal rules; now he begins to inspect the rules themselves, and to find within himself something more exacting and terrible than rules." Adolescent Strain and Stress as Portrayed in Autobiography. — Some striking examples of adolescent strain and stress have been preserved for us in autobiography. Marie Bashkirtseff's Journal gives a vivid account of her nerve storms during this epoch; and Mary McLane's recent autobiographical sketch shows something of the 20 THE TREND OF THE TEENS same neurotic condition. Mill in his reminis- cences tells of his depression at this period. A heavy weight which he could in no way throw off hung upon his spirit, and for months the oppres- sion was so severe that he seriously contemplated putting an end to it all. In Robert Elsmere and Maggie Tulliver we have typical examples of spiritual upheaval during adolescence. Others may be found in Tolstoi's ''Childhood, Boyhood, Youth"; Loti, "The Story of a Child"; Jeffries, "The Story of My Heart," and similar auto- biographies. Criminal Tendencies in Adolescence. — The un- stable condition of the nervous system at this time makes the individual specially liable to evil suggestion. It is becoming a matter of general belief that every person possesses the capacity, in a certain sense, to commit crime; or in other words, to revert to primitive modes of treating the people about him. In every person's life there are at times struggles of greater or less intensity between lower impulses and the require- ments of modern civilized society. If one 's nerv- ous mechanism is in good working order, the higher promptings will be able to hold the lower ones in check ; but in the event of serious nervous strain or excitement the lower and more firmly fixed impulses are likely to gain the right of way. This is precisely what often happens in the storm and stress of adolescence, as students THE CRUCIAL AGE 21 of criminology well know. Professor Swift, as a result of his studies upon the inmates of the Waukesha (Wisconsin) reform school, says that ''The average age at which 225 boys were taken to the Waukesha Reform School was not quite 13.7 years. This is the time when the largest amount of energy is seeking occupation, and wise guidance is particularly needed. Yet this is exactly what these boys do not get. They are left to the chance of the street. At this period of life the nerve tissues are in a hyper-irritable state, and, as Clouston tells us, certain forms or emotional and irrational wilfulness, immorality, impulsiveness, and adolescent insanity are not uncommon. Escapades at this time do not neces- sarily point to a criminal nature. The excessive irritability of the nerve centers, to which the frequency of nervous disorders at this period points, makes them erratically sensitive." Why Boys Leave School Early. — When the work of the school is formal and disciplinary, the chances are that there will be more or less con- flict between the teacher and his adolescent boys. The question is being constantly asked ''Why do boys leave school so early?" and all sorts of answers are forthcoming. Perhaps the following instance will suggest one cause why some boys, at any rate, would rather be out of school than in it. In a certain high school in the middle west there are 130 pupils, 59 of whom are boys. This 22 THE TREND OF THE TEENS is a rather larger proportion of masculinity than one finds in most high schools, but the people in this community have considerable wealth, and they desire that their sons should have the ad- vantages of an education. The superintendent of schools says that many of the boys would rather go to work, but their parents compel them to attend school. The teachers are women, except the principal, who is also superintendent of schools, and who teaches one class in physics. The high school was built up a year at a time on the elementary school, and the teachers grew up with it, most of them coming out of the higher grades. They have been ambitious to stay in the high school, so they have dug away at the subjects they teach, until they seem able to prepare their pupils to pass examinations. But with hardly an excep- tion, their teaching is formal, mechanical, and rigidly exact, without life or content. While the writer was observing a class in botany in this school one day, a boy of eighteen years of age, considerably larger than the teacher, became rest- less and inattentive, and failed to answer the teacher's questions. The work consisted in giv- ing the technical names of the parts of plants, which had been analyzed with a view to making an herbarium. All the work of the class had been confined to the learning of technical facts. There had been no study of the life of plants. THE CRUCIAL AGE 23 Not a word had been said of their economic values, or anything of the kind. Tliis particular boy evidently had no interest in the technical names for plants, and he not only failed to give attention himself, but he distracted the attention of those next to him. Early in the recitation the teacher called him out before the class, and made him stand there during the hour. Of course he was humiliated ; and before the hour was over he was sullen and angry. He left the classroom in an extremely bad mood. It was evident that he had acquired a dislike for the teacher, which was intensified by experiences of this sort. The observer felt most uncomfortable himself. It was really a desperate situation, for here was a teacher who knew little but technical facts, which she was trying to cram into the head of a boy who could not receive them, because nature had implanted in him an instinct to deal with things that had life and movement and signifi- cance. And this teacher, on account of the authority acquired as a result of more or less artificial relations, could discipline this boy so as to make him an object of ridicule on the part of his fellows. There is nothing that will strike deeper into a boy than this. Whether we like it or whether we do not, masculine nature is con- structed on such a plan that it will resent and resist experiences of this kind. Everything mean 24 THE TREND OF THE TEENS will be aroused in a boy under these conditions, and the thing he will try to do above all else will be to free himself from such situations. He would rather work his head off outside of school than to study in a classroom and be subjected to such treatment as he received on this particular occasion. If the regimen of the school could be made more fully adapted to the needs of mascu- line nature, boys would wish to continue longer in the school. It is idle to talk about ways and means of keeping boys in school if they must be taught by persons who have no real grasp on the things they teach, and who do not understand masculine interests and needs. Take the motor type of boy who strongly feels the call of things, w^hose deepest impulse is to be active, and put him in a schoolroom where there is no action whatever, and where everything, even the teacher, is static and formal, and one has a situation where a tragedy cannot be avoided. There is bound to be resistance, inattention, and disorder on the part of such a boy unless he is coerced by the teacher. One will always find strain and stress in such a situation, because it is not in accord with nature's intentions. This does not mean that our teaching must follow nature's plan precisely in detail; but when one flies straight in the face of nature, he is sure to get the worst of the conflict in the end. The Problem of Over-work in the High School. — THE CRUCIAL AGE 25 Throughout the civilized world to-day there is a deepening conviction on the part of physicians, educationalists, and intelligent laymen that the school makes too heavy inroads upon the nervous energy of its pupils. In every progressive country the more observing people are aroused over what seems to be a danger to the nervous health and stability of the rising generation. Congresses of local, national, and international scope are calling upon the proper authorities to give more attention to the physical welfare of the children committed to their care. "With scarcely an exception the physicians of France, Italy, England, and Amer- ica, who have expressed themselves upon the subject declare that a large proportion of chil- dren in modern life are suffering from over- strain. Surely the danger is grave enough ; but it does not lie so much in mental application as in social and other excesses during adolescence, and the unhygienic conditions under wiiich school work is carried forward. It is likely that study does not injure the adolescent so much as unhygienic modes of living and dressing. At a time when the body is rapidly expanding, it is apparent that constric- tion of dress must seriously interfere with health- ful development. Organs thus constricted are un- able to attain complete development, and so they can not perform their proper functions in the body, and the mechanism as a whole must suffer 26 THE TREND OF THE TEENS in consequence. When the digestive system has not attained complete functional development there must, of course, result a lack of energy for the work of maturity. Again, if the eliminative organs do not fulfil their functions properly trouble will follow. The breaking down of the adolescent, physicians are coming to say, is due more largely to the incomplete development of some vital organ which throws the whole machin- ery out of gear, than to overstudy, although the latter is at times certainly not without serious con- sequences. When the adolescent participates too actively in society functions, he is liable to waste his en- ergies. There are few situations which lead to greater dissipation of forces than '' party ^' life. The adolescent girl is at this time extremely sensi- tive respecting the way in which she is regarded by others. She is exceedingly eager to secure the applause of all about her, and her mind works with intense activity to obtain the ends she so much desires. ''Slights" sink deeply, and they may give rise to broodings which are as poison to an already over-tense nervous system. Inhibitions and restraints are thrown off, and the machinery may run on until it may wear itself out. The Increasing Nervous Strain in Life. — As life grows more complex with any individual, ner- vous strain and stress become more intense with him. This is a commonplace, but it has a bearing THE CRUCIAL AGE 27 upon educational work which many have not ap- preciated. In peaceful rural communities there is probably no danger yet of our urging youth be- yond a safe limit of nervous health and stability. But how is it in the city ? In a recent work of great merit, Forel, the eminent Italian alienist, has called attention to the factors in modem life that produce nervous overstrain and mental disturb- ance; and the school plays an important role in unsettling the nervous system of youth. Often teachers — or rather those who lay out their work for them — forget that pupils live much more in- tensely to-day in the home and on the street than they did a half or even a quarter of a century ago. As culture increases; as books and pictures and music become more plentiful; as the telephone brings the young together more frequently for social intercourse ; in short as the objects of inter- est increase in the environment, the individual must make a correspondingly greater effort to adjust himself to them. To read a book expends energy; to study a picture expends energy; to learn to play or sing expends energy; to respond to people on the streets expends energy; to par- ticipate in a ''party" expends energy. Now, multiply all these things in a child's environment, as we are doing everywhere, for this is what cul- ture means, and you may reach the point where his nervous resources will be overtaxed. Add to all these a constantly enlarging school program 28 THE TREND OF THE TEENS which pupils must complete, and one has a situa- tion which should receive very serious considera- tion from teachers as well as parents. A Typical Case of Overstrain in the School. — In one of the leading high schools in this country, the strenuous ideal is carried to the limit. The pupils are all required to be in their seats ready for the day's work at 8:30 A. M. The first heat lasts from 8:30 until 12:30 without a break. It requires a minute or two for the classes to pass from one recitation room to another ; but otherwise the pupils hardly stand on their feet during the course of four hours. In some cases pupils sit continually for two hours. The school authorities acknowledge that this does not seem to be right from a physical standpoint ; but they say they can- not plan the day's program so as to provide for intermissions, and accomplish all that is required of them in the regular work. The school is a large one, and the machinery required to keep it running smoothly is very complex, so that it seems the welfare of individual pupils must be sacrificed to some extent. Not Less Work but Less Waste. — Now, it is not at all certain that the typical high school is requir- ing more intellectual work of a pupil than he ought to do, if he could only do it in the most economical way. But to keep anyone, especially an adolescent boy or girl, continuously at Work for four hours, sitting practically all the time in poorly ventilated THE CRUCIAL AGE 29 and lighted rooms and in ill-adjusted seats is the next thing to manslaughter. It will sound com- monplace to many to say that economy and effici- ency would be promoted by breaking up this four- hour stretch into four periods, with ten minute intervals of freedom. Investigations made at home and abroad warrant one in asserting that more can be accomplished with greater freshness and interest and less fatigue in relatively short periods of concentrated work than in long un- broken periods, when pupils remain seated a large part of the time. An immature organism cannot well endure a four-hour period of con- tinuous application to anything. Young pupils certainly cannot react effectively to educative stimulation under such a regime. It is not ad- vocated that the amount of work required of pupils be materially lessened, but only that the conditions under which this work is done be de- termined with due regard to the needs of high- school pupils in respect to the principles of mental economy and hygiene. Practicable Means of Avoiding Overstrain. — In the school referred to above, there is a well- equipped gymnasium; and it would be a simple matter so to organize the school that every pupil would have twenty minutes of gymnastic exercise during the morning session. This would, in a way at least, offset the disadvantages of long sitting in such seats as are found in the typical school. 30 THE TREND OF THE TEENS This gymnastic exercise would release the intel- lectual centers of the brain, and call into play the motor areas, thus tending to preserve a healthy balance in cerebral functions. If there be no gym- nasium in a school building, then a period of marching, of freehand exercise in the assembly room, or of running out-of-doors should be pro- vided. "With all its disadvantages, this will be 'better than continuous application for an entire session. In addition to the period of physical relaxation, it is highly desirable to arrange for a ten or fifteen minute recess, when pupils may eat a sandwich if they feel hungry, as is apt to be the case when they have had breakfast before eight o'clock, and cannot have luncheon until about one o'clock. A hungry child is not in a condition to profit best by classroom instruction ; and moreover, it is not con- ducive to physical well-being for most pupils to go for such long periods without nutrition. High-School Athletics. — The best safeguard of youth is a wholesome life out-of-doors in games and plays. But there are dangers here, too. Throughout the country to-day there is a growing tendency to restrain high-school students in their athletic activities. Reports have been made to the effect that a number of boards of education have adopted rules prohibiting inter-academic athletic contests. There seem to be a number of valid rea- sons why such action is justifiable, at least in many THE CRUCIAL AGE 31 conmninities. Tlie chief interest in athletics in some high schools is to develop a winning team. The majority of the pupils do not engage in play- ing games themselves ; they simply *'root'* for the team. And when a school celebrates the glories of a winning team, the celebrants often go to excesses of various sorts in their demonstrations. Perhaps the most serious objection to present tendencies is that high-school boys are undoubtedly injured sometimes because of overstrain in athletic com- petition. Within the past few years there have been a number of cases, mentioned in the maga- zines and the press, of breakdown of boys from un- due effort in athletics. At recent meetings of phy- sical education societies and some of the depart- ments of the National Education Association, phy- sicians and others have called attention to the danger of athletio overstrain, especially among immature high-school boys. Injury from Athletics. — Some men on racing- crews deteriorate when they break training. In several universities abundant evidence has been secured showing that a considerable proportion of men who row enlarge their hearts to such an ex- tent that when training ceases and they stop tak- ing exercise degeneration sets in. It is probable that at least one-half of all men who engage in hard athletic contests suffer overstrain which will tell on them sooner or later. Rowing contests are more severe on the heart 32 THE TREND OF THE TEENS than most other athletic contests probably, unless it be basket-ball or sprinting. In baseball, football, hockey, or the like, there are brief periods of rest as the game proceeds so that a player may catch his breath; but when the rowing race is on, it is impossible to call out time for any reason. Every man must do his best even if he drops in the bottom of the boat, which sometimes happens. Running contests, unless they be very short, are as damag- ing to later health as rowing. When a boy drops on the ground in a faint at the end of a race, the chances are that he is injured, and that he will not fully recover from it. Presumably the purpose of athletics is to de- velop strength and health. But actually we are not accomplishing this purpose because we are carry- ing inter-academic athletic contests too far. We should try to establish the practice of engaging in athletics for pleasure, for relaxation, and for the building of the body. Now look at another aspect of this matter, — the athletic program in the typical high-school. At the beginning of the year all the boys are urged to try out for the various teams. The best developed and the physically strongest boys make the teams. What happens to those who are not well developed, who are not strong, and who need athletic train- ing? They are crowded to the side lines to look on. What can be said for a system that selects out those who are already well trained and who are THE CRUCIAL AGE 33 least in need of furtlier training, and devotes prac- tically all the energies and resources of an institu- tion to these few individuals ? Physical Training by Proxy. — In some high schools, most of the pupils are not permitted to use the gymnasium after school hours because it is required for the teams. The teams are trained every day, though they are least in need of train- ing. In such high schools the boys who most need exercise have only one or two short periods a week. If these outcasts do manage to get up a team, they cannot very well take care of them- selves. In some schools the physical training teachers devote nine-tenths of their energies to a few boys on the teams who could quite well get on without their services. If this is good educational policy, then the rest of our educational system must have gone hope- lessly awry. In teaching mathematics, or history, or science, or any other subject, we do not think a few pupils should be selected out because of their superior ability and given all the attention of the teachers, while the others are left to shift for them- selves. There is nothing good to be said for this vicious system, which puts all the emphasis on teams and allows the rest of the pupils to secure their athletic training by standing around twid- dling their thumbs while the teams perform. This does not mean that there should not be teams in a high school. There should be teams. 34 THE TREND OF THE TEENS But if tliey cannot be trained without sacrificing the rest of the pupils, then they should be aban- doned. It would be better to give less attention to the teams and more to the mass, — better for every- one concerned. As it is now in many schools, mem- bers of the teams are often over-trained so that they are injured, whereas the great bulk of pupils are under-trained. Inter-scholastic Competition. — Will not those who have charge of physical training in the high school get together and agree to reduce the impor- tance attached to inter-scholastic competition? This wasteful, inefficient, harmful system should not persist forever. Some schools have already solved the problem. "While these schools have teams, they do not permit their teams to monopo- lize the time, energy, and opportunities of the athletic trainers, the gymnasium, the athletic fields, and so on. There is another reason why it is important to reduce the importance attached to teams and inter- scholastic competition in high schools. In some schools the only road to distinction lies through athletic superiority. One can hear pupils in such schools say: **We want to make the team. One can't have any standing in this school unless he can get on a team. If I can't make a team, I am going to drop out of school." Every reader of these lines probably knows pupils who have left school because they could not make a team. There THE CRUCIAL AGE 35 was nothing else in school which was bo desirablo as making a team. In these distracting times, we need to exalt gen- nine intellectual work in every way possible. We should hold up for public admiration pupils who excel in intellectual activities. Their names should be put in the papers. They should be cheered by their fellows. Just so long as the athletic hero receives all the applause of his fellows, just so long will athletics be the chief attraction for most boys. They will put forth their effort in that and not in an intellectual direction. Physical Training of Girls. — Now what about our girls? One who has a chance to observe the girls in graduating classes in different high schools can hardly fail to be impressed with the lack of proper physical development which they fre- quently exhibit. It will be safe to say that at least one-third of the girls who graduate from high school have curvature of the spine, or their shoulders are not even, or they stand in a bad position, or they have too much flesh or too little. Investigations made recently in California showed that about three-fourths of the girls who go to college and university are not in good form physically. What is the cause of this condition? The pre- vailing theory is that high-heeled shoes, constric- tion from dress, and lack of any systematic exer- cise are responsible for the physical deficiencies 36 THE TREND OF THE TEENS of girls. But the chief reason why girls are so poorly developed is because practically no atten- tion has been given to their physical training. In some schools girls do not have any regular physical exercise. They are not given advice by capable teachers regarding their particular defects and how to overcome them. Many of the bodily defects of girls are due to habitual bend- ing over desks, which may cause curvature of the spine, which in turn may cause other troubles. We are probably getting better rather than worse in this respect. There is not so much prolonged sitting in seats as there used to be; seats are being adapted to individual pupils; and the value of healthful physical development is coming to appeal to the layman as well as to the teacher. But there is one problem which has not been solved yet in most schools. Girls are not given instruction regarding their individual needs in respect to exercises and general physical training and hygiene. How would it do to adopt a policy that no girl (or boy for that matter) should be graduated from a high school who showed marked physical de- fects? Suppose this could be impressed upon pupils in the freshman class ; would they not give attention to the matter and come through at the end of the high-school course in better physical shape than some of them do now? The principle of giving marks for physical development and THE CRUCIAL AGE 37 wellbeing is recognized in the selection of teachers, and in some places in admission to college. The best place to put the principle into effect is down in the seventh and eighth grades, and in the high school, when a pupil's body is growing rapidly and taking on its final form. CHAPTER II BOY PROBLEMS ''Breaking the Law." — Recently five boys, ranging from thirteen to fifteen years of age, were arrested for breaking into a hardware store and taking some tools. They live in a small town of about twelve hundred inhabitants. The boys have told the story of how they came to this stage in their career. They did not like their school work. They had got into the habit of loafing on the streets at night. They early learned to smoke and they spent all the change they could get for cigarettes. They devoted much of their time when out of school prowling around for the sake of adventure. There are two poolrooms in this town, and almost every night the boys would visit both of them. They listened to rough, vicious talk in the poolrooms. They heard men say that it was a clever, manly trick for boys to take chances with the law. These men ridiculed the conventions and morals of daily life, and the boys began to think that nobody but a ''sissy" would stay at home nights and read, study, or go to bed. The boys declared that when they broke into the hardware store they did not intend to steal 38 BOY PROBLEMS 39 tools enough to make much difference to the pro- prietor. They wished to show that they dared to do certain *' stunts" which they heard men brag- ging about in the poolrooms. Besides, they wanted to go off on a hike and forage on the way. They needed a few tools which they could not get at home; and even if they could have got them, they did not want their parents to know they were planning an escapade. The boys maintained that they were no worse than most of the boys in their town. They ' * hap- pened" to break into the store, but they declared that a number of their pals would just as soon have done it if they had thought they could have made a good escape. All these boys are on the street much of the time. It is apparent where they got their ideals, and what sort of concep- tion they have formed of how a boy should con- duct himself. Boy Life in Small Towns. — The writer has in- vestigated a number of towns in which boy life is about on the same plane as in the town men- tioned; and many investigators have reported similar conditions in their respective localities. There is little that is wholesome and interesting for the boys in these towns to do when they are not in school. The ''substantial" men of these places have made their >'pile" and they do not want to spend any of it on ''fads" and "frills." When it is proposed that they should help to build 40 THE TREND OF THE TEENS a gymnasium or establish a public playground with suitable apparatus for the boys, they pooh- pooh at the plan. They say they did not have such things when they were young, and they do not propose to furnish them for the rising genera- tion. The churches in these towns are, as a rule, in- effective in dealing with boys. The Sunday serv- ices do not appeal to them. In many towns there is not a church that offers any attractions that meet the needs of boys during the teens. Most of the boys have no affiliation with the churches in any way; even at an early age they boast about their antagonism to it. They say that church peo- ple are ''sissified." They hear this talk in the poolrooms, and they catch it up quickly and think it is a smart thing to ridicule any boy who goes to church or Sunday-school, or who does not sub- scribe to all the by-laws of the gang. If the churches in these towns had swimming pools or bowling alleys or moving picture exhibits or basket ball courts or similar facilities, they might attract boys and keep them off the street and out of the poolrooms. Would it not be worth while to accomplish this even if the Sunday serv- ices were not quite so elaborate, or so satisfactory to adults f "Which is of greater consequence in religious work — to lead the older people of the town into church on Sunday, or to entice the boys off the streets every night in the week and keep BOY PROBLEMS 41 them away from the poolrooms, the livery stables, the barber shops, and the railway stations'? The Sdiools in Small Towns. — The schools in small towns often fail to win and hold boys. The five boys referred to at the outset who are now serving time in a reform school say 'they disliked the work of their school, which consists largely in learning books by heart. There is no manual training, very little gymnastic work, no organized plays and games, and but little laboratory science. The principal and his teachers have asked the board of education for equipment for a manual training room, but some of the members of the board think "manual training is all fol-de-rol." They say they will not support any of the new- fangled notions about schools. Meanwhile, the boys are going to perdition, and the ''substan- tial" men are letting them go. Several of the men in this town who have op- posed innovations in school work have said in substance : ''When we were boys we had to work. But the boys in this town won 't do anything. They run the streets when they ought to be doing chores. They have too much done for them al- ready. We don't propose to pamper them any more. The principal wants a room fitted up with tools for these fellows to fool around in, but we won't spend our money in that way. What time we had for going to school we put in learning our lessons, and that is what these boys ought to be 42 THE TREND OF THE TEENS doing. If they want to work they can get plenty of it around their homes." New Times' Bring New Problems. — The chief difficulty in bringing up children in towns and cities to-day arises from the fact that those who control the resources do not recognize that we are undergoing sociological changes which make new methods of training imperative. Most of these adults spent their boyhood in the country. Every- one works in the country. There is no trouble in keeping boys properly occupied on the farm. A person in the country who would not work would be ostracized ; but it is just the other way in town. Everything encourages loafing. If a boy in the country could go to a poolroom and hear the talk there he might become a loafer too, unless there was great pressure put on him to keep at work. When the boy life of a town is unorganized; when neither the school nor the church nor the parents can keep boys occupied in wholesome ways, then they will loaf. They will congregate in places where much that they he^ encourages vicious speech and conduct, and the chances are that sooner or later some or all of them will be- come offenders in one way or another. The individual home cannot, as a rule, solve many of the problems of training its boys prop- erly. Any one boy cannot be kept in his house without strain and stress when the other boys in the neighborhood are running the streets and BOY PROBLEMS 43 plotting deviltry. Training children in these times is a community problem largely. Reformers might better save their breath than to be con- demning the modern home because it does not keep boys off the streets. We are a gregarious people, and we must solve most of our problems collectively. "My Boy Will Not Stay at Home/'— In this connection one is reminded of the complaint which is so frequently heard, — ' ' My boy will not stay at home." It is made by fathers and mothers who have provided comfortable homes for their boys as well as by parents whose means require them to live in a meager way. It is particularly dis- tressing to a parent to have his boys inapprecia- tive and uninterested when he has, as he thinks, put everything in his home that the children could desire. A letter now lies before the writer from a father who says that he has struggled hard to provide a good home for his children, but his old- est boy, who is well along in the teens, will often leave the house as soon as he finishes a meal, and he may not put in an appearance again until the next meal. He takes no member of the family into his confidence as to his adventures and his hanging-out places. The father says he is ''glum" and does not say much at the table or any place else in the house unless he is continually ''pumped." He seems to regard his home prin- 44 THE TREND OF THE TEENS cipally as a place in which, to eat and get what- ever supplies he needs. A Boy Loves Adventure. — A boy in the teens must have some adventure. He should have op- portunity to be out in the open engaged in ex- ploits of some kind. His parents will choose for themselves to stay at home and read, or enjo}^ the beautiful objects they have gathered together in their house. They know what it requires to make an attractive home, and for them everything they have acquired has interesting and vital associa- tions. So as a rule they would prefer to be among the treasures they have collected than to be else- where. But a boy who has not by his own efforts provided anything for the home generally does not and cannot feel attachment for what may pro- foundly interest the parents. A boy in the teens is not affected much by an esthetic home. He may live in a house filled with beautiful objects and not know they are there. He is more nomadic than he is domestic. His father has passed through the period when he finds pleasure in the adventurous life. He prefers the peace and com- fort of his own fireside; but if he could go back over his life he would probably discover that when he was in the teens a cozy fireside had little if any attraction for him. He was not domesti- cated then. He hearkened to the call of adven- ture just as his boy does now. Parents frequently say, ' ' My house is furnished BOY PROBLEMS 45 with everything a boy could wish. ' ' Is this really true? Usually it is not true. The house is fur- nished with everything the parents could wish, and they conclude that what they enjoy should make a strong appeal to their boy. It is an old story, — the inability of the typical adult to take the point of view of youth. Most parents of means do not equip their home so that it will minister to the needs of an adven- turous youth. It is often the case that the more luxuriously the home is furnished the less effect- ively it will be adapted to the requirements of boy life during the teens. In an elegantly furnished home everyone has to be careful lest he may in- jure the valuable articles. Such a home must be enjoyed by appreciation, not by use. Adults will express admiration for the beauty and exquisite- ness of this or that article, but they will not use it in any way. But youth is not appreciative as a rule. It is dynamic, insurgent. A home that is furnished with everything a boy could wish is provided with objects that can be used. In such a home there will be space for games, and espe- cially for scuffling and horse-play. As a rule, a boy will leave a home in which he has no oppor- tunity to scuffle, and he will go where he can indulge this passion. The Boy Who Is ''Picked On." — One reason why boys often will not stay in elegant homes is because somebody may always be ''picking on 46 THE TREND OF THE TEENS them." A boy was overheard recently to make just this statement to his mother. He has irri- tated her because he is indifferent to the advan- tages in his beautiful home. She is trying to make him appreciative and so she is really '^pick- ing on" him much of the time. He is one of those boys who swallows his food at each meal, and then lights out for parts unknown. Whenever he is in the house he has to answer questions about where he has been last, what he has been doing, what he proposes to do next, why he does not do differently, why he does not talk more, and so on. One principle can be stated emphatically — a person cannot develop a boy's love for his home by *' bawling him out" because he will not stay at home. It will do no good to lecture him about the efforts that have been put forth to make his home comfortable. One can never develop ap- preciation in anybody by complaining because he is indifferent. Appreciation cannot be forced; it must always be spontaneously expressed. A parent should find out what kind of homes attract his wandering boy. If the influences in these homes are wholesome, then let him go to them. He will get better training in them than he will in his own home probably if he is con- tinually ''picked on." He may in time come to realize what a good home he has had, even if dur- ing the adventurous age he seems inappreciative BOY PROBLEMS 47 of what is done for him. Then it should be re- membered that a boy must eventually live with other people, and he should spend considerable time with them as a boy, either in his own home or in their homes. He will be broader and better prepared for life if he is not kept too much in his own home, or at least with the members of his own family. If a boy persists in leaving his home for the street or the poolhall or the saloon it is a differ- ent matter. There is but one course to follow in such a case, — he should change his associations; he should be sent off among strangers who will help him to observe a regular program of study or work. It is frequently true that a boy who will never stay at home will, when he goes out into the world, apply himself to a systematic regime of w^ork or study. There is no good at all in keeping a boy at home who is forming the habit of running the streets in search of excite- ment. Boys Need Comrades, Not Disciplinarians. — Problems of this kind could ordinarily be solved satisfactorily if parents and teachers and their boys could be comrades together. Unfortunately many of us are better disciplinarians than we are good friends to our boys. We do not talk to them much about any subject except their con- duct. So they come in time to be uncomfortable in our presence, and they avoid us as much as 48 THE TREND OF THE TEENS they can, even when we sacrifice a good deal to provide comforts and advantages for them. It would be better usually if our children were not informed so frequently that we were sacrificing much for them. We would keep a firmer hold on them if they could think of us as good scouts and companions rather than as conscientious but fault-finding providers. Some of the time which is used in amassing luxuries for our offspring- might better be spent in being good fellows with them. As for the boy who leaves a home pinched by poverty, in which there is neither room nor equip- ment adapted to his needs, the community should provide opportunities for him to spend his leisure hours in a wholesome way. Like so many of our problems relating to the training of youth, this one can be solved only by dealing with the sociological factors involved. The parents in a neighborhood should cooperate to abolish the at- tractions which seduce youth, and to put in their place institutions which will furnish suitable oc- cupation and amusement. Unless this can be done we cannot remedy the evils that harrass us. We have plenty of illustrations of this fact in the experiences of those who have preceded us, and who have tried to solve these problems by prohibition or punishment alone, or by indiffer- ence. They have failed every time, and we will come to the same end if we adopt their methods. BOY PROBLEMS 49 '^ Scrapping.^' — We may glance now at a dif- ferent kind of problem with which parents and teachers have to deal in training boys. A prin- cipal of a public school complains that she is unable to prevent the boys in her school from "scrapping" on the playground during inter- missions. She inquires whether there is the same difficulty in other schools. She says she cannot understand why there should be so much quarrel- ing among her boys because they come from '* good homes." No matter what sort of a home a boy comes from, he is likely to get into a combat with some of his fellows on the playground unless special pains are taken to keep him interested and occu- pied in organized games and plays. Leave a group of boys up to the middle teens to their own devices, and unless they are unusually re- sourceful in planning games for themselves, they will probably have a "scrap" before they break up. Every boy is pugnacious by inheritance. His remote ancestors were fighters ; they had to fight for self-preservation. Boys from "good homes" are about as likely to pick a fight as boys who are not so well favored. It is true that the boys from the slums and alleys are as a rule more combative and quarrelsome than those from the avenues; but still at bottom they all have the same impulses, and under similar conditions they 50 THE TREND OF THE TEENS will behave in much the same way. This is par- ticularly the case the younger they are. The older they become the greater will be the influence of their environment ei'ther in repressing their im- pulses or in reinforcing them. Prevent Fighting by Substitution. — The most effective way to prevent quarreling on the play- ground, on the street, or in the home is to organ- ize boys into groups for competitive games. Football will often change a group from a quar- relsome, fighting gang into reasonably well-con- trolled and self-restrained individuals. ''Tug-of- war" will give vent to the impulses that might otherwise lead to a ''scrap" in a company of boys. "Pomp, pomp pull away," ''Fox and Geese" and the like will usually divert the atten- tion of boys from fighting on a playground. Competitive gymnastic activities will always ex- ert a wholesome influence in subduing the com- bative impulses, because boys will compete with one another on the rings, on the trapeze, and so on, and thus expend their energies in a legitimate way. At the appropriate season snow-balling matches in defending snow forts, say, will fur- nish an occasion for discharging the pugnacity virus that otherwise may cause trouble. So one might mention many other games and plays that are simple and yet are effective in preventing fighting on the playground. The principle of sub- stituting wholesome competition for quarreling is BOY PROBLEMS 51 applicable just as well in the home as it is on the playground. Often a boy who will start a fight whenever he gets a chance will be cured if he be given boxing lessons, in which the aim is to develop skill in offense and defense and not merely to inflict injury on an antagonist. As a rule, when a boy becomes interested in boxing he will be ashamed to be seen mixed up in a street brawl. Training in boxing substitutes skill for brute force and destructiveness. Should a boy be punished for fighting? Often a boy is hectored and irritated because he will not '' stand up for his rights " His playmates will call him a "sissy" and they will take pleasure in plaguing him. Boys possess remnants of the savage instincts in this regard, and the fact must be taken account of by a parent or teacher who is charged with the training of a timid or non- combative boy. There are times when a boy should be encouraged to defend himself against the attacks of bullies or ruffians. He will be trou- bled less if he shows that he has some ''good stuff" in him. Also he will have greater strength of character in the end if, as a boy, he resents being dominated by bullies. At the same time, he should be made to feel that just as no one has a right to domineer over him, so he has no right to bully other boys. Teasing. — Of a kind with the tendency of boys 52 THE TREND OF THE TEENS to pick a fight is their tendency to tease their comrades, their parents, their teachers and any- other persons and even animals from which they can secure unusual or lively responses. A large part of the discipline of boys in the school and the home arises out of this trait; and the trait is not confined to young boys, for even college students plague one another and play "practical jokes, ^' as they call them, on their instructors. In some colleges students spend about as much time and mental energy in ''putting things over" on their teachers as they do in mastering their studies. Also they are keener in hazing some of their classmates than they are in making good recitations, or doing good laboratory work. Often it seems that those who tease the per- sons with whom they come in contact really enjoy the annoyance or discomfort or pain which they cause. They laugh with glee when they see the teacher sprawling on the floor because a pupil removed his chair from its accustomed place. They are overjoyed when they see a dog chas- ing a frightened cat. They like to tempt a hun- gry dog with food and then jerk it out of his reach and watch him struggle to secure it. They think it is great fun to hide the clothes of a boy who is swimming so that he must remain for hours naked on the river bank. They derive great pleasure from annoying people by tickling them, or kicking them on the shins, or stepping on their BOY PROBLEMS 53 toes, or yelling in their ears, or calling them names, and so on ad libitum. Are boys naturally callous to the distress which they cause people and animals by their teasing activities? By way of illustrating the principle involved here, it may be said that the writer has observed men whose chief pleasure seems to be to fish, especially for trout in mountain streams. They say it is magnificent ** sport" because trout are so "gamey." These fishermen apparently never think of the suffering of the fish which they catch. They regard the matter as a contest, and they are eager to win. The factor of pain plays no part at all in the sport so far as the angler is concerned, though a bystander may be aware only of the pain experienced by the fish. He may see nothing meritorious in the '' sport," and so it will appear to him to be a cruel, brutal business. Thus it all depends upon the point of view of the individual whether an action is re- garded as cruel or as wholesome sport. Anglers usually delight in describing their contest with a fish which has struggled long to save its life. In such a case a man is not really aware that he is actually taking life. He is simply thinking of his own cleverness, his endurance, and his ingenuity in finally capturing his victim. Again, the writer has talked with men wlio en- joy hunting. They come in from a day's shoot- ing, bringing with them two or three ducks, or 54 THE TREND OF THE TEENS half a dozen rabbits, or a dozen quail, perhaps. These hunters seem never to give a thought to the pain created by their bullets or knives. The larger the killing the more they brag about it. They look upon the creatures of the forest as objects for testing their own ability in woodcraft, and especially their skill with the rifle. The writer has observed huntsmen spread out a dozen bleeding ducks before admiring comrades, every one of the men showing in all his expressions that he did not entertain any idea of pain in respect to these creatures. Once more, the writer has seen crowds of in- telligent and apparently refined men and women observing a football game. In some of these con- tests blood flowed freely; and in a few cases the players were seriously injured. But the on- lookers were quite indifferent to this. They saw only the manifestation of muscle, agility and courage, and the idea of pain could not gain an entrance into their consciousness. Frequently some sensitive person complains about the cruelty of football; but people who like the game cannot appreciate criticism of this kind. A Boy Does Not Think of the Pain He Causes. — So when a boy teases his playmates or other persons, or a cat or dog or colt, he does not think of the pain he is causing them, although, looking at the matter from the adult's standpoint, he treats them cruelly much of the time. All the boy BOY PROBLEMS 55 thinks about is the reactions he can secure from the things he teases ; he has a passion to get them into unusual and difficult situations to observe what they will do. Take a boy, say nine years of age, who has a younger sister. He will be likely to tease her constantly unless he is kept occupied in other ways. He will frighten her, or hide her toys, or run away from her when she does not want to be left alone; or he may hang her dolls by the neck out of the window, or break down her playhouse, or do any one of a hundred different things which will secure violent reactions from her. The parents may regard these acts as cruel, but the boy himself regards them simply as '' fun." Often a boy who is given to plaguing others will protest when he looks on at a case of plagu- ing practiced by someone else. Not being in the game, his sympathetic feelings may come to the front. He may annoy his own pets but he will probably defend them vigorously if any one else molests them. The Passion for Mastery. — There is another phase of this trait which should be mentioned. Two boys had a dog hitched to a cart, and were driving it through the street *' for fun." When- ever the dog showed any desire to stop or to turn out of the middle of the street, the boys would strike it with a whip, and several times it cried out from the pain. A number of adults passing 56 THE TREND OF THE TEENS on the street called to the boys to cease the pun- ishment of the dog, but they soon forgot the com- mands given them. When asked why they made the dog suffer, their only response was that they '' wanted him to mind"; and he was their " own dog anyway," and they had a right to do what they wished with him. What could have been uppermost in the minds of these boys? In answering this question we may be helped if we will ask another — Why will an intoxicated man whip his horse, or whip his children upon coming into the house, or express his power over any living thing around him? Why will the leader of a group whip his subjects if they will not submit to his will? It is evident that in all these cases the desire for control, for mastery plays a leading part. Instinctively men wish to show authority over the creatures around them, and even over their own associates. They wish to reduce them to submission. So whipping a dog, a horse, or even a child which manifests any tendency to follow its own desires is largely instinctive. In a case of this sort the aggressor is not keenly conscious of the pain inflicted upon his victim. He is simply dominated by the im- pulse to make the thing upon which he is express- ing his power obey his will. One may often ob- serve children whip their dolls or their soldiers or their rocking-horse; and as they talk to them they indicate their attitude — '* I'll teach you to BOY PROBLEMS 57 mind me," ''I'll show you that I am boss over you," and so on. Cooperative Games and Plays as a Cure for Plaguing. — What can be done to develop in boys a consciousness of the pain which they inflict in their bullying and teasing? In the first place, we should so far as possible suggest activities to them which will require the cooperation of their fellows and of the creatures with which they have relations. Take, for example, the case of a boy who plagues his dog, or beats it in gratification of the instinct to show authority over it. If the boy could be led to play a game in which the dog would take an essential part, then the latter would become a partner in an interesting affair rather than a slave to be kept in subjection. Then, in the second place, a bully must be made to appreciate that living things have feelings like his own. He will not take this view readily. In the last resort it might prove a means of grace to a boy who hectors a weaker brother or play- mate if he should be hectored in the same way by one stronger than himself. Of course, this is a harsh method of treatment; but often it is the only way one can make some children realize that their acts are the cause of suffering by others. When discipline of this sort is administered, it should not be accompanied by anger on the part of the parent or the teacher. The latter should say to the bully: ''You struck this boy with a 58 THE TREND OF THE TEENS snowball. You say you did it for fun. Now I will strike you in the same way, and you tell me whether it is funny." In some such manner, children who annoy others may be brought to their senses by being made to experience the same distress as they create. Experiences That Test Courage and Endur- ance. — For their proper development boys should have experiences which test their courage and en- durance; those who are coddled and safeguarded from all rigorous situations are apt to acquire loafing and bullying traits. A concrete instance will bring the principle before us. Two brothers, fourteen and sixteen years of age respectively, recently went sailing on a lake on the shores of which they had their home. There was a heavy wind blowing. Some of the neighbors observed the boys handling the boat which was behaving badly, and they became alarmed. They went run- ning to the father and urged him to call the boys in. They said the boat might capsize at any moment, and if so the boys might lose their lives. They declared it was foolhardy for the boys to go out on the lake in such a heavy wind. But the father told the neighbors that the boys had been out before under such conditions and had successfully managed their boat. Besides they were not a great way from shore, and even if they should capsize they would stand a good chance of drifting in safely. Further, they en- BOY PROBLEMS 59 joyed sailing the boat under difficulties, and boys should have such experience. The father felt that children in the city in these days do not often have experiences that test their mettle, and he wished to give his boys opportunities to han- dle themselves in difficult situations in order to develop their resourcefulness and courage. The anxious neighbors thought the father was not acting prudently in this matter. They said he should not take such chances. They declared that if anything happened to the boys the blame would rest on the father. The father, in response, pointed out that boys had been sailing on the lake for many years, and there had not been more than two or three tragedies in all this time. It would be wrong then to prevent the boys from testing their endurance and skill because of a remote chance that they would be drowned. As it turned out, the boys continued sailing for an hour and a half without any mishap, and they came in feeling that there would be hardly any emergency which might arise on the lake which they could not meet. The father asked them what they would have done if the boat had cap- sized. They said they would have been able to crawl on top of it and drift to shore, and they did not feel afraid at any time. Who was right in dealing with the boys — the father or the neighbors? The neighbors were wrong. One of these neighbors has never let his 60 THE TREND OF THE TEENS boys go out in a sail boat. He himself is terror- stricken when he is in a boat and the wind comes up. He will not let his boys climb high trees because he says they may fall and break a bone or kill themselves, and he will not take any chances. If boys are permitted to do only what is abso- lutely safe, what may happen to them when they are placed in situations in which there is some danger? They may be helpless. The writer has an opportunity to see this illustrated among students in a university which is situated on- the shores of a lake. Canoeing is a favorite pastime among the students. Occasionally an inexperi- enced student will be in a canoe when a gust of wind comes up unexpectedly. Never having been in such a situation as this, in which there is some danger, the novice is likely to lose his head, and the moment this happens he will probably capsize. Once in the water he will be overcome with fear, and he will not make use of the means at hand to save himself. How far should boys take chances I Far enough to involve some danger, but not to an unreason- able extent. They must have frequent experi- ences in which they will be required to keep cool, to be dexterous and skillful, and to have endur- ance and persistence in any difficulty until they have straightened it out. In no other way can they develop resourcefulnes and courage and en- BOY PROBLEMS 61 durance. Besides, experience of this sort will furnish the best antidote to scrapping and bullying. The typical parent restricts his boys too rigidly. He is apprehensive of danger. He keeps them out of trees, off from fences and buildings, away from horses and all animals, and off from the street where there are carriages and auto- mobiles, because of his fear that something will happen to them. In an earlier day parents gave children larger freedom than they do now to try themselves in difficult situations, partly because they could not supervise them — ^they were too busy for this — and partly also because they were themselves taking chances of all sorts and were solving their problems, and they were not mor- bidly apprehensive about disaster overtaking their children. The typical boy brought up in the country could climb trees and buildings, and be around animals as much as he wished, with the result that he developed self -helpfulness and grit quite beyond the typical child of the city, who is often restrained and restricted and worried over by all the adults around him. Of course, boys should not be encouraged or allowed to be foolhardy. But it would be better to be venturesome than to be timid and cowardly, if one has to choose be- tween extremes. The likelihood in modem life is that boys will have too few rather than too many 62 THE TREND OF THE TEENS experiences that will develop fortitude and self- reliance. The Call of the Swimming Pool. — There is one kind of experience which always exerts a bene- ficial influence upon a boy, but many boys in present-day urban life do not have this experi- ence — playing in the water, swimming especially. In his last book John Muir gives a pathetic ac- count of his attempts as a boy to indulge his pas- sion for playing in the water. His home in Scotland was near enough to the sea so that he could run to it for a swim. His father was op- posed to his swimming, and he had forbidden him to go near the sea. But every day the boy would go and every night he would be severely whipped for his disobedience. He apparently could not resist the temptation; the sea appeared to have such a hold on him that it could not be broken. As these lines are being written, the ice is breaking up in the lake over which the writer is looking. The water is intensely cold; but there are boys who cannot resist the call of the water, and they are about to jump in for a swim. Their parents have probably forbidden them to do this, and some of them will resort to all manner of devices to conceal their misdemeanor. It is difficult for an adult to take the point of view of one of these boys. We say: "How can he get any pleasure in that cold water? And be- sides, he is likely to catch his death of cold." BOY PROBLEMS 63 But when we tell him this, it makes little impres- sion on him ; he is willing to take the chances and to endure the hardship. The memories of the sea reverberate through- out the boy's organism. Many of the most vital experiences in the life of his remote ancestors w^ere connected with the sea. The creatures that came out of the water furnished them their food to a considerable extent; and in turn they some- times furnished food for the creatures of the deep ; but on the whole the sea was a kindly mother, and she could be trusted. Even in adult life we often wish to be on or near the sea. When we are tired and distressed, we go to the seashore or take an ocean trip. There is no music so restful to many persons as the lapping of the waves. There is no condition under which the poet can express his romantic feeling so fully as when he looks at the waves and listens to their gentle murmur. Playing in the water is a good antidote for tense nerves. There should be a swimming pool in every large public school, and children should be permitted to spend ten or fifteen minutes in it every day. This will accomplish more in secur- ing good order in the school than much scolding and whipping. A large part of school disorder is due to tensions developed by long sitting in a seat. When these tensions increase up to a cer- tain point, a pupil is apt to become disorderly in one way or another. Before this time arrives he 64 THE TREND OF THE TEENS should be released. If he could jump into a swimming pool for a few minutes, he would come out with nerves and muscles relaxed and with his mind fresh and ready for his tasks. Happily the public schools are beginning to recognize this, and in progressive communities swimming pools are regarded as essential to good work and good deportment. If the small town as well as the large city would provide community swimming pools out-of-doors in summer and within-doors in winter, much of juvenile rascality would be automatically cor- rected. Swimming is a kind of prophylactic for mischief and crime. CHAPTER III GIRL PROBLEMS Restrictions of the Girl's Activities. — Every- body kllo^s^3, of course, that boys have enjoyed greater freedom of action than girls. It has been thought entirely proper and desirable that boys in the teens should go about freely without being at- tended by older persons. We have said to boys : *'Try your wings; go out into the world and come in contact with people and see what sort of stuff you have in you. You cannot become ready for a broad and useful life when you are men if you stay at home all the time. ' ' But we have said to girls: *'You must stay close beside your father and mother. It would be unbecoming for you to go beyond the sight of your parents unless you are accompanied by a mature person who will keep her eye on you and safeguard you from the pitfalls of life." So girls have not heretofore gone abroad among people as freely and as widely as boys have done. So in respect to manners; the girls have been hedged 'round with restraints more than boys have been. The latter have not been required to 65 66 THE TREND OF THE TEENS give careful attention to the way in which they walked, stood, sat down and arose, entered a room and left it, and so on. We would not have thought highly of a boy who was too conscious about these matters. We have said that we wished him to be free and natural and unre- strained. But we have taken exactly the con- trary view regarding the girl's deportment. She has not been allowed to forget herself. She has been taught always to be conscious of the im- pression she was making and to do everything according to conventional standards. Again, we have allowed the boy large latitude in the matter of dress. We have thought it proper for him to wear the same suit of clothes for breakfast, dinner and supper, at business dur- ing the day and at a reception or dance in the evening. A boy who would change his suit for each meal, or even put off his day clothes and put on others for evening functions would be re- garded as too nice and proper^ — as effeminate, in fact. But a girl who would wear at a reception the same dress that was worn during the day would be looked upon as careless and slouchy. In respect to every detail of personal adornment we have expected the girl to give a great deal more attention to herself than we have expected of the boy. Our chief criterion of judging the boy has been what he is able to accomplish; his appearance has been a secondary matter. But GIRL PROBLEMS 67 appearance has played the chief role in our judg- ment of the girl. We have not said to her : * ' Go ahead, forget yourself and do with enthusiasm and spirit whatever interests you." We have rather said to her: ''Always be careful about your appearance, never be neglectful of any de- tail affecting your looks." Intellectual Restrictions. — In the matter of education, too, we have given the boy much more freedom than we have allowed the girl. We have said to the former: "Go as far as you like in the pursuit of knowledge. Take advantage of all opportunities to enlarge your understanding of men and nature. Go deeply into science or his- tory or economics or mathematics or literature or whatever attracts you. The more deeply you go the more highly we will regard you." But we have said to the girl: "It will be better for you to study light subjects, as art and language and literature. It is not quite the thing for a girl to try to master such subjects as biology or chem- istry or engineering or agriculture and so on. A girl should polish her mind, not develop it rigor- ously. She should learn how to speak nicely and be gracious and entertaining, but she should not learn how to solve any scientific or economic or mathematical or medical or legal problems. She will not make so favorable an impression upon her friends if she gives too much attention to the acquisition of real knowledge in any field. 68 THE TREND OF THE TEENS Carefulness in Speech. — We have been par- ticularly insistent that the girl should be very- careful about her speech. She must not use terms that refer to the organs of the body except the members that are plainly visible to 'the eye. It would be entirely improper for her to use strong language, even such phrases as *'By George!" or *'By Heck!" Of course, she could not use pro- fanity or terms that had any suggestion of un- wholesomeness in them. But we have allowed the boy freedom in this respect. He could speak of his stomach or his legs, but the girl could not do so with propriety. He could say "Confound it!" but it would not be nice for the girl to do so. He could even say * ' d n it ! " and he would not be ruled out of polite society, but the girl would lose all caste if she should use such terms. So the boy could smoke cigarettes and cigars and even a pipe and still be received in good society, but not so with the girl. Always we have insisted that the girl should keep in view high ideals in respect to appearance, behavior, morals and con- duct. But we have given the boy large latitude in these matters provided that he would show intellectual or physical ability and stamina. Girls Are Breaking Artificial Restrictions. — This has been the situation respecting our atti- tude toward the girl and boy until the present moment. But the times are changing. There are signs now that the girl will soon disregard the GIRL PROBLEMS C9 restrictions that have been imposed upon her, and that she will claim as much freedom as the boy has enjoyed. For one thing, girls are be- ginning to go freely about in the world, at home and abroad, without chaperonage, asserting that they are competent to take care of themselves. One can find them pursuing knowledge in every department in college and university, — agricul- ture, medicine, mathematics, biology, economics and the like. They will not now submit to being shut out of the various engineering fields even, as recent reports from some of the technical schools indicate. In the matter of conduct girls are freely doing whatever they wish to do. In some respects they are freer than boys dare to be, as observations at sea-side resorts will convince anyone. There is not much distinction now between the language used by girls and that used by boys ; in co-educa- tional colleges one can hear the girls using as dynamic language as the boys use. There are among us many persons brought up in the old school who do not like the freedom with which girls are conducting themselves m our times. These old-fashioned persons are predict- ing a slump in our ethical, social and moral rela- tions. To an unprejudiced observer, however, there is no evidence that any catastrophe is likely to overtake us. On the contrary, girls are better able to handle and protect themselves than they 7© THE TREND OF THE TEENS were in the past when they did not know the ways of the world. The American Girl Is Especially Favored. — The American girl has always enjoyed more free- dom than the European girl. She has never been tied so closely at home or been made to conform to conventions so fully as her European sisters; and eveiy unprejudiced student of European and American life will agree that the social, ethical and moral standards in America are higher than they are in any European country. This has been impressed upon us during the past two or three years when our boys have been in Europe, We have learned in many ways that the standards of conduct there are somewhat lower than they are in our own country. One factor that has operated to keep the standards high in America has been the independence and self-reliance of our girls and women. There is reason to believe that with still greater freedom our girls and women will elevate rather than lower standards of conduct. Adolescence a Critical Period. — A typical mother has complained because her daughter fifteen years of age lacks interest in work of any kind. She has not yet finished the eighth grade in the public school which she attends. Her mother says that her mind is wandering all the time and she always tried to "skip the hard places." The mother thinks there should be some way to teach her daughter concentration. She GIRL PROBLEMS 71 wishes to have a course outlined which will de- velop the habit of doing hard work. The crucial epoch in a girl's life falls between the fourteenth and seventeeth years. If she has any tendency toward unsteadiness of mind or con- duct it will be likely to manifest itself at that time. The turning point in the career of girls who find their way into reform schools comes at about fourteen. Such profound changes are tak- ing place then that there is a liklihood that the mind will " wander." Dull tasks in school are duller at this time than at any period before or after. Nature evidently intends that a girl should live a romantic life during these transitional years. Sitting in a school-room trying to memo- rize the contents of books does not make a strong appeal to any typical girl during early adoles- cence; and for some girls it is quite impossible to do anything of the kind. Performing the prosaic duties of a kitchen or any other part of the house does not awaken enthusiasm at this age. Indeed, no **hard work" appeals to a typical girl between fourteen and seventeen; but ''hard work" means work which has no romance about it. It means performing mechanical tasks in which there is no freedom of action, no adventure, no opportunity to make oneself attractive to admirers, and no chance to form interesting acquaintances who may offer possibilities for new undertakings. This is the emotional age; and work which gives 72 THE TREND OF THE TEENS no opportunity for the indulgence of emotions will be " hard." At the same time a girl will gladly spend four or five times as much energy on hikes or in games or in dancing as would be required to master her lessons in school or to do housework. She does not complain about expend- ing energy, only about doing the tasks that have no adventure or romance about them. — Concentration Depends on Interest. — When parents and teachers have to deal with girls, or boys either for that matter, of this type, they are apt to think there must be some simple, sure method of teaching concentration and faithfulness in the performance of dull tasks. But there is no easy way of accomplishing this. It is impos- sible to teach concentration upon or interest in drudgery. There are no rules that can be learned that will enable one to learn how to concentrate. The only way that application can be secured is to make whatever a boy or girl should attend to so interesting or significant that it will hold the at- tention. Nature has so constructed the human mind that it will concentrate upon matters that seem to be of importance in one's life. What- ever does not appear to be vital will be ignored. And the things that are regarded as of im- portance change as one develops. When one reaches .maturity he has a very different view of what is worth while from what he had when he was fourteen or fifteen. When he is sixty he has GIRL PROBLEMS 73 a quite different view from what he had at twenty-one. As his life changes his estimate of values changes, and so the things that he will con- centrate upon at different ages change as his in- terests change. But the law holds for every age — that whatever is considered to be of chief im- portance at the time will be attended to and mas- tered if possible. Take a girl at fifteen, then, who does not care for the work of the school. What can be done for her? If she has normal intelligence it should be possible to find some kinds of work which will appeal to her. If she is studying grammar and arithmetic and history, taught in a mechanical way, and geography which she does not compre- hend, it may be impossible to hold her to her tasks; but if she should study laboratory science or household arts or typewriting or telegraphy or commercial subjects she might be interested and might do her work very acceptably. Descriptions of many cases of this kind have been made by students of these matters. Educational literature of recent years contains accounts of many girls who apparently had no interest in their school work but who changed completely in their atti- tude when their studies were changed. Arrest in Mental Development. — The girl de- scribed above is a year or two behind in her school work. It may be that she does not pos- sess normal intelligence. Sometimes a girl's 74 THE TREND OF THE TEENS mind seems to be arrested at the age of fourteen. It is as though her energies were directed out of intellectual into emotional channels. When this is the case, it is useless to expect that a girl can keep up with her school work or take an interest in it even. If there is any doubt about the matter, a test of intelligence should be made. A parent who is interested in this matter could learn how to make intelligence tests by reading a book on the measurement of intelligence. It would be well if all parents could read a book like this so that they might have some standard by which to esti- mate the development of the intelligence of their children. If it should be found that this girl has become arrested in her intellectual development, then the best way to treat her would be to train her for some form of concrete manual work in which she may be interested. Take telegraphy for instance ; this is a subject well suited to girls, and there are many opportunities open for them now. A girl who might not be able to master abstract gram- mar and formal history and algebra might be able to learn telegraphy or typewriting or mil- linery or dressmaking fairly well. The Non-Social Girl. — We may glance now at the traits of a different type of girl — the non- social type. A concrete instance will bring the type before us. *'My oldest daughter, as an infant, was a fine GIRL PROBLEMS 75 child but with peculiar tendencies. If hurt she wanted no sympathy — the usual petting and caressing made her furious. Although the ob- ject of our affection she seemed never to respond. If I went away she never expressed joy at my return; and when she grew older she objected to being kissed in public. At seven years of age a friend who is a psychologist said, 'What Gertrude needs for development is hero worship.' She is now fifteen and we have never found the hero. She hates to meet people, but loves to go off by herself and read. She is a good student but seems to regard her teachers as natural enemies. Instead of enjoying the present she is constantly planning for the future. '*! have been a pretty strict mother — insisting that she meet people, that she play the piano, dance and recite, instead of reading stories, going to the movies and eating fudge." This girl is an unusual type, but one does meet her kind occasionally. Since she has possessed these traits from the beginning it is evidence that they are not due to any methods of training, but rather to nature. Mothers often worry too much about their chil- dren — their daughters especially, because they do not dress according to the fashions, or do not dance enough, or try to win the boys, and so on. The girls may be having a good time among them- selves, and like an intellectual life, but the 7« THE TREND OF THE TEENS mothers are more conscious of the social de- mands, and often are not themselves interested in intellectual activities. They probably have come to appreciate the value of giving a good deal of attention to social conventions, and so they keep at their daughters incessantly to do the same. The Non-Social Girl Should Not Be Coerced Into Social Activities. — If a girl is indifferent by nature to social conventions; if she likes to be alone and to read, why should she be coerced into participating in the usual social activities? Why should she try to make people like her? Isn't there a place for women who are not very particu- lar about whether individuals or society like them? Why shouldn't such a person go on de- veloping in an intellectual way? It is doubtful whether social interests can be awakened in such a girl until she gets out into life where she is made to realize by hard knocks, if she really has hard knocks, that she must like people and win them or be kept out of the game. One cannot cause her to be social by talking to her about it; she will be more likely to go just the other way if she nagged concerning it. A girl should not be coerced into meeting peo- ple, or taking part in social activities, or getting out into life, or dressing in accord with the styles. But if she should be sent away to school, say, or if this is not practicable if she should be given GIRL PROBLEMS 77 a position in which, in order to succeed, she would have to be socially active, she would probably cul- tivate a certain amount of interest and skill in this direction. If she would not respond to an actual demand like this she would not profit by any kind of training. Age May Make a Girl More Social a^id Affec- tionate. — It is probable that when the girl de- scribed above is twenty she will have more feel- ing for her parents and people in general than she has now. Children at fifteen are pretty much wrapped up in themselves. Even if they are ex- pressive toward their parents they do not feel very profoundly devoted to them. This feeling of filial devotion develops later. A mother ought not to be too much distressed about a girl's ap- parent lack of affection for her. She has not yet begun to realize what the mother really means to her, what part she plays in her life. If she could go away from home for awhile and have contact with the world outside she would think more of her mother when she came back. And when she does go out into the world, let her make her own adjustments for a time. Don't be too much con- cerned about her. She will develop affection for her mother rather more readily if the latter does not worry about her than if she does. Many chil- dren are alienated because their parents fuss over them too much. The mother asks, having in mind her relation T8 THE TREND OF THE TEENS to her daughter, ^' Shall I withdraw now and let her work out her salvation?" Emphatically yes, so far as any explicit training is concerned. The thing the mother can do is to arrange social con- tacts for the girl which will tend to put her at her ease, make her unconscious in the presence of others, and awaken her expressive nature. The mother cannot help her by commanding her to be expressive, or criticising her because she is not as social as the mother thinks she should be. She will soon go to college probably. If she does, she should join a sorority and thus come into intimate touch with a few people, at any rate. This experience will tend to modify her reserve, and to make her less self-conscious. Also it would help if she could have chums with whom she could be entirely at ease. But again, why should one be much concerned about such a girl? If she is content with her rather isolated life, if she finds satisfaction in her own reflections, why should one try to develop other interests? There certainly is a place in the world for persons who can be happy when they are working alone. Such persons will de- rive pleasure from achievement rather than from personal intercourse. If the girl in question is content with her present life, and if she is not a source of distress to others, then one may doubt the wisdom of trying to change her life funda- mentally. GIRL PROBLEMS 79 The Higher Education of Girls. — Turning now to the education of girls it may be observed tliat it has only been recently, as such things go, that girls have been given the same privilege as boys in public schools. Originally schools were main- tained and administered for boys; girls were re- garded as interlopers. They are so considered in certain colleges still. Some of the old-line insti- tutions will not admit them on an equality with men. Even a few of the newer institutions have set up barriers against women students by limit- ing their number by statute, so that men will always give character to these institutions and be dominant in control of them. The history of modern education tells an illum- inating story of wt)man's ascendency in educa- tional activities and achievement. Even after women were admitted to colleges on a par with men they were not considered to be capable of attaining a high degree of scholarship. In a brief period, though, they have climbed to the highest point reached by men, and now they are crowding ahead of them. This has spread alarm among the conservative collegians. They have sent a danger signal throughout the country. Specifically, the governors of the Phi Beta Kappa society, admis- sion to which depends upon superior scholarship, have proposed that the number of women admitted should be arbitrarily limited. It is said that un- less a check is thus put upon the women, they will 80 THE TREND OF THE TEENS soon outnumber the men, and the society will be- come a feminine organization. Women Are Leading in Scholarship. — The Phi Beta Kappa society was founded and is main- tained in order to encourage scholarship and to confer distinction upon the intellectually superior students in colleges and universities. The fact that women are leading men in receiving Phi Beta Kappa honors is important as it bears upon the question of woman's brains as compared with man's. It is also significant since it indicates the new interests and ambitions of women in colleges and universities. Only in institutions hopelessly mired in tradition and prejudice is there still doubt regarding the capacity of women to profit by educational advantages of the highest order. But the keener thinkers in all institutions have some doubt about the desirability of women com- peting with men for scholarship honors in a cur- riculum constructed originally for men and still adapted mainly to their needs. If courses of study had been planned with respect to the inter- ests, tastes and needs of women as well as of men, it would be generally agreed that women might go as far as they would like in the acquisi- tion of knowledge and skill. But serious people often find themselves asking whether it is worth while for a girl to devote her time and energy during the most important period of life to the mastery of higher mathematics and foreign lang- GIRL PROBLEMS 81 uages and technical science and philosophy in or- der to secure distinction in scholarship. Phi Beta Kappa honors would not be awarded to a girl stu- dent if she should devote time and energy to studies relating to the dominant interests in a woman's life. When the Phi Beta Kappa society was founded no one in the world believed that it required any high degree of intelligence to master knowledge pertaining to the management of a home or to child nature or to the arts of personal accomplishment. The women who are ambitious for distinction in scholarship quite generally avoid these latter fields and pursue the courses taken by men. There is some evidence that this results in alienating girls from the life for which nature intended them and in which they will gain the highest pleasure in the long run, and be of greatest use in the world. The Girl Student Is Insistent. — But the girl student is insistent. She is determined that there shall be no essential differentiation between her work and that of the man student. She has pushed her way into man-made institutions and the attitude of antagonism manifested by the men has only strengthened her resolution that she will not be shut out of any activities or denied any opportunities offered to men. In most higher institutions she is still contending for her rights as she sees them. The men students look upon her as an intruder; and even the faculty in some 82 THE TREND OF THE TEENS places let it be known that they regard women in their classes as disquieting to themselves and hostile to the interests of men students. The girl students are fighting for representation in stu- dent organizations, in student publications, and in all student activities. Suppose woman wins out in her present ambi- tion with regard to scholarship. Will she have attained what she is really aiming at? Any un- prejudiced student of human life realizes that there is one fundamental distinction between the masculine and the feminine nature. It was in- tended in the original plans that man should achieve. Mind and body are fashioned for achieve- ment. It was not ordered that man should be greatly conscious of or give much attention to personal accomplishments or appearance. In body and mind he was made to be dynamic. His customs, his institutions and his education have been largely shaped with respect to this dominat- ing object of his life. 'Woman Must Win By Personal Accomplish- ment. — On the other hand, nature designed that woman should win more by personal accomplish- ment than by achievement. In mind, in tempera- ment, in body, woman was designed to be more concerned with self than is the case with man. The best results will undoubtedly follow if her education is worked out in accordance with her biological nature and needs than if it be framed GIRL PROBLEMS 83 on the pattern of man's education. It would be better if she should strive for distinction in fem- inine rather than in masculine fields, whether in- tellectual or otherwise. The educational world is slowly but surely com- ing to appreciate the dilference between a man- made and a woman-made educational curriculum and educational regime. In the larger universities there is now opportunity for women to devote their time fully to subjects which relate more to feminine than to masculine interests and needs. There are studies, of course, which are equally well suited to men and to girl students; but take all fields of endeavor represented in a great uni- versity to-day, and most of the work best suited to the former is not best suited to the later. The sooner this fact is recognized so that honors will be given for superior work in any field, regardless of whether it relates mainly to the man's or main- ly to the woman's needs, the better it will be for woman especially. Education and Personal Attractiveness. — A mother recently presented her views at length on the education of girls. She said she would not send her daughter to a co-educational college be- cause she would not want her to take any account of boys during her educational course. She as- serted that a girl ' ' ought to think only of improv- ing her mind and not of pleasing the other sex. ' ' She maintained that if a girl had a well-developed 84 THE TREND OF THE TEENS mind she would possess the strongest and most desirable quality. * ' The girl who attracts because of her personal appearance is merely superficial, and such attraction will not be enduring,'* she concluded. Would that this were wholly true. But it is not more than a half truth at best. Unfortunately, perhaps, boys and men are determined in this matter pretty largely by their biological traits. They are still influenced to a large extent by the personal qualities of the gentler sex. They do not ignore intellectual and ethical qualities, but these, after all, are secondary in their estimation. Beauty or charm makes the strongest appeal. It always has done so, and it will probably continue to do so for some generations to come. A parent or teacher who would train a girl so that she would be indifferent to personal improve- ment would make a serious mistake. On the other hand, it would be just as serious a mistake to train her so that she would give attention to little else but her appearance. The aim should be to have her try to attain a well-disciplined and illumi- nated interior, and an esthetic and agreeable exterior. If the one be developed to the neglect of the other the girl will be placed at a disadvan- tage thereby. Those who have had an opportunity to study the social, intellectual and moral life of different nations agree that in America the problem of GIRL PROBLEMS 85 developing the girl's mind while at the same time helping her to make herself attractive personally has been solved better than it has in any other country. The number of girls in co- educational colleges and universities is increasing at a rapid rate, and these girls do just as fine intellectual work as the men ; indeed, they are excelling them in some lines of study. But while cultivating the mind, they also cultivate the bodily graces and the arts of pleasing adornment. If it should happen that girls with highly- trained minds should not attain physical attract- iveness, it would result that those who have little or no education would become favorites, and the intellectual type would be gradually eliminated. What we should do here in America is to train the girl intellectually so far as we can, but at the same time to conserve and develop her personal charms, and show her how she can make the most of what nature has given her. Happily the schools are doing more in this direction to-day than they did in the past, but still they have only begun to teach girls how they can best realize their natural desires to be attractive in the highest sense of the term. Many women are unhappy throughout life because they have not solved this problem; and others, relying upon their unguided instincts, go to extremes in one way or another, and produce only disagreeable and bizarre effects. The Problem of Clothes.^- Favents are often 86 THE TREND OF THE TEENS distressed because young people, especially girls in the teens, give so much attention to clothes. A parent writes that she has a girl fourteen years of age who has * ' clothes on the brain. ' ' This dis- ease attacks boys in a mild form, at least, a little later, though it does not go as hard with them nor last as long as it does with girls. During the period of youth nature says to every normal girl: ''You must give attention to your appearance. You must make yourself attractive. If you fail in this, you will be left in the lurch. You must dress so as to please, and so as to dis- tinguish yourself from the crowd. In this way you will be noticed ; people will be drawn to you, and you will be likely to win out in the social contest.'* There is no need for a parent to worry too much about the adolescent girl who thinks a great deal about clothes. Of course, if this begins very early, it will distract the attention from more im- portant matters. If a girl could go up to fifteen or sixteen and a boy up to eighteen or nineteen without thinking very much about appearance, it would be best for both of them in the end. But it is a biological law that every normal girl, and in a moderate degree every normal boy, should think much about personal adornment during the teens. Nothing good can be accomplished by merely telling young people that they must not be ''fool- GIRL PROBLEMS 87 ish" or ** silly" or ''vain" in their desire to be attractive in appearance. Such treatment will only aggravate the difficulty. The evil, if it is an evil, must be remedied by substitution. One fre- quently sees girls, and boys, too, in college who give a sufficient amount of attention to the subject of clothes, but who are immensely interested in their college work, in athletics, and in wholesome social life in which clothes do not play a leading part. Such persons could not be said to have "clothes on the brain," nor would anyone think they were careless or indifferent in the matter of dress. The Pressure of Artificial Customs. — But there is another and more serious phase of the subject. A certain girl had gone through the grade school and the high school, securing a high record in every study. She graduated at the head of a large class. She left her home to attend a co- educational college. She joined a sorority, the members of which have the reputation of "keep- ing up with the styles." The girl undertook her college work in a serious way, but she soon had invitations constantly to participate in the social activities of the college, and she discovered in due course that in order to keep up with her friends it would be necessary for her to give more atten- tion to dress than she had done in the past. Society in this college is about the same as it is in the world, which requires that girls who are "in 88 THE TREND OF THE TEENS the swim" must have a variety of garments for different occasions. The girl we are considering realized that if she did not study the problem of clothes a great deal she could not keep abreast of the swiftly changing fashions. She would have been glad to give her attention mainly to the in- tellectual work of the college, and to such social life as did not depend upon thinking unduly about clothes, but the pressure was so great that she was more and more led away from intel- lectual pursuits, until now a large part of her energy is devoted to trying to secure clothes which will be up-to-the-minute in style. She is still endeavoring, however, to make a good record in her college work, and the result is that her energies are running down to a low point. If she keeps up the pace throughout her college career she will be so depleted at the end that it will be a long time before she can utilize the intellectual training which she has received in college. The girl realizes that some of her new garments make her look freakish, but still they are in style. It seems a tragedy that she should spend so much of her time and energy in securing clothes which are unsuited to her particular style of beauty. And why is it necessary? Because the women who set the pace are spending most of their energy and intellect in this direction, and a sensi- tive girl does not want to be left out of considera- tion in a social way. One would think the pres- GIRL PROBLEMS 89 sure from the world could be kept out of college, but this is not the case. In most of the educa- tional institutions to which women are admitted, keeping up with the styles plays a dominant role in the life and work of a large proportion of the girls. They are often ridiculous in their eccentric garments, and their fellow students laugh at them, but still they would rather be laughed at than be out of style. They would indeed rather be out of the world than be out of fashion. This is a very profound trait of human nature, and so long as the women out in the world devote their time largely to securing new garments, the college girl will do the same. There will be exceptions, but the majority will try to keep up with the fashionable procession. Reduce the Demands of Fashion. — The ulti- mate success of women in colleges and universi- ties will depend upon whether it will be possible to make the pressure from the fashions of the world less urgent than it now is. Of course, there are some girls in every educational institution who ignore this pressure. They are the ones, generally speaking, who achieve distinction in the proper work of the college or university; but where there is one of this sort there may be half- dozen of the other sort. This half-dozen who make no record in intellectual activities may have native ability, but they devote their talents to puzzling over the questions of dress instead of 90 THE TREND OF THE TEENS mastering history, or household arts, or educa- tion. Here is a cause which might well engage the attention of women who are looking for some- thing to reform. One thing is certain, the higher education of women will not be a tremendous success if girl students must devote a large part of their intellectual activities and their vitalities to the strain and tension of constantly changing the styles of their raiment. Of course, no one will interpret what is said herein to mean that girls in higher institutions should not make them- selves as attractive as can be done. This is pre- cisely what they should do; but making oneself attractive is one thing, and keeping abreast of the styles is another and altogether different thing. The Social Life of the Girl in School and College. — Let us glance now at another aspect of the life of the girl in school and college. She has sought to provide for her social needs by establishing secret societies. It is generally recognized now that the members of a college sorority are brought into more intimate contact with one an- other than they could be if they remained outside of a secret society. Non-sorority girls in the larger co-educational institutions have established various organizations of a social, literary, athletic, and religious character, but the members of these groups are only loosely bound together, and a girl in becoming a member of any group does not as- GIRL PROBLEMS 91 sume obligations of an exacting or impressive character. Membership in one group does not exclude a girl from other groups. But member- ship in a secret society practically limits a girl's close friendships to her society, and sometimes it excludes her from attachments with literary, religious, and similar societies. A secret Greek- letter society demands more of its members than do non-secret societies. It is jealous of their affections and aims to monopolize their affilia- tions. Membership in a sorority gives opportunity for the cultivation of social graces and skill which usually cannot be secured outside. Also, young girls unaccustomed to life away from home are frequently steadied and guided by membership in a sorority, especially one which is organized so that the older and experienced members assume direct responsibility for the conduct of the younger and inexperienced ones. Disadvantages of Secret Societies. — There are some disadvantages connected with membership in sororities. It is not unusual to find girls who do not form any friendships outside of their own special "set." There is probably more acute rivalry between sororities for social prestige than between men's societies. Girls often strive in- tensely to make their respective sororities as prominent as possible, and jealousy is likely to flourish under these conditions. One hears of 92 THE TREND OF THE TEENS girls who before going to college were close friends, but after the same girls had joined dif- ferent sororities in the college they lost their attachment for one another and even became jealous rivals. Not only do the sororities frequently alienate one-time friends, but rival cliques often form within the sororities themselves. It is apparently not so common for a group of thirty or forty girls to be joined together in a secret society and live together in peace, harmony, and good-will, as it is for boys to do this in similar circum- stances. While a sorority may present a unified and harmonious aspect to the outside world, still there may be bickerings, jealousies and intense animosities within, which never would develop if girls were not thrown together so intimately. The closer and more exclusive the organization the greater is the likelihood of the formation of cliques, with the development of personal an- tagonisms. So it not infrequently happens that while pre- sumably a sorority provides facilities for the de- velopment of intimate friendships among all its members, still the number of such friendships formed by an individual member may be not more than six or eight, — simply the number in a par- ticular clique. One clique may not have much to do with any other one. Being bound so closely together they grate upon one another's nerve ap- GIRL PROBLEMS 93 parently, and easily become suspicious of one an- other's motives. Should a Girl Join a Sorority f — Should a girl who eiiters a co-educational college join a soror- ity then! It depends. The majority of girls would be extremely unhappy if they were de- prived of membership. On the whole, it might be better if all sororities could be abolished, and if in their place could be established more loosely- organized societies in which the temptation to develop cliques would not be so great, and which would not circumscribe a girl's social contact so closely as sororities tend to do. But in institu- tions where they exist, a socially-inclined girl will probably be aided by membership in a sorority. In most colleges and universities such member- ship confers social prestige, and practically all girls would prefer to undergo the handicaps of membership than to forego the thing which ap- peals to many of them as of great importance in college life, — popularity in a social way. The most encouraging feature respecting sor- orities is that that they are growing in breadth. In the stronger colleges and universities there are inter-sorority societies which are enlarging the sympathies and extending the acquaintanceship of sorority members. In at least a few of the state universities there is genuine friendship develop- ing between the members of the different groups. Together they undertake worthy enterprises in 94 THE TREND OF THE TEENS furthering the interests of girls in their re- spective institutions. They are endowing scholar- ships for deserving students. They are helping to establish cooperative homes for self-support- ing girls. And in other ways they are fostering movements of a democratic character. In any institution in which the sororities are conducted on these broad, helpful lines, only good can come from them. CHAPTER IV WHEN THE TENDER PASSION APPEARS Social Relations of Boys and Girls. — Before the age of twelve or thirteen, boys and girls think of one another simply as playmates, or, perhaps, as competitors or rivals for the same favors. A boy of this age will speak in a commendatory way of a girl of his acquaintance if she can take a part in a game, or if she is ready and resourceful in the enterprises in which children are interested. But if she can not run fast or dodge skillfully, he is apt to ignore her or say uncomplimentary things about her. The writer has been listening to J. talking about the girls in his graded school. What he has to say about them is much the same in principle as what other boys say of girls. He always sniffs at the mention of a certain girl. He calls her a ''crybaby," or a ''milk-baby," or a "fraidicat," or a "tittle-tattle." His whole feeling of her is summed up in the one phrase "she is no good." She does well in school, and enjoys the friendship of her teachers; but she does not enjoy the rough ways of boys. They like to plague her by telling her they are going to run 95 96 THE TREND OF THE TEENS over her when she is on the walk in front of the boys. They are quite expert in teasing her so she is not at all happy in their presence. The boys do not seem to consider her sex at all. They have no chivalric feeling. They simply do not care for her because she can not participate in the games and plays which interest them. She tends to break up any games she gets into because she always wants the boys to play in a less vigorous way then they wish to. She can not hold her own, and as they say, they '^ have no time for her." J. has a somewhat similar feeling for another girl in his room who cries on the slightest provo- cation. He has done his part to develop this peculiarity, although one can not make him ac- knowledge that he has done anything mean in his treatment of her. He feels that she ought to be tantalized because of her ''silly," whimpering ways. Some of the adults who know the girl sympathize with her because she is not in a good nervous condition. These adults take particular pains not to annoy or frighten her in any way. But it is just the reverse with the boys in J.'s group. They do not seem to have any tender feel- ing for such a girl, and of course they would not have it either for a boy who possessed her charac- teristics. There is another girl in J. 's class at school who possesses characteristics almost diametrically op- Listening- to music is better tlian dancing. This is better tlian ball-room dancing for boys and girls. Basket ball is a good game for adolescent girls. WHEN THE TENDER PASSION APPEARS 97 posite to those of tlie first two girls mentioned. She is a "tom-boy." She can run as fast as any of the boys. She orders them around, and she will not give in to them on any occasion. She can talk as loud as they can, and can use as dynamic expressions as they do. She is good at all sorts of games; and she really has a boy's traits with respect to physical skill and endurance. But she gets on J.'s nerves. While he likes a girl who can play games and not whimper over rough treatment, at the same time he cannot endure one who is as much of a boy as he is himself, and especially one who plays the role of a boy. So he has uncomplimentary things to say about this latter girl too. He says, — "She thinks she owns everything; she wants to 'lord it over everybody'; she thinks she is the Svhole shooting match' "; and he has command of a very choice lot of expres- sive figures of speech designed to convey the idea that she feels she can do better than the rest of them in whatever she undertakes, and she intends to be at the head of the ''gang." There are still other girls in J.'s room who come in between the extremes mentioned above. They can play games fairly well, and they do not break up the group when they play together be- cause they do not object to the rough ways of the boys. They do not '' tell tales out of school," and so the boys feel they can be trusted to be loyal to the group. This is not at all true of the first girls 98 THE TREND OF THE TEENS described. But while the boys in J.'s group do frequently play with some of the girls who har- monize with the group quite well, nevertheless the boys would rather play by themselves; they do not spontaneously choose to take the girls into their games. It is only when they need them to fill out a game that they invite them. They hardly ever go over to join the girl groups ; they always bring the girls into the games which they initiate themselves. The Beginning of the Sentimental Relation. — 'V\'Tien these boys reach the age of fifteen they will assume an altogether different attitude toward girls. The latter will no longer be regarded as playfellows simply. A particular girl will not be selected or discarded on the basis of her capacity to endure pain or her ability to play games. After the age of seven, boys go on developing team spirit and perfecting themselves in games and plays. On the other hand, girls as they develop do not take so much interest in games. They do not to any large extent develop the team spirit. At fifteen they are not interested in competitive games as the boys are. As they grow up they become more personal and individual in their feelings and activities, while the boys develop the group instinct more fully. A boy of fifteen w^ould not expect a girl to be a good associate or competitor in games. If he would play with her it would be to please her rather than to exercise WHEN THE TENDER PASSION APPEARS 99 his own abilities and powers in an interesting way. What is the relation of the boy to the girl at this time? Mainly a sentimental one. He is interested in girls now on account of their per- sonal characteristics, their appearance, and their liveliness of manner. A girl is not chosen as a favorite primarily on account of her intellectual or ethical qualities. But the point to be impressed is that the girl attracts the boy primarily because of outward characteristics. The boy will show favors to the '^ pretty" girl, whereas he may neglect altogether one of plain features and gen- eral appearance but who is intellectually and so- cially superior to the "handsome" girl. The Kind of Boy Who Attracts the Girl. — What qualities in the boy will attract the girl at this time? The good, scholarly boy usually makes but little impression upon her. It is the boy on the football team or on some other athletic team who appeals to her imagination. She likes the hero type of boy, one who is physically vigorous. A quiet, studious fellow is not spectacular enough to win her regard. She is not drawn toward the scholar; but she may be drawn toward the other fellow, though he may be a dullard in books, and though he may be skating on thin ice ethically and morally. But he possesses certain marked mascu- line qualities which make a strong appeal to the girl. 100 THE TREND OF THE TEENS It should be remarked in passing that in the management of any school in which there are boys and girls from twelve up to sixteen or seventeen, it is important to bring the leaders among the girls and among the boys into sympathy with the spirit of the school. A girl who strongly attracts boys can raise Cain in a school if she sets herself against the teacher. She will have the boys on her side in eveiy contest, and she can induce them, without ever asking them so to do, to make life a burden for the teachers. To a less extent the hero among the boys can turn the sympathy of a school against the teacher if he so tries. It will always be a hard role for a teacher if he cannot make the most attractive girl and the most vigorous and dynamic boy his friends, or at least induce them to work in harmony with him. It will be impossible for a teacher to hold out for a long period against the general sentiment of his school. In the end the group will triumph if it is fairly well unified, and takes every opportunity to hector the teacher and oppose his authority. Amorousness in a School. — A principal of a grammar school writes that the relations between the boys and the girls in his school are unwhole- some. Even as early as the sixth grade every boy and girl has a "steady." The talk of the school relates quite largely to amorous and even lewd attachments. Boys and girls go off together all hours of the day and night, and the principal WHEN THE TENDER PASSION APPEARS 101 thinks they go beyond proper limits in their rela- tions with each other. The work of the school is low because so much of the attention of pupils is given to amorous matters. The people in the community do not seem to mind it. They say it has ''always been so," and it is not different in that school from what it is in others. The prin- cipal is new in this position and he says he does not think such conditions exist in schools else- where. This is an unusual case. The explanation is that it "has always been so." If one could un- ravel the history of the thing he would probably find that the adults of the community really started it. In some communities the chief topic of conversation is amorous relations. Many of the people are morbid on the subject. Young per- sons growing up in such a community have amor- ousness suggested to them on every occasion. It is no wonder that they become sophisticated too early in respect to this matter. Suggestion plays the chief role in the develop- ment of sex feeling. If boys and girls could be brought up in a community where there was little or no suggestion of amorousness they would not develop this feeling early, and it would not be intense at any time. This is directly contrary to the popular belief that in the course of develop- ment this feeling will develop wholly from within, and that it is not at all under the control of out- 102 THE TREND OF THE TEENS side influences. The popular belief is fundamen- tally wrong on this point. In some schools most of the traditions and talk relate to amorous matters. One generation of pupils passes it on to the next. It requires posi- tive, dynamic, constructive measures to divert the attention of pupils in such a school into non-sex channels. There is no solution of the problem except substitution of more wholesome interests for the morbid amorous ones, and especially is it necessary to control the suggestions in the school, on the street, in the moving picture theatre, and so on, that play upon the young so that they will not relate to sex matters. The aim of parent, teacher, and custodian of morals in every place must be to eliminate un- wholesome suggestion. Where this has been ac- complished successfully amorousness is not a serious problem. Boys and girls grow up practic- ally to maturity looking upon one another as friends, companions, comrades, playfellows, be- cause their relations have been along these lines. The writer has been able to observe the develop- ment of a number of boys and girls who afford proof of this principle. In the same community are other boys and girls who have been subjected to lewd suggestion in conversation, in burlesque theatres, in their reading, etc., and they have been influenced unwholesomely by it. The boys and girls who have retained the relation of comrade- WHEN THE TENDER PASSION APPEARS 103 ship up through the teens are more vigorous and dynamic in every way than those whose thoughts and energies have run off into the amorous route early in the teens, so that they have not developed vigorous intellectual, athletic and social interests. The problem of the reformer is to keep out of sight and out of hearing all matters that incite the amorous tendencies. Nature will not develop them in the early teens in a dominating way un- less they are excited from without. Comradeship Rather Than Amorousness in the Early Teens. — Most parents have sooner or later to meet the problem presented in the following letter : ** There are a number of parents in our com- munity who let their young boys and girls go to evening parties that are not chaperoned by adult persons. The ages of the boys and girls are from twelve to fifteen. Each boy takes a girl to the party and takes her home again. At the parties they play games, dance, have a lunch and then go home at about half-past eleven. Is this a wholesome situation ? ' ' Boys and girls ought not to be greatly con- cerned about one another at the age of twelve, thirteen, fourteen, or fifteen. At sixteen or sev- enteen it is inevitable that sex attraction should begin to play a prominent role in the relations of boys and girls, and proper provision should be made for indulging this interest. It would be 104 THE TREND OF THE TEENS better if boys and girls could go on hikes and picnics frequently rather than to spend much time in dancing as they often do. Also it would be better if they would be together prmcipally during the day-time rather than during the night- time. They should learn how to cooperate m their plays and in their work. They should be good companions and playfellows at sixteen or seventeen. Dancing does not cultivate comrade- ship so much as it arouses intense feeling. Un- fortunately in many places, boys and girls seem to be ill-at-ease in one another's presence unless they are dancing. But when groups of boys and girls go off on picnics or on nature-study trips, or when they work together in the laboratories in the school, they need no chaperoning. There is little likelihood of improper relations developmg when boys and girls are together in groups and engaged in wholesome activities. But it is rather different with dancing. This activity is over- exciting to many boys and girls, and it occurs un- der conditions which tend to weaken self-restraint. When Chaperoning is Necessary.— ¥ot this reason, chaperons are necessary at dances, and it would be beneficial if boys and girls . could be chaperoned on their way home too. They really need chaperones more on the way from the dance than they do at the dance itself. At the same time too much chaperonage is likely to develop the very evils which it is designed to correct. Boys WHEN THE TENDER PASSION APPEARS 105 and girls should not be given the impression that they are being spied upon. The best way would be to arrange it so that they should go directly home after a dance. There should be no loitering, no visiting ice-cream parlors, no joy riding, no strolling. "Straight home" should be the invari- able rule. If this could be carried out, it would be advisable to get along with a miminum of chaperonage. In dealing with the problem under considera- tion it should be kept in mind that the typical boy or girl in the teens prefers the allurements of the ballroom to almost everything else. The dance seems to be attracting young people more and more strongly every year. And once a youth comes under the influence of the dance, he never knows when to stop. In many places there is con- stant conflict between teachers and parents on the one side and boys and girls on the other in regard to the hour when their dancing parties must term- inate. There is the same struggle between fac- ulty and students in the college and the univer- sity. Young people, if left to themselves, lose their sense of proportion completely under the seductive influence of the ballroom. There is a fascination, too, for both sexes in promenading the streets at night. Usually there is color and stir and novelty on the streets. There is also adventure. Generally the life of the streets at night is adapted to excite the young and it is 106 THE TREND OF THE TEENS often SO planned, because when they are excited they will be likely to indulge their impulses, and those who provide the means of indulgence will be enriched thereby. The boy especially is apt to be unduly aroused by what he sees and hears on the street. Most evil habits are formed in connection with street experiences at night. When young peo- ple are excited by this kind of life, they crave further excitement. A person, and especially a youth, in a highly stimulated condition is not likely to let down easily, and he will seek artificial stimulation to keep up his nervous exhilaration. This law of human nature is seen in adult life as well as in youth. Those who go the pace crave strong stim- ulants. The actor, for instance, who is keyed up by his part often cannot leave the stage and go calmly home. He must have a drink or go to the cabaret show where the sounds and sights keep up his nervous excitation. . The Problem of the Dance. — The chief problem of parents and teachers in having youth keep rea- sonable hours arises in relation to the dance. In American life young persons have got into the habit of going late to their dances and staying until early morning hours. This practice, if per- sisted in, will work harm to body and character. No boy or grl in the teens should be up later than ten o 'clock at night except on rare occasions. Ex- cesses of every sort in amusements flourish after WHEN THE TENDER PASSION APPEARS 107 ten o^clock rather than before. The later the hour, the greater the danger of undue excitement with lack of proper restraint. The youth whose amusements keep him up frequently beyond ten o'clock is in the way of going astray, because he will be tempted constantly to indulgence of his primitive passions. But the youth who habitually is at home and in bed by ten o 'clock stands a good chance of holding his impulses in check. College fellows who drink and indulge in vice get started in the late hours of the night. Dissipation rarely begins in the early evening. Late Hours Injurious. — In every community the parents should agree that all parties for young people should stop at ten o'clock. Only evil can result in the long run unless this rule is followed unwaveringly. Young people will ad- vance all sorts of arguments for breaking over now and again, but they will soon become content with the plan if they see that they must conform to it. They will be happier in the end if they stop dancing by ten than if they go on until one or two in the morning. They will not be any more satisfied at two o'clock than at ten o'clock. Parents should support teachers in their efforts to control the amusements of the young, especi- ally dancing. Unfortunately, some parents delib- erately encourage their children to lead an exces- sive party life because this seems to give them social distinction and prestige. A mother in a 108 THE TREND OF THE TEENS middle western town recently had a daughter who graduated from the eighth grade. In order to celebrate this achievement the mother gave a dancing party for the girl. The young people danced until half-past twelve, when they had sup- per. They were not home until two o 'clock. This is, of course, an unusual case, but it set a bad example. It would have been better for the mother to have given a party in which the chil- dren would have engaged in games and plays dur- ing the afternoon. The Dance Problem is Ahvays a Pressing One. — There has apparently been no time since civil- ization began that people have not discussed the question of dancing. It is probable that the ma- jority of adults to-day think it would be better if young people would not dance as much as they do, and especially would not indulge in the types of dances which are fashionable now. The writer knows of many communities in which the min- isters, as well as others, are violently opposed to dancing, and they attempt by various means to suppress it. The ball-room is undoubtedly a source of evil to many young people, — particularly so in our day because of the prevailing methods of danc- ing, which encourage extreme intimacy. But it is significant that these new dances have become very popular in the face of vigorous opposition from ministers, teachers, and others. This fact WHEN THE TENDER PASSION APPEARS 109 should impress anyone who wishes to reduce the evils of the dance with the impotency of our usual methods of dealing with it. No one ever stopped dancing by threatening young people with ever- lasting torment if they indulge in it. Parents often say to their children: ''You can't dance. You must stay at home instead of going to the ball-room." Parents who pursue these methods fail more often than they succeed and they are apt to develop antagonisms between themselves and their children. The people in a western city recently had the teacher of physical culture dismissed because she taught folk-dancing in the schools. The board of education forbade the use of school buildings for dancing of any kind at any time or by pupils of any age. These good people made a serious blunder, and they now appreciate it. Commercial dances have developed with great fury in that city. Constructive Treatment Alone Will Correct the Evil. — No evil has ever been corrected simply by condemning those who practice it. This is espe- cially true of the dance. It has a peculiar fascina- tion, and any young person who has felt the thrill of it is not likely to be dissuaded from seeking a repetition of it by threatenings from any source. Is there any way then that people can be re- strained in respect to the dance? Only by diver- sion; not by repression. If a boy has an oppor- 110 THE TREND OF THE TEENS tunity to go to a playground or gymnasium and engage in competitive games with his fellows he will ordinarily stay away from the ball-room. Also if he can have access to a swimming pool, if he can attend a good moving picture show in the school or church building, — in short if he has an opportunity to do anything wholesome which ap- peals to his active social and motor interests his attention will be diverted from the dance hall. The writer has been making observations in a number of towns and cities throughout the coun- try regarding the extent to which young people use church facilities during the week, and espe- cially during evenings. He has found that in a few places churches provide swimming pools, basket ball courts, bowling alleys, reading rooms, game rooms, and so on. It is difficult in such places to provide for all the young people who want to take advantage of these facilities, which indicates how much they are needed. But in eight out of ten communities the churches make no pro- vision for the social or dynamic interests of young people. In some places the school buildings are open during the evenings, and opportunities are pro- vided for the indulgence of the natural instincts and impulses of the young. Wherever this is done young people do not crave the ball-room ; they go to the school center instead. This suggests the way in which the dance evil can be controlled, — by WHEN THE TENDER PASSION APPEARS HI positive, constructive treatment, rather than by mere prohibition or censure. Is the High School a Breeding Place for Vicef — The writer has never found a person who has been able to furnish accurate data showing that vice is rampant in the high school. Wlien questioned, people who complain about the morals of the high school say that they have heard such and such per- sons say that vicious practices are very common. They do not themselves know of any definite in- stance of vicious conduct, but they do know of per- sons who know of other persons who have heard some one say that the boys and girls in the high school indulge in vicious practice without much restraint. It would be a miracle if in a large high school there were not boys and girls who did occasionally go wrong, but investigations have been made in certain large high schools which rumor says are ''honey-combed with vice," and it has been proven that these rumors are in reality false. In one high school the newspapers recently reported that moral conditions were exceedingly bad. They claimed that many of the girls were compelled to leave the schools for maternity hospitals, that the boys were under the care of physicians, and so on. A careful investigation was made by the dean of girls and the boys' physical director and it was found that the accusations against the school were utterly without foundation. The stories had their 112 THE TREND OF THE TEENS origin in a case of wrong doing by a boy and girl who had formerly been in the school, but who had had no connection with it for two-and-a-half years. It is probable that the tales about vicious conduct in other high schools have no more foundation in fact than the stories concerning the school referred to. Benefits of Co-education. — No reader should interpret what is said above to mean that it is not necessary for parents and teachers to safeguard boys and girls in high schools, by establishing rea- sonable regulations so as to prevent the develop- ment of too great intimacy among them. But the American high school has accomplished more than any other institution in the world in the way of de- veloping friendship and comradeship among boys and girls. It has removed artificial barriers which in other countries make boys and girls after they reach the teens strangers to each other. It has given the girl a chance to play a part in the ac- tivities of the world. It has broken down conven- tional restrictions which have limited the freedom of girls and of women. The experience and train- ing which girls have received in co-educational higii schools have enabled them to go to and fro in the world without any hestitation. They can take care of themselves wherever they are placed. The American girl, mainly because of her training in the public high school, has gained resourceful- ness, courage and efficiency in every-day affairs. WHEN THE TENDER PASSION APPEARS 113 These are tremendous advantages and we must not permit anything to interfere with the free- dom and frankness of social relations of our high schools. We must see to it that girls have even greater freedom of action in the future than they have had in the past in these schools. We must resist any attempt to segregate boys and girls too rigorously. This does not mean that they should not be separated in some classes. It is de- sirable that boys and girls should work separately in certain subjects. But the spirit of our high schools should be co-educational. Just as far as possible, boys and girls should develop comrade- ship and fellowship with each other. In a well- managed high school sentimentality and amor- ousness will not become prominent. Boys and girls will have enough work to do together so that sex feeling will not be unrestrained. Teach- ers in high schools are carefully studying the problem of adjusting the relations of boys and girls so that they will feel free in one another's presence, so that they will gain an understanding of each other, and so that they will learn to be together without undue consciousness of sex traits and sex differences. Should a Mother Pick Out a Boy's Girl Asso- ciates? — In this connection the question of the boy and his girl companions arises. Should a mother pick out a boy 's girl associates, or should the boy have the sole voice in this matter himself? 114 THE TREND OF THE TEENS This question was recently propounded to a group of thirty women. Most of them did not like to say that parents should choose the boy's girl companions, but yet they thought a boy should not be given complete freedom to do this for himself. As a matter of fact, the majority of the women — not all of them, though — who wrestled with the problem are in the habit of telling their boys what girls they should visit and which ones they should take to parties. If there is one thing more than another that nature has implanted deep in a boy's nature it is his desire to be with girls whom he likes. Nature has so constructed a boy that when he is required to show favors to a girl he does not like he will be in a rebellious and repugnant attitude all the time, whether he reveals it outwardly or not. It would be just as profitable for an adult to bay at the moon as to try to develop in a boy con- sideration for a girl whom he does not like. This is not a matter that can be controlled by advice or exhortation. How Guidance Can Be Exercised. — At the same time there is some danger in permitting the boy to find his own girl companions without any guidance from his elders ; but there are different ways in which this guidance can be exerted. The most effective way is for the parents to determine the circle of the boy's girl friends without letting him know what is going on. A parent ought but WHEN THE TENDER PASSION APPEARS 115 rarely to deal directly with the boy's relations with girl associates. But parents can to a large extent determine the group of girls among whom the boy will find his associates. They cannot tell him which one in the group to select for his special attention ; nature will take care of this. But they can provide for the boy's needs by giv- ing him an opportunity for selection in a group large enough to include girls of different traits and interests. If the boy's needs be thus pro- vided for, it will save him from wandering about making promiscuous selection. Interest in the Opposite Sex. — The writer knows of a number of parents who are worrying because their boys and girls are not interested in the opposite sex, and they think this defect, as they regard it, must be due to some deficiency in the education of their children. It is probably nothing of the kind. Nature apparently arranges it so that there will be a certain proportion of boys and girls who have no active feelings with respect to the opposite sex — they are neutral in this respect. And if Nature has not implanted the feeling, it certainly can never be implanted by parents. The only thing parents can do is to work sub rosa to bring boys and girls together who may take a fancy to one another and let Nature do the rest. Interest in the Opposite Sex Cannot Be Forced. — It is always fruitless for parents to at- 116 THE TREND OF THE TEENS tempt to coerce their sons to take an interest in girls. No better method can be thought of to turn a boy against girls permanently than to talk to him about his duty to take an interest in them. A boy cannot be lectured to profitably about a matter of this kind. It is not a subject for dis- cussion at all, certainly not for criticism, even granting that it is desirable for all boys eighteen or nineteen years old and beyond to be interested in girls. It would be better anyway for most boys not to become much concerned about girls until they approach maturity. It is highly desirable that during the teens boys should be principally interested in accomplishing something worth while in science, in mechanics, in business or in some other serious occupation or enterprise. The Optimistic Age. — At what period in life does one attain the pinnacle in courage, cheer- fulness, faith, altruism and endurance? The girl reaches it between sixteen and twenty, and the boy between eighteen and twenty-three. This is the romantic and optimistic age. For the youth, boy or girl, whose enthusiasm and ideals have not been chilled by sophisticated, blase persons there is nothing sordid or commonplace or mean or unlovely in human life. There are those who say to boys and girls who have entered this period "You're in the silly age. You may get over it in time, though; you'll learn that most people are mean and despicable. You '11 WHEN THE TENDER PASSION APPEARS 117 see that those whom you now think so perfectly delightful are made of common clay and have nothing admirable about them." Anyone who seeks in this way to destroy the naivete, the confidence and the idealism of youth deserves to be shut away from human society. He has himself lost his ideals, probably through self-indulgence, and he is not fit to associate with those who still retain them. If one knew the life story of such persons he would undoubtedly see that at some point in their career, probably when they were in the romantic age, their higher feel- ings were debased by gratification of passions. Indulgence in animal appetite usually results in the debasement of the ideals that are acquired by every normal boy and girl in later youth. If restraint had been exercised, life would have con- tinued to be romantic and delightful instead of gross and sordid, as it is sure to become when the pursuit of sensuous pleasure turns the attention and energies away from idealistic endeavors. Romance and Chivalry in Later Youth. — One important concern of those who guide the steps of later youth should be to preserve romantic ideals. All students of the evolution of the human race know that these ideals have played the chief role in the development of civilization. Romance encourages restraint of animal pas- sion, and incites to high endeavor in the attain- ment of artistic and ethical values. Peoples 118 THE TREND OF THE TEENS whose youth have little or no romantic ideals occupy the lowest place intellectually, ethically and morally among the nations of the world. On the other hand, those whose lives are regulated largely by ideals which have their origin in youth have attained the highest rank in civiliza- tion. One can grade all the peoples of the world on the scale of civilization according to the de- gree to which they are devoted to the attainment of ideals, having their origin in youth, as con- trasted with mere physical gratification. At least three-fourths of all the controlling forces of human life have relation in some way or another to sex. In any individual life or in the life of a nation the matter of chief impor- tance is to keep these relations on a high roman- tic and idealistic plane. A normal, healthy- minded boy sees every girl a queen; if he can keep this view throughout life he will be con- stantly stimulated to be his best and do his best. The boy should have no experience and cer- tainly no teaching which would rob him of his belief that the girl possesses ideal qualities. What is true of the boy is equally true in principle of the girl. But she has a better chance in modern life to retain her romantic ideals than has the boy because he is exposed to the teachings of those who make money out of the indulgence of his lower impulses. These latter individuals seek in a variety of ways to WHEN THE TENDER PASSION APPEARS HO break down the boy's idealistic conceptions of the girl, because .then he will let himself run loose in the gratification of his passions, and those who fatten on the indulgences of men will profit thereby. Happily the girl is shielded from much of the suggestion and even the teaching which frequently deprives the boy of his fine idealistic feeling. We seem unable to elmininate the sordid influences that play upon the boy in many American communities to-day. Are Girls More Refined by Nature Than Boys? — This will be the best place to refer to the popular belief that boys are crude and rather vulgar by nature. This tradition has become established because girls, after the age of three or four at any rate, seem to be more refined than boys in speech, in manners and in dress. But the difference may not be a native one; it may be due to differences in training and espe- cially in environment and companionship. From the age of three or four on, boys are often — in fact usually — subjected to rough associations from which girls are protected. Boys are per- mitted to hear vulgar, obscene language which girls, speaking generally, never hear. Vulgar people try to restrain their vulgarity when a girl is present but they never think of doing so in a boy's presence. Even in public per- formances, as in the theater, obscenity will be indulged in if only men are in attendance, 120 THE TREND OF THE TEENS whereas little if anything of the kind would occur if girls or women were in attendance. Lewd actions are exhibited before boys and men, while girls are never admitted to such places. Public sentiment always requires that the en- vironment of the girl be more wholesome and refined than the environment of the boy. If girls are by nature more refined than boys they should not need this protection from vulgar and vicious suggestion. If boys are more suscepti- ble, why are they not safeguarded? Will some- one who is in the habit of ascribing native vul- garity to boys please answer this question? Well-meaning people are constantly seeking to improve the environment of girls so as to keep their thoughts, feelings and conduct wholesome and sweet and refined, but they let boys grow up under debasing conditions and then lament over the fact that they are not refined and scrupulous about their speech and their actions. Parents will expend from five to ten times as much money in securing nice clothes for a daughter as they will for a son, and then they wonder why he is not as particular as she is about his appear- ance. The girl always has the choicest room in the house, and the boy must take what is left after everyone else is provided for. The result of all this is, of course, that the boy as a rule is coarser in his thought, speech and action than the girl. But the difference may not be due to WHEN THE TENDER PASSION APPEARS 121 heredity, it may be due to our custom of trying to keep the associations of the girl wholesome and inspiring, while permitting the boy to look out for himself, with the result that he is often Constantly subjected to vicious suggestion. The wonder is that, taking boys as they go, they are not worse than they are. Preparation for the Great Adventure. — The most momentous problem of the teens relates to preparation for marriage. In many foreign countries marriage is arranged on a business or on a political basis by the parents or relatives or political advisers of the persons directly con- cerned. When this is the case, the relations be- tween husband and wife are not much more inti- mate or enduring than are the relations between partners in a commercial or a political enter- prise. Often it is not expected that they will remain boon companions for a lifetime, and quite frequently they in time form more inti- mate connections with others than between them- selves. It is thought not to be worthy of remark when a husband has closer friendships with other women than he has with his wife, and the same is true respecting the wife's friendships with other men than her husband. In countries where marriage is looked upon in this way, it is not regarded of great importance that a boy or girl should make special preparation for the duties, responsibilities or opportunities of married life. 122 THE TREND OF THE TEENS But in this country we take a very different view of marriage. We do not intend or wish that any considerations but mutual irresistible attraction should enter into the marriage alli- ance between two persons. When marriage is thus the consummation of affection between the boy and the girl, it means that their influence upon each other will be much more vital and momentous than it would be if they had married merely for convenience. They will see a great deal more of one another than married people see of each other in most foreign countries. Their personalities will be a source of pleasure or of distress to one another in a much higher degree than is the case in other countries, and this makes marriage in our country a matter of supreme consequence to everyone who enters into it. If in certain foreign countries married people cease to be interested in each other, they are not required by law or custom to have much to do with one another. The husband does not feel obligation to provide for his wife's well- being and comfort and she is not expected to make his life agreeable. But with us a husband and wife must play the chief part in determin- ing the happiness or the misery of each other from the marriage altar to the grave. Fundamental Requirements. — One who will study the types of men and women who are brought into morals courts and who will listen WHEN THE TENDER PASSION APPEARS 123 to their tales of distress and woe will appre- ciate that there are a few fundamental require- ments in order that the marriage of two per- sons may endure and may promote the well- being and happiness of both. First of all, a man and woman must continue to be personally agreeable and attractive to each other. They entered into the marriage relation in response to mutual attraction; and when this attraction ceases the bond which holds them together will be weakened or broken. When all romance passes out of the lives of married people they will inevitably tend to pull apart. Children in the family may hold them in the same home, but they cannot preserve the regard and affection and intimacy with each other which they had originally. It is not always the case, but it is usually so, that the women seen in morals courts have lost their attractiveness. Often indulgence of appe- tite has robbed them of comeliness of form or charm of features ; or it may be that overwork or poverty has taken the color out of their cheeks and the light out of their eyes. Whatever the cause of decline in personal appeal may be, the man who was once attracted by and devoted to the woman has lost his interest because romance is gone and he finds no other compensating qualities. There is neither poise nor gracious- ness of manner nor fineness of mind nor superi- 124 THE TREND OF THE TEENS ority of character to replace this decay in per- sonal attraction. The boy was captivated by purely external charms; and when those dis- appeared or their superficiality was detected there was nothing back of them to hold the man and so he began to pull away. He no longer felt an interest in contributing to the woman's wel- fare and comfort. If he could not get free and wander wherever he wished, he would express his growing indifference or positive dislike in a violent way. Almost any day in a morals court one can observe cases of this sort. The situation is about the same with respect to the defects and deficiencies of the husband. He won the girl because of his devotion, unselfish- ness and manliness. But having her securely in his possession, his devotion cools, his inherent selfishness is manifested, and he develops into a self-indulgent, coarse and animalistic creature. His attractive qualities were wholly on the sur- face and were exhibited merely for the purpose of capturing a mate, and when he had accom- plished his purpose there was nothing deeper in him which could continue to hold the affection and admiration of the girl who had over-esti- mated his qualities. His coarseness and selfish- ness repel her and she reaches the stage where she cannot endure him. His type can be fre- quently seen either in divorce courts or in morals courts. WHEN THE TENDER PASSION APPEARS 125 It is not necessary tliat one should risit these unsavory courts in order to observe the traits and types which have been described. He can see them frequently in daily life among the mar- ried people whom he knows. The cases are not as extreme as those that find their way to the courts, but they are serious enough to cause more or less conflict between married people and to render their own lives and the lives of all connected with them unhappy. Good Comradeship Essential. — In order that the happiness of a boy and girl on their marriage day should be enduring they must continue to be good comrades with one another. Any training which will fit a boy and a girl to be lasting com- panions will be a good preparation for a happy married life. This means that they must acquire self-control, poise, cheerfulness and resourceful- ness. Two persons cannot remain comrades very long unless they both have intelligence and depth of character and richness of feeling. The minute we exhaust the intellectual or emotional resources of a companion we begin to lose our regard for him; he cannot continue to interest us unless he has possibilities of instructing or entertaining us or helping us to solve the prob- lems which confront us, or unless we continue to admire the way in which he carries himself as he goes through life meeting all kinds of situations. This matter is of first importance in relation 126 THE TREND OF THE TEENS to continued friendship between married people. The Better the Education the Happier the Married Life. — The better educated a boy and a girl are the better chance they stand of living a happy married life together; this principle is illustrated in divorce and moral courts every day. Some readers will be inclined to doubt that ^he more one is educated the better companion he will make in married life. But this doubt arises from the fact that many persons think of education as consisting of learning in grammar and algebra and Latin and the like. But while knowledge of this sort may constitute a part of education, it is a very small part. Education in a true sense means an understanding of human nature primarily — how men have lived, what they have thought, what their ideals have been, how they have struggled to surmount the ob- stacles in their path, how the mind of man has discovered the secrets of nature, how he has util- ized the forces of nature to win subsistence and leisure for himself. All these matters are to- day taught in history and literature and art and music and every branch of science and engineering and household economics. The more knowledge of this character one has the greater poise he will have, the better he wiU understand the situations that arise in married life, the more interesting- he will be to his most intimate companion, and the better able he will be to interpret life as they WHEN THE TENDER PASSION APPEARS 127 go along together. The less equipment lie has in knowledge of this kind, the poorer comrade he will make, the sooner his resources will be exhausted, and he will cease to be an inspira- tion or a comfort in his household. If one were setting out deliberately to prepare for marriage, then, he should first get as much real, vital knowl- edge relating to humanity and nature as he couldi acquire without neglecting other interests or doing violence to health. Health Is a Fundamental Requisite. — And speaking of health suggests that an essential re- quisite for enduring companionship in marriage is physical and mental health. A boy is never attracted by a girl because she is an invalid nor is the girl attracted by the boy for this reason. There is no romance in invalidism. When in- firmities of body or mind develop after marriage the bond of attraction will be broken in a great majority of cases. This will sound harsh to some readers; but again this is a biological law which must be taken account of in the marriage relation. It is not only that one who is physically or mentally incapacitated must cease to play a part as a resourceful and well-poised and sympa- thetic and cheerful companion; but the invalid or semi-invalid becomes a icharge upon the at- tention and energy of the mate. The invalid misinterprets what others do, becomes narrow- minded and self-centered and estimates every- 128 THE TREND OF THE TEENS thing from an egoistic and selfish standpoint. Irascibility takes the place of self-restraint and good nature and lasting intimate comradeship will be impossible under these conditions, even though complete dissolution of the marriage relation may be avoided for the sake of children or for social or business reasons. So every boy and girl in the grammar school, the continuation school and the high school should be required to study practical problems pertaining to the preservation of health. They should learn thoroughly how the various factors and experiences of every-day life influence bodily and mental poise, vigor and stability. A large proportion of boys and girls who contract marriage these days are densely ignorant on this subject, and they sutfer personally and in their marriage relations in consequence of their ignor- ance. Even if they should remain single they will need to understand how to do the work of life without waste of vitality and unnecessary wear and tear. Diet and Temper. — There is a special phase of the matter of health which is of particular importance in married life. This concerns the intimate connection between one's diet and his temper. Certain foods and methods of prepar- ing them tend to produce irascibility. Not infre- quently the beginnings of conflict in the newly- established household arise as soon as the re- WHEN THE TENDER PASSION APPEARS 129 sponsibility falls upon the young wife to pur- chase and prepare food. She may know next to nothing about the foods that are best suited to her own needs and those of her husband; and such foods as she chooses she may prepare so that it is well-nigh impossible to secure the nourishment which they contain. To counteract the dissatisfaction which her food gives, she is apt to resort to stimulants like tea and coifee and condiments which for the moment mitigate the evil consequences of inappropriate food and bad cookery, but which in the end produce un- stable nervous conditions. One can see young people starting out in mar- ried life who are cultivating nasty tempers through the use of improper food and beverages. So it is within reason to say that a girl who sets up in housekeeping and depends upon luck in the choice and preparation of food stands a good chance of arriving at an unhappy end. Perhaps the time will come when we will make rules and regulations which will prevent a girl from as- suming the responsibilities of married life until she shall have learned the relation of tempera- ment to nutrition, and shall have acquired scien- tific knowledge relating to the choice and prep- aration of food to meet the requirements of her- self and her companion, and children when they arrive, in the special circumstances in which they are placed. We will not allow a teacher or 130 THE TREND OF THE TEENS a physician or a barber or a dentist or a plumber to practice until he has gained scientific knowl- edge relating to his special business, and why should we permit people to undertake the most complicated and important duties in life without any special study of the problems that will be encountered? Economic Strain and Stress. — On the man's side, there is, of course, the necessity of being prepared to provide the food for the household. It is an old story — this wrecking of households almost at the start because of economic strain and stress. A man is allowed to enter into mar- riage before he is capable of maintaining a house- hold. He can not do anything well which society wants to have done, and he takes a chance of being able to earn an occasional dollar. When he had no one but himself to provide for he might well take the chance, but it is disastrous when he has another who is dependent upon him. The moral is that if we could do so we should prevent any man from contracting marriage who had not fitted himself to do some work up to such a standard that he would be reasonably sure of his services being in demand. No matter what preparation may be made in other ways to meet the responsibilities of marriage, if a man is unable to earn a decent livelihood for his wife and himself and children his household will go to pieces sooner or later; or if it hangs to- WHEN THE TENDER PASSION APPEARS 131 gether for appearance's sake it will at least be extremely unhappy. No matter how confidently and idealistically two persons may start out in married life, it is certain that problems of adjusting outlay to in- come will very soon arise and it will be neces- sary to solve them satisfactorily if misunder- standing and strain and stress are to be avoided. In present-day American life there are so many temptations to expend one's resources that it must be very definitely understood how far the wife and the husband may safely go in their ex- penditures for various purposes. This means that at the start they must work out a program of expenses based upon income; that is to say, they must plan their expenditures according to a budget. It is very doubtful if two persons can start out in life and not come to grief sooner or later unless they adopt something like a budget system. But those who until their marriage day have gone on the hit-and-miss plan, have ex- tracted what they could from parents or others and expended it without much consideration of their total needs, will have difficulty in confining their expenditures to budget allowances. They should have experience in budget planning long- before they arrive at the marriage day. Every boy and girl in the teens should learn to expend according to a budget. Boys and girls who have been trained in this way before their marriage 132 THE TREND OF THE TEENS will save themselves much trouble and conflict and distress after marriage. Apart from its value in preparation for mar- riage, it affords excellent discipline for young persons to leam that they must adjust their outgo in any particular direction to the amount which is provided to meet this outlay, and under no circumstances can they go beyond it. Their anticipations and desires must be regulated in view of this. Those who do not leam this les- son before they enter into marriage loam it with great difficulty afterward and some of them never leam it; and in such cases from the start to the finish of married life there is dissatisfac- tion and strain and stress and continual effort to secure more for this or for that purpose than the income of the household will allow or than the one who provides the funds is willing to allow. When a household is not run on a budget plan, the breadwinner is very apt to assume a nega- tive attitude toward all requests for money. He feels that he must always be on the defensive, and he makes life unbearable for everyone in the household. What he should do for the peace of mind of himself and of his wife and children is to determine in what ways his income can be expended to greatest advantage, and then he should regularly set aside the sums agreed upon for each purpose, and he should permit his wife WHEN THE TENDER PASSION APPEARS 133 to expend the sums relating to the maintenance of the household without begging him for money. There can never be peace and good-will and happiness in a household when the wife has to play the role of beggar and never knows what she can depend upon to meet the operating ex- penses of the family. There is no business of any kind that could be conducted successfully or comfortably on such a plan. Mutual Understanding and Appreciation. — One potent cause of misunderstanding and dis- harmony in newly-established homes is that hus- band and wife do not have an appreciation of the duties and responsibilities which each has to assume. A boy in the typical American home receives little or no training which prepares him to understand the detailed responsibilities in- volved in homemaking. During childhood and youth his needs are attended to often without his knowing who attends to them. He gains no adequate conception of the care, thoughtfulness and industry which are required to make life comfortable for him. The typical American boy treats the people in his home who look after his welfare as though their tasks were simple and require little thought or sacrifice. He often car- ries this view with him when he establishes his own home, and instead of being sympathetic and helpful toward the one who is trying to make the home attractive, he is critical and fault-finding 134 THE TREND OF THE TEENS and so lie adds to instead of lightens her burdens. On the other hand, the typical American girl does not appreciate what is required in order to supply her wants. The money comes from somewhere, but she does not see anyone who is struggling day in and day out to earn it. So far as she knows, it drops from heaven ; and then when she goes into a home of her own, she can- not understand why funds are not supplied as she needs them and why when the man comes in at night he should not assume the duties of the household because he has been out enjoying him- self all day. The majority of women do not ap- preciate that it requires incessant strain and stress and struggle to win bread for the house- hold. This misunderstanding on both sides could be largely avoided if boys were made acquainted with some of the detailed problems, responsibili- ties and cares of one who manages a household, and if a girl were made acquainted with the com- bat and struggle and endeavor which every man must undergo incessantly in modern American life if he makes a decent living for those who are dependent upon him. Eveiy boy and girl should have an introduction to these problems in the continuation school, high school or college, but they must carry on their studies after they have entered into the marriage relation. In no other way can mutual understanding and helpfulness be secured. WHEN THE TENDER PASSION APPEARS 135 Talk About Duties and Burdens Can he Over- done. — It is possible, of course, to put too much stress on talk relating to the responsibilities, duties and burdens of the homemaker and the breadwinner. Frequently in homes, especially in the country, the principal topic of conversation is drudgery. The woman and the man both think of nothing and talk of nothing but how hard they work and how little joy they get in life. They aim to make martyrs of themselves, and they take the joy out of life. One cannot be comfortable in the company of a person who is incessantly complaining of his hard lot and seeking to awaken sympathy for himself. When the atmosphere of a home is colored by the ever- present thought and talk of work and struggle and drudgery, there can be but little good-will or harmony between husband and wife. A woman cannot continue to take delight in the comradeship of a man just because he is a hard worker, and it is equally true the other way 'round. Young people starting out in married life should be made to realize that each must do his work whatever it may be without burdening the other with it and fearing that he will not be appreciated unless he incessantly complains of how much he has to do. The home fireside should be a place of relaxation and good cheer, and nar- ration of the struggles of the day should be taboo. 136 THE TREND OF THE TEENS The Treatment of Children a Source of Con- flict. — The chief cause of conflict in nine out of ten homes concerns the treatment of children. Often mothers think the fathers of their children are too harsh or too lenient with them or set them bad examples in one way or another. Just as frequently fathers think that the mothers do not train them wisely. When children reach the teens one parent often ascribes their shortcomings to the mistakes of the other parent, and when this is the case there can be no peace or harmony or good-will in a household. It not only entails un- happiness for the parents, but more serious still it results inevitably that unwholesome influences will play upon the young. When parents have nothing but their intuition to guide them in dealing with their children they are almost certain to differ in their views of the proper course to be follow^ed in general as well as in specific situations. One parent may think a child should never be whipped, while the other may take a directly contrary view. The judg- ment of both is based on instinct and tempera- mental peculiarities. Neither has any under- standing of the nature of childhood or youth and the effects of different methods of training upon the intellect and character of the young. It would be possible to avoid much of the strain and stress which one sees in many households if the parents had made a study of child nature and WHEN THE TENDER PASSION APPEARS 137 means and methods of training in tlie home. If a man had gained a little accurate knowledge re- garding the normal impulses of childhood he would not think that the mischievous tendencies of his children were due to wrong training by the mother. Instead of criticising the mother or being impatient with the children, he would strive to provide facilities for the latter to em- ploy their energies in legitimate ways. Training in Continuation Schools. — In most of the states continuation schools are being estab- lished for pupils who com.plete the elementary school but who cannot go through a high school. Boys and girls are required to maintain connec- tion with schools until they are sixteen and in some cases until they are eighteen. The time will come when every boy and girl will have in a continua- tion school or a high school or a college some in- struction relating to the natural traits of childhood and youth and means and methods of dealing with them under the conditions of contemporary life. Children make as interesting and important ob- jects for study as plants or animals or rocks or stars or cube-root or algebra or spelling or gram- mar. In the schools we can introduce boys and girls to the problems of child-life and child-train- ing and then we must continue their education after they have assumed the duties of parent- hood. Mrs. Cora Wilson Stewart in Kentucky has shown that it is feasible to keep all the peo- 138 THE TREND OF THE TEENS pie in school, even elderly people, if we will teach them what they need to know at the time. Special histruction Relating to Married Life. — Finally, a word should be said regarding in- struction pertaining directly and especially to the special problems of married life. One hears it said to-day that a mother should instruct her daughter and a father his son regarding the mys- teries of life. There is a widespread belief that without such instruction a boy and a girl cannot understand themselves and cannot wisely meet the changes in sex-feeling that occur during the teens. But one rarely hears it said that a young man and a young woman should receive instruc- tion regarding the nature and desires of each other. Suggested talks and even courses of in- struction on sex-hygiene rarely if ever include anything that would enable the young man and the young woman to understand each other's feelings and point of view regarding the intimate experiences of life. The knowledge a young man picks up on the street or even at his club usually gives an erroneous notion regarding the girl's acquaintance with and attitude toward sex rela- tions. The burlesque and gaiety theatre and even the vaudeville pervert the typical man's mind re- garding the girl's sophistication in respect to these matters, so that he treats his girl friends as though they were initiated into the mysteries of sex-life, and this is unquestionably the cause of WHEN THE TENDER PASSION APPEARS 130 much of the unhappiness arising from the attempt of young men and young women to adjust their conduct in harmony with one another's experi- ence and wishes. Why should not the mother tell her son what the girl who is to be his wife knows about the new experiences that await her and what are her ideals and feelings in respect to sex relations? Why does a mother not try to develop in her son a sensitiveness toward and regard for his bride's views and wishes ? Why does she not endeavor to counteract the corrupting influences of the sordid information which the young man who is familiar with the ways of the world cannot help but learn from one source or another? Why does a mother who remembers her own experiences let her son go on into marriage and not try to save him from the consequences of misinformation which the worldly-educated person is apt to acquire? There is advice which the father, too, could give his daughter. He knows the nature and views of the young man, and what the world has taught him that has given him a wrong conception of the girl. If the girl came to the new relations of married life forewarned, she would be the better able to meet the new situations without crises and especially without the destruction of the ideals which must be retained if life is to preserve any of its earlier sweetness and joy. Young men and young women are entitled to receive advice from 140 THE TREND OF THE TEENS parents or teachers which will enable them to un- derstand and appreciate one another in the most intimate relations of life. CHAPTER V DISTRACTIONS IN AMERICAN LIFE The High Cost of Simplicity in Education. — It would be an instructive experience for any per- son who is interested in education during the teens to spend a few days in a large public school anywhere in this country, and then pay a visit to Groton, Saint Mark's, Saint Paul's, Phillips An- dover, or any of the schools of which these are types. He would find that a boy cannot enter the latter schools unless his parents are able to pay a large fee. If he should examine the roster of pupils he would note that many of the families of great wealth, from Boston to San Francisco, are represented by pupils in one or another of these schools. The visitor would expect in the circumstances that the boys in these schools would live a luxurious and indolent life, sur- rounded with rich furniture, and provided with all the requisites for comfort and bodily pleas- ure. But the situation is quite different. The boys in these preparatory schools are dressed more plainly and simply than are the boys in the public high schools in almost any section of the 141 142 THE TREND OF THE TEENS country. In some of the schools, as in Saint Paul's and Groton, boys are not permitted to wear expensive clothing, and at least the younger boys are limited to one suit for Sunday and a plain suit for week days. But in the public high schools, where there is competition for social superiority, one may find boys who affect extremes of dress and fashion, even when they come from homes with limited means. The public school has not yet been able to solve the problem of protecting its students from the fashions and distractions of outside life. There are probably very few high-school faculties in the country which would not, if they could, pre- serve simplicity in dress as well as in the man- ner of living among their pupils; but the seduc- tions of the world make such a strong appeal to pupils that the ideals of simple living, with ap- plication to intellectual work, can hardly be main- tained. In some of the public high schools, the boys, as well as the girls, early split into cliques on the basis of dress ; but such a thing is impos- sible in Groton or Saint Paul's or any of the other schools of this kind. These schools have succeeded in preserving a period in a boy's life in which the artificial claims to social superiority are held in check. The boy who gets ahead in one of these schools, speaking generally, is the clev- erest boy, the best scholar, the best athlete, the one who will play fairest and who is a leader. DISTRACTIONS IN AMERICAN LIFE 143 That is to say, the real genuine qualities get a chance to flourish when attention is not dis- tracted by the social activities and ambitions of the world. The boys in the Saint Paul's and Saint Mark's type of school are required to live the simple life not only in the matter of dress, but in every other way. In the lower forms, a number of boys sleep in the same room. Each has a small cubicle to himself. This is furnished in the greatest sim- plicity — a cot, one picture, a small rug, a chair, a shelf or two for toilet articles, and a couple of hooks for the suit that is not being wora. But go into the sleeping room of the typical public high-school boy, and note the comparative luxury of furnishing and the extreme and eccentric decoration. The parents of this high-school boy could not "bear" to have him live in such Spar- tan simplicity as is required of the Hotchkiss or Saint Mark's or Saint Paul's boy. If one will ask the parents why it is necessary that their boy should be surrounded with so many things, all of which are more or less distracting from intellectual and physical pursuits, he will be told that boys ought to have comforts, and ought to have an opportunity to enjoy themselves accord- ing to their desires. Further, a mother who hasn't wealth would often not like to acknowledge to her neighbors that there were only the bare necessities in her boy's room. The parent imagines 144 THE TREND OF THE TEENS that it helps the family to climb up the social lad- der, or to hang on to the position which has been gained, if there is a superabundance of articles in every corner of the house. Many people think that simplicity indicates poverty and social in- feriority. Distraction /row Intellectual Tasks. — This matter might not be of particular importance if it were not that there is a struggle going on in high schools in this country to preserve an in- terest on the part of pupils in the things that are really of consequence. The world invites pupils to spend their time in parties and dancing and social dissipation. As a consequence, Latin, geometry, history and similar studies lose their hold upon pupils. A boy who is not strongly appealed to in other ways would be likely to take an interest in the subjects taught in a modern high school. Ordinarily they are presented in a concrete and attractive manner. Allowing for exceptions, teachers are studying ways and means to make what they teach concrete, vital, and even entertaining in some instances ; but even so, it is becoming increasingly difficult to hold the atten- tion of pupils and induce them to apply them- selves enthusiastically and continuously to their tasks. The writer has heard many parents express regret that their boys do not take the interest in their school work which they did themselves* DISTRACTIONS IN AMERICAN LIFE 145 Such parents are often inclined to criticise the school for the pupil's indifference or even hos- tility to his studies. But the real fault lies in the inability of the typical home or typical com- munity to preserve simple interests on the part of the young. When a boy spends a night or two a week at a moving picture theatre and at least one night a week at a dance; when he passes a couple of hours a day in an automobile and even goes to his school in one; when he hears people talking everlastingly about clothes and entertain- ment; when he is always either planning to at- tend a party in some one else's house or to give one in his ow^n home — under such conditions it is practically impossible for any school to arouse the boy's enthusiasm for and hold his continued attention to his intellectual tasks. So the boy of wealth in the school conducted in the spirit of simplicity has an advantage over the boy who is incessantly appealed to by the mere- tricious values of the world — meretricious so far as he is concerned. He is over-stimulated by all these activities that are the outgrowth of adults seeking to secure stimulation and physical ex- hilaration and pleasure. Nature never intended that a youth should come under such influences; but American life is so organized that young people take up these adult activities and carry them to the limit. Any one who sees much of boys in a college or university knows that some 146 THE TREND OF THE TEENS of them are blase when they enter the freshman class. The older the community in which the col- lege is located the larger the proportion of such students. They have gone the pace in the high school. They have experienced all the stimula- tion of all the devices developed in modern American life to excite and indulge passion. The solution of the problem lies in the direc- tion of community cooperation in maintaining simplicity during the period of youth. The com- munity should join with the school to make the things for which the school stands supreme in the life of young people. The school cannot do it alone, for the reason that it does not have the in- dividual for longer than five or at the most six hours a day. For the rest of his waking life, the home and the street have him and make their im- press upon him. The home and the school should unite their forces to keep the life of the youth simple, so that he may develop his body through wholesome games and plays, not in the dance hall or the theatre, but on the playground, away from the institutions that excite and overstimulate him; and so that he may develop his mind by application to the studies that sum up the wis- dom of the race in regard to the art of living. Touth and the Moving Picture Theatre. — A particular word should be said regarding the in- fluence of moving pictures upon youth. Why do the ''movies" make such a strong appeal to DISTRACTIONS IN AMERICAN LIFE 147 youth? Mainly because they indulge the passion for stirring, exciting, daring, hazardous adven- ture, and also because they frequently minister to the love of the comic which is strong in every normal individual. Further, they often fascinate youth through presenting scenes that are grue- some and fearful. Last but not least, they usually portray situations involving sex relations and the complications and struggles and tragedies that arise out of them. The moving pictures give an opportunity to indulge these elemental interests and passions by proxy, as it were. One can observe a love- making scene on the screen and in a way he can project himself into it and live in it, much as though he were himself the chief actor. He can observe deeds of heroism, as the saving of a life, or the killing of a lion, or the whipping of a bully, and for the time being the observer is the hero; he has something of the same pleasure that he would have if he were the real hero. And so with every stirring scene he observes ; he lives in it and so enjoys it. This is particularly true of children who have not developed the power of inhibition to a high degree, and whose impulses are constantly surging up and demanding grati- fication. The boy is entranced when he can with- draw from the conventional life about him and live in these adventurous, romantic, heroic, comic, and amorous scenes. For the time being he is 148 THE TREND OF THE TEENS a bona fide participator in these dramas. He does not consider at the moment that it is all make-believe, and that he is simply an on-looker. He is right in the midst of things. When there is bloody work going on he is not sitting back at a safe distance and watching the scene. He hears the groans of the victim, and he experiences active and positive feelings toward the murderer. Tears flow down his cheeks in compassion for the unfortunate, and he rejoices with the hero and heroine as though they were performing before him in the flesh. Those who produce moving pictures are keen students of primitive impulses and interests in childhood and youth, and even in mature life. They know very well that the scenes that will make the strongest appeal to young or old, but especially to the young, must be built around one or another of the elemental passions. That is to say, their scenes must deal with struggle, with the taking of life, with love; and for older per- sons, they must play on the complications of marriage, and ways and means of avoiding its obligations and its restrictions. The moving pic- ture exhibitors know they can bring crowds into their theatres if they will display scenes which the law would not tolerate on the street or in the schoolroom or in the church, and which parents never would tolerate in the house. If one goes into a school he will see that every- DISTRACTIONS IN AMERICAN LIFE 149 thing is planned so as to to help the child to sub- due his animal instincts and interests, and to de- velop his self-restraint. The teacher tries to shut out all suggestions or appeals which will arouse primitive passion or desire. No parent or teacher would tolerate scenes in the school- room in which men murdered one another be- cause of amorous complications. If a teacher displayed scenes which suggested ledwness or vulgarity of any kind he would be instantly dis- missed. It would be still worse if such things were exhibited in the church. The law prohibits such displays on the street. And why? Because society realizes that if the low and vulgar and sensual and vicious are displayed in public they will be emulated by some of those who view them. Censorship of Pictures for the Young. — When it is suggested that there should be public control of the scenes which are presented in moving pic- ture shows one can hear men say: '^Let the in- dividual do w^hatever he chooses. It is his con- cern alone whether or not he should witness lewd or any other kind of situations. It is not the business of the community to supervise the be- havior of individuals. In a free country let a man act in a free way." Again one hears it said frequently that "No man is the keeper of his brother's morals, or of the morals of his ])rother's children. If one does not like degraded 150 THE TREND OF THE TEENS scenes himself he may stay away from the 'movies' and keep his children away, but he has no right to tell another man what he shall do, or what he shall permit his children to do." Those who use such arguments do not have confidence in them when applied in a universal way. They would not permit a house of vice to flourish in their neighborhood in order that a neighbor might indulge his impulses. They would not tolerate obscenity publicly displayed because they would not wish their children to be affected by it. In many ways they would control the acts of indecent or immoral persons so that their faults might not be spread among the innocent. It was once maintained that no one had a right to quarantine a man who had smallpox or scarlet fever or the like, but such an argument would to-day seem ridiculous. We do not allow a man to set up a roulette table on the theory that peo- ple who wish to patronize him can do so, while others who do not wish to play with chance can stay aw^ay. Should we let men operate a lottery on the principle that those who do not wish to try their fortunes with him should have nothing to say about it, — it is none of their business ? For its own protection society should prohibit the display of scenes in public places which would not be tolerated on the street or in the school or the church or the home. In no decent place out- side of the theatre are the young permitted to DISTRACTIONS IN AMERICAN LIFE 151 observe debauchery and doings in tlie underworld, with attendant vicious conduct in gambling, shoot- ing, and the like. A father would not want his child to see in the home or the school criminal actions such as robbery and picking pockets and burning buildings; why should he permit these deeds to be displayed in public anywhere when it is certain that from fifty to seventy-five per cent, of those who view them will be children who may be easily influenced by them? Most unfortunate of all, and most disastrous to the moral life of the individual and of society, is the witnessing of scenes which minimize the importance of family ties, and which exalt vicious conduct tending to destroy the marriage relation. The moving pic- ture shows in many places are built up largely on scenes which belittle the sanctity of marriage, and which show ways and means of deception in the marriage relation. The Value of Moving Pictures. — There is an- other side to this matter. While moving pictures can make so strong an appeal to what is primitive and degenerate in human nature, they can make an equally strong appeal to what is exalted, cour- ageous, heroic, and chivalric. This is precisely what is being done in some places. The time may come when the great stories that have lived throughout the ages will be reproduced in moving- pictures. Every great book should, if possible, be dramatized, and presented so that the young, and 152 THE TREND OF THE TEENS the old as well, can gain its lessons throngh the eye; it will then make a deeper impression and endure longer than when gained simply through words, whether read or heard. Again, the richest humor and the finest comedy that have been pro- duced in the race can be and should be presented in moving pictures. The love of humor and com- edy can thus be gratified in a wholesome way, and not left to be nourished on what is crude and coarse and vulgar. There is in the world enough that will delight and captivate the young without debasing them, — enough of adventure and romance and heroism and comedy ; and the parent, the teacher, the min- ister and every other person who has the interest of the young and society at heart should insist upon having scenes of wholesome, decent life in the moving picture shows. That which is brutal and lewd should be rigorously suppressed. Team Work Between Home and School. — The chief problem of American youth is to acquire habits of application to serious elevating tasks. A pupil would not be liberally educated to-day un- less he could acquire more knowledge than his grandfather or grandmother did. The next gen- eration will need to learn more than the present one because knowledge is constantly increasing. So a child to-day should be more studious than his grandfather in order that he may master what is essential for a liberal education. The standards DISTRACTIONS IN AMERICAN LIFE 153 of admission to liigli schools are higher now than they were fifty years ago. Indeed, the present- day public high school is doing as advanced work as the college did fifty years ago. This is exactly as it should be, because in no other way can the schools keep abreast of accumulating knowledge. Some of the once vigorous nations are decay- ing, partly because the people have lost the power of long-continued concentration on intellectual problems. They cannot even conserve what was achieved by their ancestors, not to speak of add- ing anything thereto. The moment this happens in any nation, the nation is doomed. When the majority of the young people in a community be- gin to devote all their out-of-school hours to idle- ness or distracting activities, then the community will cease to progress, and sooner or later it will turn back in its path. There are many commu- nities in the Old World and some in our own country that illustrate this principle. Young People Should Study at Home. — So the home must cooperate with the school in develop- ing habits of application to study. This can be accomplished only when the home is arranged with a view to having the children read or study during a part of every evening. The parents in a community should agree to have all the children in their homes devote themselves to their books or their music or something worth while in an intel- lectual way during certain hours of the evening. 154 THE TREND OF THE TEENS Parents can help their children to apply them- selves to their work by providing a study desk for each child. The arrangement of light is an important matter in encouraging concentration. The child's book or work should be illuminated, but the region beyond should be shaded. This tends to rivet the attention to the task in hand. Preliminary investigations have shown that most persons cannot concentrate as well in a dispersed light coming from some part of the room, usually the ceiling, as they can when the light is thrown directly upon the work. A desk lamp so shaded as to concentrate the light upon the book and to keep it out of the eyes is most favorable for the cultivation of habits of application. It is not necessary that each child in a home should have a study room for himself alone. In- deed, it is better that the children and the parents should be in the same room provided all are en- gaged in intellectual tasks. Investigations recent- ly made have shown that the majority of persons can study better in a group than when they are alone. In colleges many of the students cannot apply themselves to their tasks in their own rooms, but when they go to the library and are surrounded by others engaged in study they are helped to concentrate upon their work. The best arrangement would be to have in every home a room set aside as a study-room or library. There should be a special place reserved DISTRACTIONS IN AMERICAN LIFE 155 in this room for each child and for the father and the mother. When it comes seven o'clock in the evening, or whatever hour is agreed upon, each person should be in his place. \ They should all be at work, and then no one will have a tendency to shirk or yield to distraction. Habits of industry are as contagious as habits of idleness and dis- sipation. It is practically impossible for a parent to develop studious habits in his children when all the other children in the community are out on the street. But it is usually not at all impossible to accomplish this when all the other children are applying themselves to their tasks. The Telephone Is a Distractive Factor. — One factor which interferes with the development of rigorous mental habits in modern life is the tele- phone. In many homes it prevents any continuous periods of study. A child may be just getting his attention upon his work and shutting out distrac- tions when he is called to the telephone, and it may be some time before he can apply himself to his task again. If this happens two or three times during an evening it will tend to develop a habit of mind which will make it difficult for him to concentrate upon any intellectual task. A program should be worked out in every home so that there will be certain hours in the evening when a child who is studying cannot be called to the telephone or any other place. He should early be made to realize that when he is engaged in his 156 THE TREND OF THE TEENS work nothing should be allowed to interfere until his task is finished. If he does not acquire the habit of application for long uninterrupted peri- ods, he will be in endless trouble, and he will neither be happy or contented himself nor will he give pleasure to others. The happiest young peo- ple whom one meets in high school or college are those who have acquired habits of concentration which enable them to do their work up to stand- ard, and so to gain the approval and good will of their instructors and their classmates. The most unhappy individual is the one who every day incurs the censure of his instructors and the ridicule of his fellows. Many parents think it is a hardship for chil- dren to be required to develop these studious habits in the home ; but the hardship will be great- er for anyone who does not acquire them. This does not mean that a child should not have sev- eral hours of freedom every day in which he may do what he pleases. But he must have some time when he will give himself without interruption to intellectual tasks. Parents Often Encourage Distraction. — ^A word should be said in this connection about the tend- ency of many parents to worry about their chil- dren 'improving" themselves. They think it is educative for children to attend concerts, moving picture shows, entertainments for the benefit of charitable institutions, take part in dramatics, DISTRACTIONS IN AMERICAN LIFE 157 and the like. Every day one hears parents and teachers debating the question whether it would be better for their children to attend a trained animal show at the Orpheum, say, or to devote the time that would thus be spent to study at home. There are so many forms of entertain- ment and general instruction now in almost every town and city that children might devote all their afternoons and evenings to something which many persons think would be improving for them. But there is danger in this. The knowledge that will be of most sei'vice in adult life has been gathered into the various subjects of study. With- out arithmetic, say, the development of the race would have been impossible, and any individual who does not master arithmetic will be handi- capped in his life. Exactly the same principle is true of practically every subject taught in the elementary schools. No one can seriously ques- tion the statement that most of what is found to- day in any progressive school is essential in order that one may be able to handle himself properly and effectively when he enters real life. But this knowledge is not as exciting, is not as full of fire, does not appeal to the emotions so strongly as does the sort of thing that may be seen in the moving picture show, or heard at the concert, or that may be experienced in taking part in a play. One may observe children who have become greatly interested in these latter activities lose 158 THE TREND OF THE TEENS their power of application to tlie work of the school. College students who become absorbed in dramatics or who acquire the habit of going to the theatre, or are over-fond of the dance, or who cannot resist the temptation to be visiting some- body much of the time, are likely to fail in their intellectual tasks. When such a student tries to apply himself to a serious piece of work he be- comes restless. The pull of the world outside is strong upon him, and it usually is a matter of only a short time until he will yield to it. Shall children not take advantage of these *' improving" activities then? Only very spar- ingly. A mother who urges her boy when he has settled down of an evening for study or reading to go to the theatre with her because there is a play on that she thinks may give him some ''knowledge of life" is making a mistake. Even if the play would instruct him, which is doubtful, still he ought to acquire the habit of application to his intellectual tasks at home. There will be distrac- tions enough anyway no matter how much we may do to protect our children from them, and a parent or teacher ought only very rarely to sug- gest to his children that they should go to this or that or the other thing which is unrelated to their school work. The chief requirement of the child is to master this systematized knowledge which has slowly ac- cumulated throughout the development of the DISTRACTIONS IN AMERICAN LIFE 159 race, and which is the result of all the experi- ments of our ancestors in their efforts to solve the problems of life. Unless the child is well grounded in all this knowledge, the ''improving" things Avill not do him much good. The Tonic Effect of Mastery. — This will be the best place to impress the fact that the mastery of intellectual tasks is a tonic to a flabby character. Every large school contains records of pupils who at one time did poor work in school, and were starting on a life of loafing and dissipation, but who straightened up and did excellent work later on. What was the cause of such a change? In a large proportion of cases these pupils who were drifting along came in time upon a subject which appealed to them and they mastered it, and the consciousness of mastery acted as a sort of tonic to their whole mental and moral life. Here is a typical concrete example: H. J. is now sixteen years of age. Up until last year he was at the bottom of his class and he was known as a loafer. He did just enough work to pull through each year. Formerly he had been taught entirely by women teachers, but last year he had two strong men for instructors. Although they treated him rather severely for what they thought was lack of application to his studies, he still regarded them highly. The in- fluence of these two instructors began soon to tell on the boy. Before the year closed he had 160 THE TREND OF THE TEENS earned a rank of "Excellent" in two studies. The discovery that he could do any work which would entitle him to receive an ''Excellent" changed his attitude toward all his work and improved his conduct. This year he is excellent in all his studies. He acts like a boy who had suddenly found out that he could jump over a fence twice as high as he thought he could. Such a boy after his discovery of his ability would not be content with jumping over low fences; he would insist upon going as high as possible. So with H. J. now; he would be ashamed to do work entitling him to a rank of ''Poor" only. He realizes that he is capable of doing high-grade work, and he feels an inspiration in the doing of it. He would feel the same now in being at the foot of the class as he would in running a race and coming in last when he could easily be first. Nature equips every individual normally with an impulse to do his best in any field of endeavor. But many pupils never find out what their best is in intellectual work. They go along at a slow pace because they do not come in contact with persons who arouse them so they make use of all their powers. The best thing that could happen to any pupil of ability who is lagging behind would be to have an experience which would con- vince him that he could do work up to the highest standard in his school. The sense of being at the top of a class and of being master of a situation All boys should have oppoitiuiity for "stunts" in a gymnasium. A normal boy likes to work \\ith tools. Coys who have adequate facilities to make piactical things as these boys are doing are not likely to become enamored with the street. DISTRACTIONS IN AMERICAN LIFE 161 would quicken bis whole life. Not only would it enable bira to accomplisb more and better work, but the very fact tbat be discovered tbat be could acbieve tasks on a bigb plane would be a source of infinite satisfaction and inspiration to bim. Sucb a boy would get mucli more out of life and be bappier tban be would be if be sbould continue to go along witbout exerting bimself to tbe limit of bis capacity. Wben a pupil is able to say, — ''I can do tbis work up to tbe bigbest standard, and therefore I will do it," bis life thereafter will be in every way of more worth to himself and to others than it would be if be should say, — '*I cannot do any- thing but poor work, and therefore I will not try to do any better." This latter attitude is deadly in its effect upon the achievement and happiness of any person. The Home Can Often Develop Habits of Ap- plication. — An investigator has recently made inquiry of many university students regarding their early schooling. A number of them were taught their elementary studies by their father or mother. Only a very few had instruction in high-school subjects at home. Several of those who were taught by father or mother had ap- parently saved from three to five years in their school course. The other home-taught pupils were about even with those who had come up through the public schools. The youngest pupil 162 THE TREND OF THE TEENS in the university received all his elementary in- struction at home. However, he has taken no part in any "outside activities." He is not dis- tinguished in anything which requires leadership of a group. He is not even a member of any social organization in the university. He is in- terested primarily in books rather than in execu- tive or manual work of any kind. He thinks in words rather than in objects or concrete situa- tions. But he has acquired habits of prolonged application to mental tasks. Also he has ac- quired an accurate, precise, logical method of work, and he secures high ranking in all his studies. Practically all of the students who have testi- jSed regarding their early training and who are having hard sledding in the university received their elementary instruction in the public schools. Their chief defect now is the lack of rigorous ap- plication to intellectual tasks. They waste time. They are easily distracted. They do not follow a regular program of work and play. Instructors say they are not attentive in their classrooms. They are more eager to play a joke on one of their fellows or on their instructors, than they are to accomplish the proper work of the school. The writer has been able to study a consider- able number of pupils who have either failed completely in their school work, or who are al- ways on the ragged edge. The difficulty in eight DISTRACTIONS IN AMERICAN LIFE 163 out of ten such cases is that they are too easily distracted. They do not concentrate on a task long enough to master it. They have not learned what mastery means. They have no high stand- ards of thoroughness and excellence in their work. It is a curious fact that most pupils of this type exercise their minds more actively to get out of completing tasks than actually to perform them. They spend an amount of energy and exercise an amount of ingenuity in thinking of excuses and ways to ''put it over" on an instructor or to deceive him or arouse his sympathy, which if directed into proper paths would enable them to complete their tasks in an excellent manner. A parent who has a child coming up to school age should visit the kindergarten or first grade in the public school in his district. He should observe especially the mental habits of the pupils. He should note whether they apply them- selves to their tasks and master them without dis- traction, or whether they are constantly shifting from one thing to another. If he finds that appli- cation to duties during working hours is the rule he may well send his child there. But if he finds that pupils are habitually noticing everything that is happening around them, and if they think it is more clever to "cut up" than to make good recitations or master any task in hand, then he ought either to try to change the spirit of the school, or else to start his child in his work nt 164 THE TREND OF THE TEENS home, if concentration can be cultivated in the home. The child should remain at home until he gains well-established mental habits so that he can re- sist distractions. When he reaches the place where he can attend to a task in hand until he completes it, and the feeling for mastery is estab- lished, then he should go to a public school so that he may receive the discipline which can be derived only from working with a group. He will gain some advantage, also, from the stimulus which always comes from friendly rivalry and competition. Further, there will be an advantage in his learning how to adjust himself to others, provided the social tone in the school is whole- some. But if the spirit is unwholesome, if the pupils would rather be accomplished in mischief than in intellectual work, then the parent should keep his child out of the public school, even though he may sacrifice something on the social side. It is certain that a young pupil will be profoundly influenced by the attitude and ideals of his group. If they are serious and respectful, he will be helped; if they are indifferent, mis- chievous, deceptive, he will surely be injured. Some Advantages of School Training. — There are some kinds of work which cannot be done well in the home unless classmates are brought in from outside. A pupil cannot learn to express himself readily and effectively when he talks only DISTRACTIONS IN AMERICAN LIFE 165 to his father or mother. Expression in all its aspects, even in debate and oratory, can come to perfection only in the group. Children who are taught in the home until they reach college rarely, if ever, develop freedom and efficiency in debate, or in any form of oral expression. Again, ethical and moral action cannot be developed except in a limited way unless a pupil is trained in the group. No child ever yet learned far-reaching ethical and moral lessons simply by being told in the home how to conduct himself, or in studying text books on conduct. The best way for any parent who realizes that the school in his community does not train pupils in habits of concentration is to attempt to change the tone of the school. He probably will not have much success if the teachers are required to in- struct and care for fifty or sixty pupils. It is an exceptional teacher who can teach fifty pupils week in and week out, and prevent habits of in- attention from developing among them. It is unfair to a teacher, and practically useless, to complain about distraction in a room in which there is incessant change and restlessness, be- cause of the large numbers to be taught. Even a teacher cannot avoid being tense and distracted herself under such conditions. Sending Pupils Away to School. — When a pupil cannot resist the distractions in his com- munity he had better be sent away from home to 166 THE TREND OF THE TEENS a school where the environments compel attention to study. A concrete instance will illustrate the good that may come from such a course. A certain boy had completed the sophomore year in a high school in a middle western state. He had made a low record in his studies. He was well endowed physically and mentally, but he did not apply himself rigorously to his school tasks. He was a favorite among the young people in his community, and he was fond of having a good time. His parents and his teachers were con- stantly urging him to "raise his marks," but he kept pretty near the lower limit during his two years in school. At the beginning of his junior year he went to a preparatory school in the East. This school is located a number of miles from any town. The boys live in the dormitories, and are under guid- ance and counsel of the masters all the time. The world is shut out of this school. The boys have a good time among themselves, but they do not participate in any outside activities. The particu- lar boy who is the subject of this sketch protested vigorously against the arrangements of the school during his first few months there. He wanted to leave it and return to the high school in his home town, but his parents would not listen to it. The masters applied pressure to him because they felt he was capable of doing a much higher grade of work than he was spontaneously inclined to do. DISTRACTIONS IN AMERICAN LIFE 167 He is now well along in bis senior year. He is Qear the top of his class. The masters say that lie will be placed on the honor roll. He is en- thusiastic now about worh ^vhereas formerly he was enthusiastic only about parties and a "high old time." When he comes home for vacation he talks to his former classmates about ''digging into work." He is beginning to acquire genuine intellectual interests, though a few years past he resisted every attempt to induce him to apply himself faithfully to any mental task. CHAPTER VI THE ROLE OF THE FATHER IN THE TRAINING OF YOUTH The Fatherless Children of America. — Re- cently sixty-five men, members of a social club in a moderate-sized city, spent an evening in the discussion of the topic, "What about our Boys?" The man who led in the discussion began by ask- ing the question: ''How much time do you men spend with your boys every week?" He passed around pads and asked each man to think over a week's program and write down the time which he usually spent with his boys every day. The statements made by these men were preserved and the writer has been looking them over. They serve to impress one fact, — that, speaking gen- erally, American fathers are not having vital re- lations with their boys — or with their daughters either, for that matter — so as to make a deep im- pression upon them for good. The majority of the men who gave testimony respecting the role they are playing in the devel- opment of their children do not see much of their families on week-day mornings. Usually they eat breakfast hurriedly and as a rule the children 168 THE ROLE OF THE FATHER 169 are not at the breakfast table. The men do not return to their homes for luncheon. Two or three evenings each week they stay down town to attend a dinner or a meeting of some kind, and one or two evenings they are at their club or have social or business engagements. Often on Sunday they take trips unaccompanied by their children. Some of the men say in their statements that even when they are at home the children are off attending parties and frequently the weekly program of the father and the children turns out so that they do not come together for any meal except break- fast, and that is so brief and hurried that they do not have much to say to one another. So, as a matter of fact, these fathers can hardly keep up their acquaintance with their children, they see them so rarely. The children in many of these homes are in the public schools. Inquiiy has revealed the fact that there is not one man in any of the elementary schools in this particular city. There are sixty- four teachers in the high school and all but eigh- teen of them are women. It is apparent, then, that the boys in this city will not come under masculine influence to any extent from their birth on through the high-school age. Who Are Moulding the Character of the Youngf — Any father who reads these lines could profitably devote a few minutes to making out his own program in order to determine how much 170 THE TREND OF THE TEENS time lie spends with his children and what he does when he is with them. It would prove illuminat- ing to every father if he would try to determine who are really influencing his children, his boys especially, in their development. Undoubtedly the mother is to some extent. The teachers are probably exerting more influence than the mother. But companions and the characters displayed in moving pictures and in vaudeville are playing the principal role for good or ill. Some influence is probably exerted by the characters in history and literature, though in many schools these sub- jects are so taught that the biographical element does not play a prominent part. Can any good thing be said for a regime wherein fathers play a minor role in the develop- ment of their sons? Undoubtedly in certain cases it is best that the father's influence should be very slight. Some fathers are always in a critical attitude toward their sons, and they do them more harm than good. When a boy falls into the way of thinking of his father as a fault-finder it is best for both that they should not be together very much. A boy wiio is continually condemned will acquire a calloused disposition uhtil in the end he will not respond to any criticism, and is likely to develop a defensive and resistant attitude toward everyone who has authority over him. One frequently comes across such boys and they are hard to deal with. It would be better for them THE ROLE OF THE FATHER 171 to grow up without any help from their fathers rather than for them to become antagonistic toward those whom they should respect and obey. Compensating Factors. — For those fathers who are so situated that they cannot see much of their boys there is a compensating factor of consider- able value. Sooner or later one's children must go out into the world and live with people with whom they have no blood relation. They should early learn how to adapt themselves to such peo- ple. They should discover that in order to get on well in the world they must play fair in every situation. They must serve as well as be served. They must be on the alert to take advantage of opportunities. They must be self-reliant; they must take the initiative. Usually these qualities are not developed in children who are looked after too closely by parents. Often boys who are thrown on their own resources at eleven or twelve achieve greater success than boys who are kept under their parents' wings until they reach their majority. But boys should have contact in some place with virile men. Fortunately the women in our public schools are, taken as a whole, above criticism in respect to personal and intellectual characteristics; but even so, a boy needs the stimulus and steadying influence which can be derived only from close association with vigor- ous men. The majority of boys will not do their 172 THE TREND OF THE TEENS best unless tliey have virile men to pattern after. Add to this the fact that, during adolescence at any rate, the typical woman cannot gain a full comprehension of a boy's experiences and needs and she cannot understand how to handle him in certain situations, and it will be apparent why a boy in the teens should be trained by men as well as by women. Taking things as they are in American life, would it not be better if men arranged their busi- ness programs so that they could be with their children at least an hour a day regularly and for two or three weeks at a time during vacation periods? A certain very busy man recently told the writer that he jumped on a train one day with his son and went with him to the Pacific Coast. The round trip occupied four-and-a-half weeks. The father said he took the trip solely for the purpose of being with his boy so closely that he could study him. As a result, he gained a knowledge of the boy's interests and strong and weak points which he said was of inestimable service in deciding how the boy should be edu- cated. This man advised that every father should take a trip with his son when none of the other members of the family were along so that the two of them could become intimately ac- quanted. The suggestion is an admirable one whenever it is feasible. Of course, a great many men cannot take long trips with their sons, but THE ROLE OF THE FATHER 173 they could take short ones lasting for a half or a whole day on a holiday or a Sunday. The writer knows a number of fathers who go out for a week-end camping trip with their sons, and in summer they go into the North Woods for a two- or three-weeks' trip. It is not the intention to give the impression that if a father is not with his sons a good part of the time the latter are certain to go to perdi- tion. This is not of necessity the case. One knows boys who are developing in the finest way, but who see very little of their fathers. In such cases the boys are influenced in the right direc- tion by their mothers and by their companions and teachers and other associates, and also by the moving pictures which they see, and the sugges- tions they gain from their reading. In such circumstances the father will not be much missed. His boys will grow up about as well without him as with him. Such a statement may seem to some readers to be rather cold and heartless, but it is true and it should give comfort to some fathers who do not see how they can arrange their pro- gram so that they can shape their boys' develop- ment to any extent. In such cases they should at least see to it that those who^ are shaping their boys' lives have vigorous, wholesome masculine ideals. Types of Fathers and Sons. — Mr. A. i^ the father of three boys. They are spoken of in high 174 THE TREND OF THE TEENS terms by all who know them. One is doing excel- lent work in the high school and the two older ones are doing equally well in college. They are well-mannered, and their conduct is above re- proach. At the same time they are ''good fel- lows" with their companions. They are fre- quently chosen by their classmates for important offices. They are dependable boys. Their teachers recognize this and place them uniformly near or at the head of their classes. The father 's income is modest. The family live in a simple but frank and wholesome way. The father is an inch or two over six feet in height. He received high honors in college in two or three branches of athletics. He is a thoroughly mascu- line type of man. His associates like him, but his boys like him better than anyone else. He is with them a good deal. Every summer they spend sev- eral weeks together in the woods, or on rivers or lakes, usually far away from familiar haunts. On these hikes the father is one of the group, only a little stronger and more experienced than the others. One never hears of conflicts between this father and his boys. They are just good fellows to- gether, — informal, chummy, hearty. They share and share alike in everything. He seems to have a little better time with his boys than he does with anyone else, and he is with them every chance he gets. THE ROLE OF THE FATHER 175 What is the chief source of his success with his boys? First of all, his physique and his mascu- linity. He is a vigorous, positive, dynamic type. He never nags the boys; he does not need to do so. His personality suggests tremendous power; and boys respect and admire power. What the father says goes without question, simply because he says it. His boys never think of him as being selfish or domineering or dictatorial. He is to them a strong, masterful, hearty man, who is interested in people, his boys particularly, and they follow him as they would any born leader. Natural leadership is the secret of his power. A Different Type. — Mr. B. has a much larger income than Mr. A. His family is regarded in the community in which he lives as quite aristo- cratic. Both Mr. B. and his wife take consider- able pride in their distingushed ancestry. They have a fine house with elaborate furnishings, and they visit at the best houses and entertain the elite of their community. In addition to his other advantages, Mr. B. is a widely-known scholar in his special field. There are two boys in this family, but they are turning out very differently from Mr. A's boys. They have not made a good record in school or college. The younger one will not be able to complete his college course; he likes cigarettes and loafing better than he does his studies and his classrooms. These boys have not secured the 176 THE TREND OF THE TEENS admiration or confidence either of their class- mates or of their teachers. The best way to describe them is that they do not count for much either with their fellow students or with the faculty. Mr. B. has practically no companionship with his boys. They do not like to be with' him ap- parently, and he does not seem to wish to be with them. There is not very close companionship between the members of Mr. B's family. The boys do not pull together very well. They hardly ever seem to be entirely in harmony with the father. Mr. B. is about five feet five inches in height. He does not impress anyone as being a vigorous, dynamic, masculine type. He does not possess qualities of leadership except in purely intel- lectual matters. In a company of men of affairs Mr. B. would be the least among them. In a com- pany of scholars, though, he would stand high. He is not pleased with the way his boys are developing, and he is constantly complaining about their work and their behavior. He prob- ably never sees them without upbraiding them. He would not think of going on a hike with them. He has no interest in such things, and he could not succeed in them anyway. People laugh at him when they see him trying to do anything athletic. So far as his boys are concerned he is a neutral type. They have not reached the stage THE ROLE OF THE FATHER 177 where they are impressed by his scholarship. His personality is mainly negative; and really about the only interest his boys now have in him is that he is the source of their income. It is hard to say it, but the failure of these boys to make good is due mainly to the neutral personality of their father. He cannot under- stand why they do not appreciate the advantages they- have in their excellent home. He feels, too, that they are unappreciative of his accomplish- ments. They are, because what he has done and is now doing is not dynamic and dramatic enough to make an appeal to them. This greatly dis- tresses and irritates the father. Most men possessing Mr. B's physical and temperamental characteristics cannot exert a strong influence in the lives of their sons. They cannot lead them, so they often attempt to drive them, and they fail in nine out of ten cases ; and the more they complain the farther away their boys grow from them. If such a father could frankly recognize his handicap in physique and dynamic qualities, and if he could arrange it so that his boys would come under the leadership of other virile men, he would do better than he is now doing by them. In time the boys would grow to appreciate their father's abilities, qualities, and devotion to their welfare, and they would be likely to follow his instructions. Such a father should proceed on the principle that boys are 178 THE TREND OF THE TEENS influenced mainly by masculine types of men and by generous good fellowship which ordinarily goes with an impressive stature. A Still Different Type. — Here is a third type of father: Mr. C. is a prominent statesman. He is not over five feet five inches in height. But his lack in stature is more than offset by his powerful voice and impressive features and bear- ing. Despite his handicap in stature he is a leader among men. Everything about him is thoroughly masculine, and he has followers wherever he goes. He, too, has a family of boys, and they are his best friends. They go with him on his travels, and he is their hero. He can sway great multitudes of men by his oratory and his dynamic personality, and this has deeply influenced his sons. They emu- late him in his voice, manner and other character- istics, which is sufficient evidence that he is their model. While he is much like Mr. B. in physique, he is diametrically opposite from him in his mas- culinity, and this is chiefly why he has gained a firm hold on his boys, and has guided them so much better than has Mr. B. When a father loses his sons the chances are that the trouble lies with him. The last thing he ought to do is to complain about his misfortune, and especially to nag the boys. If he cannot do anything better he must at least grin and bear his ill-luck. But lacking the qualities of a leader of boys himself he can usually make amends THE ROLE OF THE FATHER 179 therefor by keeping his boys in contact with right- minded men who are natural leaders. Fathers as Companions of Their Boys, — Choose at random a hundred college boys, nine- teen or twenty years of age, and listen as a by- stander to their talk about their home relations. Some of them — a minority — w^ill refer to their fathers with genuine cordial feeling. These boys think of their fathers as comrades and chums, and also as friends and advisers in time of need. But the majority of the boys will not speak very affectionately or reverently of their fathers. The typical boy will refer to his father as ''the old man ' ' or the ' ' governor, ' ' which are not terms of endearment. The boy looks upon his father as the provider of funds, not as a companion or a counsellor. Such a boy rarely mentions his father except to tell of the tales he has to fix up in order to get some "dough." He is not anxious to go ' home to see his father ; his chief concern is to get checks from him every month. These boys who do not manifest warm feeling for their fathers usually speak more considerately of their mothers. They do not refer to the mother as "the old woman." They often say they would like to go home to see their mothers. For every boy who is anxious to have a visit with his "dad" there are fifty who want to visit with their mothers. The typical father does not play an important 180 THE TREND OF THE TEENS role in the life of his boys except in regard to money, and then he is the one who has to hold them down. Boys have confessed that they have never been with their fathers when the latter have not complained about money matters, or wasteful- ness, idleness and dissipation. The relations be- tween many fathers and their sons concern finances and discipline almost wholly. Fathers are often looked upon as taskmasters and policemen. If there is any whipping to be done in many homes the father must do it all. The children are afraid of him ; he is the bugaboo of the place. They do not think of him as a play- fellow and a good sport, but only as a disciplin- arian. The mother often represents the father to the children as a bloodthirsty individual; she says that if they do not behave the father will make them smart for it when he gets home. When there is any expression of affection at all toward the children in such a home it usually comes from the mother. When a boy of nineteen or twenty, then, thinks of his parents, he generally thinks of the mother as generous and warm-hearted, and his father as col4, stingy, fault-finding and tyran- nical. There Are Exceptions. — Fortunately, there are exceptions. One finds boys who speak of their ''dad" as they would of an intimate companion. They like to be with him, because they have a good time with him. They fish with him, hunt THE ROLE OF THE FATHER 181 with him, go off on hikes with him, joke with him; in short they are chums together. In such cases the financial and disciplinary aspects of the father are decidedly subordinated to his genial and companionable qualities. As a rule, the attitude of the girl toward her father is different from that of the boy. Take a hundred university girls chosen at random and most of them will speak fondly of their fathers. American fathers are more kindly and generous toward their daughters than toward their sons. "Dad" will not complain of his daughter's ex- penses. He will not discipline her except gently for anything she may do. Indeed, he will often defend her against her mother's criticisms. The typical father has a sort of chivalric relation to- ward his daughter. He is more considerate of her wishes than her mother is. So she thinks of him. as a good fellow, and she likes him, speaking gen- erally. But even these girls who have a loving attitude toward their fathers often remember the strain and stress in the home resulting from the father's efforts to keep down the expenditures of his family and to discipline the boys for their lack of earnestness and industry. The majority of American families are so con- ducted that the children are away from home much of the time at the liouses of their friends, or at social gatherings, or they are entertaining their friends. It is becoming ever more difficult 182 THE TREND OF THE TEENS for a father to see his family together and have them to himself. So a large proportion of chil- dren see more of and know more about their neighbors than they do their father. About the only time they have intim^ate relations with him is when they want to make a ** touch. ^' The events of every-day life are not talked over by the father with his children to any extent in the typical American home to-day. In short, the father is living one kind of life, and his family are living a quite different kind. The only points of contact between them relate to money and discipline. Happily this is not true of every home ; it is be- coming true, though, of a constantly increasing proportion of homes. One Way to. Remedy the Evil. — How can a father avoid having only monetary and punitive relations with his children? First of all he must establish a financial system in his home which will prevent incessant conflict about money. He must establish a budget system. Even the man who has such abundant means that it is of no financial consequence what his family spend or how they spend it cannot, as a rule, endure to see his sons squandering money to their own de- struction; and not infrequently in homes of wealth there is constant strain and stress with ultimate alienation between fathers and sons be- cause the latter go to excess in expenditure of money, which usually leads to the acquisition of THE ROLE OF THE FATHER 183 vicious habits of life that sooner or later will bring distress upon the individual and all who are connected with him. A budget system, rigidly adhered to, would often be the means of eliminat- ing the chief source of conflict between a wealthy father and his children; and the latter would be better off from every point of view if they were required to adjust their expenses to a definitely- fixed allowance. Men of means sometimes permit their sons to go to their cashier or banker when- ever they wish and draw funds. It seems as if such generosity should have a happy outcome; but it is only a matter of time until these fathers begin to complain of their sons ' wastefulness and lack of understanding of the value of money, and also their inconsiderate and unappreciative atti- tude. Women do not readily adapt themselves to a budget system. Men learn by hard knocks that the only way to run an institution, the home or any other, is on a plan wherein each individual affected knows how much money he can and may spend and for what purposes ; and under no con- ditions can he go beyond this. Women do not learn this lesson as readily as men do because they have more hope and faith that somehow everything will come out right. Women trust to luck more largely than men do. It is up to the father, then, no matter whether his income is a thousand dollars or a hundred thousand, to estab- 184 THE TREND OF THE TEENS lish early in his family a budget system which must prevail no matter what happens. Once the members of a family realize that they can depend upon a given allowance but they must live within this allowance they will get along more happily than when there is no understanding about the matter and they keep speculating as to how far they dare go, and as to what chances there are of their increasing their resources by hook or by crook. When a family fall into the habit of get- ting money whenever they wish by teasing or cajoling or hectoring it is difficult to change their methods; and under such conditions it is inevita- ble that there should be conflict and ill feeling, and the father will be regarded as the tyrant of the home. He may develop into a chronic cynic and pessimist, and acquire the habit of saying but little to the members of his family except in com- plaint of their wastefulness. The Father as a Bread Winner Only. — The finances in many families are planned on the as- sumption that the father is simply and solely a bread-winner. This unhappily is one of the most unlovely phases of family life in America. The father does not have time or energy to be a chum with any member of his family. He cannot relax or play because he feels the pressure all the time of having to meet the bills of his unreckoning and pleasure-seeking family. And they show little appreciation of his efforts because they do not THE ROLE OF THE FATHER 185 see the bread-winner at work. He leaves his home early in the morning and does not return until night-time. During his absence the family have been running here and there, doing this and that, and they do not observe any difference be- tween their own and the bread-winner's day. And if the latter complains about his labors and his sacrifices he makes little or no impression on his family; one cannot impress persons w^ith that w^hich they know nothing about, even if he talks to them until he is black in the face. Watch a typical American family when the father is tell- ing them about what he has been up against dur- ing the day in his business. They wish he would hurry up and get through so they can talk about the day's adventures or the next party they will attend. And a father need not expect anything else, so long as he and his family have little in common, and he has no time for the cultivation of friendships and chummy relations with them, and they do not realize that he is making every effort to provide for them. The Bread-Winner May Become a Boor. — And this leads up to another matter of consequence. University boys sometimes speak of their fathers in a tone w^hich indicates that the latter are not presentable in up-to-date society, because their clothes, their speech and their manners have been formed under rather rough and commercial con- ditions. As a matter of fact, the typical Ameri- 186 THE TREND OF THE TEENS can father who is working his head off so that his family may keep up with the procession does not have leisure or energy sufficient to keep pace with them in dress or manners or general up-to-date- ness. The mother goes to clubs, to lectures and to social and art meetings for general improvement, but the father goes to nothing of the sort. Sooner or later he gets to be looked upon as more or less of a boor, which he often is. He is just a money- getter; he has made the mistake of letting his family acquire all the social graces while he has paid the price. Many American men realize that they are only machines running at full capacity to produce dol- lars for their families. When one listens to their talk he can tell that they feel they are not appre^ ciated. This tends to make them cranky and dis- agreeable in their homes. So it comes about that many a man who is devoting all his energies to making his family comfortable does not receive any affection or consideration from those for whom he labors, simply because in their presence he is sour, taciturn, fault-finding, irascible. We cannot have affection for this kind of person, no matter how much money he earns for us. So you fathers who have read through to this point, you would have a better status in your own families if you spent less of your energy in making money and more of it in making friends with your wife THE ROLE OF THE FATHER 187 and your children and being agreeable in their presence. Expensive Luxuries Usually Disrupt a Family. — Here is an illustration. A father thought he would be conferring a favor upon his family, con- sisting of his wife and three children, if he would buy an expensive automobile. He reasoned that it would be a means of keeping the family to- gether, and he thought they would certainly be appreciative of his generosity and self-sacrifice. But as it has worked out the automobile is an additional cause of conflict. The children wish to use it much of the time for the pleasure of their friends and themselves. The father has to work harder to provide for the up-keep of the thing. Instead of seeing more of his family he sees less of them than he did formerly. Instead of their being thankful for his devotion, they are, if any- thing, less appreciative, because they are in a different kind of life altogether. Only a very small part of their thoughts and feelings have any relation to the father. They are so obsessed by their own enterprises and pleasures that the thought of self-sacrifice for them on the part of anyone rarely, if ever, enters their heads. The Father Must Grin and Bear It. — But no matter how deeply a man may feel about the ex- travagance and indifference of his family he ought at any rate to keep his poise and hold in check a sarcastic or critical tongue. Out in the 188 THE TREND OF THE TEENS world a man learns inhibition. He soon discovers that he cannot give way to every impulse which stirs within him. Women are more mobile and volatile, and so less inhibited than men. A woman cannot help but give way to her deeper feelings. But the man can help it, and he ought to help it. If he cannot preserve poise in his family, then there is certain to be strain and stress. If he does not like the way matters are going he cannot remedy the situation by flaring up. When a father loses his head in dealing with the mem- bers of his family he will at the same time cer- tainly lose their respect and admiration. Finally, a father should avoid gaining the repu- tation of being merely a pain-giver in his family. He should resist having the administration of all penalties put off on him. He might better let some deserved punishments go altogether than to develop in his children the conviction that his chief function is to give them pain. For every occasion that he makes a child feel unpleasant he should make him feel happy at least ten times. A father should become established in his children's thoughts and feeling as the chief source of their pleasure, of their good times, of cheerfulness and of laughter. In short, he should be thought of as a good scout rather than as the cause of disap- pointment and tears. CHAPTER VII THE GOVERNMENT OF YOUTH Democracy in Dealing with the Young. — As these lines are being written, the United States is engaged in a mighty conflict with autocracy. We are determined to continue the struggle until the world is set free from domination by self- constituted tyrants. We are committed to a de- fense of the policy that men and women every- where must be free to think and to work as they choose in so far as they do not trespass on the rights of their fellows. That form of govern- ment in which a few impose their will arbitrarily upon others is passing; no man or group of men can much longer continue by divine right or any other right to domineer over their fellows. America w^ill help to establish the rule through- out the world that every man, woman and child is entitled to life, liberty and the pursuit of happi- ness uncontrolled and unrestricted by others so long as he plays the game fair, and orders his life in accordance with rules of right and justice which will be binding upon all alike. These principles which we are attempting to 180 190 THE TREND OF THE TEENS have established throughout the world deserve recognition as well in the home as in the state. Every home in which there are adults and chil- dren is or should be a miniature state. The ques- tion of freedom of thought and action is just as vital and pressing in the home as it is in the state. Problems of privileges, rights, duties and respon- sibilities come up for consideration every day in most homes where young people are developing. The typical parent is not democratic in the treatment of his children. He likes to govern by mandate or exhortation. He dogmatically asserts his views on every question that arises, and in- sists that he knows more than his children, and he has little respect for their ''notions." One can listen to a parent telling his thirteen-year-old boy. say, what kind of cap he must wear, and how and when he must wear it, though the boy says the other boys will ''snicker" at him, and he does not want to be "the goat" of the crowd. But the parent will listen to no argument; he says he knows better than the boy does what the latter should do, and he does not care what the "other boys" think. The Chief Cause of Conflict Between Parents and Children. — Much of the conflict between parents and children is due to the fact that the former do not recognize the right of the latter to express opinions contrary to their own on any question or problem whatsoever. One can hear THE GOVERNMENT OF YOUTH 191 such a parent say: **I will teacli you to obey. When your opinions are wanted, I w^ill ask for them," and so on. Many of Dickens' books were written to expose and condemn this autocratic, domineering, tyrannical attitude of parents to- ward their children. Nature has implanted in everyone, whether child or adult, a passion to be free from domina- tion by others. A normal human being, after the period of infancy at any rate, tenaciously resists those who arbitrarily attempt to rule him. Nature says to him: "Be independent; assert your rights; do not let your individuality be de- stroyed by any domineering person." In some homes parents never ask children what they think in regard to any problem of conduct. They say: ''Do this" or "Do that." They do not say: "What shall we do about this or about that?" "Is it right or best to do so and so?" Fortunately the number of homes in which the life is conducted on a democratic plan is increas- ing. Mary Roberts Rhinehart has recently told the story of her own home life. She says that practically every problem affecting anyone in the home is discussed by the parents and the children together, and the best solution offered by any member of the family is the one accepted. In such a home quite young children will generally see that the views of their parents are sounder than their own, and they will accept and follow THE TREND OF THE TEENS them ; but tliey are likely to resist mere autocratic commands when there has been no discussion of what is the proper course to take in any situation. The Democratic Way Is the Happiest Way. — A parent who has not tried to solve problems of conduct by discussion with his children has not governed them in the best way. Again, a parent who has not learned to restrain his own views on questions affecting members of the family while, he listens to the views of his children has missed the greatest pleasure to be derived from being a parent. Any one w^ho is not an autocrat will find only delight in observing how his children's minds work on the difficulties which are encoun- tered in the management of the home. He will be exhilarated when he sees how their views en- large every day as they develop, and how they gradually bring their selfish desires under control so that they can appreciate and observe principles of right and justice and fair play themselves, and insist upon others observing them. A parent who is a bully never can gain an insight into his chil- dren's thoughts about conduct, and so he can never know what fine sport it is to be a parent. A monarchical form of government is just as objectionable in the home as it is in the state. Here in America we should apply the principles of democracy to the home more than has been done in any other country. This does not mean that young and immature children should deter- THE GOVERNMENT OF YOUTH 193 mine the way in which the home should be man- aged; but it does mean that, increasingly as they develop, they should be encouraged to express their opinions on every problem relating to the internal workings of the home and its relation to the other homes of the community. This kind of government will tend to make children reason- able ; it will develop self-restraint, and the atmos- phere of the home will be made more cheerful thereby. It will have other advantages, too, be- cause the views of the children in regard to the' relation of the home to other homes in the com- munity will often be sounder than the views of the parents themselves. Children who were still in their teens have been heard discussing with their parents problems concerning the adjustment of the home to community practices, and the views of the chil- dren were saner than those of the parents because they were more intimately in touch with the sen- timent of the community. The parents retained the views they had formed in their childhood and were out-of-date when they were debating pres- ent-day matters with the children. Parents have been heard dogmatically telling their adolescent boys and girls what companions they should culti- vate, how they should dress and act, what studies they should take, what their table manners should be, and so on ad libitum; and it would have been better for the children if they could have decided 194 THE TREND OF THE TEENS these matters largely in their own way after dis- cussing them with the parents. Youth Is Exuberant. — But some parents will say "I cannot endure to hear my children talk and see them act as though they knew more about life than their elders." But a parent .should understand that young children are exuberant in their self-assertion. A sensible parent will not be disturbed by this. He will know that self- restraint will develop with age; he will know, further, that he can help his children to become reasonable only as he allows them to express themselves so that he can see wherein they are unreasonable. Children who are ruled autocrat- ically may keep quiet ; but when they escape from tyranical control they are likely to go to the other extreme. This is true of nations as it is of indi- viduals. People who have been held in bondage go to all lengths in disorder when they are re- leased, as the Eussian revolution now in progress indicates; but people who live under democratic conditions learn how to regulate their actions. This lesson has been illustrated hundreds of times in the history of the world; and any observant person can see it illustrated in the homes he knows. Respect a Child's Self -Made Programs. — Many parents think a boy or girl should never have any plans which should be respected by the parents, and this is the cause of endless difficul- THE GOVERNMENT OF YOUTH 195 ties, as the following instance illustrates. S. D., a boy of sixteen years, was regarded by Ms parents as lazy and selfish. He would not gladly help with any of the work about the home. His mother was in the habit of asking him to do errands and sometimes to assist with the house- work, but he never responded willingly and pleas- antly to any requests for his assistance. He was rather taciturn and he seemed to have a chip on his shoulder much of the time. Away from his home, he was quite jolly and he was known by his "pals" as a good fellow. He could talk as readily as any of his companions and he enjoyed visiting with them. But when- ever he came into his own house his temper changed. He expected that some task would be assigned him or that some complaint would be lodged against him. He was in a defensive atti- tude against his faults most of the time. This was due to the fact that his mother had always been in the habit of asking him to do chores about the house. He had not complied with her requests readily and so he had received a good deal of criticism. As a consequence he had developed a rather unfriendly, surly relation toward the mem- bers of his family, especially his mother who had been his chief critic. A year ago he took a position on a farm. He began his work in April and continued until Octo- ber. He did a man's work, so his employer said. 196 THE TREND OF THE TEENS He was up before five in the morning and often in the field before half -past six. His day's work was not finished until seven at night. He worked on this plan all summer. His employer states that he carried out this strenuous program with- out complaint, and that he never showed anger or hostility when he was asked to perform any task. When he returned to his home in October he was in a different frame of mind than w^hen he left in the spring. His sullen attitude had disap- l^eared. He was cheerful, good-humored, talkative and very responsive to requests for his assistance about the house. The constant comment of the parents was, ''The boy is completely changed. What could have happened to him?" But the change was not permanent. It lasted for four or five weeks, and then he began to slip backward. His conversation in the home gradu- ally declined until it ceased almost completely. After two months the mother observed with great regret that the boy's earlier traits had again be- come prominent, and she could not understand why he had not retained the good feeling and cordial attitude toward her which he had when he returned from the farai. The Salutary Influence of a Regular Program. — Here is the explanation. When he was working on the farm he had a regular daily program to follow. He knew what would be demanded of him each day. He would be alone in the fields for THE GOVERNMENT OF YOUTH 197 hours at a time with no one telling him to do this or that or come here or go there. Often he would follow the same plan of work for weeks and his employer would not need to give him any direc- tions. In brief, he lived a quiet, regular and un- disturbed life on the farm; and he was his own boss much of the time. So there was very little if anything to irritate him or offend his sense of independence. But when he returned to his home there was no regular program of tasks to follow. He wished to do many things every day suggested by his com- panions and by what was taking place in his en- vironment. He wished to go quite frequently to moving picture shows. He liked often to walk on the streets simply studying the crowd; he was fascinated by the stream of human life which he could observe any time on the streets. He liked to read a good deal, and of course he had his tasks in school to perform. But his mother would break into his plans at any time with a request that he should do an errand for her. She never considered the proper time to make her request; she made it whenever she thought of it, which was often when the boy was in the midst of an attractive story or was just about to keep an en- gagement with a chum. The mother acted on the theory that the boy had no obligations which should be respected. His time belonged to the family, and it was fitting to impose a task upon 198 THE TREND OF THE TEENS him at any moment. This irritated him and in- evitably he began to take a defensive attitude against the incessant interference with his plans. He developed a kind of self-protective method against his mother in particular and against all the members of the family in general. It was a family trait for one member not to take any ac- count of the plans of any other member in the matter of making requests. In this family the mother was chiefly at fault; she exercised little or no self-restraint in the issuing of commands to the members of the family and especially to this boy. The more indifferent, resistant and even hostile he became, the more requests she made of him, in the belief that if she did not keep eternally at him he would develop into a selfish, mean and disagreeable man. Avoiding Irritation and Conflict. — Many parents treat children as though they had no right to make any plans. But whether or not they have a right to do so, they surely do make plans; and if these are constantly obstructed they will de- velop irritability, meanness, and resistance to re- quests and authority in every form. The typical parent who thinlvs a boy's unwillingness to do chores cheerfully is due to '^ natural meanness" needs to appreciate that in these days the young have their days crammed so full of attractive activities that there is not nearly time enough to do them all without the demands of parents on THE GOVERNMENT OF YOUTH 199 the little leisure that is left after school hours are taken out. There are the interesting happenings that have to be told to one's chums; there are the secrets that have to be gone over together; there are the games that must be played with one's fellows ; and there are the curious people, curious places and the new things of the neighborhood and surrounding territory that must be seen. Human nature is so constituted that any one will become disagreeable and rebellious toward those who are always upsetting his plans. This is not to say, of course, that children should not have any tasks to perform about the home. They should have some chores, but they ought to un- derstand definitely what chores they have to do each day and at what hour they must attend to them. The daily program should not be varied except under very unusual conditions. It should be the aim of the parents to bring a boy as rapidy as possible to the point where he can at- tend to his duties without supervision or direc- tion from any one. The moment he becomes self- directive he will perform his tasks with less fric- tion than when he is supervised by parents or anyone else. The less that has to be said to a boy about his chores, the more cheerfully he is likely to do them. It is not so much the work, no matter what it may be, which is likely to irritate a boy; it is the presence of persons who talk to him incessantly about doing it properly. Work 200 THE TREND OF THE TEENS does not usually arouse hostility in a boy, but those who direct him often do. Let the Boy Try His Wings. — One who has read Dickens' books will recall that several of them were written for the purpose of inducing parents and school masters to give the young per- sons in their charge greater freedom of action than they were allowed in the author's day. The lot of children, boys especially, was a hard one in England in Dickens' time. The maxim that a young person should be seen and not heard was followed religiously. Parents and school masters treated the young as though they had no rights to speak of. They were always to do as they were bid. They were always to serve and were not to expect service in return. In the presence of adults they were to be humble and subservient. They were never to offer their opinion in opposi- tion to the opinion of a parent or a teacher. They were not to suggest what they would like to do; they were to ask what was the pleasure of those in authority that they should do. The lines of the young in America have fallen in pleasanter places. They enjoy freedom of ac- tion which is unknown to children in most foreign countries. Their individuality is, speaking gen- erally, recognized and respected, which was not the case in Dickens' time in England, and is not the case now in most European countries. As a consequence, children are happier here than they THE GOVERNMENT OF YOUTH 201 are in any other country, and there is less con- flict between parents and teachers on the one side and children on the other. But there are American parents who in dealing with their children pursue the policy which was followed in Dickens' time. That is to say, they treat them as though their opinions were entitled to no consideration. They order them to do this and not to do that. A\nien a child, a boy espe- cially, suggests that he would like to do a certain thing, that is the very thing which he cannot be permitted to do. Unfortunately, such parents usually think they ought to keep their boys always under their eye and hand so that they can train them in good habits. A concrete instance will illustrate the methods pursued by these fathers. A Concrete Instance of Parental Autocracy. — A boy eighteen years of age, living on a farm in a middle-western state, wished to attend a col- lege in the eastern part of the country. Two boys that he knew had attended the college and had given him a glowing description of the institution. He was a faithful boy and a good worker. He liked occasionally to go to near-by towns and see the life on the street, and he had three or four girl friends whom he visited once in a while. His father thought this was evidence that he was not very serious-minded; and he concluded that he would have to be trained pretty rigorously in 202 THE TREND OF THE TEENS order that he might take charge of the farm later on. So his father kept a tight rein on him. He lectured the boy a good deal about application to business, and when the latter made the request to go to the eastern college the father would not listen to him. There is a little one-horse college about sixty miles from where the boy lives, and the father told him that if he would attend strictly to business and do a full day's work on the farm every working day during the summer he might be permitted to have a few months at the college in the winter. The father maintained that in tak- ing this course he was doing the boy a real favor. It was suggested to the father that it would be a means of grace for every one concerned if the boy could go a long ways from home and stay away for nine or ten months. He needed to get out into the world and learn how to adapt himself to people. It was represented to the father that when the boy came back to the farm he would fit into the situation better than if he were kept tethered at home constantly. The father replied that if the boy went to the eastern college he would have to earn every cent he would need for his trip and education. One can hear the boy say now that his father is ^'grumpy" much of the time. For days at a stretch they do not have much to say to each other. The father is on the offen- sive and the boy is on the defensive. The other members of the family feel the strain and stress THE GOVERNMENT OF YOUTH 203 developing between father and son. This will go on from bad to worse the longer they have to associate with one another. The more they see of each other while they are in their present state of mind, the more antagonistic they will become. When a Boy Should Leave Home. — If the father were wise he would encourage the boy to go to college and he would provide a reasonable fund for his maintenance. He owes it to the boy for one thing ; and even for his own peace of mind he should do so, for life on the farm would be more agreeable when the boy returned. But since the father is unwilling to do this it would be better for the boy to go anyway and work to pay his own expenses. He needs to get away from the farm. If he cannot do anything else, it would be better for him to work on another farm for a while than to remain at home. If he should stay away long enough his father might miss him and be glad to have him back; but he should not re- turn until both he and his father think better of one another than they do now. The father is clearly at fault in this particular case. He is hedging his boy about with needless restrictions and he is hypercritical. If he would say to his boy; ''I am quite willing you should go to college or any other place if you wish to; you have worked faithfully here and I will give you as much money as I can spare; you may stay until you feel that you would like to come home, ' ' 204 THE TREND OF THE TEENS — if he would say something like this in a good spirit he would put his boy in the right frame of mind. The boy might venture out into the world, but he would probably be glad to come back again feeling more content with his home than he is at present. A father ought to suggest to his boy that he go out into the world when the latter seems to be dissatisfied about the home. The boy should be given the impression that the father is not trying to restrict his freedom. Boys would not run away from home as they so frequently do if they felt that their parents were willing to give them considerable leeway. Finally, parents should remember that nature has worked on the plan of having the young leave the home nest early. When birds reach a certain age they are seized with a passion to leave the nest and not to return to it. Young animals are always eager to leave the locality in which they were born and seek out new fields. So it is with human beings, boys especially. Nature evi- dently intends that families should not hold to- gether too tenaciously. She wishes the members of one family to intermingle with the members of other families. Only in this way could society have been developed. So it is inevitable that a normal boy should wish to tiy his wings and parents should not clip them. Loosening Home Ties. — Many parents cannot bear to have a child of any age leave home unless THE GOVERNMENT OF YOUTH 205 they accompany him. They fear that some harm may come to him or he may become lonely in strange places or he may suffer from homesick- ness. Such parents are always woriying about a child when he is out of their sight. They look after his needs so continuously at home that they feel something has dropped out of their lives when they do not have him where they can serve him. A child brought up in this way is apt to remain dependent for life upon his parents or someone else. He looks to them or to others to smooth out the hard places for him. He does not gain ex- perience in meeting people and adjusting himself to them. When friends call at the house and the boy is present the mother or father is likely to do his talking for him. If he is asked a question about how he likes his school, for example, the parents and not the boy make the chief reply. It is not uncommon to find parents who make prac- tically all the responses for their children. The latter sit silent and helpless while the parents talk for them and even think for them. Of course, there is no reason why a child should de- velop resourcefulness and initiative in conversing or doing anything else when his parents act for him. If he wishes to secure a job, for instance, the father will probably make the application for him. If he is required to send information about himself the mother will be likely to furnish it in- 206 THE TREND OF THE TEENS stead of requiring him to attend to the matter. One could not think of a better program than this to make an individual incompetent, and in the end discontented and uninteresting. Wlien children who have always leaned on their parents are compelled to leave home they are gen- erally overcome with homesickness. The world seems a cold, bitter place to them ; and the people they meet appear to be unsympathetic, unfriendly and indifferent. The world does not return to an individual more than it receives from him; and one who has got into the habit of expecting that he will always be served without rendering serv- ice will have a hard row to hoe. He will think people are mean, selfish and uncharitable when he is solely responsible for their attitude toward him. Make Children Independent of Parents and Home. — The moral is that parents should begin quite early to make their children independent of them. Mothers and fathers ought to subdue the parental instinct to do everything for their off- spring and to tether them closely to their home. When a child reaches the teens he should be able to go away from home for considerable periods without experiencing homesickness or loneliness or lack of self-confidence. He should be fond of his father and mother, of course, but he should not be so dependent upon them for service or for friendship that he is miserable and helpless when THE GOVERN^IENT OF YOUTH 207 they are not within calling distance. From one point of view the less a child thinks about his home when he is away from it the better prepared he is to meet the problems which he will en- counter in the world. This does not mean that he should not have affection for his father and mother and brothers and sisters. He certainly should have. But this affection should not be so intense that it will be the cause of his undoing when he cannot be with the members of his family. It sometimes happens that an almost abnormal attachment develops between a father and daugh- ter and a mother and son. Dr. Barker, of Johns Hopkins University, a special student of nervous disorders, has warned parents not to allow too close an attachment to develop between their children and themselves because it may become morbid. A daughter's sentiments should not be- come so centered upon her father that they can- not be detached from him and bestowed upon some other man. The same is true of the attach- ment of the son to his mother. The latter is less likely to occur than the former, however. Self Government Among Boys. — When boys reach the teens they should be given experience in governing themselves. We can gain a useful lesson in regard to this matter by a study of the English Public Schools in which self government is developed to a high degree. These schools are not public in the sense in which the schools are in 208 THE TREND OF THE TEENS this country. They are not supported at public expense; they are private institutions designed for boys alone. They charge tuition, and they may reject any applicant. There are about a hundred of these schools now in England. Some of them date back several centuries, while a num- ber of them have been established during the present century. The best known representatives of these Public Schools are Rugby, Eton, and Harrow; but the others are like them in general characteristics. Boys enter schools of this tj^pe at about the age of thirteen and remain six years or more. The chief distinction of these Public Schools is their corporate life. They are essentially self- governing institutions. The youngest members are in a certain sense servants to the older ones. It is the custom for an older boy to have a younger one as a **fag" who will serve his master in any way that the latter may desire. The boys who have been in the school longest, the ** sixth form" boys, constitute the rulers of the school. The teachers, or ''masters" as they are called, are not the disciplinarians of the school as is the case in this country. If a boy is guilty of a mis- demeanor at Eton, say, the teachers do not sit on his case in the first instance. The boys them- selves take it up. If it is necessary to administer punishment, they do it. Of course, the head- master and his associates may in a crisis take the THE GOVERNMENT OF YOUTH 209 government of the school in their own hands, but this rarely occurs. The Fagging System. — Those who have read Tom Broum of Rughy have doubtless formed the notion that the fagging system is very brutal. It undoubtedly was severe in an earlier day, but it has been somewhat modified in our times. Still the principle prevails that the youngest boys must serve, and the older boys must rule. The masters live with their pupils in a more intimate and vital way than do the teachers in the schools of this country. The masters and the boys constitute a community together. They are sufficient unto themselves. The outside world does not break into the seclusion of these schools to any appreciable extent. The masters and the boys form intimate associations and develop a give-and-take sort of life, which does not exist in our own country, at least not in our public schools. The distractions and seductions of the world which play such an important part in our own schools are shut out of the English schools. There is very little rivalry for social prestige among the pupils of these schools. Ambition and talent are exercised principally in competition for athletic and academic honors. The atmosphere of one of these schools is surcharged with success in examinations and athletics. While in our own schools the boy or girl who can dance best or dress the most elaboratelv or drive the most 210 THE TREND OF THE TEENS costly automobile is often distinguished above all the other pupils, such a thing would be impossible in the English Public Schools. Even when the son of the King goes to Eton, he leaves all his social distinctions behind him, and becomes a fag the same as any other boy. If he gets ahead at all, it must be because of his being better than other boys in athletics or in examinations, Travnmg in Government. — There can be no doubt that these schools have contributed to the development of the British Empire. For the most part, the men who govern the Empire have been trained in Eugby, Eton, Harrow, or one of the other schools of this type. It can be seen that the organization and administration of these schools assists in the training of men to rule. The sixth-form boy, who has experience in governing the school, acquires knowledge which will be valuable for him when he comes to play the role of governor of India or Egypt or some of the other English dependencies. Our owTi schools give little or no training in government in the sense in which the English Public Schools do. The nearest approach to it in this country is in military academies in which boys possessing ability in leadership secure posi- tions as officers and govern the cadets in the insti- tutions. There is less scope, however, for the governing ability of boys in a military school than in a school like Eton or Rugby, because in the THE GOVERNMENT OF YOUTH 211 foiTQer military rule prevails, and a cadet officer simply enforces the established rules. But while in Eton there are traditional rules, still every case possesses certain individual characteristics which must be investigated and weighed in deter- mining rewards or penalties. If we could introduce into all our public schools the principles of self-government, following the English method, but not carrying it quite so far, it would certainly prove of distinct service. It would be valuable for the pupils who are gov- erned as well as for those who govern them. Pupils have more regard for government admin- istered by their own representatives than they do for that administered by teachers, who are re- garded as aliens to a certain extent, and their rule is resented. Often pupils who will rebel against a penalty set by a school principal will take the same thing without a whimper when it is admin- istered by a court composed of their schoolmates. And then the welfare of our country demands that boys who possess ability to govern should have a chance early to gain practical experience in it. It would be of service to any community and to the nation if we had an effective system of selecting out the leaders among the boys and the girls, too, in our high schools, and giving them practical training in administering government in an intelligent, equitable and effective way. This movement is already started in some places, but 212 THE TREND OF THE TEENS it ought to be helped along in every community. Government by Nagging. — Contrasted with the method of self-government sketched above is the method of nagging still employed too generally in our country. This method is illustrated in the case of a certain mother who chastises her boy for his misdeeds by ceaseless upbraiding. He is now fourteen years of age, and his father has not played a prominent part in his training. Since he was three years of age the mother has found it juecessary to correct him for a great variety of mischievous actions which have brought trouble on both him and herself. She has thought that the proper way to deal with him whenever he was detected in wrong-doing was to try to make him ashamed of his conduct so that he would do differently in the future. The mother has a high- pitched voice, and she gives it full rein whenever she is taking her boy to task for his errors ; and the more annoying his offense, the louder her tones of admonition and criticism. She believes that the greater the crime the louder should be the correction thereof, and the longer should be the period of verbal chastisement. One may often hear her talking to the boy in this strain : ' * I have spoken to you a great many times about this matter. I have told you how wrong it is for you to do a thing like this. You ought to know better. You have had good oppor- tunities to learn what is right. You have no ex- THE GOVERNMENT OF YOUTH 213 cuse for your actions. You say you 'forgot', but that is no excuse. A boy of your age and your bringing up ought not to forget. If you had the right disposition about it, you would not forget. You do not seem to have any sense of shame about such things. You do not see other boys of your age and training doing as you do. I can- not keep talking to you always about this, and if you cannot do as you should, I will see that you are put where you will have to do it. I have been patient with you, but you do not seem to appre- ciate or care about what I do for you. I will give you warning now that I cannot stand this much longer. I am often ashamed for you because you do not seem to have any sense of what you ought to do." And she goes on, modifying her phrases here and there, but repeating the same thoughts over and over for fifteen or twenty minutes at a stretch. But what she says does not have much if any effect on the boy, except while he is right before her and listening to her words of denun- ciation and exhortation. Five minutes after he has received a violent scolding he appears often to have forgotten about it, and he is as light- hearted and mischievous as before. The mother's discipline does not reach his springs of conduct and control his action. He seems now to be rather hardened to these verbal castigations. Unfortunately, this boy has been attending 214 THE TREND OF THE TEENS school where the discipline is much like that which has been used by his mother. The teachers in the school are noisy in their correction of pupils. Corporal punishment is forbidden, and the teach- ers feel that since they cannot inflict dermal pain they must give pupils good tongue lashings fre- quently. In some of the rooms in this school the teacher 's voice is used much of the time in telling pupils of their faults and commanding them to mend their ways or they will come to grief. It is a traditional belief in the school that a good dis- ciplinarian knows how to talk vociferously and sharply when pupils are caught in any kind of wrong-doing. In the springtime when the win- dows are open, one could hang around in the little playground attached to the school, and he could collect a choice vocabularly of terms of reproach, condemnation and exhortation issuing from most of the schoolrooms. A Different Method of Government. — Glance now at a different method of training practiced in a home where there are five children, two girls and three boys. The father is a supervising principal of a school, a man of distinction, but he is slight of body and his boys are taller and stronger than he is. At first glance one might suppose he would be deficient as a disciplinarian ; but as a matter of fact, he has never had any par- ticular trouble in controlling boys either in his home or in the schools under his charge. The THE GOVERNMENT OP YOUTH 215 reason of his success would be apparent to any one who might have an opportunity to study him before his pupils, or talking to his own children. He is a man of few words, and he is never loud or noisy. When he has in hand a serious problem in correction, he grows rather more quiet than he is at other times. He chooses his words with precision, but every one that he utters seems to go straight to the mark. If you should hear him talk you would feel that he meant a great deal more than he said. You could not escape the con- viction that what he proposed to do was to act and not to talk about any matter in hand. Usu- ally when he has occasion to sj)eak to a school by way of criticising the behavior of pupils, one could hear a pin drop anywhere in the room. There is something about the man that commands attention and respect, and nobody ever doubts that he intends to put his words into effect. For- tunately for him, he does not say much, and so he does not have to back up on promises and threats which he might not be able to carry out. In his home he is quiet and self-controlled in his discipline, as he is in the schoolroom. The expression of his eye and of his face and the tone of his voice carry conviction. He deliberately re- strains the tendency to become noisy when he is dealing with a serious case of misconduct. He has discovered that it is not loudness of voice or an agitated manner that strikes deeply into the 216 THE TREND OF THE TEENS offender, but it is rather the suggestion of indig- nation accompanied by determination to put an end to wrong action that produces a salutary effect upon a mischief maker. Government by "Bawling Out." — Mrs. A. is the mother of four children — a son and three daughters. The oldest girl is in the junior year in college. She has made a brilliant record from the time she was in the kindergarten until the present. When the mother is out in company she speaks with pride of her daughter's ability and she enjoys having her friends praise the girl. But when she is at home she complains about the girl's lack of domestic interests; she says she never does anything in the house of any conse- quence. If the girl tries to cook anything, say, the mother is as likely as not to tell her that it is all wrong and that she cannot do anything right. The girl has a gentle, submissive disposition and humbly endures the frequent chiding. The mother often mentions the girl's domestic shortcomings before the other members of the family, so fre- quently in fact that the brother and sister some- times say, ''Why are you forever 'bawling her out?' How would you like to be 'bawled out' all the time?" The girl has always had warm friends among her classmates. She belongs to several clubs and societies. Everyone likes her and she has a cor- dial time when she is with her friends. The THE GOVERNMENT OF YOUTH 217 mother complains because she does not spend enough time in the house. They do not '*bawl her out" in any of her societies, and naturally she likes to be there. Nature has made us all so that we dislike to be with persons who insult us and keep pointing out our real or supposed faults. The mother does very little in the house her- self; she does not have time for it, for she is ''in society"; and besides she dislikes housework. She says she cannot stand it. She has never really taught her daughter to do anything in the house. She commands her to do this and that, but she rarely does anything with her. When they do try to work together the mother ^s voice is often heard prophesying that the girl will come to disaster if she cannot do tasks better than she has been doing them. The girl has rarely per- formed any household tasks with the mother with- out being "bawled out" and made self-conscious and ill-at-ease. How the mother expected the girl would learn without being taught is a mystery; and more mysterious still is the mother's feeling that the girl ought to like tasks, all of her associations with which have been unpleasant because of the mother's fault-finding and nagging. Needless to say, the mother does not realize that she is harsh or unwise. She is just following out her natural tendency to complain because her daughter cannot do as well as she can in the kitchen or elsewhere 218 THE TREND OF THE TEENS in the house. Inquiry reveals the fact that the mother in her girlhood was not any more inter- ested in household duties, or any more skillful in the performance of them, than her daughter is now; but the mother has forgotten about this, of course. True to human nature, she judges the girl by her own present interests and achieve- ments. Also she overlooks all the daughter's out- side connections, accomplishments and duties. The daughter has vastly more intellectual ability than the mother, and can succeed in situations where the mother would fail miserably, but no account is taken of all this. Government by Cooperation. — Here is another case. Mrs. B. is the mother of four children, two boys and two girls. The oldest, a girl, is now a senior in college. Mrs. B's family are living in more modest circumstances than Mrs. A. 's. Mrs. B. is not ''in society" to any such extent as Mrs. A., and she is not as ambitious for social prestige. But her daughter is as accomplished as Mrs. A.'s daughter. She, too, is a leader among her classmates, and a general favorite in her col- lege. She is also a favorite at home. All the members of her family are delighted when she is with them. They are spoken of in the neighbor- hood as a happy family, even though they have to live in a rather restricted way. Miss B. likes household duties better than does Miss A. Mrs. B. says that if she should be taken THE GOVERNMENT OF YOUTH 219 away any day her daughter could ''run the house" perfectly. Visitors to Mrs. B.'s home sometimes comment on the joyous sounds that come from the kitchen. The mother and daughter are having a jolly time there, — they are good fellows together. Unlike Mrs. A., Mrs. B. praises her daughter constantly for her swiftness and cleverness in getting up dishes and for her artis- tic sense in setting the table and arranging the articles in the house. Mrs. B. never "bawls out" her daughter while Mrs. A. does not follow any other plan. The results are apparent in the dif- ference between Miss B. and Miss A. in their ability and interest in the work of the home. CHAPTER VIII QUESTIONS FREQUENTLY ASKED BY PARENTS AND TEACHERS First Question: When Does Puberty Begin With Boys and With Girls? — Those who are studying the development of the young distin- guish between chronological age and physiological age. People generally have chronological age in mind when they speak of the age of an individual ; if they say he is fifteen years old they mean he has lived fifteen years. But by physiological age is meant the degree of development which the in- dividual has attained, and especially whether he has entered, is completing or has completed the pubertal period. A boy might have lived seven- teen years but not have reached a stage of de- velopment beyond the thirteenth or fourteenth year. On the other hand, he might have a chrono- logical age of thirteen years but have reached the stage of development usually attained at the age of seventeen. Take a thousand boys ten years of age chosen at random and they will differ in the age at which puberty will begin. While their chronological age 220 QUESTIONS FREQUENTLY ASKED 221 is the same, physiological age of the extremes may differ as much as four years. The majority of them will be just entering the pubertal period by the time they are thirteen and a half years of age, but about one-fifth of them will not yet have entered it, while two-fifths of them will have passed through the early stages of puberty. Of the thousand boys two or three of them will not have entered the period until the seventeenth year while fifty of them will have entered it before their thirteenth year. Girls are about two years ahead of boys in their pubescent development. Take a thousand girls chosen at random and five of them will have en- tered puberty by the eleventh year. The majority of them will have entered it before they are thirteen, but there will be a few laggards. The girls vary among themselves with respect to physiological age in relation to chronological age as much as the boys do. Among one thousand girls chosen at random there will be a variation between the extremes of five or six years in the age at which the pubertal period will be entered and completed. It is important for parents and teachers to dis- tinguish between the chronological and the physiological age. The latter is in every respect the more important to be taken account of in the teaching and training of both boys and girls. Chronological age is significant only as it gives 222 THE TREND OP THE TEENS a general clue to physiological epochs. We may expect that the majority of boys will have begun the maturing process between their thirteenth and fourteenth chronological year; but it should be kept constantly in mind that a boy may have com- pleted the maturing process by fourteen or he may not yet have entered it. Immature, maturing and mature boys ought not to be kept in the same class, for they should not be taught or disciplined in the same way. This is equally true of girls. Immature boys and girls have very different interests and points of view from pubsecent boys and girls or from those who have passed through the maturing process and have reached physiological maturity. When the pubescent epoch is reached by either the boy or the girl all the vitalities are quickened. The individual increases rapidly in height and weight. The amplitude of respiration is greatly increased. Resistance to fatal diseases is strengthened, and in every essential respect the individual enters upon a sort of new life. Before he reaches this period he is individualistic; after he enters it he tends to become social. Before puberty he desires only to have a good time; but when he becomes pubescent he begins to think of winning a live- lihood, of making his own way, of establishing a home. The chief phenomenon of this epoch is the appearance of the tender passion, which does not play a prominent role before the pubertal period QUESTIONS FREQUENTLY ASKED 223 is entered but which will play the leading role throughout life thereafter until decline begins in old age. Second Question: Why Are Young People So Restless Between the Fourteenth and Sixteenth Years? — There are two reasons for this restless- ness. In the first place, the growth in height is normally exceedingly rapid at this time, especially in the case of boys. The most rapid period of growth for girls is between the twelfth and four- teenth years. Now, when an individual is increas- ing in height rapidly it means, of course, that the bones are lengthening with unusual rapidity. As a matter of fact, the typical boy adds as much in height in one year between fourteen and sixteen as he does in three years before this period is reached or three years after it is completed. There are exceptions to this rule; but take a thousand boys chosen at random and eighty-five per cent, of them will achieve very rapid increase in height between fourteen and sixteen due to the rapid extension of the bones. When the bones increase in length very rapidly the individual is apt to suffer to some extent from muscular tension; and when he feels muscular tension he will be restless in the sense that he will be moving about incessantly. This is the chief reason why it is almost impossible to keep the young, boys especially, sitting in seats for long periods at a time between the ages of fourteen 224 THE TREND OF THE TEENS and sixteen. They will feel ill-at-ease unless they can move about freely. As a rule, the more they are scolded on account of restlessness the more restless they become, because upbraiding serves mainly to augment the tension produced by normal growth. The reader may be helped to appreciate this point if he will observe adults when their muscles become tense, as when they sit at a lecture un- interruptedly for a couple of hours. They can- not resist the impulse to move about to release the tension which long sitting develops. They will not be aware that they are restless ; they will unconsciously change their position for the pur- pose of relieving the set of the muscles. Even in church an audience that has been listening to a sermon for a long time will become restless though the people may wish to be quiet and re- spectful. In the same way boys who are shooting upward rapidly may wish to sit still in school and also in the home, but impulsively they will move about constantly in the hope thus to relieve the tension which normal growth produces during the crucial age. Teachers and parents sometimes try to compel boys and girls who are restless to sit still for hours at a time. A much better way would be to provide frequent opportunities for change of position and for relaxation. Pupils should not be required to remain in a sitting position for longer QUESTIONS FREQUENTLY ASKED 225 tlian twenty or twenty-five minutes at a time dur- ing the rapidly growing period. After twenty minutes of study or recitation they should have five or ten minutes of relaxation, which should consist in muscular activities, preferably competi- tive games and plays. Third Question : Why A re Young People in the Early Teens So Careless About Their Health? — Nature floods the organism of boys and girls in the early teens with a superabundance of energy. They feel they can endure everything and resist all disease. It is difficult to convince them in this age that they will ever be sick or incapacitated. They are dominated by the impulse to accomplish things and not to protect their health. At this age boys and girls do not think of themselves from the standpoint of health; they think only of winning in competitive games, or gaining favors from the opposite sex, or securing applause for their heroic or superhuman deeds. The girl thinks much more about her looks than about how she can preserve her health. It seems impossible to make young people take care of their health unless they can be led to see very concretely that good health will enable them to achieve more than they otherwise could do, or that it is essential to the attainment of good looks and an attractive personality. If a girl can be made to believe that when she goes out in wet weather with thin-soled shoes she will lose her 226 THE TREND OF THE TEENS color or the brightness of her eyes, or she will suffer from other disadvantages in respect to appearance she may be induced to wear rubbers or thick-soled shoes, even if it is not the fashion among her associates so to do. In the same way, if a boy can be shown that when he throws him- self on the ground after having become over- heated in a race he will lose his wind or his heart may go back on him at a crucial moment, he will be inclined to be cautious about taking chances with his health in the future. Fourth Question: Why Are Young Persons, Boys Especially, So Indifferent to Cleanlinessf — One of the most important facts concerning the development of the individual relates to his indif- ference or even resistance at one period in his career to certain influences exerted by the en- vironment, while at another period he may be very responsive to these same influences. Clean- liness furnishes a good illustration. During the early years a boy is wholly indifferent to requests made by parents and teachers to keep his hands or face or any other part of his body or his clothing free from soil. Much of the effort of parents during the first twelve or thirteen years of the boy's career is spent in trying to develop in him an abhorrence of soil on his person, but all the parent's exhortation during these early years usually accomplishes little or nothing. The boy is not only instructed to keep clean, but he sees QUESTIONS FREQUENTLY ASKED 227 all the older people around him making every effort to keep clean. He hears persons commend cleanliness and he reads about the importance of being cleanly, but there seems to be no impulse within him which will respond to all these in- fluences. He is dominated by the passion to dig and roll in the dirt and handle unclean objects regardless of their effect upon his hands or face or clothing. He prefers a mud puddle to a parlor. He apparently enjoys the sensation of soil on his skin and he often smears his body with it. But after the boy passes his thirteenth birth- day he begins to be responsive to suggestions re- lating to cleanliness. The girl responds several years earlier than the boy. But before the latter completes the pubertal period he normally be- comes very sensitive to the effect of the objects with which he comes in contact upon his person. He will take pains at fifteen or sixteen to remove soil from his hands and his face and he will try to keep his clothing clean. Often he will go to as great extremes at seventeen in trying to be cleanly as he went in the other direction when he was ten. Primitive man ignored the effects of soil on his person. His survival depended upon his cultivat- ing indifference to experience with dirt. He was close to the soil and was in some measure a part of it. But with the increase of intelligence in racial development, man became more and more 228 THE TREND OF THE TEENS detached from and independent of the soil, and he finally reached the place where he came to abhor soil. Hygienic and esthetic sensitiveness led man in time to try to remove all traces of soil from his body and his clothing. We have reached the point where uncleanliness is exceedingly dis- tressing to all adults whose livelihood does not depend upon close contact with the soil. But as this is the last stage reached in the development of mankind so it is the last stage attained in the development of the individual. A young boy will forsake the most elaborately and beautifully equipped house for a sandpile. Hour after hour he will dig in the sand. He greatly enjoys the sensations of handling the sand, of burying his feet in it, or shovelling it from one place to another in a sand pile, of con- structing hills and valleys in it, and so on. He will endure great physical discomfort from being wet and cold in order that he may gratify this l)assion to manipulate sand. But when he passes his twelfth birthday this passion begins to lose its hold on him, and when he gets well into the teens he will forsake it completely except that on ac- casion he may go to the seashore and play in the sand. Fifth Question: How Can One Control the Unhealthful Eating Habits of the Young? — The majority of pupils in the grammar and high school bolt their food. A large number of testi- QUESTIONS FREQUENTLY ASKED 229 monies have been gained from pupils who say that they do not devote more than fifteen minutes to any meal. In a certain college the students live in individual houses; there are no dormi- tories. Some of them have to go considerable distances to their recitation halls and labora- tories. Most of the students have their first classes each day at eight o'clock in the morning. The majority of them have testified that they allow from five to ten minutes for breakfast. As a rule they eat a dish of mush of some kind, some- times an egg, usually fried, and also fried ham or bacon and griddle cakes. All food is washed down with coffee. Then they rush for their classes. Their instructors say that some of them might as well remain at home — they accomplish little or nothing in their classes, probably because the digestive system is engaged in a heroic struggle with the half-cooked or badly-cooked food which has been shoveled in, and flooded past the masticating apparatus and digestive fer- ments. Then at noon the students are again in a hurry. They must go to their boarding places and return for early afternoon classes. Some of them are under nervous excitement when they begin eating, and they continue under it until they are through. They over-eat, considering the fact that they are in no fit condition to take care of food. The organism cannot properly digest or assimilate 230 THE TREND OF THE TEENS food under nervous strain and stress. The result is lessened vitality, and in the end the nervous and digestive systems revolt and the student com- plains of ''dyspepsia." To relieve his distress he is apt to take some digestive panacea which further overtaxes a system which is already heavily burdened. Definite Period Should Be Assigned for Meals. — Parents who have their children in their own homes should be able to control this matter to some extent. A program should be worked out so that a child will have at least twenty minutes for his breakfast, and still be able to reach school in time for his first class without going there on a dead run. He should feel when he sits down to the breakfast table that he is not under terrific strain, — that if he does not bolt his food he will be late at school and be penalized. It would be better for him to go off to school without any breakfast than to take it under conditions of great nervous excitement. At noon no food should be taken until nervous tension has been released. Often pupils are famished when they reach home. At the same time they are in an excitable state. The best thing for them to do would be to take a glass of warm milk or malted milk, or if milk is not enjoyed, then to eat an apple. Any of these will satisfy for the moment, and will help the organism to regain composure so that when QUESTIONS FREQUENTLY ASKED 231 heavier food is taken the digestive system will be in a condition to cope with it. The Danger of Over-Eating. — The chief dif- ficulty to be avoided in the case of pupils who are tense from the day's work is over-eating, espe- cially of foods like meat, beans, cheese. There would not be much danger of a pupil eating too much ripe fruit, or zwieback, or well-cooked vege- tables. These foods are "filling" and satisfying, and are more easily disposed of by an organism under stress and strain than are the concentrated albuminous foods. Of course, the best way to solve this problem is to arrange the program of a pupil so that he will not feel nervous strain when he is at the table. When a number of children eat together they are urged instinctively to hurry for fear they will not get enough to eat. If one will notice animals of any kind eating, he will find each one gorging be- cause it fears instinctively that if it does not gorge it may get nothing. Something of the same sort of instinct controls young people, and to some extent even older people, when many eat together. This instinct to gorge food is the cause of a good deal of mischief in boarding schools where four or five hundred pupils take their food in the same mess hall. They often make way with an enormous amount of food in ten or fifteen minutes when they shoukl have spent half or three-quarters of an hour in the process. But 232 THE TREND OF THE TEENS their instincts say to them: "Gobble your food as hastily as you can, so that you will get enough. Everybody around you is on the look-out and may eat your allowance unless you put it inside you in a hurry. ' ' Those who manage dining halls for large numbers of pupils should make the rule that no one can leave the table for a half hour, say, after a meal has begun. There should be talks which would make the pupils conscious of their impulsive tendencies and which would help them to develop restraint and poise; or in other words to make them mannerly at table. Sixth Question: How Can We Help Children to Choose Their Occupation? — During the past few years students of childhood have been trying to find out how early children begin to think about their life work, and what they would like to do when grown up if they could have their choice, and why. Testimonies have been gained from hundreds of thousands of children in cities and in the country. The home and school conditions of these children have all been noted and con- sidered in connection with their choice of occupa- tions. While choices for any given age vary to some extent according to locality, economic conditions, vocation of parents, and the like, still there is a significant uniformity among all children studied. About forty per cent, of the girls of all ages would prefer to be teachers above everything else. QUESTIONS FREQUENTLY ASKED 233 In giving their reasons they say teaching is ' ' nice , work"; it is not as ''hard as doing house- work"; "one can do so much good by being a teacher"; ''teaching is a good work for a woman"; and so on. Not more than fifteen per cent, of the girls would prefer to be wives, housekeepers and cooks. A slightly larger proportion say they would like to do millinery work or dressmaking, or sei've as telephone or telegraph operators, stenographers or bookkeepers. One per cent, would like to be doctors or nurses, twelve per cent, actresses or musicians; and two per cent, have ambitions to become authors or inventors. The choices of the boys are different from those of the girls. Only three per cent, regard teaching as a desirable business. The largest number would prefer to engage in commercial work in which they could "make a good deal of money." Engineering appeals strongly to boys, while farm- ing is not attractive. Fifteen per cent, would like to be doctors, while only about half as many decide in favor of the law. Ten per cent, choose the life of a soldier or sailor or police captain. Only one per cent, would like to go on the stage or be musicians or orators. The reasons given by boys for the choice of an occupation refer very largely either to the making of money or to doing some big, heroic and dif- ficult task, such as performing a delicate opera- 234 THE TREND OF THE TEENS tion on the human body or building a great rail- way. The boys who are captivated by the army or navy want an opportunity to show their cour- age and daring, and the same motive is at the bottom of their desire to be policemen. Are Children Influenced By Their Parents* Occupations? — Investigators have attempted to determine to what extent children's choices are influenced by the occupations of their parents. The younger the child the more likely he is to be so influenced. There is an exception to this, how- ever, in the case of young girls, who are not attracted by housekeeping. The life of the school teacher seems much more inviting than that of the mother. The reason probably is that the child sees the teacher at her best and the mother often at her worst. There are so many conspicuous irritations in keeping a house that even a young girl is apt to acquire a distaste for it. The teacher, the actress, the nurse, the stenographer, the telephone operator, and the clerk in the dry- goods store are better dressed than the mother in the kitchen, and they appear to have a better time. So their work makes a stronger impres- sion on the girl than does the mother's work. We are hearing much these days in favor of training girls to become housekeepers ; but unless they can be made interested in it in their younger years it will probably be impossible to impress them favorably with it by any amount of urging QUESTIONS FREQUENTLY ASKED 235 after they reach the teens. If the duties involved in making a home are evidently disagxeeable and circumscribing, then the theoretical teaching of the school will probably not count for much in the way of leading girls to wish to cast their lot in the direction of keeping a house. In order that homemaking may become attract- ive there must seem to be some romance about it. No normal person will deliberately chose a calling which appears to have little but commonplace drudgery in it. A teacher may talk to girls until she is black in the face about the delights of mak- ing a home without producing any effect upon them, if in their actual contact with housekeeping they are impressed only with its dull, heavy, mo- nontonus routine. This is undoubtedly the chief reason why such a small proportion of girls who have indicated their choice of occupation suggest homemaking. There is a similar situation in respect to the boy's choice of occupation. We are hearing it said on every side to-day that we should teach boys in the country to stay on the farm. Lectur- ers go around among the schools and tell the boys what a delightful life a farmer has. They dwell upon the beauty of the country, the freedom of thought and action which the farmer enjoys, and the healthfulness of tilling the soil. But when the boys are at home they are conscious mainly of the farmer's struggle to make a living. They 236 THE TREND OF THE TEENS hear principally about hard times, and they are constantly exhorted to be economical. Actual, concrete experience of this sort will offset any ideal picture of farming which lecturers give in schoolhouses. One thing we can count on; the boy will choose an occupation in which he thinks he will have some adventure. He will avoid if he can any kind of work which he thinks will hold him down to mere routine. If farming cannot be made romantic to some degree, the majority of the boys on the farm will not choose it as an occupation; this is certain. A Child's Views Change As He Develops. — A very young child's views of a desirable vocation are not to be regarded with great seriousness, of course. As he grows older his desires are likely to change. Investigators have collected many testimonies from adults showing that during the period from five to twenty their choice of what they would like to do changed several times, though in a number of cases men became inter- ested very early in music, or in mechanics, or in engineering, or in some branch of business, and they maintained this interest throughout child- hood and youth and into mature life. But it must be expected that the interests of the majority of young people will change somewhat according as their range of observation and ex- perience enlarges. And it is highly desirable that QUESTIONS FREQUENTLY ASKED 237 the child and the youth should be given as gen- erous an opportunity as possible to learn the characteristics of and the requirements for va- rious kinds of work and different professions. A youth should not settle too early upon his life work. He should be given a chance to test him- self in a variety of vocations. The parent and the teacher should study his temperament, his special abilities, his tastes, his physical condition ; and with data gained in this way it should be pos- sible to advise a boy seventeen or eighteen years of age so that he could chose a vocation or a pro- fession with far greater success than he could have done at eleven or twelve. Fortunately, the schools everywhere are giving attention to vocational guidance. There should be a vocational adviser in every progressive school to-day. It should be the duty of this adviser to study all the opportunities for boys and girls in the locality in which the school is situated. He should then study carefully the boys and girls who are about to leave either the elementary school or the high school. He should have a record of their work, their conduct and their health during the whole school course. He should, by personal observation and by tests so far as possible, learn the characteristics of the boys and girls who are about to begin their life work ; and after consultation with the parents, he should then be able to advise them intelligently 238 THE TREND OF THE TEENS regarding a vocation or profession. Tliis is pre- cisely what is being undertaken in the more pro- gressive communities to-day, and it ought to be undertaken in every community. Seventh Question : Why Does Manual Training in School Have Such Slight Influence on the Use- fulness of Boys Around the Home? — Mainly be- cause the work in manual training in the school often has little or no relation to the work that is constantly needing to be done about a home. In some schools pupils never make any useful thing; they merely learn to use tools in a formal way and so they take no interest and acquire no skill in making furniture for the home or repairing worn or broken articles. What pupils do in school largely determines what they will be inter- ested in doing outside of school. But some schools are adopting a program in manual training work which is designed to make pupils useful in their homes. A survey of the articles made by 757 pupils in a small western citj^ showed the following results, — every article counted could actually be used: Fifth Grade. Sixth Grade 209 (Playground) 218 (Playground) 51 (Workshop) 79 (Workshop) 447 (Home) 637 (Home) QUESTIONS FREQUENTLY ASKED 239 Seventh Grade Eighth Grade 222 (Playground) 323 (Playground) 59 (Workshop) 47 (Workshop) 1034 (Home) 1178 (Home) 10 (Schoolroom) 82 (Schoolroom) The following lists indicate the character of the articles made in each grade : Fifth Grade. — Toy chair, gate, bread-board, wagon, birdstick, stepladder, guns, sword, shield, door-mat, fence, toy furniture, boat, fence, bird- cage, sling-shot, bow and arrow, sword and case, shack, picture frame, rabbit pen, grater, salt box, wind-mill, test-tube holder, picture frame, paper rack, sail boat, ice boat, nursery furniture, table, chair, Christmas tree stand, raft, button box, hammer handle, moving picture machine (toy), wheelbarrow, wooden gun, wooden shovel. Sixth Grade. — Grater, spear, guns, sword, boat, wagon, fence, bird-stick, shack, flag-pole, card holder, book holder, weather vane, wind-mill, bread-board, necktie holder, bow and arrow, dog cart, postcard holder, book rack, knitting needles, magazine rack, small chair, bean blower, sub- marine, tanks, British tank, armoured car, coal bin, sail boat, pier, music stand, porch box, marble box, toy gun, boat, sling-shot, rabbit coop, tie rack, ink stand, cart, picture frame, horse manger, clothes stick, bicycle stand, animal cage, line reel, medicine chest. 240 THE TREND OF THE TEENS Seventh Grade. — Bread-board, fence, bench, shack, flower box, necktie rack, cart, launches, sailboats, swords, shoe-shining box, magazine rack, watch stand, wheelbarrow, candle holder, key holders, ice boats, chicken house, bow and arrow, bobs, wagons, sparrow traps, fly-catcher- house, magazine rack, ash sifter, halltree. Eighth Grade. — Umbrella rack, bread-board, piano bench, fence, camp chairs, calf pen and fence, cedar chest, rat trap, halltree, wind-mill, tie rack, grater, step ladder, camp stool, costumer, bench hook, shack, rattle boxes, big boat, tooth- brush rack, flag pole, ladder, platform, wagon, push cart, auto, rustic bench, tennis stand, ice- cream counter, window stick, ice boat, play house, fish line holder, washing benches, shoe blacking box, wind-mill, telephone stand, magazine rack, rope winder, cart, milk stool, board fence, circus pole for school, lamp, bird stick. Making Repairs. — A considerable part of the manual training of these 757 pupils has to do with making repairs. The following table indi- cates the number who made bona fide repairs on the articles mentioned during the first five months of the school year: Eepairs to : Windows 164 Doors 230 Furniture 255 Chairs 118 QUESTIONS FREQUENTLY ASKED 241 Screens Ill Shelves 20 Sidewalks, Porches, Floors, Railings and Steps 212 Roofs 22 Autos, Bicycles, Motorcycles 58 Plumbing 24 Painting, Varnishing, Refinishing 23 Chicken Coop, Rabbit Hutches 80 Fences, Gates 77 Coal Bins, Wood Sheds, Houses, Garages .... 68 Toys, Wagons, Sleds, Boats, Scooters 93 Electrical Apparatus 4 Shoes 11 Making Money. — The motive back of the ef- forts of most adults relates to the making of money. Pupils in the higher grades may very properly have the making of money in view as an outcome of their mastery of manual arts. When a pupil realizes that he can make an article for which he can obtain money in the market, he is incited to learn all the processes necessary to succeed in his task. Money reward is one form of concrete evidence that a pupil has done his work up to standard. The following testimonies from some of the 757 pupils mentioned above show that their manual training had equipped them to perform tasks that need to be done in every-day life: 242 THE TREND OF THE TEENS *'I learned to use tools with which I earned $5.50." ''I earned a dollar a day for lathing a house. Manual training helped me to do that lathing." ''When I repaired the steps in the back yard I earned twenty-five cents from my brother-in- law." ''I have earned money in carpenter work." "I make small chicken houses and sell them for $1.00. I made part of a side walk." '*I built a sidewalk and got paid for it. Manual training helped me to use tools." '*! built a poultry house and was paid for it. I repaired a sidewalk and was paid for it." ''I helped shingle a roof and earned $1.00." '*! sold $2.50 worth of manual training prod- ucts." ''I solda joint for $2.00." "I have learned to make fern stands very well and have sold them at $1.00 each." "I earned $2.00 for helping to build a garage." ''My father pays me $1.00 a week for what I do around the house. He first paid me fifty cents, but I am handier since I took manual training. I made a runway for ashes which enabled me to do more work." "I made a snow scraper and a fish sled, and earned a lot of money." "I lathed all last summer. I made bread- boards and wind mills and sold them. I sold bird QUESTIONS FREQUENTLY ASKED 243 houses, repaired drawers and table legs, made hod handles for plasterers, a mitre box and rifle stocks." *^I repaired bicycles, tables, wagons, chairs, steps, railings, made bread-boards and foot-stool. I did electric wiring and made boxes, weather- vanes, mailbox and mitre box. I stained and varnished articles." ''I made a carrier for my wheat, a taboret for a neighbor, a dog-house for my aunt, pen holders for the druggist," '*I have learned to make joints, which has helped me in making a scaffold for my father to use in his business. He pays me for build- ing it." ^'I made a wagon to sell fish, and put hinges on a door." ''I planed windows." ^'I have helped screen in a porch, fitted storm windows, painted a porch, helped paint a barn." '*I repaired shelves in a store." ''I have made an ash-sifter." ''I learned to get things square and to saw straight, chisel and mark gauge, I have earned money making boxes to send medicine in." ''I helped make a summer house." *'I helped build a rabbit house and was paid for it." ^'I made boxes for St, Mary's hospital," '*I helped a neighbor erect a vine climber." 244 THE TREND OF THE TEENS **I helped a carpenter board a house." "I helped make a door through a barn wall." **I put a box on my scootmobile." "I fixed my rabbit coop and made it warmer and kept the young hares from freezing. They grew hearty and I sold them for a good price. ' ' *'I built a chicken coop for myself and got money from the eggs. I sold kites that I made, and got a Bed Cross membership by making knitting needles." **I made kites, built bird houses, and made knitting needles which I sold." ''I have learned something of manual training so that I can be a carpenter when I am big. I have been working for men, helping them to board the house. I have worked on a barn." '*I made a fence for my neighbor." *'I made a trough and sold it." '*I sold my marble box to a boy to keep his marbles in." ''I made a picture frame and sold it, repaired a railing and made some money." ''I make match scratchers and sell them." "I have learned to make small stools to hold plants, and a box to let pet animals sleep in and have sold them." Eighth Question: How Can We Control Profes- sional Athletics in Schools? — High schools and colleges universally condemn professionalism in athletics. They will not permit a boy to play on QUESTIONS FREQUENTLY ASKED 245 a team if he has violated any rule directed against professionalism. If he should play a game of baseball with a professional team, say, he would be debarred from taking part in any contests in his high school or college. It is thought that in this way athletics in high school and college can be kept free from commercialism, so that games will be played for the sake of sport, and not for ma- terial gain. But this worthy aim is not realized in many high schools and colleges. The football, basketball, and baseball teams which engage in inter-academic and inter-collegiate contests are as professional in some ways as any out-and-out professional teams. The chief diiference between them is that in the latter case the player re- ceives the pay for his services, while in the former the school is the beneficiary. In many schools a big fee is charged for admission to any contest, and large sums are obtained in this way. School and college teams do not, as a rule, play football or basketball or baseball for the sake of sport merely. They play for glory and for the gate receipts. Most of the funds set aside for physical training in high schools and colleges is spent on the few people who get on the team. High-priced coaches give all their time to a hand- ful of men who are, as a rule, over-trained. A few voices are being raised throughout the country in protest against this abuse of sport in educational institutions. In some places high 246 THE TREND OF THE TEENS schools and. colleges are built largely around their teams, and all the other activities of the institu- tions are at a low ebb. The readers of this volume could do a service to education if they would put a damper in their various commu- nities on inter-academic and inter-collegiate con- tests. Of course, one high school or one college cannot act independently of the others in its ter- ritory. Fortunately there is a movement now under way which may lessen the importance at- tached to competition between different institu- tions and awaken an interest in contests between classes and societies within an institution. We need to give more attention to inside athletics instead of concentrating everything on outside contests. Every pupil in a high school or college should be a member of some team. The money which can be devoted to physical education should be spent mainly on the great body of students, and not on contesting teams. Some day we will look back curiously on our present practise of assigning high-paid instructors to over-train a dozen or two men while the mass of students is left without any or with only inferior instruction. We will look back with amazement on our plan of giving up a school gymnasium to a few men who are training for the teams and keeping most of the students out of it, and letting them go without any physical training or at best with only a half hour a week. But the thing that will QUESTIONS FREQUENTLY ASKED 247 seem most inexplicable of all to us when we look back a few years hence is our practise of elimi- nating from teams all students except those who are best developed and who need training the least and spending our time and resources on them, while we let those go without training who are poorly developed and who are most in need of it. Ninth Question: Shall I Send My Boy To a Military School? — Most of a boy's daily program in a military school is regulated by a fixed schedule. He rises in the morning at six o'clock or thereabouts when reveille is sounded. He is given from three to five minutes to dress. At the end of this time, he must respond to roll call either for drill exercises or for some kind of gymnastics. After his exercise he takes a cold spray. He is given five minutes or so to get into his uniform. He probably then will have some more drill, after which he will march to break- fast. He will stand at his place at table until he is commanded to be seated. He will come to attention upon command, and he will listen to the orders for the day. He will rise from the table upon command, and will march out in order. He will then probably be given ten or fifteen minutes of freedom, at the end of which time he will fall into line and march to the classroom, and will be seated upon command. At the conclusion of the recitation he will rise upon command and will 248 THE TREND OF THE TEENS marcli to his next class or his next duty. And so he goes on until taps are sounded at 9 :30 at night when his lights must go out. He may have one or two hours during the day when he will be at lei- sure to go about the grounds informally, but dur- ing the rest of his time he will be governed by the routine orders. The Military Regimen. — Under a military regime everything must be done exactly on time and according to fixed standards. The uniforms must all be clean, every button must be in place, and the clothes must fit the cadet acceptably according to the military style. The hands and face must be clean, the hair combed, the shoes brushed, the linen must be immaculate. If there is any neglect or deficiency in these respects a definite penalty is assigned. No cadet ever ''talks back" in regard to any of these matters; the superior ofiScer decides without debate whether or not a cadet has conformed to the requirements. If the cadet is ten seconds behind time at any exercise; if he shows the slightest discourtesy toward any officer; if he becomes negligent or indifferent either in the classroom or in his mili- tary exercises, he is detected and penalized. He cannot interfere with the rights or activities of any other cadet or he will suffer for it. If he thinks he has been dealt with unjustly by an officer, he may appeal to a higher officer, and his case mav be heard. But it is a fundamental mili- QUESTIONS FREQUENTLY ASKED 249 tary principle that any cadet is under the control of his immediate superior. Would this sort of regimen be beneficial for boys in the public schools who take liberties with their teachers; who are tardy and absent from their work a good deal; who show disrespect for teachers as far as they dare to; who ''talk back" when they are criticized for misconduct, and so on 1 Yes, such boys would be immensely benefited by a military training. To be brought under a regime of fair, just discipline from which there is no possible escape is just what such boys need. They must conform or take the consequences. The typical boy in a modern home may argue for half an hour with his parents before getting out of bed. He may start five minutes late to school day after day. He may fail to spend any time in studying his lessons out-of-school hours. His parents may ask him to do this or that, and what they say may pass in one ear and out the other without producing any effect on his behavior. The number of such boys is increasing in modern life, unfortunately. Bops Should Learn to Conform to Reasonable Rules. — The best thing that can happen to a boy is to get into the habit early of conforming read- ily and without question to the rules and regula- tions of the home and the school. Unless he does this, he will keep everybody around him in hot water much of the time, and he will be unhappy 250 THE TREND OF THE TEENS himself because lie will be nagged and censured. A non-conformist in home or school cannot avoid coming constantly into conflict with persons in authority, and when this habit becomes fixed, it will keep its possessor in a kind of antagonistic and belligerent attitude toward those about him. You will never find a boy like this and also find that he is a really cheerful, good-natured and agreeable fellow. Of course, proper training would usually pre- vent a boy from developing such a disposition. But the conditions in modern life often make it difficult to bring up a child so that he will readily and joyfully adapt himself to the necessary rules and regulations of home and school, and arrange his daily program in accordance therewith. For this reason the military school becomes a neces- sity for many boys. It is a rigorous regime, and many parents are too tender to subject their boys to it, and so they let them go on disobedient, dis- respectful, and tantalizing until they become a nuisance to themselves and an irritation to others. Taking a boy's entire life into account, it would be much better for him to be under rigid dis- cipline for four or five years and learn to conform to necessary authority rather than to go on enjoy- ing his freedom, which in his case amounts to license, until he arouses the hostility and ani- mosity of everyone around him. It would not do to have the typical boy spend QUESTIONS FREQUENTLY ASKED 251 his whole life under a military regimen. When the time comes that the home and the school will co- operate to train children in good habits so that they must be sensitive to and respectful of au- thority, and so that they will not be trying to *'put it over" on teachers, parents and servants, then the military school as a separate institution may not be so necessary. If our homes and social life were arranged for the proper training of the young rather than for the pleasure of adults, we would be able to give young people the sort of training w^hich they need without sending them away from home to special training schools. But until that day arrives, it would be better to take boys who are becoming wholly irresponsible in the public schools, and subject them to the dis- ciplinary influence of a military school. Tenth Question: Shall I Send My Boy to a Large University^ — Many persons think that in a small college a student will be looked after more carefully by members of the faculty than he is likely to be in a large university. But in most of the universities now plans have been per- fected whereby eveiy student is under the ob- servation and guidance of a member of the faculty. The students, too, are organized for the purpose of helping freshmen to adjust them- selves to university life in a proper way. For a boy who is eager of mind, who has strength of character, and who is reasonably seri- 252 THE TREND OF THE TEENS ous in his interests, there can be no question that the large university offers advantages which can- not be duplicated in the small college. In the university, a good student will be placed in com- petition with a great many others of his quality, and this will tend to develop whatever of ability and stamina he may possess in embryo. Besides, he will have an opportunity to emulate men who are accomplishing things in every field of en- deavor, and he will have open before him an ex- ceedingly varied program of activities, which should develop his talents whatever they may be. The great university, with its freedom and its vast opportunities, is the place for the capable man; but it presents difficulties and problems for the weak or dissipated fellow who requires urging and continual guidance to keep him straight. Again, the boy who easily loses his head or his courage in a crowd ought not to go to the big university until he has been well introduced to college life in the small college. There are dis- tractions in the big school which are not so marked in the small, homelike college. At the same time, a student in a great university may live his life entirely away from all distractions, — in the libraries, the laboratories, and the class- rooms. A boy can go through a big university and have no social connections at all, if he does not want them. But such a thing would be impossible in QUESTIONS FREQUENTLY ASKED 253 the small college where everyone knows every- one else. The recluse, the "dig," the "book worm," strange as it may seem, can exist and develop better in the big university than in the .small college, just as one may be more alone, more of a hermit in a great city than in a small town. If your boy has abundant energy; if he has strength of mind and of character; if he is inde- pendent in his thinking and action; if he has developed the habit of application to serious tasks, then by all means send him to a big uni- versity for at least a part of his collegiate course. Eleventh Question: Ho2v Can We Train Our Young People to Avoid Slang? — Foreigners, especially cultivated English people, think we lack refinement in our speech. They say we are too fond of slang. We are not sensitive to rough language. We tolerate crudities and violations of good usage which would be impossible among cultured people in England. It is said that the English language is degenerating in America, and in its place is developing an uncouth and even offensive speech. No one will deny that American speech is un- conventional, at any rate, but whether it is rough and boorish depends upon one's point of view. Some people like the color and picturesqueness of our speech. They feel that it is quite har- monious with our manners and the characteristics of our intellectual and social life. We are an un- 254 THE TREND OF THE TEENS conventional people. We have established a new type of social life on this continent. Our people are free and equal, or at least they think they are. We are not moored to the past ; we live in the im- mediate present. We are looking forward rather than backward. A distingTiished ancestry does not impress us. We admire a man for what he has done, rather than for what his ancestors were. We are a dynamic people. We exalt those who make things go. We used once to admire static goodness, but those times have passed. Our edu- cational system is based from start to finish on the principle of action rather than of learning or memorizing. We are not searching after "cult- ure"; we are striving for capability in the prac- tical situations of life. We esteem most highly knowledge and training which will make one efficient. We have little regard for mere personal accomplishment which does not issue in any practical achievement. Many Persons Enjoy Vigorous Language. — Now those who are in sympathy with the domi- nant tendencies in American life will admire the colorful character of our speech. One can hear vigorous men and active women praising and using modern terms and phrases coined by dynamic persons whose thought and feeling can- not well be expressed in conventional and highly refined and subdued terms. One can hear per- sons say that the conventionalized speech of an QUESTIONS FREQUENTLY ASKED 255 Englishman lacks *' punch" and individuality. It is formal, bookish, the result of memorizing rather than of originality and initiative. Vigor- ous American people appreciate language with driving power. They like to be stirred, aroused, stimulated by language as they do by lively exer- cise and invigorating air. The speech of a people is always expressive of their social life and their intellectual and physical traits. Those who are very conserva- tive, among whom there are class distinctions, and whose educational system is mainly linguistic, and classic at that, will resist innovations in speech. Each generation will be trained to use the conventional expressions of ancestors. Such people will be offended if anyone takes liberties with the traditional style of speech. They will be shocked when they hear expressions which have not been approved by the classic authors, or which have not been sanctioned by long usage. Again, those who are not vigorous physically will not approve of piquant figures of speech. Generally speaking, the more energy a people have, if it is freely expressed, the more life and color will appear in their speech. Speech is thus merely a reflection of the vitality and tempera- ment of a person or of a nation. So it is inevitable that in America we should depart in some measure from the speech we have inherited from the mother country. Everything 256 THE TREND OF THE TEENS is rushing forward at such a pace here that it would be impossible for us to be satisfied with a language developed in a time when there were no automobiles, when there were no trusts, when most people never went more than a hundred miles away from the place where they were born, when trains did not exceed the speed limit of twenty miles an hour, when only the ''elite" re- ceived a higher education. If Americans were confined to the precise modes of expression in use two hundred years ago, they would not be hurtling forward in every activity of life as they are now doing; they would think and conduct themselves as people did two hundred years ago. New Speech Is Coined in High Schools and Col- leges. — It is a significant fact that our colleges and universities, and to some extent our high schools, are mints for the coining of new words and phrases. The w^riter recently investigated the unusual, unconventional speech in a high school with an enrollment of eleven hundred pupils. About nine hundred sixty expressions were found in common usage which could not be located in the dictionary. In the same city is a large university. It is well-nigh impossible to keep up with the new phrases which are being coined on the campus of this institution. The students come from every section of the country, and have had the regula- tion elementary and high-school training. The teachers in the preparatory schools have aimed to QUESTIONS FREQUENTLY ASKED 257 teach the conventional proprieties in speech, as well as in writing ; they have not endorsed any of the innovations in language. And yet these stu- dents enjoy inventing and using new and colorful terms and expressions. The schools have not been able to develop resistance to the subtle influ- ences of American life which have played upon these six thousand students and made them fond of dynamic speech, because this seems to express their attitude toward life more completely than the less picturesque and stimulating phrases of their ancestors. The generation now on the boards is especially prolific in the coining of new terms. One rarely sees a parent who can keep abreast of his chil- dren in the use of the present-day American tongue. Children are going the pace to-day in language as they are in everything else. They are probably not going faster or farther in speech than they are in dress, say, or in the dance, and the like. To repeat, — the language of a people is expressive of their every-day life. If they are unconventional in conduct they will be unconven- tional in speech ; and the principle is universal in its application. Slang Is Offensive to Most Persons. — Most adults probably would like to have the speech of young people to-day a little more refined than it is. Even if an adult enjoys dynamic, high-colored figures of speech, he is still likely to be offended 258 THE TREND OF THE TEENS by some of the new terms introduced by the boys, and the girls as well, who are now in the schools. As a rule, slang is offensive to grown persons; but by slang is meant gutter language, used by those who lack fine or delicate feeling in respect to any matter. In a true sense, slang is always vulgar. It takes its rise from vulgar objects and experiences. A distinction should be made between slang and new terms and expressions which are in accord with the spirit of the language. To illustrate: in the last presidential election the term "hyphen- ated Americans" came into general use. It will probably abide in the language. It is not an of- fensive term. It is a figurative expression which is a real contribution to the every-day vocabulary of the American people. This should not be called slang. Again, the term ''pacifist" was coined recently, and undoubtedly it will be in- corporated into the language. There is no reason why it should not remain as a part of our speech. ''Bull Moose" is another figurative term which has met a real need, and has been seized upon by all vigorous Americans. One could mention many other terms which have been coined during heated political campaigns to express ideas which could not be adequately conveyed by conventionalized terms and phrases. Probably every adult has used the terms "waving the bloody shirt" and "carpet-bagger" and "copper-head" and "mend- QUESTIONS FREQUENTLY ASKED 259 ing his fences" and ''jingo" and others like these. To many persons these seem age-worn, conservative expressions, but they have all been introduced into the language very recently. Words That Are Out of Harmony with Our Language. — Contrast with these terms some others that are seeking admission into our lan- guage, but that are out of harmony with the spirit of it. Such a term as "guy," for instance, which is constantly used by young people, has nothing to commend it. It ought to be eliminated. ''Stewed," "soused," "half-shot," "jagged," and the like for an intoxicated man are all rough, gutter terms, invented by people accustomed to an uncouth life. "The head push," "chief squeeze," "the whole cheese," and similar terms were also developed and are used by persons who have no delicacy of feeling, and who do not rise above the rough and more or less sordid things of life. Again, terms like "mut," "bone-head," "vamoose," and all the rest lack the essential characteristics of colorful, dynamic speech. Un- fortunately these innovations, seized upon by some newspapers and theatrical people and given wide publicity, are taken up by the young, and some of them have been forced into the language against the wish of the great majority of Ameri- cans. Almost any term which one constantly hears is likely to creep into his speech, unless he has reached the stage where his vocabularly is 260 THE TREND OF THE TEENS thoroughly fixed, and so is no longer plastic with respect to new terms or phrases. Imitation the Chief Factor. — Can the young be trained so that they will use polite, but at the same time dynamic, speech! The chief factor in determining one's vocabulary is imitation. If one could take any adult's vocabulary and trace its history in detail, he would find that at least ninety-nine out of every hundred of the terms, figures of speech and idioms used have been gained from imitation. At first glance some readers may think that one 's speech is determined very largely by his reading, but this is not the case. Much of what children read has no influ- ence whatever on their speech. For instance, pupils who are reading Scott in the seventh grade are not influenced appreciably by his terms or expressions. Hardly any of the classical writers read in the schools make an impression on the speech of the young. The language used in clas- sical books seems very remote to most young peo- ple from the language of every-day life. If they heard language in the school, in their homes, or on the street like that employed by Milton, let us say, then their reading of this author might in- fluence their speech ; but this is rarely if ever the case. The teaching of grammar in the schools exerts but little influence upon a child's every-day lan- guage. A child's speech is formed where speak- QUESTIONS FREQUENTLY ASKED 261 ing is going on, — that is to say, in his crowd. As his set speaks, so will the individual speak. If a child's associates speak ungrammatically — if they say, '^I seen him," for instance — the chances are the child will use the same expression sooner or later. On the other hand, if his associates speak correctly, the child will certainly imitate them in the long run. Instruction in the home or the school cannot accomplish much by way of coun- teracting ungrammatical or unlovely speech in the group. This all means that in order to make the speech of an individual child polite, while at the same time forceful, he must have companions whose speech possesses these qualities. No phase of one's life is so deeply influenced by the group as is his speech, because it is learned unconsciously for the most part. This it is that makes it prac- tically impossible for the individual to rise above the level of his group in this respect, A Child Speaks as His Associates Speak. — A child is influenced more largely by his associates than by his parents, simply because he imitates those who are on his level of development, and who have kindred interests. One can see children everywhere who hear refined speech in their homes, but who themselves have a rough, slangy tongue. Their speech is full of violent expletives, and all their talk smacks of the gutter. Why? Because they run with children whose speech has 262 THE TREND OF THE TEENS been formed on the street, and true to nature they imitate their kind. Their parents are not of their kind; they are more or less remote from them — some more so than others. It is only playmates who much influence one another. When people play together they are in a plastic relation to- ward one another, and quickly take up each other's traits. Children are not as a rule in a plastic attitude toward parents or instructors, and so they do not assimilate their characteristics readily. Often one sees parents who are distressed at their children's speech, but all they do to change it is to give them formal lectures occasionally. This is not only a useless, but it is an irritating method. Probably not once in a hundred cases will any good come from such methods. If a parent does not like his children's speech, he must change their companions, or else he must endure harsh, ugly terms and phrases that grate upon his sensibilities. The schools to-day are doing more than they did formerly to keep the speech of the young rea- sonably refined, while indulging their passion for color and fire and spirit. In any good school now the pupils do most of the talking. They do not simply answer ''yes" or "no" to questions, but they stand on their feet and discuss topics. They may occupy four or five minutes at a time in talk- ing on a theme which is proposed. The teacher QUESTIONS FREQUENTLY ASKED 263 does not hold the pupils down to rigid, conven- tional, schoolroom language, but gives large free- dom for the use of strong, picturesque expres- sions, provided they are not offensive. In this way an outlet is given for the strong, dynamic feeling of the young in expressions which will not irritate sensitive ears. Here is a great oppor- tunity for each teacher in American schools. The teacher can do more than can the parent to direct the ebullient life of the young into proper lin- guistic channels. CHAPTER IX BOOKS FOR PARENTS AND TEACHERS The following books are designed for persons who are responsible for the care and culture of the young. They have been selected from a large amount of literature dealing with child nature and education primarily because of their modern view point (even though a few of them were writ- ten long ago), and also because of their concrete, simple and attractive method of discussing the topics which they treat. Most of them can be read will profit and pleasure by those who have not pursued courses in psychology and related sciences, and these are designated by stars. The books have been grouped according to the phases of child nature and education to which they sever- ally give special attention; but this grouping is only approximately accurate, since, while the majority of the books treat the period of the teens in particular, they nevertheless give some atten- tion to other periods. 264 BOOKS FOR PARENTS AND TEACHERS 265 A GENERAL VIEW OF CHILD NATURE AND TRAINING Houghton Mifflin Co. National Congress of Mothers D. Appleton & Co. Small Maynard & Co. Badger Henry Holt & Co. J. B. Lippincott Co D. Appleton & Co. Row Peterson & Co. Funk & Wagnalls G. P. Putnam Sons Houghton Mifflin Co. C. C. Berchard & Co. Baker & Taylor *Abbot On the Training of Par- ents *Birney The Child in Home, School and State *Forbush The Coming Generation *Gillman Concerning Children *Groszraann The Career of the Child *Gruenberg Sons and Daughters *Gruenberg Your Child To-day and To-morrow Hall Adolescence *Hallam Studies in Child De- velopment Jacoby Child Training as an Exact Science *Key The Century of the Child Kirkpatrlck The Individual in the Making *Loti The Story of a Child *Winterburn From the Child's Stand- point PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT AND WELFARE *Allen Civics and Health *Allen Home, School and Vaca- tion Ayres Open-Air Schools *Bryant School Feeding Burks Health and the School Curtis Play and Recreation * Hutchinson We and Our Children -T>ee Play In Education Offner Mental Fatigue *Oppenheim Care of the Child In Health *0'Shea & Health Habits Kellogg *0'Shea & Health and Cleanliness Kellogg Ginn & Company Houghton Mifflin Co. Doubleday, Page & Co. J. B. Lippincott Co. D. Appleton & Co. Ginn & Co. Doubleday, Page & Co. The MacmlUan Co. Warwick & York The Macmillan Co. The Macmillan Co. The Macmillan Co. 266 THE TREND OF THE TEENS *0'Shea & The Body in Health The Macmillan Co. Kellogg *Patrick Psychology of Relaxa- Houghton Mifflin Co. tion *Rapeer Educational Hygiene Chas. Scribner's Sons Rowe The Physical Nature of The Macmillan Co. the Child and How to Study It Sadler Physiology of Faith and A. C. McClurg & Co. Fear Stearns etal Types of Schools for Bobbs-Merrill Co. Boys Terman The Hygiene of the Houghton Mifflin Co. School Child *TyIer Growth and Education Houghton Mifflin Co. C INTELLECTUAL DEVELOPMENT AND WELFARE *Burbank The Training of the Hu- The Century Co. man Plant Colvln & Human Behavior The Macmillan Co. Bagley *James Tallis to Teachers Henry Holt & Co. *Kirkpatricli Fundamentals of Child The Macmillan Co. Study *Swift Learning by Doing Bobbs-I\Ierrill Co. *Terraan The Measurement of In- Houghton Mifflin Co. telligence D EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND WELFARE *Cabot What Men Live By Houghton Mifflin Co. *0'Shea Social Development and Houghton Mifflin Co. Education Sadler Worry and Nervousness A. C. McClurg & Co. Seashore Psychology in Daily Life D. Appleton & Co. BOOKS FOR PARENTS AND TEACHERS 267 E MORAL DEVELOPMENT AND TRAINING Adler Moral Instruction of Children *Addaras The Spirit of Youth and the City Streets Bagley School Discipline *Cabot Ethics for Children Porbush The Coming Generation George The Junior Republic Griggs Moral Education *Healy Honesty Holmes The Principles of Char- acter Making Morehouse The Discipline of the School *Mumford The Dawn of Character *Piiffer The Boy and His Gang Rousseau 6mile Rugh Moral Training in the Public School Sadler Moral Instruction and Training in the Schools *Schoff The Wayward Child Sharp Education for Character Sisson Essentials of Character *Spencer Education (Chap. on Moral Instruction) *Weiraar The Way to the Heart of the Pupil D. Appleton & Co. The Macraillan Co. The Macmillan Co. Houghton Mifflin Co. D. Appleton & Co. D. Appleton & Co. B. W. Huebsch Bobbs-Merrill Co. J. B. Lippincott Co. D. C. Heath Longmans Green & Co. Houghton Mifflin Co. D. Appleton & Co. Glnn & Company Longmans Green & Co. Bobbs-Merrlll Co. Bobbs-Merrill Co. The Macmillan Co. Hurst & Co. The Macmillan Co. F SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND TRAINING Cooley *Fiske *Fisher *Forbush Groos *King King Human Nature and the Chas. Scribner's Sons Social Order Boy Life and Self-Gov ernment Self-Reliance The Boy Problem The Play of Man The High School Age Social Aspects of Edu cation Y. M. C. A. Associated Press Bobbs-Merrill Co. The Pilgrim Press D. Appleton & Co. Bobbs-Merrill Co. The Macmillan Co. 268 THE TREND OF THE TEENS Mangold O'Shea *Scott Willing & Elson *0'Shea Parsons Phelps Ruediger *Spencer Weeks Weeks * Wilson Child Problems Social Development and Education Social Education Social Games and Group Dances Dynamic Factors in Ed- ucation Children's Gardens for Pleasure, Health and Education Teaching in School and College The Principles of Edu- cation Education The Education of To- morrow The People's School Motivation of School Work The Macmillan Co. Houghton Mifflin Co. Ginn & Co. J. B. Lippincott & Co. The Macmillan Co. Sturgis & Walton The Macmillan Co. Houghton Mifflin Co. Hurst & Co. Sturgis & Walton Houghton Mifflin Co. Houghton Mifflin Co. G SCHOOL AND HOME EDUCATION *Andrews The Girl of To-morrow in "The School of To- morrow" Bancroft Games for the Play- ground, Home, School and Gymnasium *Berle The School in the Home Bourne The Gary Schools Cook & The Child and His Spell- O'Shea ing *Dean The Bov of To-morrow in "The School of To- morrow" Dewey The School and Society *Dewey The Schools of To-mor- row *Fisher A Montessori Mother Hodge Nature Study and Life *Holraes Backward Children Doubleday, Page & Co. The Macmillan Co. Moffat, Yard & Co. Houghton Mifflin Co. Bobbs-Merrill Co. Doubleday, Page & Co. University of Chicago Press The Macmillan Co. Henry Holt & Co. Ginn & Company Bobbs-Merrill Co. BOOKS FOR PARENTS AND TEACHERS 269 Johnson *Kirkpatrick Locke McMurry *0'Shea O'Shea (Editor) Education by Plays and Games The Use of Money Some Thoughts Con- cerning Education How to Study Every-day Problems in Teaching The world Book: Or- ganized Knowledge in Story and Picture (contains 120 articles on teaching), 10 vols. Ginn & Company Bobbs-Merrill Co. Cambridge University Press Houghton Mifflin Co. Bobbs-Merrlll Co. Hanson Bellows Co. H RELIGIOUS EDUCATION Bushnell Christian Nurture Coe Education in Religion and Morals ♦Hodses Training of Children in Religion *Moxley Girlhood and Character Starbuck The Psychology of Re- ligion Chas. Scribner's Sons Fleming H. Revell Co. D. Appleton & Co. Abingdon Press Chas. Scribner's Sons VOCATIONAL EDUCATION *Davis Gilette *Hart Hollings- worth *Laselle & Wiley *i\IcKeever *McKeever Snedden, Weeks & Cubberly Vocational and Moral Ginn & Company Guidance Vocational Education Educational Resources of Village and Rural Communities Vocational Psychology American Book Co. The Macmillan Co. Vocations for Girls Farm Boys and Girls Training the Boy Vocational Education D. Appleton & Co. Houghton Mifflin Co. The Macmillan Co. The Macmillan Co. Houghton Mifflin Co. 270 THE TREND OF THE TEENS CHILD LIFE AND EDUCATION UNDER VARYING CONDITIONS Bigelow *Bloomfield *Carney Hall & Betts *Hall Hutton *Johnston. O'Shea & Kellogg Scripture Thorndike Sex Education The Vocational ance of Youth Country Life and Country School Better Rural Schools Youth, Its Education, Regimen and Hygiene A Boy I Knew, and Four Dogs Home Occupations for Boys and Girls Making the Most of Life The Macmillan Co. Guid- Houghton Mifflin Co. the Row, Peterson & Co. Bobbs-Merrill Co. D. Appleton & Co. Harper & Bros. G. W. Jacobs & Co. The Macmillan Co. Stuttering and Lisping Individuality K The Macmillan Co. Houghton Mifflin Co. GENERAL TRAITS AND NEEDS OF CHILDHOOD Ayres Bates & Orr *Gibson Laggards in Our Schools Pageants and Pageantry Camping for Boys of *Gulick The Healthful Art Dancing Hartt The People at Play Healy The Individual Delin- quent *Holmes The Conservation of the Child *Herts The Children's Educa- tional Theatre Needham Folk Festivals *Perry Wider Use of the School Plant Shields The Making and Un- making of a Dullard Simons & OrrDramatization *Ward The Social Center *Welsh Stories Children Love Survey Associates, Inc. Ginn & Company Y. M. C. A. Association Press Doubleday, Page & Co. Houghton Mifflin Co. Little, Brown & Co. J. P. Lippincott Co. Harper &, Bros. B. W. Huebsch Survey Associates, Inc. Catholic Educational Press Scott, Forsman & Co. D. Appleton & Co. Dodge Publishing Co. INDEX Adolescence, a critical period in a girl's development.. 70-72 (See adolescent phenomena.) Adolescent autobiography 19-20 Adolescent phenomena 15-21 growing pains 16 the lungs and brain as intlueuced by adolescent growth 16 moodiness in adolescence 17 Maudsley, Clouston, Starr, Marrow, Christopher, on adolescence 17 La Fetra, quoted 18 Coe, quoted 18-19 adolescent autobiography 19-20 Marie Bashkirtsefl's Journal 19 Mill's reminiscences 20 Tolstoy's autobiography 20 Loti, Jeffries 20 criminal tendencies in adolescents 20-21 Swift, quoted 21 Adventure, in a boy's life 44-45 American girl, especially favored in respect to restric- tions 70 Amorousness, in a school 100-103 comradeship, rather than 103-104 Artificial customs, the pressure of on girls in schools. . 87-89 Artificial restrictions, girls are breaking with 68-69 Athletics, in high school 30-31 injury from 31-32 Attractiveness, and a girl's education 83 Autocracy, on the part of parents 201-203 Bacon, quoted 14 Barker, views on making children independent of parents and home 207 Bashkirtseff, Marie, journal 19 "Bawling out," as a method of governing the young 216-218 271 272 INDEX Boy favorites, among girls 99-100 Boy life, in small towns 39-44 boys' needs not provided for in schools 41 small towns encourage loafing 42 homes are not made attractive for boys 43-45 Boy problems 38-64 "breaking the law," 38-39 boy life in small towns 41 new times bring new problems 42 why will boys not stay at home? 43 a boy loves adventure 44-45 the boy who is "picked on" 45-47 boys need comrades not disciplinarians 47-48 "scrapping" 49-51 teasing 52-54 cruelty 54-55 the passion for mastery 55-56 cooperative games and plays as a cure for plaguing. 57 experiences that test courage and endurance 58-62 the call of the swimming pool 62-64 Boys, appearance of puberty in 221 conforming to reasonable rules 249-251 girl associates 113-115 innnature, maturing and mature 222 indifference to cleanliness 226-227 appearance of aesthetic interests 227-229 Individualistic period 222 in need of contact with virile men during adolescence 171 need of experiences that develop courage and endurance 61 not treated in refined way as compared with girls. 120 passion for experience in water 63 self-government among 207-209 should be given freedom to go about in the world. .200-201 subjection to vulgar and obscene suggestion 119-120 value of military school for 247-251 Boys' schools, simple life in 143 Brain, as Influenced by adolescent growth 16 Budget making, necessary for happiness in married life. 132-134 Budget system, necessary in order to relieve fathers from burden of resisting children's appeal for money 182-184 INDEX 273 Chaperoning, when necessary 104-106 Child training, a source of conflict in married life 136-137 Chivalry, in later youth 117-119 Choosing an occupation, helping children in 232-234 how children are influenced by a parent's occupa- tion 234-237 changing views with development 236-238 Christopher 17 Chronological age 220 Cleanliness, indifference of boys to 226-228 Clothes, problem of in a girl's education 85-87 Clouston *. 17 Coe, quoted 18-19 Co-education, benefits of 112-113 College, as compared with large university, for boys. . .251-253 Compensating factors, for the minor role played by fathers 171-173 Competitive games, as a substitute for fighting 50-51 Comrades, needed by boys 47-48 Concentration, during adolescence 72-73 Conflict, between parents and children 190-192 Constructive treatment, necessary to remedy dance evil . 109-110 Continuation schools, training in for married life 137 Cooperation, in the government of the young 218-219 Cooperative games and plays, as substitutes for teasing. 57-58 Courage, experiences that test 58-61 Criminal tendencies, in adolescents 20-21 Crucial age 13-37 youth among primitive people 14-15 familiar adolescent phenomena 15-17 first effect of adolescent development 17 adolescent moodiness 17-19 adolescent strain and stress as portrayed in auto- biography 19-20 criminal tendencies in adolescents 20-21 why boys leave school early 21-24 the problem of over-work in the school 24-26 the increasing nervous strain in life 26-28 a typical case of over-strain in school 28 not less work but less waste 28-29 practical means of avoiding over-strain 29-30 high school athletics 30-31 Injury from athletics 31-32 274 INDEX physical training by proxy 33 inter-scholastic competition 34-35 physical training of girls 35-37 Dancing, the problem of 106-111 late hours injurious 107-108 always a pressing problem 108-109 constructive treatment will alone euro evil of 109-110 in relation to comradeship and sex feeiin;^ 104 Democracy, in dealing with the young 189-190 democratic way the happiest way 192-194 Diet, as affecting temper in marriecf life 128-130 Disciplinarians, not needed by boys 47-48 Distractions, in American life 141-167 the high cost of simplicity in education 141-144 distraction from intellectual tasks 144-146 youth and the moving picture theater 146-149 censorship of pictures for the young 149-151 the value of moving pictures 151-152 team work between home and school 152-153 young people should study at home 153-155 the telephone as a distractive factor 155-156 parents often encourage distraction 156-159 the tonic effect of mastery 159-161 the home can often develop habits of application. .161-164 some advantages of school training 164-165 sending pupils away to school 165-167 Eastman, on the treatment of adolescent Indian boys.. 15 Economic strain and stress, a prominent factor in mar- ried life 130-133 Education, essential to a happy marriage 127 Endurance, experiences that test 58-61 Euripides, quoted 13 Exuberance, of youth 194 Fashion, the demands of on girls in school and college. 89-90 Father, role of, in the training of youth 168-188 the fatherless children of America 168-169 who are moulding the character of the young? 169-171 compensating factors 171-173 types of fathers and sons 173-179 fathers as companions of their boys 179-184 INDEX 275 the father as bread-winner only 184-185 the bread-winner may become a boor 185-187 expensive luxuries usually disrupt a family 187-188 Fatherless children, of America 168-169 Fathers, as bread-winners only 184-185 likely to become boorish 185-186 as pain givers only in their families 188 as companions of their sons 179-182 as task masters and policemen 180 as chums with their boys 180-181 as companions with their daughters 180-181 Fathers and sons, types of 173-179 Fighting, how to prevent 50-51 punishment for 51 Foreword '^'^^ Girl problems 65-94 restrictions on the girl's activities 65-67 intellectual restrictions 67-68 restrictions on speech 68 girls are breaking artificial restrictions 68-70 the American girl is especially favored 70 adolescence a critical period in a girl's life 70-72 adolescent girls will not concentrate on dull tasks. . 72-73 arrest in a girl's mental development 73-74 the non-social girls 75-78 sociability may develop with age 77-78 the higher education of girls 79-94 the Phi Beta Kappa society and the college girl 79-81 women leading in scholarship 80-81 girl students will not be denied 81-82 woman must win by personal accomplishment.... 82-85 education and personal attractiveness 83-85 the problem of clothes 85-87 pressure of artificial customs 87-89 reduce the demands of fashion 89-90 the social life of a girl in school and in college 90-91 disadvantages of secret societies 91-93 should a girl join a sorority? 93-94 Girl students, insistent upon recognition and rights 81-82 Girls activities, restrictions on 65-70 intellectual restrictions 67 276 INDEX restrictions on speech 68 girls are breaking artificial restrictions 68-69 the American girl is especially favored 70 Good comradeship, essential for successful marriage... 125 Government, of youth, by quiet self-controlled methods. 214-216 "by bawling out" 216-218 by cooperation 218-219 by nagging, contrasted with self-government 212-214 Grit, not usually developed in city boy 61 Growing pains 16 Gymnastic activities, as a substitute for fighting 50 Health, fundamental requisite for happy married life.. 128 Heart, as influenced by adolescent growth 16 High school, not a breeding place for vice 111-113 benefits of co-education 112-113 Home, when a boy should leave 203-204 loosening home ties 204-206 making children independent of 206-207 Home and school, team work between 152-153 Home study 153-159 community practice In respect to 154 arrangement to encourage 154-155 distraction from telephone 155-156 parents often encourage distraction 156-159 Home ties, loosening of 204-206 making children independent of parents and home. 206-207 Imitation, chief factor in determining speech of chil- dren 260-263 Injury, through athletics 31-32 Intellectual tasks, distraction from in American life. . .144-146 Intellectual restrictions, on girls 67 Interest, in opposite sex 115-116 cannot be forced 115-116 Interests, in an adolescent girl's life 72-73 Inter-scholastic competition 34-35 Jeffries , 20 La Fetra, quoted 18 Late hours, encourage morbid amorous feeling among boys and girls 107-108 INDEX 277 Law-breaking, by boys 38-39 Less waste, not less work 28-29 Loti 20 Lungs, as influenced by adolescent growth 16 Luxuries, likely to disrupt a family 187 Manual training, influence on a boy's usefulness around the home 238-241 as a means of making money 241-244 Marriage, preparation for 121-140 fundamental requirements 122-125 good comradeship essential 125-126 the better the education the happier the married life. 126-127 health as a fundamental requisite 127-128 diet and temper 128-130 economic strain and stress 130-133 mutual understanding and appreciation 133-134 talk about duties and burdens can be overdone 135 the treatment of children a source of conflict 136-137 training for marriage in continuation schools 137-138 special instruction relating to married life 138-140 Married life ( See Marriage) Marrow 17 Mastery, the passion for 55 tonic effect of 159-163 Maudsley 17 Meals, definite periods for 230-231 Mental development in girls, arrest in 73-74 Military regimen, in schools for boys 248-249 Military school, value for boys 247-251 Mill, reminiscences 20 Moodiness, in adolescence 17 Mother's Magazine 7 Moulding forces, in the development of the young 169-170 Moving pictures, value of for youth 151-152 censorship of 152 (See moving picture theater) Moving picture theater, and the development of sex feeling 102 influence upon youth 146-152 moving pictures indulge passion for daring, hazard- ous adventure 147 they often suggest lewdness and vulgarity 149 278 INDEX censorship of motion pictures 149-151 the value of moving pictures 151-152 Mutual understanding and appreciation, essential for happy marriage 133-134 Muir, John, quoted 62 National Congress of Mothers 7 Nervous strain, in modern life 26-28 Non-social girl 74-76 should not be coerced into social activities 76-77 sociability may develop with age 77-78 Occupation, choosing an (See Choosing an Occupation) Optimistic age 116-117 Over-eating, danger of 231-232 Over-strain, causes of in hi:,h school 25-26 "parties" 26 means of avoiding 29-30 due to improper program in school 28 Over-work, in the high school 25-28 physicians of France, Italy, and America on 125 Parental autocracy, concrete instances of 201-203 Parents, making children independent of 206-207 Parent-Teacher Associations 7 "Parties," as cause of over-strain in high school 26 Personal accomplishment, woman's chief concern 82-85 Physical training, by proxy 33-34 Physicians of France, Italy and America, on over-work in the high school 25 Physiological age 220 "PIcked-on" individual 45-47 Plaguing (See Teasing, Scrapping) "Pomp-Pouip Pull-Away," as a substitute for fighting. . . 50 Preservation of health, indifference of adolescence to.. 225-226 Professional athletics, in schools 244-247 Puberty, appearance of in boys and in girls 220-223 Punishment, for fighting 51 Refinement, of girls as compared with boys 119-121 Reformer, the problem of 103 Regular programs, salutary influence of 196-198 avoiding irritation and conflict by 198-200 INDEX 279 Restlessness, why so marked between fourteenth and sixteenth years 223-225 Rhinehart, Mary Roberts, quoted 191 Romantic ideals, in later youtu 117-119 Scholarship, women leading in 80-81 School gynmasium, to be used for all pupils, not for athletic teams alone 246-247 School training, advantages of 164-165 away from home 165-167 "Scrapping" ' 49-51 Secret societies, disadvantages of in girls' schools 91-92 Self-government, among boys 207-209 in public schools in England 208 the fagging system 209-210 as a training in government 210-212 Self-made programs, parents should respect a child's. .194-196 Sentimental relations, between boys and girls 98-99 Seven ages of man 13 Shakespeare, quoted 14 Simplicity in education, the high cost of 141-144 Slang 253-263 how to train young people to avoid 253-254 many persons enjoy vigorous language 254-256 new terms coined in high schools and colleges 256-257 slang is offensive to most adults 257-259 words that are out of harmony with our language. . 259 imitation the chief factor 260-263 Small towns, boy life in 39-44 schools in 41-42 homes in, as adapted to needs of boys 43 Sociability, may develop with age 77-78 Social life, of a girl in school and college 90-91 disadvantages of secret societies 91-93 should a girl join a sorority? 93-94 Social relations, between boys and girls 95-98 Sorority, should a girl join 93-94 Speech, restrictions in the use of by girls 68 Starr 17 Suggestion, in the development of sex feeling 102 amorousness the chief topic of conversation in many communities 101-102 280 INDEX boys exposed to vulgar and obscene 119-120 girls protected from vulgar and obscene 120 Swimming, antidote for tense nerves 63 as a prophylactic for mischief and crime 64 Swimming pool, the call of 62 Swift, quoted 21 Teasing , 51 not cruel from standpoint of teaser 53 the point of view of the actor and the on-looker dif- ferent in every case of 54-55 mastery, the passion for 55 Telephone, as a cause of distraction 155-156 Tender passion, appearance of 95-140 social relations of boys and girls 95-98 the beginning of sentimental relations 98-99 the kind of boy who attracts the girl 99-100 amorousness in a school 100-103 comradeship rather than amorousness in the early teens 103-104 when chaperoning is necessary 104-106 the problem of the dance 106-107 late hours Injurious 107-108 the dance problem is always a pressing one 108-109 constructive treatment alone will correct the evil. 109-111 the high school not a breeding place for vice 111-112 benefits of co-education 112-113 should a mother pick out a boy's or girl's associ- ates? 113-114 how guidance can be exercised 114-115 interest in the opposite sex 115 interest in the opposite sex cannot be forced 115-116 the optimistic age 116-117 romance and chivalry in later youth 117-119 are girls more refined by nature than boys? 119-121 preparation for the great adventure 121-122 fundamental requirements 122-125 good comradeship is essential 125-126 the better the education the happier the married life 126-127 health is a fundamental requisite 127-128 diet and temper 128-130 economic strain and stress 130-133 INDEX 281 mutual understanding and appreciation 133-134 talk about duties and burdens can be over-done. . 135 the treatment of children a source of conllict. .. .136-137 training in continuation schools 137-138 special instruction relating to married life 138-140 Tense umscles, as a cause of restlessness 224-225 Tolstoy, autobiography 20 "Tug of War," as a substitute for fighting 50 Unhealthful eating habits, how to control 228-230 assigning definite periods for meals 230-231 danger of over-eating 231-232 .University, the value of for boys as compared with small college 251-253 Woman, must win by personal accomplishment 82-83 Youth, among primitive people 14-15 the government of 189-219 democracy in dealing with 189-190 the chief cause of conflict between parents and children 190-192 the democratic way is the happiest way 192-194 youth is exuberant 194 respect a child's self-made programs 194-196 the salutary inlluence of a regular program 196-198 avoiding irritation and conflict 198-200 let the boy try his wings 200-201 a concrete Instance of parental autocracy 201-203 when a boy should lea-ve home 203-204 loosening home ties 204-206 make children independent of parents and home. . . .206-207 self-government among boys 207-209 the fagging system 209-210 training in government 210-212 government by nagging 212-214 a different method of government 214-216 government by "bawling out" 216-218 government by cooperation 218-219 d-^ ^Tv> ^ (.'^ WV ^ .^^tr: Mv^' ^