ALBERT R. MANN LIBRARY New York State Colleges OF Agriculture and Home Economics AT Cornell University Cornell University Library LC 381.A37S The Sunday school and the teens; the repo 3 1924 013 374 552 The original of tliis book is in tlie Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31 92401 3374552 AUTHORIZED BY THE SaN FrANCISCO CoKVENTION OS THE International Sunday School Association. A Study o? the Adolescent in Relationship to the Home, Church, Sunday School and the Community. Edited by John L. Alexander International Sunday School Association Secondary Division Superintendent. Author " Sex Instruction for Boys.** Author and Editor " Boy Training " and " Boy Scouts of America — Handbook for Boys." Introduction by Edgar H. Nichols Chairman Secondary Division Committee, International Sunday School Asso- ciation; Chairman of Adoles cent Commission. Authorized by the International Sunday School Convention at San Francisco, June, 1911, under the direction of the INTERNATIONAL SEC- ONDARY DIVISION COMMITTEE. Edgar H. Nichols, Chairman, Chicago, 111. ; Frank L. Brown, Brooklyn, N. Y. ; Eugene C. Foster, De- troit, Mich.; Wm. C. Johnston, Denver, Col.; Wm. H. Danforth, St. Louis, Mo.; S. F. Shat- tuck, Neenah, Wis. ; R. A. Waite, New York, N. Y. ; Mrs. M. S. Lamoreaux, Chicago, 111.; Minnie E. Kennedy, Birmingham, Ala. ; Anna Branch Binford, Richmond, Va. ; Helen Gill Lovett, Phila- delphia, Pa.; John L. Alexander, Superintendent; Marion Lawrance, General Secretary, and Fred A. Wells, Chairman Executive Committee. Copyright, 1913, by THE INTERNATIONAL COMMITTEE OF YOUNG MEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATIONS COMMISSION FOR THE STUDY OF THE ADOLESCENT PERIOD Edgar H. Nichols, General Chairman, Chairman Secondary Division Committee, International Sunday School Association. Frank L. Brown, Secretary, Superintendent Bushwick Avenue, Methodist Episcopal Sunday School, Brooklyn, N. Y. John L. Alexander, Editor, Superintendent Secondary Division, International Sunday School Association. ORGANIZATION OF COMMISSION I The Individual. II The Home. III The Church. IV The Sunday School, V The Community. VI The Adolescent in Sunday School. Relation to the Country lii iv Members of Commission PERSONNEL OF THE SUBCOMMISSIONS I. THE INDIVIDUAL I. The Girl: Miss Margaret Slattery, Chairman, Congregational Sunday- School & Publishing Society, Boston, Mass. Miss Anna Seaburg, Secretary National Board, Young Women's Christian Associations, New York City. Miss Minnie E. Kennedy, General Secretary, Birmingham, Ala., Sunday School Association. Miss Mary T. Whitely, Ph.D., Department of Psychology, Teachers College, Columbia University, New York City. Miss Helen Gill Lovett, Member Secondary Division Com- mittee, International Sunday School Association. Miss Helen A. Palk, Teacher in Model School, Winnipeg, Manitoba. Miss Martha K. Lawson, Graded Union, New York City Sun- day School Association. 2. The Boy: Rev. E. S. Lewis, D.D., Chairman, Associate Editor Sunday School Publications of Methodist Episcopal Church, New York City. Rev. Wilbert L. Anderson, D.D., Pastor First Congrega- tional Church, Amherst, Mass. John L. Alexander, Superintendent Secondary Division, International Sunday School Association; and Editor. Prof. Edward P. St. John, Hartford School of Religious Pedagogy, Hartford, Conn. E. M. Robinson, Boys' Work Secretary, International Com- mittee Young Men's Christian Associations. Rev. John R. Boardman, Good Will Home Association, New York City. Professor R. P. Shepherd, Ph.D., Sunday School Editor, Christian Publishing Company, St. Louis, Mo. Prof. Samuel B. Haslett, Fitchburg Normal School, Fitch- burg, Mass. R. A. Waite, Secretary Religious Work for Boys, Interna- tional Committee Young Men's Christian Associations. Rev. A. H. McKinney, Ph.D., Superintendent New York City Mission and Tract Society. Professor G. A. Hubbell, Ph.D., President Lincoln Memorial University, Cumberland Gap, Tenn. Members of Commission II. HOME RELATIONSHIB Rev. A. H. McKinney, Ph.D., Chairman. Patterson DuBois, Assistant Editor Sunday School Times, Philadelphia, Pa. Prof. Edward P. St. John, Hartford School of Religious Pedagogy, Hartford, Conn. Rev. Samuel W. Dike, D.D., Specialist on The Home. R. A. Waite, Secretary Religious Work for Boys, Interna- tional Comrnittee Young Men's Christian Associations. Rev. I. J. Lansing, D.D., Social Service Expert. Rev. J. T. McFarland, D.D„ Editor Sunday School Publica- tions of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Prof. Lucille Eaves, University of Nebraska. Rev. George Frederick Wells, Research Secretary, Federal Council of the Churches of Christ in America, New York City. Rev. G. P. Williams, D.D., Secretary of Missions, American Sunday School Union, Philadelphia, Pa. Mrs. W. F. Heath, Specialist Mothers' Associations. Mrs. Flora V. Stebbins, Member Home Department Com- mittee, International Sunday School Association. Prof. George Elliott Howard, University of Nebraska. Miss Cornelia Adele Teal, Author " Chautauqua Girl^ Abroad," etc. Rev. John C. Carman, General Secretary, Colorado Sunday School Association. Mrs. Andrew McLeish, Writer and Worker for Mothers. III. THE CHURCH Philip E. Howard, General Chairman, President Sunday School Times, Philadelphia, Pa. I. Spiritual Life: Rev. Rufus W. Miller, D.D., Chairman, Secretary Sunday School Board, Reformed Church in the United States. Bishop Luther H. Wilson, D.D., LL.D., Philadelphia. Rev. E. Morris Fergusscm, Educational Secretary Sunday School Board, Presbyterian Church, U. S. A. Rev. J. Wilbur Chapman, Evangelist. Rev. Wm. Henry Roberts, D.D., LL.D., Stated Clerk Gen- eral Assembly Presbyterian Church, U. S. A. Rev. Geo. U. Wenner, D.D., Pastor, New York City. Rev. Geo. B. Stewart, D.D., Auburn Theological Seminary. Rev. Charles E. McKinley, Pastor Congregational Church, Galesburg, 111., Author "Educational Evangelism." Rev. Geo. H. Trull, Presbyterian Board of Home Missions, New York City. vi Members of Commission Rev. John C. Carman, General Secretary, Colorado Sunday School Association. Prof. G. A. Bricker, State University, Columbus, Ohio. 2. Physical Life: George J. Fisher, M.D., Chairman, Secretary Physical De- partment, International Committee Young Men's Chris- tian Associations, New York City. Rev. D. G. Downey, D.D., Book Editor, Methodist Episcopal Publications. Rev. S. P. Cadman, D.D., Pastor Central Congregational Church, Brooklyn. Rev. J. F. Carson, D.D., Pastor Central Presbyterian Church, Brooklyn. Prof. Winfield S. Hall, M.D., Northwestern University, Chicago. Frank M. Seerley, M.D., International Young Men's Chris- tian Association College, Springfield, Mass. Harry H. Moore, Secretary Social Hygiene Society, Port- land, Oregon. Helen C. Putnam, M.D., Providence, R. I. Margaret A. Cleaves, M. D., New York City. Mrs. Zillah Foster Stevens, Temperance Superintendent, In- ternational Sunday School Association. E. K. Mohr, Purity Superintendent, International Sunday School Association. Rev. N. W. Stroup, District Superintendent, Country Church Commission, Cleveland, Ohio. Robert M. Willson, M.D., Secretary Social Hygiene Society of Pennsylvania. Eliza H. Mosher, M.D., Chairman Public Lecture Committee, American Medical Association. 3. The Social and Intellectual Life : Walter M. Wood, Chairman, General Secretary Young Men's Christian Association, Philadelphia. Dr. William Goodel Frost, D.D., LL.D., President Berea College, Berea, Kentucky. Rev. C. D. Bulla, D.D., Editor Adult Bible Class Monthly of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South; Superin- tendent Wesley Bible Class Department, Nashville, Tenn. Rev. Christian F. Reisner, D.D., Pastor Grace Methodist Episcopal Church, New York City. Rev. R. H. Conwell, D.D., Pastor Baptist Temple; Presi- dent Temple College, Philadelphia, Pa. Rev. G. E. Vincent, D.D., University of Minnesota. Rev. George T. Webb, D.D., Associate Editor American Baptist Publication Society. Members of Commission vii Miss Theresa H. Wolcott, Editorial Staff, Ladies' Home Journal. 4. Safeguarding From Moral Perils : Rev. Wilbur F. Crafts, D.D., Chairman, Secretary, National Reform Bureau, Washington, D. C. Dr. Wm. C. Woodward, Health Officer, Washington. Anthony Comstock, Secretary Society for the Prevention of Vice. Hon. Richmond P. Hobson, Member of Congress. Prof. Wm. M. Davidson, Superintendent of Schools, Wash- ington, D. C. Wm. K. Cooper, General Secretary Young Men's Christian Association, Washington. George M. Kober, M.D., Georgetown Medical Institute; Chairman Commission on The Home, appointed by President Taft. Prof. Wm. A. McKeever, State Agricultural College, Man- hattan, Kansas. Ben B. Lindsey, Judge Juvenile Court, Denver. Graham Taylor, Social Service Expert. Mrs. Zillah Foster Stevens, Temperance Superintendent In- ternational Sunday School Association. Henry Yeigh, District Agent Colonization Department, Canadian Pacific Railroad Lands. 5. Organizations: (a) Applicable to teen years in church — 1. Boys 2. Girls 3. Both (b) Cooperation with Community Organizations. Rev. William Ralph Hall, Chairman, Secretary Young Peo- ple's Work of the Presbyterian Church, Philadelphia. S. F. Shattuck, Member Secondary Division Committee, In- ternational Sunday School Association. Rev. Vernon S. Phillips, Pastor Baptist Church, Madison, Wis. Rev. Byron Forbush, D.D., Pastor Congregational Church, Detroit, Mich. Paul S. Dietrich, Secondary Division Specialist. John L. Alexander, Superintendent Secondary Division, In- ternational Sunday School Association. Eugene C. Foster, Boys' _ Work Secretary of the Young Men's Christian Association, Detroit, Mich. Wm. McCormick, Editor Reading Herald, Reading, Pa. Hon. Geo, D. Porter, Director Public Safety, Philadelphia, viii Members of Commission Professor W. Edward Raffety, D.D., Ph.D., Kansas City Theological Seminary, Kansas City, Kansas. IV. THE SUNDAY SCHOOL Eugene C. Foster, General Chairman, Boys' Work Secretary of the Young Men's Christian Association, Detroit, Mich. 1. Organization: Rev. Wm. N. Dresel, Chairman, Chairman Superintendents' Department, International Sunday School Association, Evansville, Ind. Miss Alice B. Hamlin, Superintendent Intermediate Depart- ment, New Jersey Sunday School Association. John R. Pepper, Superintendent First Methodist Episcopal Sunday School, Memphis, Tenn. Wm. C. Johnston, Member Secondary Division Committee, International Sunday School Association. Mrs. H. L. Hutson, Teen Age Specialist. Frank Woodbury, D.D.S., Superintendent Secondary Divi- sion for Nova Scotia. Alfred D. Mason, Member Superintendents' Department Committee, International Sunday School Association. William E. Carpenter, Superintendent Methodist Sunday School, Brazil, Ind. Rev. P. H. Welshimer, Pastor Christian Church, Canton, Ohio. Rev. E. Y. Wooley, Acting Pastor Moody Church and Super- intendent of Sunday School, Chicago. Fred Washburn, Field Secretary Berrien County Sunday School Association, Benton Harbor, Mich. Mrs. Zillah Foster Stevens, Superintendent of Temperance, International Sunday School Association. Rev. Joseph Clark, D.D., General Secretary New York Sun- day School Association. 2. Statistics: Rev. A. L. Phillips, D.D:, Chairman, General Superintendent, Young People's Work Presbyterian Church, U. S. A., Richmond, Va. Rev. Chas. Roads, D'.D., Author "The Country Sunday School." Rev. C. D. Bulla, D.D., Editor Adult Bible Class Monthly of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South; Superin- tendent Wesley Bible Class Department, Nashville, Tenn. Mrs. W. E. McCloud, Secondary Division Superintendent for Nebraska. Miss Eloise Snell, Secretary Division Superintendent fcrr Iowa. Members of Commission ix Rev. H. M. Hamill, D.D., Superintendeat Teacher Training Work, Methodist Church, South. Rev. E. Morris Fergusson, Educational Superintendent of Sunday School Missions of the Presbyterian Board of Publications and Sabbath School Work. Rev. E. W. Halpenny, General Secretary Ontario Sunday School Association. 'Miss Anna Branch Binford, Member Secondary Division Committee, International Sunday School Association. L. P. Leavell, Field Secretary of the Sunday School Board of the Southern Baptist Church. Rev. Warren H. Wilson, Ph.D., Superintendent Rural Work Presbyterian Church, U. S. A. Ralph A. Felton, Union Theological Seminary, New York City; Specialist in Country Church Survey Work. 3. Courses of Study : Rev. H. H. Meyer, Ph.D., Chairman, Assistant Editor Sun- day School Publications, Methodist Episcopal Church, New York City. Rev. R. E. Diflendorfer, Sunday School Secretary, Missionary Education Movement. Prof. Ira M. Price, Ph.D., LL.D., Professor Semitic Lan- guages and Literature, University of Chicago; Secretary Lesson Committee International Sunday School Associa- tion. Prof. Samuel B'. H'aslett, Fitchburg Normal School, Fitch- burg, Mass. C. C. Robinson, Boys' Work Secretary International Com- mittee Young Men's Christian Associations. Miss Helen Gill Lovett, Member Secondary Division Com- mittee, International Sunday School Association. 'Miss Marianna C. Brown, Author " Sunday School Move- ments in America." Clayton Sedgewick Cooper, Bible Study. Prof. Edward P. St. John, Hartford School of Pedagogy, Hartford, Conn. Prof. T. N. Carver, Professor Department of Economics, Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass. 4. The Teacher: Prof. Isaac B. Burgess, Chairman, General Secretary New Jersey Sunday School Association. Prof. R. P. Shepherd, Ph.D., Editor Christian Board of Pub- lications, St. Louis, Mo. Prof. G. W. Walters, Professor of Philosophy, State Nor- mal School, Cedar Rapids, Iowa. X Members of Commission Prof. Geo. Albert Coe, Professor of Religious Education, Union Theological Seminary, New York City. Miss Henrietta Heron, Associate Editor The Boys' Teacher, David C. Cook & Co. Miss Martha K. Lawson, Graded Union, New York City Sunday School Association. H. A. Weston, Managing Editor Pilgrim Teacher. Prof. G. Walter Fiske, Junior Dean, Oberlin Theological Seminary. Rev. E. S. Lewis, D.D., Associate Editor Sunday School Publications, Methodist Episcopal Church. Rev. A. H. McKinney, Ph.D., Superintendent New York City Mission and Tract Society. Rev. Franklin McElfresh, D.D., Teacher Training Superin- tendent International Sunday School Association. Rev. B. S. Winchester, D.D., Educational Secretary Con- gregational Sunday School and Publishing Society, Boston. Mrs. W. L. Smith, Secretary of Council on Intermediate Work, New Jersey Sunday School Association. Prof. Fred Lewis Pattee, Professor in Pennsylvania State College. Mrs. J. W. Barnes, Superintendent of Graded Instruction, Methodist Episcopal Church, New York City. V. THE COMMUNITY Rev. Edgar Blake, D.D., General Chairman, Corresponding Secretary of the Board of Sunday Schools of the Meth- odist Episcopal Church, Chicago, 111. I. Educational Relation : David R. Porter, Chairman, Secretary for High and Pre- paratory schools, International Committee, Y. M. C. A. Rev. T. Nicholson, D.D., Corresponding Secretary Board of Education Methodist Episcopal Church. Prof. M. G. Brumbaugh, Superintendent Board of Education, Philadelphia, Pa. Miss Mary T. Whitely, Ph.D., Department of Psychology, Teachers College, Columbia University. Miss Margaret Slattery, Associate Editor Pilgrim Teacher, Congregational Sunday School and Publishing Society. Rev. B. S. Winchester, D.D., Educational Secretary Con- gregational Sunday School & Publishing Society. Rev. Henry F. Cope, D.D., General Secretary Religious Educaticm Association. Arthur _G. Robinson, High School Secretary Young Men's Christian Association, Kansas City, Mo. Rev. S. Arthur Huston, Assistant Rector The Cathedral, Detroit, Mich. Members of Commission xi C. Ward Crampton, M.D., Director Physical Training New- York City Schools. Harrison Elliott, College Department International Com- mittee, Young Men's Christian Associations. Miss Jessie Field, Superintendent Page County, Iowa, Schools. 2. Employments: Mrs. Georgie L. Underwood, Chairman, Instructor Inter- laken School for Boys, Rolling Prairie, Ind. Mrs. Antoinette A. Lamoreaux, Superintendent Department of Methods, Board of Sunday Schools Methodist Epis- copal Church. Thomas Chew, Superintendent Boys' Club, Fall River, Mass. Miss Mary McDowell, Head Resident University of Chicago Settlement. John G. Thome, Superintendent Employment Department, 23rd Street Branch, Young Men's Christian Association, New York City. Miss Carrie B. Wasson, Superintendent Employment De- partment National Board, Young Women's Christian Associations, New York City. A. L. Ward, Educational Director of the Institute and Train- ing School, Chicago. Miss Blanche Geary, Employment Superintendent National Board, International Young Women's Christian Associa- tions. Rev. E. W. Halpenny, General Secretary Ontario Sunday School Association. 3. Criminal and Delinquent: Rev. Milton S. Littlefield, Chairman, Educational Secretary, New York City District Congregational Sunday School and Publishing Society. Curtis D. Wilbur, Judge Supreme Court, Los Angeles, Calif. Anthony Comstock, Secretary, Society for Prevention of Vice. Isaac Franklin Russell, Chief Justice, Court of Special Ses- sions, New York City. Mornay Williams, President New York City Juvenile Asylum. Ben B. Lindsey, Judge Juvenile Court, Denver, Colorado. Ernest K. Coulter, Clerk of Children's Court, New York City; Founder Big Brothers' Movement. Prof. Ernest Burnham, Western State Normal School, Kala- mazoo, Mich. Jacob A. Riis, Lecturer, Writer and President Jacob A. Riis Settlement. Rev. C. P. Tinker, Chaplain Tombs Prison, New York City. Robert J. Wilkin, Judge, Court of Special Sessions, Brooklyn, N. Y. xii MembeTi of Commission R«v. W. T. Elsing, Pastar Rivington Street Church, New York City. ^. . Mrs. Frank L; Van Qeef, Superintendent Secondary Divi- sion, Brooklyn Sunday School Union. Professor W. Edward Raffety, D.D., Ph.D., Kansas City Theological Seminary, Kansas City, Kans. 4. Recreations and Social Conditions: Rev. Edgar Blake, D.D., Chairman, Chicago, 111. Miss Josephine L. Baldwin, Chairman Moving Picture Com- mittecj Essex County, New Jersey Public Welfare George J. Fisher, M.D., Secretary Physical Department, International Committee Young Men's Christian Associa- tions. John P. Garber, Ph.D., Associate Superintendent Board of Education, Philadelphia, Pa. Edward W. Stitt, Ph.D., District Superintendent Depart- ment of Education, New York City. C. Ward Crampton, M.D., Director Physical Training, New York City Public Schools. Charles B. Hall, General Secretary, Young Men's Christian Association, Aurora, 111. H. F. Kallenberg, M.D., Director Physical Education, In- stitute and Training School of Young Men's Christian ' Associations, Chicago, 111. Clark W. Hetheringtan, President Athletic Research Society; Director Physical Training, Wisconsin University. John D. Shoup, Ph.D., Assistant Superintendent of Public Schools, Chicago, 111. Eugene C. Foster, Boys' Work Secretary of the Young Men's Christian Association, Detroit, Mich. Miss Gertrude Griffith, National Board, Young Women's Christ- ian Associations. Rev. C. W. Gilkey, D.D., Pastor Hyde Park Baptist Church, Chicago, 111. Miss Harriet McT. Daniels, Association of Neighborhood Workers, New York City. Professor Wm. A. McKeever, State Agricultural College, Manhattan, Kansas. VI. COMMISSION FOR THE STUDY OF THE ADOLESCENT PERIOD IN THE COUNTRY SUNDAY SCHOOL (In towns under 2,500 and in the open country.) Kenyon L. Butterfield, Ph.D., LL.D., Chairman, President Massachusetts Agricultural College, Amherst, Mass. Members of Commission xiii Albert E. Roberts, County Work Secretary, International Committee Young Men's Christian Associations. Prof. G. Walter Fiske, Junior Dean, Oberlin Theological Seminary. Prof. G. A. Hubbell, President Lincoln Memorial University, Cumberland Gap, Tenn. Miss Eloise Snell, Secondary Division Superintendent far Iowa. Miss Jessie Field, Superintendent Page County, Iowa, Schools. Fred Washburn, Field Secretary Berrien County Sunday School Association, Benton _ Harbor, Mich. Paul S. Dietrich, Secondary Division Specialist. Henry Yeigh, District Agent Colonization Department, Canadian Pacific Railroad Lands. Ralph A. Felton, Union Theological Seminary, New York City; Specialist in Country Church Survey Work. Rev. Wilbert L. Anderson, D.D., Pastor First Congregational Church, Amherst, Mass. Prof. G. A. Bricker, State University, Columbus, Ohio. Rev. Warren H. Wilson, Ph.D., Superintendent Rural Work, Presbyterian Church, U. S. A. Prof. T. N. Carver, Prof. Department of Economics, Har- vard University. Cambridge, Mass. Rev. E. W. H'alpenny, General Secretary Ontario Sunday School Association. Rev. N. W. Stroup, District Superintendent Country Church Commission, Cleveland, Ohio. Dr. William Goodel Frost, LLD., President Berea College, Berea, Tenn. Rev. G. P. Williams, D.D., Secretary of Missions, American Sunday School Union, Philadelphia, Pa. Prof. Geo. Frederick Wells, Research Secretary Federal Council of the Churches of Christ in America. Rev. Joseph Clark, D.D., General Secretary, New York Sun- day School Association. Prof. Wm. A. McKeever, State Agricultural College, Man- hattan, Kansas. Prof. Ernest Burnham, Western State Normal School, Kala- mazoo, Mich. Clark W. Hetherington, President Athletic Research Society; Director Physical Training, Wisconsin University. Miss Anna Seaburg, Secretary National Board, Young Women's Christian Associations, New York City. CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE Foreword xix John L. Alexander, Superintendent Second- ary Division International Sunday School As- sociation, and Editor. Introduction xxii Edgar H. Nichols, Chairman Secondary Division Committee, International Sunday School Association. I The Adolescent Girl i Minnie E. Kennedy^ Gen!. Secy._, Birming- ham, Alabama Sunday School Association. II The Adolescent Girl and the Sunday School 17 Margaret Slattery, Associate Editor, Pil- grim Teacher, Congregational Sunday School and Publishing Society. III The Sunday School and the Boy . . 25 Rev. E. S. Lewis, D.D., Associate Editor, Sunday School Journal of Methodist Episcopal Church, IV Some Experiences With Boys ... 52 Rev. A. H. McKinney, Ph.D., Supt. New York City Mission and Tract Society. V Sunday School Teen Age Statistics . 63 Rev. a. L. Phillips, D.D., Secy. Young People's Work, Presbsrterian Church, South. yi Sunday School Teen Age Organization 73 Rev. William N. Dresel, Chairman Super- intendents' Department, International Sunday School Association. XV xvi CHAPTER VII Class SCHC Contents Groupings in )OL . . . . THE FAGE Sunday . . . 8i C. Ward Crampton, M.D., Director Physi- cal Training New York City Public Schools. VIII The Teacher of the Teen Age . . 85 Prof. Isaac B. Burgess, Genl. Secy., New Jersey Sunday School Association. IX Bible Study Courses for the Teens . 11 1 Rev. H. H. Meyer, Ph.D., Assistant Ed- itor Sunday School Publications, Metho- dist Episcopal Church. X The Church's Provision for Adoles- cent Spiritual Life 151 Rev. Rufus W. Miiaer, D.D., Secretary Sunday School Board, Reformed Church in the United States. XI The Sunday School and the Home 162 Rev. a. H. McKinney, Ph.D., Supt. New York City Mission and Tract Society. XII Home Conditions and the Adoles- cent Girl 185 Harriet McT. Daniels, Association of Neighborhood Workers, New York City, and Gertrude K. Griffith, Secy. National Young Women's Christian Association. XIII The Social and Intellectual Life of Adolescents 190 Walter M. Wood, Genl. Secy. Young Men's Christian Association, Philadelphia. XIV The Physical Life of the Adolescent 216 George J. Fisher, M.D., Secretary Physical Department, International Com- mittee, Young Men's Christian Associations. XV Recreation and Social Conditions . 258 Frank L. Brown, Supt. Bushwick Ave. Methodist Sunday School, Brooklyn, N. Y. Contentt xvii CHAPTER PAGE XVI Pool-rooms 262 E. C. Foster, Boys' Work Secy., Young Men's Christian Association, Detroit. XVII Dance Halls 266 John Palmer Garber, Ph.D., Associate Supt., Board of Education, Philadelphia. XVIII Theaters, Nickelodeons and Amuse- ments 282 Josephine L. Baldwin, Chairman Mov- ing Picture Committee, Public Welfare As- sociation, Essex County, New Jersey. XIX Parks and Playgrounds .... 288 H. F. Kallenberg, M.D., Director Physi- cal Education, Institute and Training School of Young Men's Christian Associations, Chicago. XX Wider Use of School Plants . . . 294 Rev. Charles W. Gilkey, Pastor Hyde Park Church, and Prof. John D. Shoup, Assistant Superintendent Board of Educa- tion, Chicago. XXI The Criminal and Delinquent . . 299 Rev. Milton S. Littlefield, Educational Secretary for the New York District of the Congregational Sunday School and Publish- ing Society. XXII Safeguarding Adolescents Against Community Moral Perils . . 303 Rev. Wilbur F. Crafts, D.D., Secretary National Reform Bureau. XXIII The Sunday School and the Teen Wage Earner 328 Mrs. Georgie L. Underwood, Instructor Interlaken School for Boys. XXIV Auxiliary Teen Age Organizations . 339 Rev. William R. Hall, Secretary Young People's Work, Presbyterian Church. XVIU CHAPTER XXV Contents PAGE XXVI XXVII XXVIII XXIX XXX XXXI The Educational Field and Its Re- ligious Needs 375 David R. Porter, Secretary for High and Preparatory Schools, International Committee Young Men's Christian As- sociations. Extension of Religious Training Through the Public School . 381 Rev. Henry F. Cope, D.D., General Secretary Religious Education Association. The Church's Influence in Edu- cational Institutions .... 390 Rev. S. Arthur Huston, Assistant Rector, The Cathedral, Detroit.- Recent Progress in Education and Its Lesson for the Sunday School 394 Mary T. Whitley, Ph.D., Columbia University, New York City. The Sunday School, Present and Future 400 Rev. Benjamin S. Winchester, Educa- tional Secretary Congregational Sunday School and Publishing Society. College Students and the Sunday School 403 Harrison Elliott, Secretary Student Department, International Committee, Young Men's Christian Associations, and Rev. Thomas Nicholson, D.D., Cor- responding Secretary, Board of Education of the Methodist Episcopal Church. The Adolescent Worker in the Sunday School 411 John L. Alexander, Editor. FOREWORD Many books have been written on Adolescence. The printing press labors overtime at this task. Much of it is stimulating and a great deal of it merely confuses. Too many paths are apt to be mislead- ing and the big words and intricate reasoning of much recent teen age literature lie like tangled brush and boughs on the path of the ordinary man and woman. At best, too, it is the individual opinions of individual men, or a rehash of opinions already expressed. "Of making many books there is no end " and this volume to some will be just one more. However, this is the first attempt to gather into page form any effort to understand the adolescent and the Sun- day school together. It is not so much to understand the boy and the girl as to discover how the local Sun- day school may meet the boy and girl need, that fills these pages. All the writers representing the com- mission have tried to be practical. You are to judge how nearly the ideal has been reached. The life of the adolescent is complex. Relation- ships exist in the home, the school, the work-shop, the community at large. The Church school — the Sunday school — surely has to play its part and a large one in coordinating and spiritualizing these ac- xix Foreword tivities. How may the Church school do this with- out adequate, inteIHgent knowledge of the facts? The life of the adolescent to itself is simple. It is merely the adapting of itself to the ordinary, every- day unchangeable things it meets or the changing of the adaptable things to its liking. The view-point, then, must always be that of the adolescent. The Church school must see and feel the things that the adolescent meets in the dull gray of everyday exist- ence, as well as the attitude of the adolescent towards these things. How else may coordination be possible ? This book deals with these things, facts, view-point and attitude. Its pages seriously face both the com- plex and the simple problem. Its findings are the result of the judgments of many. Its wording and structure are the work of the individual writer. All in all, it is yours to do with as you please, and please God that that may be to read carefully, meditate thoughtfully, plan generously and act energetically. The progress of the Church lies in the education of each generation. The Church school can help edu- cate the adolescent of this generation to, first, a knowledge of him — " Whom to know is life eternal " — and, second, to service in his name. This volume is the little book of the Sunday school and the teens. Its aim is to make the one the partner of the other, for mutual benefit and the hastening of the Kingdom. John L. Alexander, Editor. INTRODUCTION Progress means a wider view-point. The history of the Secondary Division in the Sunday school is the exemphfication of this truism. At Winona, Indiana, in 1909, the problem of the teen age began to loom large and especially to distress the Sunday school workers in the intermediate grades (13-16 years). At Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, in 1910, the problem seemed larger, the emphasis shifting to the loss in the senior years (17-20). It also appeared to the workers that the problem was not of grades merely, but extended through all the phases of the teens. Conference after conference considered the subject, and finally it was carried to the adult workers with a declaration that the teens constituted a problem in themselves and was separate and distinct from the adult work. The matter was debated, pro and con, a committee of five appointed — two from the Inter- mediate (International) Committee, two from the Adult Committee and General Secretary Lawrance — and a questionnaire sent out. This resulted in the combining of the teen years (13-20) into a separate division, on an equality with the Elementary and Adult divisions — by name " Advanced." A busy year full of promotion passed by and the great International San Francisco Convention held xxi xxii IntrodMction the interest of Sunday school folks. Appeals for help along all lines of Sunday school work were heard at this mammoth gathering, but nowhere was the de- mand so insistent or urgent as in the conferences of the Advanced Division. As a result the name of the division was changed to Secondary and a resolution maintained that a complete study be made of the teen age problem. This resolution was favorably received by the Convention and the Secondary Division was empowered to appoint a Commission for the study of Adolescence in its bearing on the Sunday school. The following September the Commission was con- stituted with Edgar H. Nichols of Chicago as Chair- man and Frank L. Brown of Brooklyn as Secretary. Under the leadership of Secretary Brown, the Com- mission was selected, organized and set to work gath- ering data for practical reports. Plan and Scope. The Commission plans involve the broad study of both boy and girl in the teen years in city and country in relationship to the Home, Church, Sunday school and Community, including as a foundation, a study of the boy and girl subjectively. In order to bring help to that six-sevenths of the Sun- day schools located in towns of 2,500 and less, and in the open country, one of the subcommissions is mak- ing a special study of the adolescent as related to the country Sunday schools, and a separate report will be made of their conclusions. The whole inquiry is a scientific effort to know the facts surrounding the problem, and to set those facts out with a practical and constructive plan. Subcommissions. To cover adequately the many Introduction xxiii angles of inquiry, it was found necessary to arrange the General Commission in subcommission groups. These groups are indicated below. Effort has been made to associate in these groups those especially con- versant with the particular subject. The high quality of the personnel of each group is appreciated at a glance and insures high-grade results. Questionnaires and Surveys. In order to develop many of the facts which must form the basis of Com- mission conclusions, a series of questionnaires was prepared to be answered by pastors and superintend- ents or workers in typical communities in different states. The Report. The findings of the Commission are to be issued in two volumes, one for the city and large town, and one for the small town and country. Under each subcommission the problem is stated and vital and interesting facts are presented in brief form. Concrete plans for the solution of the problems are outlined and a bibliography for reference is attached. Volume I. This book contains the findings of the sixteen subcommissions working on the problem in cities and towns of over twenty-five hundred inhabi- tants. In another part of the book will be found the distinguished personnel of the various subcommis- sions. The whole Sunday school world is under a great debt of gratitude to these distinguished men and women for their unselfish service. Volume II. Volume two will not be ready before September, or the beginning of October, 1913. A commission of twenty-four rural experts, under the leadership of President Kenyon L. Butterfield, Ph.D., xxiv Introduction LL.D., of Massachusetts Agricultural College, is now rounding its findings into shape for country use. Its leadership and personnel promise large things. Recognition. The thanks of adolescent workers in the Sunday school are especially due to Frank L. Brown, the secretary of the Adolescent Commission. His was the planning and the general direction of the work, and as the employed officer of the Commis- sion he spared no effort to make the results as far- reaching as possible. His aim was to make the report, not only a mine of information, but also compre- hensive and inclusive. Surely a perusal of the pages of this volume will commend his effort. The Editorial Work. It was no mean task to as- semble into the space of one volume the reports of sixteen groups of men and women, numbering nearly one hundred and fifty experts. The styles of the writers were necessarily different, and their technique in construction varied. It was also somewhat of a task to blend the parts and amalgamate them into something that should look like a book. This labor fell to the lot of John L. Alexander, who recently came into the work of the International Sunday School Association as the Superintendent of its Secondary Division, the very work this book proposes to illumi- nate. Superintendent Alexander is well fitted for the editorial work, being author of " Sex Instruction For Boys," author and editor of " Boy Training " and au- thor and editor of " The Boy Scout Manual." He has accomplished his task in the midst of the multitudi- nous demands of his Sunday school work and the al- most numberless convention and conference engage- Introduction xxv ments. Much of the work has been done en route on the train. It has been interfered with also by many delays, avoidable and unavoidable, in receiv- ing the reports themselves. The Writers' Views. The reader of this volume will also understand that the commissions and writers were unhampered in their investigation, findings and statements of the facts. Neither the Secondary Division Committee nor the International Sunday School Association has passed on the subject material. In appointing a commission, it is only fair to allow the unchanged statement of its conclusions. The writers, . then, are solely responsible for the subject matter of the book, no one knowing just what it contains out- side of the secretary and editor. The reader will then agree or disagree ivith the authors as he sees jit, but it is to be hoped that thought may be stimulated on the teen problem in the Sunday school by the reading and action promoted thereby to meet our most press- ing need. Edgar H. Nichols. Chicago, 111., May I, 1913. Chapter I THE ADOLESCENT GIRL It has always seemed to the writer, to this extent a pragmatist, that to analyze a thing and to say this or that is true, and leave it so — without in some way indicating what could be done in the premises — is to fall short of completeness. Hence in trying to set forth these characteristics of the girl in her teens, only those have been chosen for elaboration which bear important relation to the formation of character, and attempt has been made to show in a measure how a knowledge of each characteristic has practical value for teacher and parents. No formal grouping according to period or rela- tionship has been attempted. A chart showing many characteristics, arranged according to the periods of adolescence, will be found in another part of this chapter. It should be kept in mind that some of the character- istics considered here are common to both boys and girls, but in the girl the manifestations are often- times modified and differ from the manifestations in boys — this being due to the different " traditions," conventions and training that have been brought to bear upon her. However, in the opinion of the writer, in one instance at least, the characteristic with I 2 The Sunday School cmd the Teens its manifestations is peculiar to girlhood and marks an essential difference between the sexes. Hero-worship. It should be further remembered that no statements or rules are more subject to ex- ceptions than those which relate to young and growing life. Hero-worship, that marvelous instinct that now, when life is in the building, causes the girl to be at- tracted by the personality of another person and tends to produce the belief that whatever this other does is admirable and is to be built into her own life and character, is strong in the girl. Of all those who may become objects of this wor- ship, which one will have the most real and lasting influence? That one whose experiences and achieve- ments touch in some measure upon what the girl is now and what it is possible for hgr to become, whose standards and ideals may easily and naturally and practically become the girl's own. The writer recalls three persons for whom, in varying measure, she had the feeling of hero-worship. The first was Napoleon Bonaparte. Everything relating to him was studied with deepest interest. His triumphs became her tri- umphs ; his defeats hers also. A strong personal feel- ing entered into it. The sight of his picture brought a thrill. His personality became a vivid reality. Nevertheless, careful thought fails to show any par- ticular in which this experience had any effect upon conduct or ideals. A little later, a woman of strong mentality stirred something of the same feeling. This, too, passed without apparently leaving permanent results. Then at last came a woman of strong re- ligious nature, of fine feeling, with just views of life, The Adolescent Girl 3 with great capacity for loving. She made herself a comrade to the young girl who sought her. Gradu- ally, without apparent intent on her part, what she was met an urgent need. Many of her standards be- came the girl's standards, while to make real many of her ideals has seemed worth while. Some conclusions may be drawn. Because a girl's life must broaden into a woman's life — because the woman's hopes, fears and experiences will surely in the future be those of the girl — the best person to be brought in close touch with her during this period of hero-worship, is a woman; the mother first, if pos- sible, then surely the Sunday school teacher. Then, since this instinct brings it to pass that the girl is more interested in persons in whom is incar- nated truth than in the abstract truth itself, certainly Sunday school instruction should consist in large measure of biographical studies rather than of ab- stract discourses. The Social Instinct. This impulse, which began in the Junior period, brings the girls (who up to this time have been individualistic) first into twos, then into groups or alliances, " offensive or defensive," for work or play. It has been said that the " chum " is the relation- ship by means of which this instinct manifests itself most strongly among girls — that the " set," or, as it would be termed among boys, the "gang," has not nearly so much influence. In a sense this is true. Two chums seem often entirely sufficient for each other, being bound together by the tie of confidences exchanged. Almost surely it happens that when 4 The Sunday ScJiool and the Teens those that form the crowd or set are together, they fall naturally into twos — nearly always the same twos. Yet it is true that more and more girls mani- fest a strong spirit of cooperation, and of loyalty to an organization of which they are a part. A " literary club," the first venture of some thirteen or fourteen-year-old girls, comes into mind, with its exclusiveness, with the gravity and earnestness of those in charge, the dignity with which the president officiated, the faithfulness with which the minutes were " read and approved." No grown people were admitted. The programs were fearfully and won- derfully made, but they were the product of " self- activity," so they did not fail of an audience. God never yet put into humanity a real need with- out making provision by means of which it could be met. With the girl in her teens a need that is urgent and that brings disaster if it be neglected is for a safe outlet for the energy of body, mind and spirit that is pent up within. "What can I dof" is the cry, articulate or inarticulate, and the solution for the Church lies in this social instinct that can be so easily harnessed and utilized by organisation — organization which permits her to use her own initiative and within needful limitations to " work out her own salva- tion." The Religious Instinct. In spite of seeming flip- pancy and irreverence this instinct can always be ap- pealed to during these years of girlhood, and this strong characteristic makes it easy to bring the young life into vital relation with Jesus Christ. In a girl, with her strong emotional nature, her vivid imagina- The Adolescent Girl 5 tion and delicate perceptions, this instinct has many and varied manifestations. Sometimes in a simple, natural, yet conclusive way, decision is made with reference to the things of God. A young girl listening intently and wistfully to a conversation about the loving Fatherhood of God — the meaning of this life in view of that which is to follow — exclaimed at last, " Oh, is that the way it is ? I am so glad to know ! I am glad that I have learned it while I am young for there is so much that I can do," and her face was illumined by the glory of the soul's awakening. Then again the girl, driven by impulse or feeling, through months and sometimes years, takes every opportunity that presents itself for asking for prayer, or making decision, without seeming to be able to reach a permanent conclusion. Too often at last she passes through this state without having received definite help and afterward is very difficult to stir to action. If in the very beginning she had been dealt with more wisely, this result could have been averted. Or again, the whole attitude is morbid, character- ized by mortification of the flesh, by undue self-analy- sis, frequently by intolerance in word and action. Because of their tendency to magnify feeling, girls, more perhaps thaii others, should in religious matters be led to lay emphasis upon doing the will of the Father. Too often they are puzzled and confused by being told that they must "have faith." Certainly they must, but what is faith save a process by means of which we reach an end? Why analyze the proc- ess? They need to be led to see that their part is 6 TKe Simdwy Schoci and the Teens truly and earnestly to be willing to obey the Father's word. This willingness includes both penitence and faith, but they need not be told so. Rather we would so reveal his wonderful love and goodness that from the heart they will cry : " Lo, I come to do thy will, O God." In this connection something should be said of doubts. With the growing independence in thought and feeling of girlhood and womanhood it will come about that more and more will the adolescent girl go through a period of doubt. It must not be forgotten that there is a very real difference between the doubts of adolescence and those of maturity. The latter nearly always come from a cherished sin. The former are a symptom of a certain stage of mental growth and development. The latter are disintegrating and destructive. The former may, if properly dealt with, prove constructive. It should also be borne in mind that doubts are not confined to religious matters, but are an expression of the attitude of the mind toward all things not yet fully accepted. As it has been said, in the first period of adolescence the individual looks within, investigates and considers what he himself is ; in the middle period he investigates and tests his environment; in the third period he tries to fit himself to this environment. Doubts begin in the period when life environments are being tested and are sometimes not lost until ad j ustment is complete. They should be met not by reproach, not by the cry, " You ought not to think that way ; it's wrong." Rather should she be told that everyone who really thinks at all, at some time, when the mind was The Adolescent Girl 7 growing, thought after the same fashion in which she was thinking — that God meant her to think and to think fearlessly — that his truth can stand any test, any investigation. Only that she should be fair and should see for herself what God had to say in his Word — that skeptics and agnostics had never fully grown up in their minds, that owing to some mis- chance in this part of their mental development had stayed in their teens, or else they were willingly sin- ful and so had lost the power to believe. Then if the statement be made in all sincerity by the speaker that " I know whom I have believed," the doubts will surely change at last into full assurance. The writer remembers very well the sense of free- dom and of intoxicating power that came to her when she first dared to think along what seemed forbidden lines, and to question deliberately the " teachings of the fathers." If anyone with authority had told her to think all she pleased, part of the desire would have vanished. If she had heard a real confession of faith in answer to her doubt, she would have been spared much of pain and sorrow. For after all the doubt of the adolescent is an honest doubt and in her darkness she yearns for the light. Altruism. Selfishness and disregard for others sometimes appears in the growing girl, nevertheless the spirit of self-sacrifice prompts her to forget her- self in service, and may at times be raised to a magnifi- cent height. It is frequently true that in the girl the altruistic spirit is stirred rather by things that are great and that are remote than by more prosaic needs near at hand. The foreign mission field, because of 8 TKe Swndatf ScRool and the Teeas the greatness of the undertaking, the possibility of danger and the urgency of the need, appeals power- fully to this instinct. Witness the student volunteer movement with the numbers of adolescent girls that enroll. Work in prisons, or anything out of the ordi- nary has a charm. Yet by suggestion, by training, it may be turned into any direction where there is a need for service. So to be helpful we must show to the eager girl spirit, that chafes and remains inactive because it lacks direction or because it has no opportunity to do great things, the dignity of all service, it matters not how humble, if done in His name. There is a form of self-sacrifice which may be a modification of this though differing somewhat from it, which manifests itself oftentimes toward some one person, and is regardless of all else. This is often found in the exercise of the maternal instinct. The Maternal Instinct. This is the essential dif- ference between the girl and the boy, the woman and the man, in spite of the fact that some hold that ma- ternal and paternal are but modifications of the same instinct. The passion of motherhood in its creative and fostering power is nigh akin to divinity itself. Because it is inwrought in the girl's body, because it abides at the center of thought and feeling it must needs be a most important factor in making her what she is, in determining what she shall be. The maternal instinct does not necessarily bring with it wisdom and certainly does not bring with it knowledge. In its final analysis its chief qualities are yearning, tenderness, self-sacrifice, an attitude of pro- The Adolescent Girl 9 tection, a quick response to need. It will thus be seen that fostering and training wisely this instinct in child- hood and in girlhood is to render possible the highest type of womanhood. It should be noted in passing that the maternal instinct and maternity are not syn- onymous terms. There may be maternity with but little of the instinct, and it may abide in full power in a nature that has never known motherhood. It can manifest itself strongly in a girl ; the " Little Mothers " of the poor furnish a notable instance ; un- der other conditions older sisters who care faithfully and tenderly for motherless children ; the quick instinc- tive desire of the normal girl to fondle and caress little children. Attention is called to certain dangers that arise from this instinct. Her response to the feeling of being needed sometimes causes a girl to marry a man with a physical deformity, and what is more serious, places her to some extent at th^ mercy of a dissipated man, who, having caught her fancy, urges that he needs her to enable him to lead a better life. In the love of every true girl or woman for a man there is something maternal, which in its desire to protect its object from pain or hurt and in its passion of self-sacrifice opens the way for possible calamity. A large number of girls in their teens who go into evil are not mislead by passion, but come to grief through the distorting and misdirecting of the holiest instinct within them. Because only a woman can really know the nature, the feeling of a girl, so in this matter she needs a woman to give her sane and reasonable views of lO The Swnday School and the Teem herself and of life, so that when the time of testing comes she may stand steadfast. Constructive Imagination enters into and reen- forces all the brighter instincts and, as has been said, serves the same purpose for the soul that the eye does for the body ; it is builder-in-chief of life's ideals and deserves consideration. Just here we may treat of day-dreams. " Behold this dreamer ! " may be said of every girl, and the stronger the imagination the more frequent and varied the dreams. What these dreams are is no small matter. They are the thoughts of the girl put into form ; they sum up her hopes and aspirations and so make all three more definite and more permanent. " As he thinketh in his heart, so is he," and so indeed is everyone, for out of this thinking oftentimes comes action. Where does she get the material from which she fashions her dreams? From people, from her sur- roundings? Yes, but if she likes reading, more from books. If her fabric of dreams is to be worth the weaving she must read good books and strong, that have in them life and truth and action. How can we bring this to pass? Certainly not by urging her to read some and forbidding her to read others. The writer remembers being told that she could read all of Shakespeare's plays save one, and that she was on no account to read. She also has a vivid memory of turning away many times from temptation — of be- ing overcome and reading the forbidden play from beginning to end. Better see to it that there are plenty of the right sort of books where she can easily find them for herself and say nothing of the bad ones. The Adolescent Girl ii Moving picture shows furnish the twentieth-century girl with another source from which to draw ma- terial for her dreaming. Strange, how slow we are to realize that the suggestion of evil in the plot and in action seen day after day in all the glitter and glamour of its setting, when recalled and brooded upon as it surely will be, is taken up and wrought into life standards and ideals. Secretiveness, which in one aspect is developed in self-defense to secure some freedom of action for the will — those in whose care the girl is having failed to recognize her as an individual with personality and will-power — exercise undue restraint or direction over her. Instinctively she feels that if in any par- ticular she is ever to " have her own way " she must do so secretly, so she throws up a barrier of defense between herself and those in authority and becomes uncommunicative about even the smallest trifles. .On the other hand she pours out her confidences into the ear of her chum, and sometimes of an older com- panion who has won her confidence. In this secretiveness there are the possibilities of many dangers. She ought to be allowed all reason- able liberty of action. She ought to feel that the atmosphere that surrounds her is one of sympathy and of interest rather than of indifference or criti- cism. By earnest, tactful effort her confidence should be won and respected. Another phase of secretive- ness, rather now let us call it reserve, is one that serves a useful purpose. While profound changes are tak- ing place in the emotional, the spiritual life, the proc- ess seems to have been safeguarded by an instinctive 12 The Sunday School and the Teem reserve which perhaps is often due not so much to the fact that she is unwilling to speak of her inner- most thoughts, but because they are inarticulate and so not sufficiently defined to be uttered^ By undue pressure, persuasion or influence to cause her to define them or to lay bare too frequently or too lightly this holy of holies, is to do violence to the processes of true growth and development by for- cing into premature expression those things which in due time would have found utterance naturally and with power. When done in the realm of religious feeling this will tend to result in shallowness and in- sincerity. Love of the Beautiful, because of its possibilities for good or evil, is worthy of note. In the world of art, of music, of literature it counts for much in cul- ture. In that of the spiritual, the " beauty of holi- ness," it counts for much in character. Someone has said that a woman makes the difference between a house and a home, and much of this power comes from a right use of this love of the beautiful. A girl's love of " pretty things " sometimes proves a snare. With her a topic that engrosses much time and attention is clothes. If this instinct that we are considering be rightly developed and directed she recognizes the true import of this matter of clothes, dresses correctly, in good taste and within her means. If, on the other hand, it be untrained or unduly stimu- lated it results oftentimes in extravagance and folly. Other elements besides this — pride, the desire to be like her kind, etc. — enter into this matter of dress, but The Adolescent Girl 15 a correct sense of what is really beautiful would solve the problems that it presents. One phase is serious enough to merit special atten- tion. Employed girls, particularly those who work in stores and continually handle fine and costly fabrics, are strongly tempted to buy more expensive clothing than their salary permits; continually yielding to this temptation results too frequently in ruined lives. Again, a girl, whatever her position, needs a woman who can aid and counsel, and who by precept and ex- ample can lead her to see wherein true beauty lies. A Desire to Please, instinctive, inljerited from gen- erations of women before her — from this may spring much of womanliness and winning charm. From this also, unless there be underlying it a foundation of principle and of character, may spring much of false- hood and deceit. Pride which manifests itself in keeping up appear- ances, in contradistinction to the true pride which is an element of noble character often betrays her. Be- cause of the false standards which are placed before her almost from her babyhood, the girl has her mind directed continually toward externals and appearances. " How did she look ? " " She made a good appear- ance." " You would not want anyone to see you do that," and many other stock phrases reflect this atti- tude and serve to intensify it. This dwelling persist- ently upon appearing rather than being is fruitful of much that is harmful. Extravagance, insincerity, shams of all sorts follow in its train. It may be mani- fested in such small ways as putting on a long cloak 14 The Sunday School and the Teens to cover soiled or torn clothing, by wearing fine out- side garments and cheap, common ones underneath. By keeping all the pretty dishes and ornaments for company and using " just anything " for daily life. It includes going beyond the means to buy clothing or luxuries that equal those of associates. It is revealed by being amiable and loving in public and irritable and exacting in private. Some of these seem little things, yet nothing is little that is being embedded as a principle in a young life, with its wonderful, its fearful capacity for de- velopment and expansion. Who can tell into what it will grow. " What will people think or say ? " is another varia- tion of the same matter. The pride that suffers at the criticism or comment of her companions or those about her has frequently a powerful restraining influ- ence for good, and safeguards her in many perilous places. On the other hand it may result in harm. To the average girl in the middle or later teens to be " popular," to have attention from boys or young men, is one of the things which consciously or un- consciously seems to her to be of greatest import. Very frequently, though, it is not that the girl always cares so much herself, as that she cares for the stand- ing that it gives her in the eyes of her little world. Nearly every woman can recall some time in her girl- hood when at a public gathering she secretly rejoiced at the attention of some man, not because she cared at all to talk to him, it might be quite the contrary, but because he saved her from seeming to be neglected. To a sensitive girl there are not many sharper pangs The Adolescent Girl 15 than the one that comes from a knowledge that she is being discussed and rated as not being popular, or not " taking well." Even girls of intelligence and position have been known to write in their own albums in assumed masculine hand, and to sign fictitious ini- tials, to have sham engagements, to show articles and flowers as if they were gifts from admirers. Silly? Certainly, and if this were all, while we would deplore the effect of such deceit upon the character, yet we might have the feeling that it would be outgrown as the life went on to full maturity. But this is not all. The great majority of girls in decent surroundings who are imprudent or " fast " are so because of this desire to be popular, to make a good appearance by receiving much attention, and many who have gone down in the "blackness of darkness forever," made a beginning here. In yet other ways this tendency appears. A young girl had been educated at home, without another to share her instruction. She had never measured her ability or attainments against those of her own age. She had an exalted opinion of the great amount of knowledge and of wisdom that was secured at the schools which her friends attended. It was determined to send her to college; preparations were nearly complete, when her heart which had been misgiving her, failed entirely and she wept and entreated until the plan was given over. Her parents never knew the real reason. She was filled with fear lest she would not be able to pass the entrance examination and the thought of what people would say was intoler- able. As she thought it out she justified her position i6 The Swnday School and the Teens to herself by deciding that it was kinder to her par- ents to grieve them a little by refusing to go than to give them the shame of having people say that she had failed. So she jeopardized her hope of culture and training. It was demonstrated a little later that she need not have feared, but the opportunity she might have seized was gone. In all this, as in everything that relates to the girl life, the human agency that counts for most in de- veloping the possibilities, in solving the problems, in meeting the needs, is a woman who stands close to her side, and out of her experience supplements the inexperience, out of her wisdom gives knowledge, and out of her love and understanding gives tenderness and sympathy. The part of the father, which is an important one, is not undervalued, and any view that failed to take into account his influence in the life of the daughter would be incomplete. Yet, when God the Father would help and save his earthly children he was not content with his knowledge of their strivings and their needs, but sent his Son that he might know, by actual experience, the joy and sorrow of the human heart, and because he knows for himself and not another our struggles and our aspirations, " the love of Christ con- straineth us," and love shown through sympathy is the power that win's the world to-day. So because a woman knows, hers in large measure is the power to win and save, and so girls thus sheltered, trained and nurtured may grow into nobler womanhood than the world has ever known. Chapter II THE ADOLESCENT GIRL AND THE SUNDAY SCHOOL We are learning things which are suggestive enough to cause serious thought, some things which should mean a change in the work of the Sunday school, as at present conducted with relation to the girl during adolescence. It has been found that great numbers of girls during adolescence are not related to the Sunday school in any way and express themselves as having " no interest in the Sunday school." These girls are in the high schools, boarding schools and employed in the various occupations open to girls. Some of these are members of the Church, some regu- lar attendants, and some entirely outside of church influence. In an attempt to find out what the girl herself, be- tween the ages of thirteen and twenty, thinks of the Sunday school and her personal relation to it, a ques- tionnaire was sent out to widely scattered sections of the country. Difficulties met the committee in its effort to cir- culate these questions among the girls, many high schools in the States and Canada, some boarding schools, and many employers preferring that the girls should not answer. Reasons for this can be readily n 1 8 The Sunday School and the Teens understood, but information was more difficult to se- cure because of it. In looking over the papers which have been re- turned up to date many interesting facts are revealed. Many girls preferred not to give the name. To the question : " Do you attend church ? " many answered, " Certainly," but to the question : " Are you a mem- ber of any church ? " and " Do you attend Sunday school ? " answered " No." In giving reasons for having left the Sunday school the Hebrew and the Catholic girls, both employed and in school, answered, almost without exception, that they had completed the work expected by their respective churches before leaving. They had no criticism to offer and no suggestions to make. Among the great variety of reasons given by the Protestant employed girls who had left the Sunday school during the years from thirteen to twenty, the following appeared most often : " We had no regular teacher ! " " The Sunday school lessons weren't in- teresting." " I didn't get anything out of it." " There were so few girls my age in Sunday school I finally left." " My family moved and I did not en- ter a new school." " Sunday is my only day and I did not want to spend the afternoon in Sunday school." " The other girls in the class weren't sociable and I got sick of it and left." " I think Sunday school is well enough for children but I don't see anything in it for a business girl." "I'm too tired." "I'd rather go to church." " I simply did not like it." When classified the two great reasons for leaving the Sunday school, as given by the employed girls, The Adolescent Girl and the Sunday School 19 seem to be, first, the personal reason, such as " moved," " was sick," " too tired," " rather visit on Sunday," etc., and second, the girl felt the school had nothing to offer her. The Employed Girls. Among the recommenda- tions made by the employed girls regarding things which might have made them wish to attend the Sunday school were " Good teachers ;" " A large or- ganized class such as some schools have ;" " The dis- cussion of things that interest us ;" " Some social life where we could get acquainted ;" " Clubs and classes connected with the school." One girl, nineteen years old, holding a good business position, wrote, " I left the Sunday school at sixteen. We had to write out answers to questions and I had no time. Business and home duties keep me busy every minute. If I could go to a class with a good leader who gave us helpful thoughts and let us discuss them, I would go. Business girls find it hard to study when work is over." The employed girls answering the questions include factory girls, cash girls, stock girls, a domestic, a bookkeeper, a cashier, telephone girls, typists and stenographers. A variety of reasons was given by the boarding school girls for not being connected with Sunday schools. " The girls in our school attend church but not Sunday school. We study the Bible in school however." " I left Sunday school at the age of four- teen when I came away to school ! " "I have never attended Sunday school." " Mother does not think it wise for me to go." " I attend school during the 20 The Sunday School and the Teens winter and in summer I travel. There is no oppor- tunity for Sunday school," was given several times. " We go early to the country and there is lio Sun- day school," appears three or four times. " I fin- ished when I was twelve." " I was never interested in Sunday school." The Boarding School Girl. Three or four very thoughtful recommendations were made by the older boarding school girls, seventeen and eighteen years of age. " I think if the Sunday schools had to do with our daily lives and the great things going on in the world they would be more interesting. I have studied the same lessons so long it is hard to be interested. I hope to have a class soon." " If we could study the Bible in Sunday school in a new way, or from a new view-point, I think more girls would go. It is not in- teresting as we study it in school." " If we had broader teachers and those who understood girls I think Sunday school would mean more." It is a significant fact that the boarding school girl made almost no recommendations regarding social life in the Sunday school, no clubs, etc., being suggested. Her implied criticisms and suggestions were along the line of better teaching and the larger outlook. It is evident that the Sunday school does not touch the boarding school girl to any extent and the trouble seems to be with circumstances rather than with the girls' attitude toward the school. The high school girls who attend Sunday school in many instances revealed very real interest and re- ported regular attendance. They answered the ques- tion regarding things which might make the Sunday The Adolescent Girl and the Sunday School 21 school more interesting by saying, " It couldn't be more interesting than it is." " Our class is fine and we are interested." " Our teacher makes our lesson very interesting," etc. One girl recommends " large boys' classes as well as girls " as a means of added interest. The High School Girl. The girls who have left the Sunday school, or are very irregular in attend- ance, give as reasons, " We did not have an interesting teacher." " The teacher was absent a great deal and we taught ourselves. It wasn't interesting." " The girls weren't sociable." " I didn't like the teacher." " We had nothing new to study. I got sick of it." " My mother said I didn't need to go." " Not many girls my age (17) go." "I don't think girls need to go to Sunday school after they are fourteen." " We •moved and after that I didn't go." " Our teacher was lovely but she had to give us up; the class wasn't in- teresting after that." " The girls just sit and talk. I would rather read at home." " I would rather do something else on Sunday afternoon." " I go away now with my family on Sunday." " The lessons aren't interesting and I get bored." " I would rather go to church." " We don't do anything ; it doesn't seem to me to do any good to go." The high school girl had many recommendations to make as to what might add interest to the Sunday school. Nearly every girl answering question eleven recommended two things: "An interesting teacher and a class organization of some sort." Next came the request that there be " something to do," " sewing for an orphan," " giving entertainments," 22 The Sunday School and the Teens "calling on strangers," "hold socials," "have gym- nastics," " have Sunday school tennis clubs," etc., etc. It was a surprise to note the number who would like a " class in the Primary Department," " to assist in the Beginners," " to form a girls' choir." The questionnaires reached some girls still in their teens but in college. Many of these have temporarily left the Sunday school. They would like to see in the Sunday school " competent and interesting teach- ers," " better teaching," " more girls in a class ; there is so little inspiration in a class of three or four," " broad minded people as teachers." Other girls wrote, " When I left Sunday school we were being taught as children. It was not worth while to go." " The teachers I have had, with one exception, did not discuss real things." " The teaching is elementary." In going over the papers in an attempt to classify, it is very evident that the girl from thirteen to twenty wants, 1. Competent and interesting teachers. 2. Some form of class organization. 3. Some social life connected with the class. 4. Something definite to do. 5. Lessons that have to do with life. It is evident that girls leave the Sunday school dur- ing adolescence because no one has especially looked after them — " Moved and did not enter Sunday school again," " Sick for awhile and never went back," " Mother needed me and when she got well someway I didn't go back," etc. Because nothing in the class was of real interest to them; because there was no regular teacher; because there were so few The Adolescent Girl and the Sunday School 23 older girls in the school; because the teaching did not meet their need — " nothing for a business girl " ; Be- cause of bad method, — " as if we were children," " elementary," etc. ; " because of counter interests " — " away with the family," etc. In view of the data so far studied by us, and in view of the special study of the teen girl, we would submit the following recommendations; 1. That the study of its own environment, for the purpose of knowing its own adolescent girls, be urged and pressed home upon the local Sunday school. 2. That in every Sunday school classes to meet the needs of the teen girls of that community be formed ; a class which shall meet the needs of the busi- ness girl, held at a time convenient to her, in centers where the business girl lives ; classes suited to the need of employed girls in their early teens, in sections where girls go to work at thirteen and fourteen for low wages; classes for the type of girl who attends the boarding school in sections where she lives, etc. ; that the local Sunday school put forth every effort to sup- ply the needs of the teen girls of its own community. 3. That classes be organized. 4. That girls at this age be grouped in classes num- bering from twelve to twenty members in order that there may be the esprit de corps necessary for the best work of the organized class. That where several classes of four to six members are in the Sunday school and are approximately the same age, they be consoli- dated. That special effort be made through the work of the organized class to add to the membership of classes of teen girls. 24 The Sunday School and the Teens 5. That training classes for teen girls be formed in the local school where they may be fitted for the work they want to do, where their special talents may be discovered and they may be guided into definite service. 6. That those having in charge the selection of teachers give special attention to those selected for teen girls that they may be women who, by their sym- pathy, intelligence, devotion and dependableness shall be able, during these critical years, to hold the class together, influence its daily life and create an enthu- siasm for service for the Master and his Church. 7. That the teacher of classes throughout the teen years be urged to investigate cases of absence, to know why girls drop out, and if they change their residence to see that a pastor or superintendent in the new home is notified. 8. That special effort be made, to keep in touch with teen girls who leave their home church to complete their education, and that special provision be made for them upon their return. Chapter III THE SUNDAY SCHOOL AND THE BOY Boys as Individuals. The art of education in this country has been revolutionized in the last generation, and apparently it is to be revolutionized again. The motive power effecting these changes may be named in one word, Psychology. The new birth of this science has resulted in a new birth of education, and just as long as psychology is cultivated, the art of edu- cation must improve. The work of the Sunday school is religious educa- tion. This has existed thus far mainly as an ideal; for we have had little teaching, little studying and little learning in our Sunday schools. Nor have they been organized and equipped for real education. But this ideal must be realized and there is no more in- sistent demand in the churches today than that it should be realized speedily. If our religion is not a study of truth we need no religious schools ; but if it is, it must be diligently taught and for this purpose schools are indispensable. The imperative demand for the spiritual culture of the mind must be our starting point. There has been too much sneering at "head religion" in the interest of " heart religion." Let it be clearly set forth that there is no such thing as " head religion," nor any such 25 26 The Sunday School and the Teens thing as " heart religion." Knowledge of the Bible is not religion, on the one hand ; nor, on the other hand, is ignorant emotion. Personal religion must compre- hend knowledge of the truth together with faith and love which are based upon it. We take it for granted that there can be no ade- quate knowledge of the Word of God without the edu- cational process. Further, it is evident that the laws and processes of religious education must be the same as those of any kind of education. The mind works according to its own laws, and they are the same whether it is working upon the Bible, natural science, history or mathematics. It is idle to suppose that while a boy has to study hard to master his school books he can attain to a knowledge of the Word of God by intuition or by prayer. To learn the Bible he must work upon it as he would upon any other book. He uses the same mind with the same facul- ties and with the same results according to his own ef- forts. The Bible student needs education just as does the student of arithmetic. He needs also the ex- ercise of memory and judgment and reason. He must use his perceptions the same here as elsewhere. Association and suggestion and imagination concern him just as directly and condition his work just as rigidly as in the case of any other student. Once grant that the Bible must be studied to be known, and the entire educational proposition is conceded. This means that the Sunday school teacher must give at- tention to psychology. Some may object to this and many think that it is unnecessary. Nevertheless, it is a primary principle, that he who would deal with the The Sunday School and the Boy 27 mind must know something about the mind, and there are no special exemptions for the pious. A cynical French physician once accused his fel- lows of putting drugs of which they knew little into bodies of which they knew less to cure diseases of which they knew nothing at all. The Sunday school teacher must place himself beyond the reach of such accusation : he must not only know the Bible himself, but he must know the human mind. We are facing the most serious situation that the Christian Church ever faced. We are losing our own young people. We cannot make good our claim to saving to church membership and Christian usefulness more than twenty to twenty-five out of every hundred scholars who enter our Sunday schools. This is a far more serious matter than any failure to evangelize outside sinners. It should be vastly easier for us to hold those who have been entrusted to us in their childhood, for we have had them during their plastic years while their minds were open and their hearts uncorrupted. We have had them during their con- fiding years when they trusted us and were ready to accept any truth we might give them. Now it has come to pass that not only the Church but the world is aware of the fact that Christian truth and Christian faith as demonstrated by their ablest exponents are not availing in the evangelization of their own. The departure of our young people from our Sun- day schools is a phenomenon almost universal. It is particularly true of the boys. And as long as this is true the Christian Church is discredited more effec- tively than it could be in any other way. The prime 28 The Sunday School and the Teem question in the churches today is : How can we save our own young people and youth? It is idle for us to claim that we have done our best for them. And such a claim would be not only idle but fatal. Over against it is the patent fact that we have never utilized religious education in any adequate fashion; we have never yet made a scientific study of the child and many of us never had any idea that our boys and girls needed anything in religion but adult theology, adult experience and adult forms of worship. Perhaps this has not been an error on the part of the churches. Perhaps it is no more than a tardy awakening. But whatever the case may be we cannot claim to have done our best for our young people until we have done all these things and many more. A recent writer has said that two lessons stand prominent among the many afforded by his work among boys. The first is, that beneath the uncon- cerned manner of the boy lives a soul open to the in- fluence of good and critical upon matters of principle. The second is, that, with the advent of the trained teacher the problem of the boy will pass. It is prob- able that most modern workers would agree to these propositions. The boy is not naturally bad. He is not gorged with original sin, and he is not prone to do evil and only evil and that continually. On the contrary we know that most boys would rather be good than bad; they would rather be respected than despised; they would rather be clean than vile; they would rather go up in the world than stay down in the dust. Boys do not prefer ignorance to knowledge and they have no aversion to religious truth. The Sunday School and the Boy 29 Just as the bodily appetite is wholesome when prop- erly cared for, so is the mental appetite wholesome under like circumstances. It is not too much knowl- edge, too much wisdom or too much sympathy, that is driving our boys from the Sunday school. We have not failed because we have understood them too well and ministered to their intellectual and spiritual needs too skillfully and too faithfully. Dr. Jowett's method in sermon-making is to work out his sermon with an imaginary audience of twelve persons in view, and not to begin work upon the body of the sermon until he can express its theme in a short, pregnant sentence as clear as crystal. He says : " I find the making of that sentence is the hardest and most exacting and most fruitful labor in my study." Now teachers have the same truth to handle, and out of the same Book, as do the preachers. Not until they have generally come to do their work as the effective preacher of the Word does his, can they expect the best results with boys. All this points to psychology and child study as the urgent need of the Sunday school teacher. These have too long been neglected. If the boy problem is to disappear when Teacher Training becomes an ac- complished fact, the latter would seem to be the first great work for the Church to undertake. But the foundation of Teacher Training is psychology. Theol- ogy is no longer the central point in our view. That point is occupied by the child. Our first study must be the study of him. All considerations of courses of study and methods and helps must be founded upon the knowledge of the mind of the pupil. The sub- 30 The Svmday School and the Teens jective underlies and conditions all the objective. Hence our teacher training standards must include psychology. Our teachers must study psychology. Our teachers' libraries must abound in textbooks and manuals of psychology. As new books are written upon the psychology of education they must promptly be made available to our teachers. Considering this fundamental relation to the teacher's work, it is doubt- ful whether this chapter contains any more important suggestion than this insistence upon psychology. There are more psychologies than one. There is general psychology, which usually deals with the human adult male. There are also psychologies of the child, the boy, the youth and others. The psy- chology of the adult will not suffice us. As child study progresses the child and the boy and youth are constantly more widely differentiated from each other and from the adult. The psychology of adolescence has already come to be a science by itself. When a teacher begins the study of this he is startled at what he learns. Dr. Stanley Hall calls the age of twelve to fourteen years " an age of temporary insanity." We find that at about twelve years of age the boy enters his second infancy, and just as the rearing of the infant child taxes the patience and skill of the mother, so must the love of the Sunday school teacher be taxed for the skillful rearing of the infant man. When we remember the erratic judgments, the vol- canic emotions and the untamed volitions of the young adolescent the marvel is that we have attained any degree of success with him in the past at all. It is not enough for us to have a general knowledge of the The Sunday School and the Boy 31 mind of man. The teacher of adolescents must thoroughly work out the psychology of adolescence. He must know all the mental peculiarities of the boys whom he has not only to train in biblical knowledge, but also to win to the moral and spiritual life. He must be familiar with their tastes, their propensities and their peculiar temptations. He must know where to take hold of them and when and how. There are morbid states of the mind, as there are of the body, and therefore he must understand patho- logical psychology. In general, one must know a great deal about boys not to repel them at the outset. A peculiar skill is requisite for winning their confi- dence and their respect and influencing them through sympathetic methods to learn to do the things desired. The mind is incomparably the most delicate and com- plicatedv instrument in the world. We shall accom- plish nothing with any boy until we know how to play upon this instrument, and we do not become skilled performers by accident. The achievements of the last few years have taught us much. We now know that religious work with and for boys can be done successfully. Study methods and work methods have been so far tested that we are practically able to say at this time that there is no problem of the boy : our real problem is the problem of competent teachers and trainers, and of those who will furnish and support them. It is practically certain that any number of boys gathered out of homes and from the streets would study the Bible and acquire Bible knowledge successfully if we had the teachers to put modern methods into practice. It is practically 32 The Smiday School and the Teem certain that we could restrain our boys from evil com- panionships and practices if we had the resources of Christian men and money to give to all the benefit of methods that have proved abundantly successful with the few. How is this subjective study of the boy to aid in the solution of the great problem ? A few hints must suffice as to its bearing upon the great interests of education. First, upon the truth. Since truth lives only in knowledge, and there is no knowledge without the knowing mind, it is plain that he who would teach knowledge must understand the mind. The enlight- ened teacher knows that he can put no knowledge into the boy's mind. In a certain sense he can impart nothing. The mind knows nothing and has nothing but what it manufactures for itself. You cannot even put food into a boy's body. Even if you get it inside his stomach it is outside his circulation and can be taken inside only as he actually assimilates it. The same is true to an even greater degree of the mind. The utmost the teacher can do is to assort and arrange the objective symbols so enticingly as that the mental appetite will wake up and seize them and work them over into the desired knowledge. All the practical problems of the teacher in the class are fundamentally psychological problems. These are, for instance, listlessness, mischief, stolidity, and even hostility. Now these are very far from being lawless or chaotic themselves. Every one of them is under mental law. Every one has its cause as well as its effect. Viewed from the point of law there is The Sunday School and the Boy 33 nothing chaotic or disorderly in the most provoking manifestations of a bad boy's conduct. This means, of course, that these difficulties cannot be overcome except by a teacher who understands the laws of these mental operations and is able to account for abnormal as well as normal phenomena. But it is a great thing to know that they can be handled at all. It is a great thing to know that at- tention, for instance, has its laws, and that attention can be secured by the teacher who understands these laws, with the interest that comes with it, and the knowledge and the mental awakening that follows. One notable reliance of the modern teacher is story- telling. How few are the teachers who avail them- selves of this art, and who know how to tell a story effectively! Probably they would be surprised to know that there are laws of story-telling. Dr. Haslett gives no fewer than sixteen different characteristics of the good story, and twelve characteristics of the good story-teller. There are whole books written on this art. How many teachers have mourned over a lack of interest in their pupils and their own inability to excite it ! It is only a primary lesson in psychology that in- terest may be awakened through a law as simple as it is great — the law of association. On this point Pro- fessor James says : " This is one of the most striking proofs of the application of the principle of association of ideas in psychology. An idea will infect another with its own emotional interest when they both have become associated together in any sort of mental total. As there is no limit to the various associations into 34 The Simday School and the Teem which an interesting idea may enter, one sees in how many ways an interest may be derived." The whole range of mental activities involved in knowledge belongs to psychology. On the subjective side of the boy the teacher will find practical precepts that have been hammered out of long experience con- cerning attention and interest, the perceptive powers, judgment, imagination, reasoning and the entire emo- tional and volitional life. And all these are involved in the knowledge of the truth. As long as the teacher is interested in the truth he must needs be interested in all these. It is not within the scope of this paper to present these mental activities and practical precepts or to dis- cuss them at length. To do this properly would be to write treatises upon psychology and child study. There is no short cut to educational wisdom and no substitute for a thorough study of the excellent man- uals upon these subjects that are now available. Our purpose here is to indicate something of the impor- tance of the subjective side of the boy and its claims upon the modern Sunday school teacher. Secondly, let us note the bearing of the subjective side of the boy upon his faith. Let it be clearly under- stood that the boy is capable of a vital. Christian faith. He is essentially a religious animal. He has widely been credited with rudeness, irreverence, spiritual ignorance and general impiety. Nevertheless the facts are clearly before us that multitudes of boys are Christians, judged by any fair test, and that when they are intelligently handled boys never fail to show some proper reaction to religious truth. It is not to be The Sunday School and the Boy 35 taken for granted that the irreligion of a boy is alto- gether the boy's fault. His religious nature may never have had a fair chance and it may have been actually abused. There are multitudes of testimonies from intelligent men and women to the violence that was done to their religious feelings in helpless childhood. A well-known evangelist, writing on the conversion of children, says : " I say then that he must dwell on the suflferings of Christ until the children see him vividly crucified before them. They must see the crown of thorns upon his brow, the heavy lashes laid upon his bare and bleeding back. They should then be taught that all these dreadful sufferings were endured in their stead." We need not be surprised if such appeals as this should fail with a healthy American boy. Not all truths are for all ages. Charles E. Mc- Kinley says : " The evangelism that obeys Him who gave separate commands to feed the lambs and tend the sheep will provide a graded gospel. Only a gospel that is graded by the needs of the hearers can save those of different grades; only a gospel that grows with the growing soul can make Christian children into Christian men and women." Also this: ''At every stage of development the soul has also its char- acteristic religious reactions. They are not the opera- tions of a special faculty, but the reaction of the entire spiritual nature upon a certain kind of material. They therefore involve all the characteristics of the soul; they are conditioned by and akin to its intellectual, emotional and volitional characteristics. There is, as a consequence, a characteristic religion of childhood, of 36 The Svmday School and the Teens adolescence, of youth, of manhood, and of age. There is also, we insist, a gospel, a characteristic Christian gospel for each of these periods ; a gospel designed by- its divine Author to elicit wholesome and saving re- actions in the growing soul at every stage." The deeper we sound the religious nature of the boy the more sure we become that he possesses the faith faculty and that he can and should exercise saving faith in the Lord Jesus Christ as naturally as does his father or his grandfather. His own reactions to religious appeals may differ from adult reactions. Indeed this is what we should expect in a normal boy. But his faith is as genuine as any and it may prove as fruitful. Indeed, it is becoming manifest that adoles- cence is probably the most religious period of life. In spite of its impulsiveness, its erratic tendencies, its skepticisms, it furnishes most of our personal Chris- tian conquests. We are told that more than half our church members were converted before they were sixteen years of age, and only four per cent were con- verted after maturity. Adolescence is a religious crisis as well as a physical and mental one. Every competent teacher of boys must have made this remark- able epoch a subject of the most earnest and faithful study. It touches the work of the Sunday school everywhere. No course of study which does not recognize this crisis is fit to be in a Sunday school. As the lessons advance with the years of the growing boy they should culminate in an emphatic Christian appeal about the sixteenth year of his age. In handling these lessons successfully the teacher must draw liberally upon the ample resources of facts The Sunday School and the Boy 37 and phenomena that have been investigated and re- corded for his benefit. The stake is a capital one — nothing less than a lifetime of service and an immortal destiny. No amount of painstaking preparation should be deemed too great for this. The teacher must remember that in this intelligent age the pupil must be made an intelligent Christian. There was a time when those who handled biblical truth assumed authority over their disciples. They furnished them doctrines ready made, with peremptory orders to ac- cept them unquestioningly. This day is passing away. One of the cornerstones of Protestantism is the right to private interpretation of the Word of God. This is in harmony with the structure and demands of the mind. No honest man can believe anything upon authority. There must be some intelligent basis for his faith. The Sunday school teacher of today must approach his pupils from another angle. He must offer to show them the truth and then he must trust their intelligence and their sincerity to receive the truth. Burton and Mathews say : " If Paul hesi- tated to exercise lordship over the faith of the Corin- thians, a teacher of a Sunday school class may well follow his example. Sometime in the pupil's life he must be able to stand alone within the circle of Chris- tian teachings. It is the duty of the Simday school teacher so to train his mind that such independence may be intelligent and acquired without the painful processes of reconstruction. Every man as he grows mature must himself discover the seat of authority in religion, and he is a poor teacher who never prepares his pupils to make that discovery." 38 The Svmday School and the Teens If our study goes to show that the teacher who is ignorant of the mental life of his pupils will be help- less in leading him to personal faith in Jesus Christ, it also shows that those who are familiar with the mind-life of the boy will doubtless be gladdened by the blossoming of the fair flowers of faith in the hearts they love. Thirdly : The bearing of the subjective study upon the life of the boy is also important. We have said before, all objective methods must spring from sub- jective principles. There is no stronger mark of the new religious education of our day than the interest which the Sunday school is showing in the week-day life of its pupils. The work of the Sunday school cannot be limited to an hour or two on Sunday, and the successful Sunday school teacher must be a friend as well. He who teaches the great truths of right- eousness with a righteous life as his chief aim cannot ignore the life of the pupil outside the Sunday school session. He must be interested in the boy's home, his companions, his school, his business, his recreations and his entire social life. He should aid the boy with his wise counsels concerning all these interests, and these can be given only as he understands the sub- jective life of boys in general and the subjective life of this boy in particular. Not only intellections but emotions and volitions are concerned here. The effi- cient teacher will know the laws that dominate the emotional life, and when he seeks to influence the emotional life of a boy he will do it in harmony with nature's laws. The entire life is controlled by the volitions. To The Sunday School and the Boy 39 influence one single volition in some great crisis is to influence the whole subsequent life. Is it asking too much to demand that these powerful springs be touched by only skillful hands? Take the boy in his early teens, for instance. He is restless, imaginative, wilful, and strangely fond of adventure. What shall we do with him ? The trained teacher recognizes that the boy is passing through the feudal age of human society. He is a young knight. He likes to wander about, to roam through the fields and forests in search of adventure. He is courageous and unlikely to de- cline a fight if it should offer. He has chivalrous in- stincts toward the other sex and he delights in games and tournaments. What shall we do with him? This question has been answered for multitudes of boys by the armies of mimic orders of knighthood with their degrees and their secrets, and their duties and all the paraphernalia. During this feudal period of the boy's life these organizations have proved valu- able, but there are many other organizations, such as those of the classes, the departments, and the school into which the young man in his teens naturally gravi- tates. Understanding the subjective life we can see the reason for this. Following its laws we succeed with the boy in working through some club or society better than in working with him alone. The more we know of the mind of the boy the better control we have of his life. Every new development of child study strengthens this view. The influence of the teacher was never rated as highly as it is today. We have learned that every mental impression should have its expression in 40 The Svmday ScJiool and the Teen» the life, and does have it. The fact that we cannot always follow or locate this expression proves nothing. It is an accepted principle that all phases of conscious- ness lead to action of some kind. William James says : " No truth however abstract is ever perceived that will not probably at some time influence our earthly action. You must remember that, when I talk of action here, I mean action in the widest sense. I mean speech, I mean writing, I mean yeses and noes, and tendencies ' from ' things and tendencies ' toward ' things and emotional determinations; and I mean them in the future as well as in the immediate present. As I talk here, and you listen, it might seem as if no action followed. You might call it purely theoretic process, with no practical result. But it must have a practical result. It cannot take place at all and leave your conduct unaffected. If not today, then on some far future day, you will answer some question differ- ently by reason of what you are thinking now. Some of you will be led by my words into new veins of inquiry, into reading special books. These will de- velop your opinion whether for or against. That opinion will in turn be expressed, will receive criticism from others in your environment, and will affect your standing in their eyes. We cannot escape our destiny, which is practical ; and even our most theoretic facul- ties contribute to its working out." In view of these things how weighty are the words of the Sunday school teacher conveying the truths of a divine message and acting potently upon an im- mortal soul! Fourthly: Note the bearing of these studies upon The Svmday School and the Boy 4! character. Character is itself immaterial, intangible, subjective. It is made up of habits and ideals. Con- sider the weighty significance of habit in its relation to character. Remember that not all habits are bad by any means. Every virtue that we possess is a habit. Happy are we if all the virtues have become habitual to us. "All of life so far as it has definite form is but a mass of habits — practical, emotional and intellectual — systematically organized for our weal or woe, and bearing us irresistibly toward our destiny, whatever the latter may be." It is a common saying that habit is second nature, but the Duke of Wellington said that it is ten times nature. Professor James says that ninety-nine hundredths or possibly nine hundred and ninety-nine thousandths of our ac- tivity is purely automatic and habitual from our rising in the morning to our lying down at night. What can the Sunday school teacher do toward character formation without a knowledge of the nature and laws of habit? And what is his work worth without character formation ? Then there is the great field of the ideals. Character is built by our ideals. No man's character rises above his ideals. The pat- tern conditions the work. The skillful teacher recog- nizes in the first place the relation of imagination to ideals, and he goes to work so to train the imagination of his pupils that it may frame for him an outfit of worthy ideals. He has also to train his judgment and powers of reasoning with the same end in view. His emotions must be enlisted in this great work, for the impetus of strong feeling is a powerful stimulus, and when the ideals have been duly formed, the dyna- 42 The. Sunday School and the Teervsf mic of volition must be brought into operation to re- alize them. These considerations may be prolonged indefinitely. Let it suffice to mention one other exalted interest to which child study ministers — that of service. The Christian life begins in happiness but it must go on and be made perfect in service. Every boy is a moral engine. He is made for work. He matures only as he proves efficient in some fine of activity. A teacher has no more important vocation than to discover by means of his knowledge of the boy's mind what special activities he is best fitted for and how far and how fast he should be encouraged to go in these. From the very first his impressed teachings should find moral expression in the boy's life. And this expression Will guide the teacher as to proper continued impressions. It is of constant encouragement to believe that every boy has abilities and that for these abilities his life work waits. The vocational awakening is attracting much atten- tion nowadays. Young men are looking forward. They are anxiously inquiring what they shall do in life. There is deep concern, even during the years of the early teens, over the life's work. " It is now that castles are built in the air. The youth pictures himself succeeding in his chosen field and winning the admiration and praises of the multitude. If only he could get to work how he would push things along! How progressive he would be ! " Now these voca- tional impulses and ideas have serious claim upon the teacher's attention even though they may be imperfect and may have a complete overhauling later; they are The Svmddy School and the Boy 43 prominent now and are to be respected and encour- aged. "Wise adults will become interested in these concerns of the young, giving valuable information, inspiration and counsel; for if ever these are needed it is at this time of life when everything is in more or less of a whirl and uncertain state. It is fatal to decry this tendency in the young to consider a vocation, to make light of it by telling them there is plenty of time yet to give attention to such things. By treating it as a serious thing at this time of life the best possible preparation is being made for a more judicious consideration of it when it must be settled once for all." Of course, the primary responsibility concerning a vocation does not rest upon the Sunday school teacher, but there is always more or less in the line of service that does naturally come under his influence and it often happens that he is so loved and trusted by a pupil that his advice will be sought concerning the largest interests of life. It would seem as if nothing of importance in the life of a boy lays wholly outside the teacher's sphere. In the very nature of our work we are dealing with the great things, the strong things and the deep things of life and character. As we teach these truths we are impelled by them to enter into and to dwell in the realms of our pupils' lives. We began with education and its implications. In our view the most urgent need of Sunday school workers today is a candid recognition of religious education. It must be such a recognition as has never yet been accorded or even approached. It is our part 44 The Swnday School and the Teent to consider the place of subjective study in the scheme of Sunday school education. Our contention is that this is fundamental and essential. Religious educa- tion cannot proceed without it any more than can secular education. We are well aware that considera- tion of expense will be urged against it — expense of time and talent and money — but there is no alterna- tive except the abandonment of religious education and the perpetuation of "the children's church." From our point of view the supreme importance of this work will justify any investment of time and money that we can make. Our new day makes new demands upon us — de- mands that our fathers knew nothing about. A gen- eration of intelligent and faithful Christian workers in the Lord's great harvest means a real school for their real training. This involves trained teachers, scientific methods and a thorough knowledge of psy- chological principles. There is no hope for the worker with boys unless he knows the boy. The efficiency of Sunday school work is usually measured by the completeness of its equipment, the accuracy of its grading, the quality of its literature and the ability of its leadership. The worth of these standards is beyond question. The danger lies in their superficial evaluation. Other things being equal, the greatest significance attaches to the second of the three factors — the accuracy with which the individual members are grouped, and this grouping, in turn, de- pends upon the accuracy of analysis of the individual child. The Swnday School emd the Boy 45 Individuals and Their Grouping. It would be unfair to ignore the achievements of the past in this direction, but it is unquestionably true that a superior grading of the school is not only possible at the pres- ent time, but absolutely essential. The science of psychology has already made a notable contribution to the efficiency of Sunday school methods. It may be questioned whether this con- tribution has not been mostly an indirect one, but it has been none the less important. It is positive, how- ever, that a more considerable and direct contribution must be made by psychology to the Sunday school be- fore that organization functions as fully and as power- fully in the life development of the child as it should do. This is equally true with reference to the science of sdciology, as it uncovers the laws of social grouping in their relation to the small, functional, voluntary group, such as the average Sunday school class repre- sents. It may be that the compounding of these two sciences into a practical social psychology will bring to the Sunday school the message it requires for its greatest efficiency. The leaders in recent Sunday school development have already approached the boy from a new angle, with a new motive — a more scientific view-point. They have ceased to read into the character of this Sunday school boy much that he really does not pos- sess. They have insisted on measuring him from other than adult standards. They have refused to label many of his acts as immoral or irreligious, and have begun to evaluate his expression of himself along 46 The Swnday School and the Teens spiritual lines with a greater discernment. They have prepared an entirely new equipment of instructional literature upon the basis of this more accurate diag- nosis of the boy, have begun the development of a leadership which will be able to guide the boy in his religious growth with more skill and to a much more normal spiritual good, and are making equipment con- tribute toward this end more wisely. One is constrained to believe that the progress along these lines will be greater in the next decade than it has been since the new order of things was instituted. It is the conviction of the writer that the most valu- able results will follow a still deeper study of the nature of the boy as an individual. Methods of diag- nosis which will reveal individualistic traits with greater fullness and accuracy, and which will indicate the spiritual values of these traits must be made avail- able. While the classification of boys has made much progress, it is still far too general. Some of the more universal lines of cleavage indicated by the words, kindergarten, primary, elementary and advanced grades and preadolescent, early, middle and later adolescents, have been fairly accurately defined. But before the religious significance of the great variety of traits which are present in different combinations in different boys is fully appreciated, these major groupings must themselves be broken up into smaller fragments and made the subject of more specialized study and utilization. In the first place, a far greater result in Sunday school work will follow a more intimate study of the individual boy from the standpoint of the science of The Sunday School and the Boy 47 biology. While the actual research work which is necessary to this more intimate knowledge of the bio- logical basis of individual traits may not, and prob- ably will not be made by Sunday school workers as such, the findings of such research must be made avail- able in a practical way to those who are, under the present system, responsible for the spiritual develop- ment of the boy. Conduct is the ultimate test of the worth of religious instruction, and it is also the accurate index of the presence of certain character qualities. It will become necessary, therefore, to catalogue the activities which make up certain types of conduct and to trace the sources of these activities back to their origins in the structural organization of the nervous system of the individual. A specific act which one boy does may have a vastly different source than the identically same act may have in another, and by virtue of the difference in origin a very different line of treatment will be necessary to secure a desired moral or spiritual result. This means that a thoroughgoing study of causation as applied to character and conduct will be sure to result in a more or less complete reorganiza- tion of the instructional material utilized, the equip- ment used and the leadership employed in Sunday school work. Whether the evolutionary theory of the origin of man is accepted or not, the most casual study of the boy reveals him as sharing to a marked degree many of the traits which are pronounced in animals of a somewhat lower order. These are brute traits inbred by generations of repetition. They have given rise to 4? Th^ Sunday School and the Teem certain reflex and instinctive automatic actions which the boy does. The instincts, tendencies and impulses which the boy thus inherits all form the basis of cer- tain habits, interests and actions. These products all have vital moral and spiritual significance which can- not be adequately estimated and directed unless their origin is clearly apprehended. The motives under- lying actions have a new character when measured in such scales, a greater sympathy with the boy is aroused and the most practicable line of treatment is at once suggested. The statements thus made apply with equal force to other inherited traits which are reverberations from the life of savagery of our forefathers in the far dis- tant line of racial inheritance. Whether such traits manifested in a modern boy are to be explained on the basis of inheritance or recent acquirement, is a matter of the most vital importance in measuring the spiritual status of a boy at a given stage in his develop- ment, and in making possible a rational method of treatment along moral and spiritual lines. The Sun- day school administration of the future must reckon with this set of biological facts much more fully than it has thus far done. Another group of influences which add their com- plement of traits to the individuality of the boy has to do with his social inheritance. Tradition, conven- tion, custom, rite, ceremony, legislation and other so- cial institutions, are the vehicles by which the boy becomes heir to a social past which makes a vital con- tribution to his moral and spiritual present. What he thinks, what he says, what he does, how he responds The Sunday School and the Boy 49 to religious instruction, is to a very considerable degree determined by these products of his social ancestry. To ignore this factor in its relation to the content and machinery of religious instruction, is to invite a lack of appreciation of the conduct sources in the indi- vidual boy which will induce results of a far-reaching and prejudicial character. The day must soon come when the equipment, literature and leadership of the efficient Sunday school must be made and used with direct reference to the stage of animal, racial and so- cial inheritance through which the individual boy is passing. The reflex of environment on the moral and spiritual nature of the boy is another matter of the gravest im- portance in planning the administration of an institu- tion for spiritual instruction such as the Sunday school is regarded. The responsibility of environ- mental conditions in determining the character and conduct of the boy has been theoretically recognized for quite a period of time, but there is certainly oppor- tunity for a much more practical application of its im- portance. This is true both of the physical and social environment, and to provide equipment, write litera- ture, arrange grading and apportion leadership with reference to these considerations is imperative if the Sunday school is to accomplish its moral and spiritual reorganization of the boys' character with the greatest measure of success. There is much need of definite action along this line. One other point which has to do with determining the individual traits of many a boy, viz: his physio- logical condition, must receive greater attention from 50 The Stmday School and fhe Teens the standpoint of the organization, equipment and eon- duct of the modem Sunday school. The percentage of children of Sunday school age who are practically free from prejudicial physiological con- ditions is small. Many suffer seriously from impaired eyesight and hearing, from difficulties of the nasal cav- ity and throat, from bad dental conditions and other structural and organic conditions. The result of such disorders has been taken into account with some de- gree of care from the standpoint of their reaction on the mental life of the boy, but their effect on moral or spiritual character and conduct is not adequately reck- oned with. Problems of nerve condition, nutrition, fatigue, structural malformation, all are important from the standpoint of successful Sunday school ad- ministration. The impossibility of getting any moral reaction from boys who are thus deranged must be recognized, and it must be insisted that moral and spiritual instruction must first wait on the bringing about of a better physiological condition by doctor, optician, oculist, orthodontist or other specialist. Most surprising and important results have followed such medical attention, and a new basis has been laid on which a real work in moral and spiritual education has been projected. It is fair to state that much of the instruction given in Sunday school is shorn of its power because of bodily conditions in the individual pupils. All these factors which determine the individual differences in boyhood must be made the subject of more profound study from the view-point of their re- lation to character and conduct and to those agencies The Simday School and the Boy 51 like the Sunday school, to which is given the guidance of child life with reference to moral and spiritual in- struction. It is vitally important that we give greater attention to the sciences which underly the work of this educational institution. " Your boys are not normal boys," said the psychol- ogist to the Sunday school superintendent who had just described some actual boys with whom he had to deal week by week in his Sunday school. This dec- laration raises the question, Who was the better in- formed, the psychologist or the actual worker with boys? May not both have been right? Is the aver- age young adolescent normal ? Is he not likely to be just himself, normal in some points, abnormal in others ? Chapter IV SOME EXPERIENCES WITH BOiYS " What I like about the boys you describe is that they are real boys," said a teacher of boys after listening to a talk on the " Big Boy Problem," given by the Sunday school superintendent. The answer was : " I am pleased to have you say so, for I got acquainted with boys by dealing with them before I read the books that have been printed on the subject of boys." This part of the chapter is intended to give facts concerning adolescent boys as they have actually come under the observation of the writer. Of course his statements cannot all be predicated of all boys — for it is an axiom that " no two boys are alike." Three marked characteristics of early adolescence have been selected because with them the teacher must be fa- miliar if he is profitably to instruct his big boys. The artless, confiding boy of the Primary Depart- ment gradually changed while he was in the Junior Department, so that now he is a memory of the past to parent, friend and helper. In his place has arrived the self-conscious adolescent whose heart is so difficult to reach, and whom it is not easy to understand be- cause his moods vary greatly. Self-Consciousness. In order to know his boys, at least in part, and to be prepared to instruct them, the 52 SoTne Experiences With Boys 53 teacher must not only study them individually but he must also have some general knowledge of boys of the early adolescent age. If he is unable to make proper deductions based upon his general knowledge as well as upon his experience with individuals, he will make sad blunders. These helpful deductions are possible only as he applies his knowledge of boys in general to the specific cases coming under his ob- servation. At the outset of our study we meet an obstacle to generalization, for self-consciousness manifests itself in various ways in different individuals ; some of these manifestations are so dissimilar that it is almost in- credible that they could be attributed to the same cause. Here are some adolescent boys whose self-con- sciousness takes the form of a morbid sensitiveness, manifested in shyness, bashfulness, diffidence or timidity. Such boys absolutely refuse to take part in Sunday school functions that will bring them to the attention of others. It is most difficult to get such boys to become confidential with the teacher. Thus the personal touch which is so effective in dealing with boys is warded oflf by the very persons whom it would greatly benefit. Here is another boy of quite different make-up. His self-consciousness is a kind of self-conceit which shows itself in much foolish insistence on having his own way. This fellow attracts attention to himself because of his boastful and sometimes brazen manner. But most difficult of all to deal with is this big boy who today in the extreme manifestation of self- [54 The Sunday School and the Teens consciousness withdraws himself from the gaze and the remarks of those about him. Tomorrow, with- out any reason that appears on the surface, he is noisy and aggressive, attracting the attention of all who are near him. Both manifestations may be ultimately traced back to his self-consciousness. The fact is, this young adolescent does not want his elders to get at his real self ; hence he takes refuge in the background, hiding behind his bashfulness on the one hand or behind his braggadocio on the other hand, or now using one and again the other as the shield which he puts between himself and the one whom he wishes to keep away from his inner self. One of the richest and most profitable experiences of a worker with boys is to watch their endeavors to know themselves and to assert their individuality. The young adolescent enters a world of thought and action to which he is but partially adjusted. During the period of preadolescence he was literal in his men- tal make-up. He accepted what was told on the au- thority of one he loved or respected. He was sub- missive to form and custom and generally yielded to circumstances and authority. Self-Assertion. Now, however, the tremendous forces at work within him make him restless under forms of restraint which his elders think essential to his own well-being and the comfort of others. Not understanding why he is restricted, the youth is very likely to show a disregard for the cherished rights of others that does not add to the comfort or peace of those about him. Various are the manifestations of the growth of a Some Experiences With Boys 55 boy's selfhood. A boy will endeavor to make others recognize that he has arrived in ways that vary so much at times that one would be inclined to pity him did he not know that that would be one of the quickest methods of making the arriving youth still more ag- gressive or obnoxious. Look at that class over there in Sunday school. John manifests an independence which is difficult to understand by one who does not know that John is trying to recognize himself and to make others join in this recognition. Fred, who sits next to him, is not so independent but he is stubborn. He " just will not " when his teacher wishes him to do something. He " just will " when he is asked to desist from a line of action which everybody except him and his fellows recognize to be hurtful. Why is he so stubborn? There is no general reason for his actions except that he believes he is being imposed upon. Charles, the third boy in the class, is so wilful that when he gets a notion in his head he is almost as thoughtless as the runaway horse which has taken the bit in his mouth and is doing as his fear or terror prompts him to do. James constantly aspires to the leadership of the class. Each one of the others has his marked char- acteristic which may be put under the general trait ordinarily called self-assertion. Perhaps in no respect is the self-assertion of the young adolescent more marked than in his desire for leadership. The "gang" has its leader. The class has its guiding or controlling spirit not always in the teacher but in some big boy whose lead the other mem- bers follow in things that are wrong, but who may be 56 The Sunday School and the Teens made the director in things that make for the welfare of the class, of the school and of the church — hence the value of recognizing this spirit of leadership and using it for the good of the boys as well as for the furtherance of the Kingdom of Righteousness. It is this spirit of self-assertion that leads so many- boys of the early adolescent period to question the truth of the Bible, to refuse to accept dogmatic state- ments made by their elders, generally to assume a criti- cal attitude and before long to doubt everything that is not clearly demonstrable. The teacher who studies his boys soon discovers that if he is to help them to high and noble thought and action he must know the ideals and longings which stir their quickened souls, even while they outwardly assume the appearance of rebellion against constituted authority and of dissent from conventional ideas. He also learns that in the measure that he becomes one with them in their search for truth and in their en- deavors to attain high ideals will he be able to be a true guide and teacher. His assertions will be re- ceived with smiles, his " musts " will be laughed at ; his arguments will be treated with contempt; his en- deavors to force opinions or doctrines will be secretly or openly resisted ; but his attitude of a fellow-searcher for the highest ideals and the most profound truths will be respected. At first, as a fellow student, he will be tolerated by his self-assertive pupils but by degrees he will be imitated, and soon he will be exalted as one worthy of all honor. "The maxim 'Know thyself does not suffice. Know others, know them well, that's my advice.'' Some Experiences With Boys 57 This couplet of Quackenbosh is nowhere more ap- plicable than in the study of the youth whose self- assertion seems to put him beyond all hope of spiritual blessing, but who, to the one who knows how to lead him, yields an enthusiastic obedience which results in his becoming the seeker after truth, who finds for him- self that which he will not accept on the say-so of others. Self- Absorption. Mr. John Blank is a lover of boys. He is a conscientious teacher, who makes ample preparation for instructing his pupils. A few years ago, he was about to resign his position as the leader of a class of adolescent boys because he thought that his pupils did not respect him nor pay any attention to his endeavors at instructing them in vital truth. His resolution to give up his boys was laid aside at the sug- gestion of one who urged him to take pains to ascer- tain why his boys seemed to treat with indifference his well-meaning attempts at interesting and instruct- ing them. Wise counsel prevailed and Mr. Blank read up on the general subject of adolescents. He resolved, as one result of his reading, to study his boys individually along two lines. He first endeavored to ascertain their estimation of themselves as over against their valuation of others. Then he sought to discover something of their day-dreaming and the effect of this dreaming on their seeming indifference to the teach- ings and work of the Sunday school. The investigator had a trying time at first because his boys' self-consciousness compelled him to get at them by indirect methods. He persevered, however, and by degrees was able to formulate some conclu- 58 The Sunday School and the Teens sions which he worked out in detail in the class and elsewhere. As a preliminary conclusion, there gradually dawned upon the teacher the truth, that notwithstanding his 2eal and earnestness, his preparation for teaching and his laudable efforts to impress his pupils, they did not set a high valuation upon either him or his instruc- tion. So thoroughly were they engrossed with the thought of their own importance that they did not re- gard their teacher as worthy of serious consideration. So convinced were they that they knew about all that there was to be known that they believed their in- structor had not much of value to impart to them. So big was each one of them in his own estimation that Mr. Blank was to him a very little teacher indeed. Why should he make such a fuss about getting their attention and why did he work so hard in trying to teach things which were after all of such little im- portance to them? might be a fair summary of their thoughts when they did think it worth while to con- sider their teacher at all. Mr. Blank, of course, was at first amazed at the facts of the situation, but later on he rejoiced that he was on the right track in his investigations. Slowly, so as not to awaken suspicions that would have defeated his object, but so heartily that he won his boys, he entered into the thought of their great- ness. Instead of exhibiting irritation or vexation at his pupils' lack of respect for him he manifested more respect for them. The process was long and at times the results were scarcely apparent but the teacher won out. He got behind his pupils' self-consciousness and Some Experiences With Boy* 59 self-assertion so that he touched them. He reached their hearts, and the rest was easy, for he had learned to be truly sympathetic, with the result that he loved his boys and they loved him. While discovering the very high opinions which the members of his class had formed of themselves the thoroughly aroused teacher also learned that they were dreaming great big day-dreams. Not merely was every youngster dreaming, but his dreams were so real to him that they had become a very part of him- self. While debating within himself what was best to be done, Mr. Blank listened to a lecture on adoles- cents in which the speaker described a class composed of boys of about the ages of those whom he faced Sunday after Sunday. The lecturer told of some of the things about which the boys were dreaming but which had become so real to the dreamers that they could neither be laughed nor argued out of them. One picture, among others, Mr. Blank carried in his mind and in his practice for years. It was of a young adolescent who saw in a trolley car an advertisement of a recent novel of which a very large number of copies had been sold. As the boy read the advertise- ment, he smiled, for the first novel written by him had had a sale of one million copies, and he was now en- gaged in the composition of a second novel whose circulation was bound to reach two millions. After describing the reality of this day-dream to the young dreamer, the lecturer went on to say that it produced little effect upon him; that only last week his father had received a letter from his teacher stating that he was deficient in composition; that he could not para- So The Sundaif School and the Teen* graph, capitalize, punctuate, nor spell properly. Mr. Blank was particularly impressed with the speaker's question : " What difference do such small things as punctuation and spelling make to a great author whose first book has had a sale of a million copies and whose second book is to have a circulation of two millions ? " Absurd as this query seemed, it was so pertinent to many things which Mr. Blank had observed among his boys that he went home to plan prayerfully and intelligently to make good use of his boys' day- dreams. His months of careful, intelligent, sympathetic in- vestigations and self-effacement were rewarded as one after another of his boys opened his heart to his friend and revealed the dreams that had taken possession of him. What Mr. Blank did to turn these dreams into channels of beneficent activity is a story in itself. He was in a large measure successful, and for years he has been grateful to those who helped him understand the reasons for his boys' self-absorption. Continuing our study of real boys from twelve to sixteen years of age, we learn that they do not remain long in any one stage of development; with them as with others it is change all the time. Some degen- erate, and we have the sad story of the criminals of the middle and the later adolescent periods. The ma- jority, however, go on to a high development; this is true especially when the boys have been carefully and wisely dealt with. Self-consciousness does not wholly disappear but it is largely replaced by those altruistic and social tendencies which make young men such splendid workers for their fellows, especially in Some Experiences With Boys 6i those endeavors which partake of the nature of re- forms. Self-assertion becomes enthusiastic activity, to inspire which should be the aim of all who have to do with young people. The big boy's self-absorption is not so noticeable as his horizon broadens and his in- terests become varied. At times there will be periods of abstraction and seasons of preoccupation, but these are largely due to the young man's endeavor to adjust himself to his environment. His day-dreaming will be replaced by a constructive imagination which will lead him to dare and do great things. O youth, how tremendous are thy possibilities ! In all study of the real boy for the purpose of learning how to do him good, it will be of great value to keep in mind an oft-repeated statement ; " The young adolescent is a bundle of self-contradictions." " My boy has got away from me, so that I fear I have lost him," said a mother to her pastor. " May it not be your own fault? " was the startling question. " What more can I do than I am doing? " " Study your boy to ascertain what is the cause of the separation between him and you." The mother did so, and in due course reported to her adviser that she had made a careful study of her boy with the result that she seemed to get quite close to him, but suddenly he was away from her again. What was to be done now? She was told to resume her study and keep on in- vestigating until she became acquainted with her son. Again she reported that she had done as she had been advised, only to have her boy get away from her just 62 The Sunday School and the Teens as she supposed that she understood him and was getting at his heart. She was told to keep at her efforts to know her boy. This she did, with the result that she came to realize how self-contradictory were his characteristics and how endlessly adaptable she must be. She persevered, with the result that she understood her developing son and was able to help him as few mothers help their sons, but as an ever-increasing body of workers are helping boy adolescents, because they are studying boys at first hand while they are reading books that deal with boys in a general way. Chapter V SUNDAY SCHOOL TEEN AGE STATISTICS A STUDY of the Commission's work in gathering teen age statistics in the Sunday school is here pre- sented. No investigator would be satisfied with these returns as final indications of conditions. To make an induction from 141 Sunday schools out of the vast multitude on this continent would be an unworthy bit of logic. Hence, I think that we can take the con- clusions here reached only as indications. Some of the suggestions, however, are of high value. Foreword. One hundred and fifty-one returned questionnaires were examined as a basis for study. Ten were without value so that the number considered in the investigation was 141. States Represented. The number of states and provinces represented in the investigation was 38, di- vided as follows: Alabama i, Arkansas i, California 10, Colorado 3, Connecticut I, District of Columbia 2, Iowa I, Illinois 8, Indiana i, Kentucky 2, Lou- isiana I, Maryland 2, New Brunswick i, New Hampshire i, New Jersey 6, New Mexico i, New York 12, North Dakota i. Nova Scotia 7, Ohio 6, Oklahoma i, Ontario i, Pennsylvania 2, Rhode Island I, Maine 2, Manitoba 2, Massachusetts 12, Michigan 7, Minnesota 11, Missouri 6, Montana 7, Nebraska 7, 63 64 The Swnday School and the Teen» Tennessee i, Vermont 2, Virginia 2, Washington 3, Wisconsin 5, and unclassified 3. Denominations Represented. The number of de- nominations represented in answers was 15, divided as follows: Baptist 24, Christian 9, Congregational 18, Disciples i, Episcopal 2, Evangelical i, Friends 2, Holy Spirit i, Lutheran 4, Methodist 42, Methodist Protestant i, Presbyterian 27, Reformed 3, United Brethren i, Union Church i, and unclassified 2. Schools Reporting. One hundred and forty-four schools reported. Male Female Total 1 Number of pupils enrolled in Junior Department 3.165 3,846 I7.6S5 Number of pupils enrolled in Inter- mediate Department — 2,641 3,394 6,581 Number of pupils enrolled in Senior Department 2,314 2,956 5,854 Number of pupils enrolled in Adult Department 6,267 6,672 12,917 Number of pupils enrolled in whole school without Cradle Roll or Home Department 10,655 13,445 32,831 Departmental Reports. 112 schools reported Junior Departments organized 62, not organized 51. 112 schools reported Intermediate Departments organized 51, not organized 61. 104 schools reported Senior Departments organized 59, not organized 45. The Intermediate pupils in 144 schools reporting were 86 per cent of Juniors; 112 per cent of Seniors and 20 per cent of total enrollment. Junior pupils in 144 schools reporting were 116 per cent of Intermedi- 1 The total is not the addition of male and female, but the total rf- ported by the school, which in some cases failed to give the number of males and females. Sunday School Teen Age Statistics 65 ates; 130 per cent of Seniors and 23 per cent of total enrollment. Gain or Loss. Comparative Members in Junior and Inter- mediate Departments Number of schools reporting 63 Male Female Total Pupils in last grade Junior Department last year 559 680 1,265 Pupils promoted last year from Junior to Intermediate 435 509 974 Pupils Staying in or Dropping Out of School Forty-two schools reported. Number of pupils who stayed in Sunday school last year 13-16 years 503 650 1,162 Number of pupils who stayed in Sunday school last year 17-19 years 426 511 967 Number of pupils dropped out of Sunday school last year 13-16 years 87 140 259 Number of pupils dropped cfut of Sunday school last year 17-19 years iii 144 259 Four hundred and six more male pupils 13-16 years stayed in than dropped out. Three hundred and fifteen more male pupils 17-19 years stayed in than dropped out. Five hundred and ten more female pupils 13-16 years stayed in than dropped out. Three hundred and sixty-seven more female pupils 17-19 years stayed in than dropped out. One hundred and sixty-four more female than male pupils 13-16 years stayed in than dropped out, and 52 66 The Sunday School and the Teens more female than male pupils 17-19 years stayed in than dropped out. The proportion of pupils 13-16 years who stayed in, to total enrollment was males 19 per cent; females 19 per cent and the proportion of pupils 13-16 years who dropped out, to total enrollment was males 17 per cent; females 21 per cent. The proportion of pupils 17-19 years who stayed in, to total enrollment was males 39 per cent ; females 38 per cent; and the proportion of pupils 17-19 years who dropped out to total enrollment was males .047 per cent ; females .048 per cent. The proportion of males 13-16 years to females 13- 16 years who stayed in, to those who dropped out was 77 per cent ; and the proportion of males 17-19 years to females 17-19 years who stayed in, to those who dropped out was 83 per cent. The proportion of males 13-16 years who stayed in to whole number who stayed in was 43 per cent. The proportion of males 17-19 years who stayed in to whole number who stayed in was 44 per cent. The proportion of females 13-16 years who stayed in to whole number who stayed in was 56 per cent. The proportion of females 17-19 years who stayed in to whole number who stayed in was 44 per cent. The proportion of males 13-16 years who dropped out to whole number who dropped out was 34 per cent. The proportion of males 17-19 years who dropped out to whole number who dropped out was 42 per cent. The proportion of females 13-16 years who dropped out to whole number who dropped out was 54 per cent. Svnday School Teen Age Statistics 67 The proportion of females 17-19 years who dropped out to whole number who dropped out was 54 per cent. The proportion of males 13-16 years who dropped out to females 13-16 years who dropped out was 62 per cent. The proportion of males 17-19 years who dropped out to females 17-19 years who dropped out was ^y per cent. Suggested Reasons for Male Continuance in School. Interested ; Graded Lessons ; class organi- zation; mostly from country and they stay in better than city pupils ; all stayed in except few who moved away ; stayed in because they were pleased to be given something to do in their classes and general school work ; it was the natural thing to do ; faithfulness on part of teachers; church connections; home church; parents' cooperation; interested, or because their friends attended ; parents are there to hold them ; they have been taught from earliest childhood that it is their place ; most of them, like to be there of their own ac- cord ; good, live, earnest school ; personal work on part of teachers and officers; good teaching and athletics; apparently love Sunday school and are interested; work suited to their needs ; school exercises are attrac- tive; men teachers; socials; had teacher older boys liked; organized class had regular social meetings every two weeks ; teachers had such hold on them they could not stay away ; constant effort on part of teach- ers ; hated it but parents made them ; habit and parents are in church, or send them; home training, good teachers ; prefer staying at Sunday school rather than anything else ; and all seem to be quite satisfied. 68 The Simday School and the Teeru Suggested Reasons for Female Continuance in School. These are pretty much the same as for male except " socials " occur rather oftener. Suggested Reasons for Male Discontinuance in School. Moved; indifferent; loss of interest; went away to school ; Sunday work ; went to another Sun- day school; parents attended elsewhere; one boy dropped out, disappointed in going camping; presume home influence did not make any desire to attend; probably thought themselves too old for Sunday school; teacher lost his grip on them; left vicinity and quarreled with parents; none have dropped out but attendance irregular for no discoverable reason; did not like it; could not get them interested in Sun- day school; lack of social and physical activities in Sunday school; teachers absent with no substitute; perhaps one-third not looked after when absent; death ; to help at home in boarding house ; moving pic- ture employee, his people's own theater; change of teachers; Sunday work and indifference on part of scholars and home; influence brought to bear upon them by those antagonistic to righteousness; college men won't stay for opening exercises, feel too old. Suggested Reasons for Female Discontinuance. Moved; indifferent; loss of interest; went away to school ; went to another Sunday school ; Sunday work ; one became teacher in Sunday school ; married ; home duties; ill health; change of teachers; class disorgan- ized for want of teacher ; irregularity on part of some teachers probably accounts largely for indifference on part of scholars ; no family influence ; other attractions split up class; come irregularly because they often SvMday School Teen Age Statistict 69 work late in candy stores Saturday night ; other things come in to take place; influence brought to bear by those antagonistic to righteousness; college girls feel too big for Sunday school. Among the reasons for the discontinuance of boys "indifference" and "moved" predominate, while the main reasons among girls are " married " and " went away to school." Number of Teen Age Classes and Pupils. One hundred and seventeen schools reported. Male Female Total Number of teen age classes with male teachers 331 118 449 Number of teen age classes with female teachers 151 470 621 The pupils in school between 13-19 years are: Wage earners 496 358 854 In school or college 1,251 1,742 3,184 Relation to Christ and Decision Methods. Eighty-six schools reported. Pupils 13-19 in school professing Christians 1,158 1,618 3,328 Pupils 13-19 in school who professed Christ last year 402 614 1,171 The methods for Christian decision mentioned are, Decision Day, revival meeting; pastor's Confirmation class ; personal influence on part of teacher and pastor ; quiet personal appeal made efifective through teaching International Graded Lessons; evangelistic meetings held; special evangelistic services; Graded Lessons have helped ; personal work by church members ; De- cision Day and Every Sunday ; special church meetings and influence of consecrated teachers ; six weeks' Eas- ter class in two divisions conducted by pastor; have 70 The Sunday School and the Teens had pastor's class but it has not been uniformly suc- cessful ; special invitation on Decision Day and before regular Communion service ; on Mothers' Day a meet- ing of mothers during study period and the matter of special prayer for conversions was put up to them; personal appeal and letter from teacher and superin- tendent of their department; catechetical instruction and personal talks ; special meetings each year after an opportunity for decision is given; Sunday school mis- sionary gatherings in a special after-meeting to talk and pray with those who have signified a desire to become Christians; we have depended on personal work alone this year ; teacher and pastor and pastor's wife have worked and talked together; meeting held in Sunday school every two months on Sunday after- noons; invite them to quote verse and testify; boys and girls of eight pray in public and sing on door- steps of church ; whole plan of our work tends toward confirmation; have special work on catechism during Lent; Confirmation lectures by rector and personal work by rector and teachers; catechetical instruction at Easter; teachers also have this foremost in mind, to lead each scholar to confess Christ and become a member of the church; Decision Day is always fol- lowed by pastor's class for study of Christian life, which meets about four Sundays leading up to Easter communion of church, which is always the recognized time for scholars to join. Service. Fifty-six schools reported. The pupils 13-19 years who, on professing Christ, have been doing definite service in the church are: boys 193, girls 308; total 501. Swnday School Teen Age Statistics 7 1 The kind of service follows : Ushers; Young People's Society work; oflScers in Sunday school; boys' choir; distributing church bul- letin ; part in prayer meeting ; song service choir ; mis- sion circle; decoration in church entertainments; bringing others to Sunday school; care of Sunday school room ; teaching in Sunday school and officers in organized class work; neighborhood canvass and working on committees; charitable work and visit- ing sick; we try to connect them with communal and social service; helpfulness to poor in community, increasing interest in Bible study and missionary work; social service; clean sports and wholesome amusements; visiting hospitals and homes; supplying sick with flowers, helping missions and doing general missionary work. Service — Life Work Decisions. Forty-two schools reported. The number of pupils who at any time have decided life work between ages 13-19 years are, boys 56, girls 49; total 105. The forms of life work thus determined are: doc- tor, minister, carpenter, musician, decorator, printing, office work, journalism, nurse, lawyer, teacher, elec- trical engineer. Young Men's and Young Women's Christian Association worker, stenographer, clerk, draughtsman and college course for girls. Says one, " Most of the boys return to farms ; girls teach school." Another says, " We have 3 preparing for M.D., 6 for sciences and between 10 and 20 defin- itely planning for ministry. Our total enrollment is 370." 72 The Srniday School and the Teens Cautionary Suggestions. 1. The figures seem to indicate that the pupils are being held pretty fairly well in the teen years. How- ever, schools which are well enough organized to be able to answer the questionnaire are likely to be well organized in other directions, and therefore better able to hold the teen age pupil. What is the holding power in this period of the other type of school ? 2. The same element of doubt enters into the con- clusion that we have more men teachers of boys' classes than we have women ; and for the same reason. 3. A very significant comparison is found in the statement, that the school boys and girls so greatly outnumber the wage-earners in the schools reported. Yet the wage-earners in most communities (age 1^-19 years) would greatly outnumber the school children. Chapter VI SUNDAY SCHOOL TEEN AGE ORGANIZATION The Secondary Division in modern Sunday school organization is the middle group of scholars and classes and lies between the Elementary Division and the Adult Division. It therefore comprises the teen years — 13 to 20 inclusive — or the Intermediate and Senior Departments. So far as possible there should be a separate organi- zation within the school for the above ages (13-20 years), limited only by the number of the pupils of this age in the school and arranged with both sexes in mind and the number of classes for each. Object of Organization. That which may be said of the Sunday school as a whole, or of any of its parts, is essentially true of the Secondary Division. There should therefore be a definite organization for the Secondary Division, embracing the following ob- jects : /. Proper gradation and supervision. These must i be maintained in order that the school may be con- ducted to meet successfully the needs of the pupils of these ages (13-20 years). 2. Establish control, responsibility, order, harmony ■ 'and cooperation. These may be secured by the efforts of a single person for an entire school which is limited 72 74 The Sunday School and the Teens both in enrollment and space. With the increase in scholars and classes and the resulting additional rooms or buildings, it is imperative that assistance be given the head of the school to assure to every department the same leadership that the superintendent aims to give to the entire school. In the modern school such provision will be made for this Division, which, while being virtually a school within a school, will also, be- cause of this wise arrangement, be a well-ordered part of the whole. J. Provide proper facilities and activities. These of course must be determined by the characteristics of the age and sex of the pupils and should be guided by those who are directly responsible for them. While the direction of the entire school rests with the super- intendent and his cabinet, the advisers or department heads must be given the opportunity to plan, suggest, supervise and direct the facilities and activities in the various departments. For the Secondary Division these include space for classes, arrangement and dec- oration of room, plans for lessons and teaching, the opening and closing exercises of the departments and all the activities of the classes, both on Sunday and during the week. Form of Organization. This will depend largely upon the size and equipment of the school. However small the school, emphasis should be laid upon suitable organization for the scholars of the teen age, the most critical years both in the life and development of the individual scholar and in the life and conduct of the school, since this is the period when most scholars apparently " quit " the school. Sunday School Teen Age Organization 75 /. The simplest form of organization. (a) This will naturally be the class or classes for pupils of this age, organized and conducted, taught and directed as is most suitable for the objectives of the Sunday school. Small schools may be compelled to have but one class for all the ages comprised (13-20 years) and for both sexes. The number of classes must always depend upon the number of the pupils of both sexes. (b) Any number of classes may therefore be or- ganized, in which case they should be grouped under the general term Secondary Division. Where the number steadily grows to warrant a further division, the familiar Intermediate Department (for those 13 to 16 years old) and Senior Department (for those 17 to 20 years old) may be formed as subdivisions of the Secondary Division.^ (c) Wherever possible there should be a class for each age or year of life for each of the sexes. This makes possible a perfectly graded school with graded courses of instruction.^ (d) A separate room or place of meeting is ad- visable for the best teaching and activity of each class. This may be a portion of a larger room screened off for the lesson period, or a separate class- room, just as the school may find convenient. To do the best work the Secondary Division should meet in an assembly room apart from the remainder of the school. The worship of the opening and closing ex- ' In some cases the subdivision may be made into what are known as Boys' or Girls' Departments. Special mention is made of this on page 3, " Organization in the Sunday School." — Editor. 2 Great allowance must be made in class_ groupings for cases of eithe^ latent or early physical development, — Editor. 76 The Sunday School and the Teens ercises and the teaching and other activities demand this, these being very different from either those of the Elementary or Adult divisions. 2. The officers of the Secondary Division. (a) Where there is only one class for both sexes of this age, the teacher of this class should be con- sidered the head or leader of the division. Otherwise the division should have its own superintendent, pref- erably a man or woman who is not teaching. (b) A superintendent should be appointed sub- ordinate to the superintendent of the school and co- ordinate with the heads of other divisions, who (i) becomes responsible to the superintendent and school for the work of the divi- sion. (2) supervises the affairs of the department and g[uides its exercises if it meets sepa- rately, selects and places teachers after consultation with the class, the superin- tendent and pastor, '(3) oversees the work of the division and classes and promotes all these activities with the approval of the superintendent and cabinet. (c) A Secretary-Treasurer (nominally an assist- ant to the secretary and treasurer of the school at large) (i) should secure and file the complete en- rollment of the division, with accurate information about each member, 1(2) supervise the class books and records, col- lect and tabulate the reports of the di- Swnday School Teen Age Orgamization yy vision on Sundays and for the business meetings of the school, '(3) receive class offerings and any special of- ferings until special officers are appointed for this. (d) Other OMcers. According to the needs and custom of the local school there will be such a com- plement of officers in the Secondary Division as will readily and completely conduct all its affairs. Among these officers and assistants we may find an Assistant Superintendent, or a Superintendent for each of the two departments, Intermediate and Senior, a Treas- urer, Birthday and Missionary Fund Secretaries or Treasurers, Pianist, Chorister, Librarians, Ushers, etc. (e) In the larger and completely graded schools it will be found expedient to subdivide the Secondary Division into the two departments known as the In- termediate iDepartment (ages 13-16 years) and the Senior Department (ages 17-20 years), giving to each such a complement of officers as will make it possible for the superintendent of the school and the superintendent of the Secondary Division to carry out all the necessary plans for this portion of the school, and fully meet the objects already enumerated under Objects of Organization for their respective de- partments. 2- Classes and Class Organization. The class be- ing the unit, all activity and organization should begin here. (a) The members of a class organize by electing at least two officers; a President and a Secretary- 78 The Sunday School and the Teens Treasurer, and meet regularly at the time of the school session and at other times for Bible study, business, and such other activities as may be decided upon. (b) Committees should be appointed, such as Membership, Athletic, Social and Missionary. The business of the first is the securing of new members, looking after absentees and in other ways holding the interest and membership of the class. The last men- tioned is to supervise the home and foreign mission- ary work of the class, helping the poor, calling upon the sick, etc. The duties of the others need no defini- tion. (c) The number of officers and committees will be increased with the size of the class and the particular interests of the members. (d) The teacher should supervise all class organi- zation and activities, being the adult leader of the class in all its undertakings. 4. Division and Department Organization. The simplest form of organization is to have the officers and teachers and committee heads within the Second- ary Division and its subdivisions, the Intermediate and Senior Departments, meet as a body to discuss the problems, plan the work and increase the effective- ness of the departments, division and school. Where there are several classes of both sexes in the division, all the boys of the various classes may be united into a Boys' Department or federation, and the girls into a Girls' Department. Where possible, these should meet in separate rooms on Sundays for the opening and closing of the school session. All business meetings should also be separate. Sunday School Teen Age Organization 79 In organizing a Boys' or Girls' Department the machinery should be kept as simple as possible. The officers of the department may be elected by the boys or girls in open session or at a Conference of the teachers and officers of the classes with the super- intendent of the Secondary Division. The officers may be given the titles of President, Vice-President, etc., or may be designated in the Sunday school nomenclature as Superintendent, etc. These officers, with the teachers of the classes and the superintend- ents of the Secondary Division, might serve as a council or executive committee of the department. Occasional meetings of these departments might be held separately and jointly. At these meetings re- ports of recent achievements can be read and dis- cussed, the accomplishments of each class in attend- ance, new members, service rendered, etc., being reported separately. This will stimulate the individual classes. When the Boys' and Girls' Departments meet jointly, a comparative statement of the records might be used to foster a friendly rivalry and ac- centuate the fact that both departments are component parts of the school. In very large schools the Boys' and Girls' Depart- ments may find it advisable to recognize the Interme- diate and Senior groupings. Advantage of Boys' Department. The Boys' De- partment might provide activities for its boys, such as a workroom where they might print the school or parish paper, tickets, programs, etc., manufac- ture souvenirs and furnishings for the school and its various rooms, such as sand trays, bulletin boards, 8o The SwndoAf School and the Teens umbrella racks, boxes, shelves and cabinets. The older boys could use the room later in the day as a meeting place for discussing problems, books, etc., as well as for debating and headquarters for those seek- ing employment. In connection with this there might be some form of athletics, with a special committee in charge for inter-class and inter-school meets. Advantage of Girls' Department. The girls could meet during afternoons and evenings to prepare mis- sionary boxes, make wearing apparel, dress dolls and sew for the poor, hospitals and mission stations and make scrap-books for children in hospitals. The older girls could thus increase their helpfulness in many ways. The Secondary Division a Part of the Entire School. Just as it is an unfortunate thing for the Sunday school to act as if it were independent of the church, so it would be unfortunate if the work of the Secondary Division or any of its departments. In- termediate, Senior, Boys' or Girls', should be so con- ducted as to make the effort appear as a separate en- terprise. The general superintendent of the school and the minister of the church should always be active members of its executive committee or council and the Division and its departments should be represented in the official Sunday School Board, Teachers' Meet- ings and business meetings of the school. The plans of the Division and its departments are subject to the approval of the Sunday School Official Board at all times, the Division and its departments merely being the special organization of the school for meeting the needs of the teen age boy and girl. Chapter VII CLASS GROUPINGS IN THE SUNDAY SCHOOL The most definite recent progress in education has been an increasing regard for the abilities of the pupils, with a resultant endeavor to adapt instruction to these abilities rather than to an orderly sequence of topics contained in subject-matter. Previously the school master was prone first to determine the subject to be taught, next to divide it into sections of half- yearly doses, and last to insist that the matter be learned. Now attention has been centered upon the fact that children develop through a series of epochs or stages in each of which they exhibit a different series of interests and potential and learning abilities. To endeavor to teach a subject at the wrong time, or to use the method ill adapted to the epoch, has been found wasteful, often cultivating a rebellious distaste instead of a scholastic power. A week's proper in- struction in the right way at the right time has been found more resultful than a year's ill-timed endeavor. This has led to a renewed study of the childhood epoch, and an effort to determine signs by the observation of which the teacher may classify his pupils for purposes of instruction. With reference to adolescence, the most definite progress has been made in classifying pupils according 8i 82 The Sunday School and the Teens to their development, and at this time it is most im- portant of all periods of growth that the difiference in physiological and psychological age should be noted and their instruction should be based upon them. A division should be made with puberty as the dividing line between the immature and the mature, and each group should be taught in separate classes with differ- ent teachers, different subject-matter, and by differ- ent methods. Very few of those who teach adoles- cents have an adequate conception of the importance of the physical, mental and spiritual upheaval which oc- curs during the few months in which puberty occurs. It is a new birth. The child enters a new world and becomes a man or a woman. The strain of the change is often tremendous. The budding of the sexual life determines an entirely new outlook upon human af- fairs, and the whole reaction toward essential matters changes materially. Old ideals fade and new land- marks are sought with conscious or unconscious assi- duity. Former immature playmates are discarded un- less they also become mature, and associates of similar advanced tendencies are selected. This often causes many little tragedies, the reason for which adults seldom understand. The immature child has still the sure knowledge of the experiences which he has passed through and complacently views the future. The newly matured adolescent is troubled by the scarcely understood but deeply felt newer features and responsibilities of life, and must begin to adjust himself all over again. This is the time when realities and ideals are eagerly sought, and this is the time when above all others it is of Ctass Groupings in the Sunday School 83 paramount importance that the growing human being should be furnished with a pattern worthy of the fol- lowing. At this time the example of the strong per- sonality of a worthy man or woman will determine the direction of all the subsequent years of life. It is characteristic of this stage that it is not so much the character of the instruction that is given as the char- acter of the instructor that is remembered and becomes effective. This is the golden opportunity for salutory moral, ethical and religious instruction; neglected it can never be wholly replaced by subsequent influences, for the ideals will have been already formed and the character largely settled. Subject at this time to in- sincere instruction, in which the spoken word is at variance with the half-hidden signs of character that children are so quick to read, the damage done is in- calculable. For these reasons the best obtainable teachers should be placed in charge of the classes of the newly mature. It is probably impossible in most Sunday schools to determine accurately when pupils arrive at puberty, and it may be found difficult to know when to change a given scholar from an immature class to a mature class. Many teachers will, however, instinctively rec- ognize the time for this change. Since it occurs at any age between twelve and sixteen, age in years cannot of course be relied upon. There are certain signs, how- ever, which may be used as guides. The voice changes at about this time, children often lose their chubby, rounded cheeks, and rapid growth in height is a posi- tive sign of the advent of puberty. Shyness and awk- wardness will alternate with over-confidence and bold- 84 The Sunday School and, the Teens ness, and the signs of mental unrest and instability are unmistakable to anyone who is watching for them. The surest and best way to obtain this information is to get it from the parents or from the physical director, if there is a gymnasium in connection with the school. In this case the presence of pubic pubescence in the boy and the beginning of menstruation in the girl will give the sought-for classification. The necessity for this classification is becoming gen- erally recognized in secular education and has been adopted in many quarters with good results. To the Sunday school, dealing as it does with human qualities which are much more deeply affected by the adolescent change than is mere learning ability, the necessity for the recognition and adoption of this principle becomes of paramount importance. Chapter VIII THE TEACHER OF THE TEEN AGE Qualifications. Sympathy is the quality most fre- quently mentioned in a numerously answered question- naire in reply to the question, " State the qualifications and characteristics of successful teachers of teen age pupils." Next to sympathy we find " knowledge of adolescent boys and girls," including in some answers the physiology of that age. Bible knowledge is insisted on by many, and "broad knowledge" by some who amplify their meaning as follows : " Knowledge of field of opportunity where young people can be of use," " something of world view and world sympathy," " a good general knowledge of the world and its needs." Adaptability and alertness are the two mental (or shall we say moral) qualities most strongly insisted upon; surely both are akin to sympathy. There is a noticeable lack of insistence on education in the formal sense and no mention of " schooling," while " studious- ness," " willingness to learn," " intelligence," " com- mon sense," " brains," " thoughtfulness," " progressive reading " are suggestive answers as to the intellectual equipment preferred. Most significant is the strong insistence upon the teacher being able and willing to enter into the pupil's life outside the class. Only " sympathy " and " knowl- edge of boys and girls " have more supporters. One might at first be surprised at the large number 8s 86 The Swnday School and the Teens who mention high moral and Christian character as a requisite. He would think perhaps it might be taken for granted, and that it is no more requisite in the teacher of adolescents than in any other teacher. The practical Sunday school people who filled the blanks are, however, keenly aware that the mental growth and critical spirit of the teen years make moral failure in a teacher peculiarly disastrous. Some definitions of moral and Christian character are illuminating, thus: " faith in the Church and its mission," " a Christian gentleman," " sensibly religious," " faith in God and humanity," " sincere," " clean," " pure," " reverent," " manly," " definite religious experience." To summarize the results of the questionnaire we find the most essential characteristics chosen to be: sympathy, knowledge of the teen boy or girl, knowl- edge of the Bible, high moral and Christian character, adaptability, alertness, willingness and ability to enter into the pupil's life outside the class. The Sex of the Teacher. As a rule women make the best teachers for girls and men for boys. The reason is obvious from the characteristics of the suc- cessful teacher already agreed upon. The woman having been herself a girl will know girls better than a man and is thus able to sympathize with girls more fully in their life problems. The same thing is true of the man as a teacher of boys. Sex limitations are most obtrusive in out-of-dass activities, which are so essential for acquaintance and influence. A man would be out of place in the group of girls sewing on a baby's wardrobe, as described by Miss Slattery in " The Girl in Her Teens " and women cannot go The Teacher of the Teen Age 87 camping with boys. Physical and moral aspects of sex life that demand attention cannot be discussed by women with boys or by men with girls. Need of Men Teachers. It is much less difficult to secure women teachers for girls than to secure men teachers for boys. There are fewer men in our churches than women and of this smaller number a smaller proportion are giving generously of their time to the church. The men of our country to-day seem- ingly do not understand that they owe it to themselves, to their family and to the state to give a generous por- tion of their time to the care and training of the boys who are shortly to take their places. The Spartan father of old understood this, so did the Roman in his best days, but the American seemingly does not. He becomes so immersed in business that he is a stranger to his own son and leaves to the mother of the adoles- cent boy what even the most devoted mother cannot do, however successful she may have been with him in his preadolescent years. Extent of the Problem. Furthermore the propor- tion of men teaching in the secular schools the country over is not only very small but has greatly decreased in recent years. In one of the New England states this proportion decreased in the thirty years from 1880 to 1910 from 25 per cent to 10 per cent. It is a common thing to see high schools intended for boys and girls alike, with one man and four or five women teachers. In some of our American cities in recent years the dearth of male applicants for high school positions has caused great embarrassment. It is unfair to give the impression that the scarcity 88 The Stmday School and the Teens of male teachers in the Sunday school is a unique phenomenon caused by the fact that Sunday schools as now conducted do not attract manly men or nor- mal boys. It is woefully true that our Sunday schools are inadequate in their provision for attracting and developing boys; but the same thing is true of our homes, our schools, our stores, our factories, our places of amusement. Everywhere and all the time we need to impress the truth, that the man is responsible for the boy; the boy is committed to the man surely not for exploitation, nor yet to be amused, nor yet again to be fashioned into a clever machine for making money, but to be developed into full-orbed manhood. The Man a Big Brother to the Boy. A pastor who would secure sufficient male teachers for his Sunday school would better not move in too narrow a circle; he may well adopt as his slogan, " Every man a big brother to every boy." Relatively few possess that knowledge or that " aptness to teach " which will make them available for classes of boys, but there is not a man in the congregation who doesn't come in touch with boys in his home, his bank, his office, his store, his mill, and boys, too, who sorely need the touch of s)mipathy or the kindly word of maturer guidance. Help all men to see their responsibility to boys and you will not only bring to the front those that are already fit to teach, but you will make others willing to pre- pare themselves to teach, and yet others so earnest and friendly that they will help recruit your classes and keep the less earnest boys from dropping out. A Campaign of Education. We have already be- gun to answer the question, What can be done to over- The Teacher of the Teen Age 89 come the widespread neglect of men to do their duty by boys ? Let pastors, Sunday school superintendents, day school teachers, judges of juvenile courts and all others who see the need, unite in a persistent cam- paign of education. Men should be secured as mem- bers of Parents' Associations to sustain the public schools, and the Parents' 'Department of our Sunday schools, so ably advocated by Professor St. John, should become numerous and should enlist men as well as women. Pastor and superintendent should consult together as to possible teachers of boys, should keep a careful list of such men and together decide upon the classes for which they are most suitable. Men who decline should so far as possible be surrounded by influences which will make them willing at some later time, and which will prepare them for the service. By no means must a man who has once declined be given up as hope- less. Circumstances and surroundings change. Be alert to seize any new opportunity. A man may get a new view of the need from the arrival of his own boy at the troubled years and temptations of adolescence, the criunbling away of a boys' class that has lost its teacher, an inspiring address; a new book upon the question may open up the superintendent's golden op- portunity to impress the need anew. The Men and Religion Forward Movement was a golden opportunity for superintendents and pastors. It has enlisted hun- dreds of men as teachers or as members of Teacher Training classes. In selecting your list of teachers do not confine your- self to any one class of men or be too much influenced 90 The Svunday ScJiocH and the Teens by tradition or convention. Try even comparative strangers sometimes as substitutes. A broad general education counts and so does experience, but other fine qualifications may even compensate for the lack of these. We quote from one of our questionnaires : What Others Have Done. " A traveling sales- man who had never taught, started with a class of five boys of older adolescent age and became interested in them, invited them to his home, organized them as Boy Scouts, went on hikes, and is now assistant super- intendent of the Sunday school and has become active in Christian Endeavor work just to help his boys. He now has a live class of twelve boys who are very loyal to him and to the Sunday school." Another questionnaire suggestively says, " Young men will serve (as teachers) if the ' tradition ' to do so is established in the school," and then adds this perti- nent question : " Why do nearly all books and speak- ers refer to Sunday school teachers in the feminine gender exclusively ? " If in a city do not give up the idea of getting men teachers for your boys until after you have consulted with the local Young Men's Christian Association. Since the Men and Religion Forward Movement the Associations have done more than ever in enlisting and training leaders and teachers of boys, and the Boys' Work Secretary may know of some capable man not attached to any church, or you may even find to your surprise that some member of your own church quite unknown to you has been making himself indispen- sable to the boys at the Association rooms. The Teacher of the Teen Age gr If you still lack teachers it is worth while to con- sider whether you have not a strong man teacher already in the service who could teach a larger number than he has if provided with a classroom to himself. Contact with a fine and strong personality, a complete organization, the greater enthusiasm and higher type of leadership engendered in a large group may com- pensate for some lack of closeness in grading. Developing Older Boys as Teachers. Where there are no men to be had may older boys of seven- teen to nineteen be put in charge of boys of thirteen and fourteen ? The answers to this question are many and various. Some are heartily in favor of it and would even start boys as teachers at fifteen ; some con- sider many boys fifteen to nineteen superior to a man teacher. Mr. Edgar M. Robinson, Executive Secre- tary of Boys' Work, International Committee of Young Men's Christian Associations, strongly favors the use of older boys as teachers. See an article, " The Older Boy Teacher " in the Sunday School Journal and Pil- grim Teacher for July, 1912. " There are to-day," says Mr. Robinson, " one thousand older boys leading boys' Bible classes in the Boys' Departments of the Young Men's Christian Associations." The arguments advanced by those who favor the older boy teacher are, that they are near enough to their pupils to sympathize with them in thought and feeling and to speak their language, and yet old enough to command respect. They are at the same time re- ceptive enough to be willing and able to follow a Teacher Training course, which men will not do even 92 The Sy/ndei/y School and the Teens if you could secure enough of them to teach your boys. On the other hand it is alleged that boys seventeen to nineteen do not know enough either of the Bible or the art of teaching; that they are lacking in judgment; that they cannot command respect and keep order and that many of them are too busy with their own school work to prepare to teach others. Some would allow boys of eighteen and nineteen to teach in the Junior Department but not in the Inter- mediate. One of the best replies to our questionnaire says: " In my opinion, we need to distinguish between leaders and teachers. Older boys make good leaders of young boys if they are the right sort, but as teachers they lack the knowledge and the experience. I have seen an older boy in charge of a class of young boys with the distress signal flying after the first five minutes of the lesson period. Until they use older boys as teachers in our high schools, I think we should not in Sunday schools." To the last sentence Mr. Robinson would reply as follows (see the article referred to above): "If scientific Bible knowledge is the end of Bible instruc- tion, I presume our boy teachers in most cases would be no better than average adults, but if inoculating boys with Christianity in connection with the Bible group is of greater importance, it does seem as if the older boy who is conscientious, sincere, earnest and at least moderately well-informed regarding the Bible lesson, can accomplish the purpose far more successfully than most of our older heads realize." T%e Teacher of tKe Teen 'Age 93 Another good reply reads as follows : " Three of the boys have urged to be allowed to teach younger classes of boys. They have done excellent work and are only sixteen or seventeen years of age. Their dis- cipline is good and they interest the boys more than some of the older teachers. Of course the instruction is somewhat inferior. Have used them only as substi- tute teachers but they are rapidly becoming leaders." Note the sentence above admitting that " the instruc- tion is inferior." Evidently the point of view is, that the strong and weak qualities of the Sunday school teacher must be balanced against each other and that a good teacher may have limitations, that the Sunday school teacher is after all more an inspirer and leader than a teacher, and that many who are better instruc- tors than the older boys are inferior in more essential qualifications. Here is another answer : " A twenty-year-old boy took hold of a class of thirteen-year-old boys, organized them as a band of Chippewa Indians and doubled their attendance." Here is one from a university town : " Hard to gel; men to devote time to preparation of lessons or to as- sume any definite interest in organizations outside," and as to training for teaching the teen age : " Uni- versity boys are always greatly interested — older men usually feel it is ' bosh.' " Another : " Older boys take more interest than men. Try harder to make good." The larger number of those who answer the question and have had experience with older boy teachers favor it (often under certain limitations) ; all Young Men's 94 The Sunday School and the Teens Christian Association secretaries seem to advocate it strongly. Our own conviction is that after a proper training course, including observation and practice teaching, substitute teaching and service as assistant teachers, young men of nineteen may, under careful supervision, frequently be put in charge af classes of boys of the Junior age and may sometimes be put in charge of younger Intermediate pupils. Begin Early. We strongly recommend as the only hope of securing an adequate supply of men teachers in the future a systematic and carefully planned movement for training boys in the care of those younger. This effort should begin in early years in every home, and it should be as much expected that a boy of twelve will assume responsibility for his brother of eight as that a girl of the same age should help in the care of a younger sister. We do not know what a boy can do in assuming responsibility for those younger because we have not up to this time in any large way developed this faculty in him. We do know that in girls the faculty is capable of wonderful devel- opment. How to Do It. This feeling of responsibility may be developed not only in the home but also in the Sunday school. Lesson 29 of a course in " Christian Life and Conduct," published in the Bible Study Union Series by Charles Scribner's Sons and intended for boys and girls of fourteen, is written with this purpose in view. Here are a few words and a story from the Teacher's Manual upon this lesson. " Emphasize the idea of knightliness especially in classes of boys. Sug- The TeacJier of the Teen Age 95 gest that just as the Knights of old pledged themselves to protect the helpless, so boys of to-day may enlist in a new order of Kjiighthood, pledged to help and defend little children, who are not only helpless, but who are the hope of the future. Dwell at considerable length on the opportunities and obligations of older brothers and sisters. Glorify brotherhood and sister- hood in the eyes of the boys and girls. Show that even those who have no younger brothers or sisters of their own are nevertheless sure to have opportunities to be a big brother or a big sister to many a little child. " In a park near the post office in the city of London stands a little red-roofed cloister. Its walls are lined with tablets commemorating the brave deeds of ' Work- aday heroes.' On one tablet is inscribed the name of Solomon Galaman, a boy of eleven, in the East End of London, who saved his tiny brother from being run over in the crowded market street, and fell himself be- neath the wheels. ' Mother,' he said, as he lay dying, ' I have saved him but I could not save myself.' That boy belonged to the Knighthood of older brothers." Such teaching as this during the earlier years will form the best possible foundation for the regular Teacher Training course when it is begun, as it may be, at the age of seventeen, when the boys are through the Intermediate Department. Women as Teachers of Boys of Teen Age. Some- thing should be said as to women teachers of boys' classes, lest any misinterpret the preference expressed for men as teachers of such classes. It would be most unwise and unkind for any superintendent to make 95 TTie Sunday School and the Teens remarks about or to his women teachers of boys which would make them uncomfortable and, of course, no woman should be requested or permitted to withdraw from such a position simply because she is a woman. She may be the exceptional woman who is exactly adapted to boys of adolescent age, or even if not ex- ceptionally successful, there may be no man available who can do as well as she does. It will be quite suffi- cient ordinarily to supply men one by one as resigna- tions of women occur, either through a feeling of in- adequacy or from some other reason. What Women to Choose for Boys' Classes. In some cases, after superintendents and pastors have done their very best in seeking out and enlisting men and older boys in the service, the number will be inadequate and it will be necessary .deliberately to choose women to supply the lack. It still remains possible to choose the best women rather than average women. Some women get the masculine point of view easily and some do not, some have it born in them, are fond of the out of doors and athletic games, have the better qualities of the tomboy. Others without this inborn aptitude have acquired much from fathers, brothers, husbands, or sons in their teens. No one who has read Jane Addams' " Twenty Years of Hull House " with its vivid portrayal of her loving intimacy with her strong father from the years of earliest girlhood, can fail to see that she learned from him her power to deal with men, in purifying ward politics, in gaining the support of trade union leaders, in lobbying for child labor laws before the legislature, till not long ago she stood before a great national convention and became the first woman The Teacher of the Tetn 'Age 97 to nominate a candidate for President of the United States. It is obvious that women who have had such acquaintance with men or boys should be preferred. Further, they should be at least five years older than the boys they teach, thoroughly feminine, able to value and emphasize essentials rather than details, and will- ing to curb their own facility of speech so as to give the boys a chance. Howr to Supplement a Woman Teacher. The superintendent or a male assistant can offer help with the discipline of classes taught by women. Several such classes may be combined in a club directed by a man. An older boy may organize a class, or a ball nine of younger boys, he may go on hikes or camp out with them. Talks or conferences on matters of sex may sometimes be given by a wise physician who knows the boys. How Many Male Teachers in Sunday Schools To- day? It is a matter of interest to see how fully the Sunday schools are awaking to the necessity of pro- viding men as teachers for boys' classes. Of 181 schools which filled out questionnaires on the Teacher, three had no separate boys' classes ; 42 had the same number of women as of men teaching boys' classes of adolescent age, (e. g. 2 men and 2 women) ; 45 had more women than men teaching such classes (e. g. 4 women and 2 men) ; while 91 had more men than women teaching such classes (e. g. 7 men, i woman). That is, in half the schools the number of men teaching classes of adolescent boys exceeded the number of women teaching such classes. In all these schools 482 men were teaching teen age boys as compared with 341 98 The Sunday Scfiool and the Teens women. These schools were scattered over the whole country, were urban, suburban and rural, large and small. In proportion of male teachers these schools would compare favorably with the public high schools in the same localities. The percentage of male teachers in the teen age boys' classes in these Sunday schools is 59 and is increasing. Specialization. Specialized training for teachers of the teen age is greatly needed and should be pro- vided in classes specially organized for that purpose. The provision for such classes would in itself increase the number of teachers for adolescents, for at present many conscientious persons realizing the difficulty of the task are deterred from undertaking it by their lack of special training. Were classes provided a fair proportion of such persons would avail themselves of them and enter upon the work of teaching with a con- fidence that would go far toward making them success- ful. Special training given to Senior pupils (17 to 20 years) would increase their interest in teaching and would make it possible for them to begin earlier than they otherwise could. A general Teacher Training course is not enough. It is too much to expect that an average teacher will be able to adapt the general facts of mind and method to a most difficult period of life without detailed discussion of the special needs of that period and some experience in meeting those needs. Teachers of little children have long recognized this fact and so have organized their Graded Unions all over the land. Contents of Special Courses. Such a specialized The Teacher of the Teen Age 99 course should include a study of the characteristics of adolescence — physical, intellectual, social, spiritual — carefully defining the changes that take place in passing from the thirteenth to the nineteenth year, in- dicating clearly, e. g., the growth of intellectual power and of self-control, and the passage in the social sphere from the self-assertive to the cooperative period. There should be a study of boys' and girls' environment at this period — their amusements, games, reading, studies, clubs, home life, moral perils, employment. In particular the teacher should get in touch with the high school that the members of his class are attend- ing, not only because such acquaintance will show him what his scholars are thinking about, but also to get hints for the conduct of his own class and to keep him- self abreast of the educational thought of the day. If pupils are employed, the fuller the knowledge of the conditions under which they labor the better can the teacher sympathize and judge. During these momentous years the majority of con- versions take place. Therefore the teacher of adoles- cents will wish to inform himself as to the psychology of the religious life at this period and as to the best methods of promoting intelligent decision to follow Christ. (On this topic see Coe's " The Spiritual Life " and McKinley's " Educational Evangelism.") Again during this period the decision upon a life work is made, a decision which engrosses much of the teen pupil's thought and upon which he needs well- informed, disinterested guidance. The first year Senior Course in the International Graded Lessons is intended as an aid in promoting high ideals as to his lOO The Sunday School and the Teens life work. This year's course can be intelligently used only by one who has given time and thought to it. The curriculum for adolescents should be a promi- nent topic in the training course including its adapta- bility to the special needs of the several ages as deter- mined by the prominent characteristics and activities of each. In particular the Bible must be studied from the point of view of the teen pupil and the portions adapted to each period of adolescence. Lastly, class management and the method of con- ducting the lesson study must be carefully studied. Just how class management and lesson study for the Intermediate 'Department will differ from those for the Junior must be clearly decided and understood. The prospective teacher of Intermediates must learn to respect the new sense of importance and competence by putting large responsibility on the class members, by organizing the class and leaving many clearly defined duties to the officers, gradually retiring into the back- ground himself. So, too, in conducting the class he must recognize new capacities by appealing more and more to the reason, less and less to mere memory and by encouraging free discussion or conversation in which he, himself, shall join as a friend on equal terms. (On the advantages and the difficulties of the discus- sion method, see Weigle's "The Pupil and the Teacher.") It is more and more felt that every true training course must include observation and practice. The prospective teachers we have in mind would visit well- conducted classes of teen age pupils, they would make notes upon the conduct of the class and discus? The Teacher of the Teen Age loi them with the Training Teacher. A little later they might become assistant teachers of a teen age class, observe the methods of a regular teacher, assist him in outside activities, visit the absent, learn the peculiarities of each member and occasionally substitute when the regular teacher is absent. Only after several months, or perhaps a year or more, of observation work and temporary service, would a regular class be assigned, and only then under somewhat close supervision, with frequent conference with the department superintend- ent and instruction from him. Specific Courses and Books. The Committee on Education of the International Sunday School Asso- ciation, after careful consideration, has framed a course of specialization for teachers of teen age pupils which appears in the leaflet " Teacher Training Stand- ards and plans " issued in July, 191 2, as follows: Specialization in the Secondary Division. Teachers in the Secondary Division, desiring to specialize on the study of the problems of the teen years, may secure the Secondary seal for their diplo- mas by passing an examination on the required ap- pended books. 1. "The Intermediate Worker and His Work." Lewis. S5c postpaid. 2. "The Senior Worker and His Work." Lewis. 55c postpaid. 3. " Moral Education." Griggs. $1.00. 4. " Educational Evangelism." McKinley. $1.25, 5. " The Girl in Her Teens." Slattery. 50c. 6. " Boy Training." Alexander. 75c. I02 The Sunday School and the Teens 7. " Starting to Teach." Foster. 40c. (a) The Intermediate Teacher of a Girls' Class will elect i and 3 or 4, 5 and 7. (Number 7 applies to Girls' as well as Boys' Classes.) The Intermediate Teacher of a Boys' Class will elect 1 and 3 or 4, 6 and 7. (b) The Senior Teacher of a Girls' Class will elect 2 and 3 or 4, 5 and 7. The Senior teacher of a Boys' Class will elect 2 and 3 or 4, 6 and 7. Teachers of Training classes should require observa- tion work in each department of the school, with writ- ten reports upon it. This should be followed by dis- cussion in class. Teachers should require practice teaching under su- pervision of teachers of experience. Reports, in writing, on observation and practice work, graded by the teacher, may count 25 per cent in examinations. Reports of reading and reference work, recitation and class discussion, graded by the teacher, may count 25 per cent. Where reports by teachers of observation and ref- erence work are satisfactory to the Superintendent of Teacher Training, then the examination in textbook shall count as 56 per cent. Passing grade on all re- ports of observation, practice and reference work and textbook examination is 70 per cent. Information blanks regarding observation, practice and reference work may be obtained from the International office. A few words of comment on some of the books men- The Teacher of the Teen Age 103 tioned above may be helpful. It will be noted that Foster's " Starting to Teach " is included in every course, i. e., both for teachers of boys and girls and for teachers of the Senior as well as the Intermedi- ate Grade. This is because it is a textbook for the study of all teachers of the teen age and a practical guide to classroom method. It is provided with ques- tions, both those which test the student's knowledge of the book itself and those which stimulate thought, dis- cussion and research. It is very brief, having only fourteen lessons and one hundred and twenty-seven open pages. Mr. Foster acknowledges his indebted- ness to the much larger book of Edwin F. See, " The Teaching of Bible Classes, Principles and Methods; with special reference to classes of Young Men and Boys." The books of Dr. Edwin S. Lewis are decidedly less of the textbook character than Mr. Foster's. While provided with outlines, questions and topics for special study and discussion they are in a high degree readable and inspirational. The author is especially happy in the wealth and impressiveness of his illustra- tions. " Moral Education," by E. H. Griggs, the well-known author and lecturer, is a broad treatment of the essen- tials of moral education. " Educational Evangelism," by a thoughtful pastor, has more distinct reference to church and Sunday school work. While exalting and emphasizing the work of the Sunday school in bringing young people into the Church through education, its scope is wider than the title might imply. The sub-title " The Re- I04 TJie Simday ScJiool and the Teens ligious Discipline of Youth," shows how broad is the discussion. " The Girl in Her Teens," by Margaret Slattery, is a little book of ten short chapters as follows : Chap- ter I, " The Teen Period," then four chapters on the Physical, Mental, Spiritual, Social sides, then four on the teen girl's relation to the Sunday school. Church, Bible and the Everyday, followed by the concluding chapter on " Her Teacher." " Boy Training," is a series of chapters upon the " Principles that Underlie Symmetrical Boy Develop- ment," by such experts as Ernest Thompson Seton, G. Walter Fiske, David R. Porter, Winfield S. Hall, Charles W. Gilkey, Fred S. Goodman and Edgar M. Robinson. John L. Alexander, Superintendent of the Secondary Division, International Sunday School As- sociation (Secretary of the Boy Scouts of America when the book was published) has edited the whole and added several chapters. The Religious Education Association Commission. The need of specialized training is being recognized by leaders in religious education. At the last meeting of the Religious Education Association Mrs. J. W. Barnes presented a report upon " Teacher Training Courses for Special Departments of the Sunday School," which contains valuable suggestions as to courses for teachers in the Intermediate and Senior Departments. (See Religious Education for April, 1912, and also separate reprint containing reports of Teacher Training Com- mission of the Religious Education Association.) The Congregational Course. The Congregational denomination has recently published " A guide for The Teacher of the Teen Age 105 Teachers of Training Classes," by Margaret Slattery. This contains an outline of a two years' elementary course primarily for " preparing young men and women chosen from the Senior classes in the Sunday school to be the future teachers of that school." A considerable portion of the second year of this course is given to specialization. The Methodist Course. The Methodist Church has specialized courses for teachers of the Intermedi- ate and also for those of the Senior Grade. These courses are both elementary and advanced and may be taken either in classes or by correspondence. It is sug- gested that teachers in service who must meet at some other hour than that of the Sunday school, divide the hour and a half devoted to training into two periods ; the first (of say forty-five minutes) to be devoted to a general Teacher Training lesson for all. During the second period of forty-five minutes the class may divide into departmental groups, each taking its appro- priate book and lesson. Specialization for Teen Age Teachers in the Sun- day Schools of To-day. The returns upon the ques- tionnaires show that very few schools have as yet taken up systematic courses in specialization for teachers of teen age pupils ; some have departmental conferences in which the problems of adolescence are discussed and a yet larger number have libraries of books for the special use of teachers of adolescents. A most en- couraging fact brought out by the questionnaires is this : of 185 schools reporting 109 either have training classes of their own or have sent pupils to union classes. The^e are general Teacher Training classes, io6 TTie Sunday School and the Teens not special, but where the training idea is so widely diffused it cannot be long before specialized training will be built upon the general. Even the general course contains " child study " and child study in- cludes some treatment of adolescence. The skillful teacher of a class may enlarge the influence of this portion of the course by assigning a generous amount of outside reading and investigation in teen age prob- lems to those members who are teaching Intermediate and Senior classes. Where it is impossible to maintain classes in special- ization. Departmental and General Superintendents may do much by group and individual conferences and by systematic reading circle work based if possible on books owned by the Sunday school. The books pre- scribed in the specialization course outlined by the In- ternational Sunday School Association, or others used by the denominations, may be used for reference and connected reading. The following books will also be found valuable: "Youth," G. Stanley Hall ($1.50) an abridgment of the two large volumes called " Ad- olescence," full of facts based on wide reading and in- vestigation. " Boy Life and Self-Government," G. Walter Fiske ($1.00), most readable and yet careful and scientific; emphasizes "graded self-government, progressively adapted to the progress in the boys' at- tainments." "The Boy Problem," Forbush ($1.00); "Church Work with Boys," Forbush (.50); "The Boy and the Church," Foster (.75), contain valuable bibliographies. "Handwork in the Sunday School," Littlefield, The Teacher of the Teen Age 107 ($1.00) appeals to the Intermediate pupil's love of bodily activity. " Choosing a Vocation," Parsons, or " Vocational Guidance," Bloomiield, will aid the teacher in helping young people upon a subject in which they are all in- terested. " The Spirit of Youth and the City Streets," Jane Addams, ($i,f5o) contains the observation of an expert upon the fundamentals of character in adolescents and upon the moral perils of the city. "From Youth into Manhood," Winfield S. Hall, (.50) affords instruction for boys in matters of sex. " Confidences," E. B. Lowry, M.D., (.50) is a similar book for girls. " Just Over the Hill," Margaret Slattery, (.75) is addressed to the adolescent boy or girl and deals with the great essentials of success. The teacher may well study its vivid, concrete presentation of themes that are apt to be abstract and prosy to the young. "The Individual in the Making," Kirkpatrick, ($1.25) is a very recent book by an expert, contain- ing the latest facts as to the characteristics of adoles- cence and practical suggestions based on these facts. Cooperative Specialization Classes. For the many Sunday schools that cannot at present furnish training in specialization, cooperative effort must sup- ply the lack. Many of our Summer Schools are fur- nishing special courses in the problems of the teen age as well as those of the Primary, Junior, etc. In the winter City Institutes in various forms are supplying the need. The Men's Graded Union of Birmingham, loS The Sunday School and the Tesnt Ala., for teachers of boys and men, conducted a class in boys' work and gave instruction in the lesson for Intermediates. In St. Louis, as a result of the Men and Religion Campaign, nearly 150 men and young men lunch together each Thursday evening and di- vide after the lunch into four groups ; teachers of men, teachers of boys, organization and life problem sec- tions. In Minneapolis the Graded Union includes Intermediate teachers as well as Junior, Primary and Beginners; so, too, in Boston. The City Institute of Des Moines, Iowa, during the last season on every Monday evening from 8:15 to 9:00 p.m. held six departmental conferences, including Intermediate, Senior and Adult. It also conducted a class in Boy Training attended by 40 men. The best teaching talent of the city was enlisted in these special courses. There is little doubt that similar Institutes will be established soon in all the large cities and that those trained in the Central Institute will carry on specialized training classes in the individual schools. The Teacher Outside the Class. We cannot close this report without emphasizing once again the fact that to secure natural and full development of the moral and religious life the teacher of the teen age must be a companion and close friend outside of the lesson hour. It is necessary to emphasize it, for many teachers have too exclusively conceived of their task as mere intellectual guidance and have not that knowl- edge of their pupils or that sympathy with them which only outside friendly intimacy can give. - To quote Margaret Slattery, " The Girl in Her Teens " : " It has become a truism that to be success- The Teacher of the Teen Age 109 f ul in teaching one must know the pupil ; yet only last week I met a teacher anxious for a new course of study which would interest her class of girls sixteen and seventeen years of age, who revealed in conversa- tion the fact that she knew practically nothing of the girls' homes. She did not even know the section of the city in which many of them lived, had made no calls and could tell the occupation of only two of the fathers. She did not know for what the girls were preparing themselves, nor any of their hopes and de- sires, and she had taught the class for two years. She said the girls were not interested, and did not prepare assigned work." What the Teacher Can do Outside the Class. Miss Slattery has well indicated some of the things that only friendship outside the class can give the teachers, viz., conditions of home life, the influence of the father's occupation, the social station as indicated by the immediate environment of the family, the hopes and desires which center in one's employment, present or prospective. She might have gone on to speak of acquaintance with the pupil's reading and opportunity to improve it by the loan of books and stimulating quo- tations from them, of investigation into the pupil's school with enlightenment as to what she knows and what she likes, of the discovery of aptitudes in the girl which increase her capacity for service and so both the outlook and the pleasure of living. It is outside the class that the teacher may kindly call attention to indi- vidual failures or moral weaknesses. It is outside the class, too, that the scholar may ask questions of the trusted teacher friend as to problems of sex life — no The Sunday School and the Teens problems which unsolved or evaded may bring great unhappiness. Organizations. Class organization with its de- velopment of class activities and the formation of clubs with regular evening meetings are two methods of enlarging the teacher's opportunity. " Boy-Life and Self-Government " by Fiske, deals in detail with such organizations, discussing with care the form of club or society which is best adapted to each age. Opportunities of the Summer. The long summer vacation may often be made more fruitful in promot- ing intimacy, confidence and development in both teacher and pupil. There is leisure then for enjoy- ment and friendship, and the glorious out-of-doors in- cites to both. Picnics, excursions, hikes and camping all bring the class and the teacher together in new and pleasant relations. It is certainly a mistake to lose the summer for higher things even though class ses- sions be somewhat interrupted. Whatever the form of organization and whatever the activity, the motive and purpose of the teacher should not be lost in machinery and routine. The teacher should be a friend to his pupil that his pupil may be- come a friend of God. It is only as the teacher gains the respect, the confidence, the affection of the boy or girl that he secures a hearing for his message and an entrance for the new life. It is the glad privilege of the teacher who has patiently won his way into the heart of youth, to reveal the life of faith which he himself is living and to lead his young friend along the same pathway. Chapter IX BIBLE STUDY COURSES FOR THE TEENS Preliminary Statement. A wide range of litera- ture on Adolescence, the more meager list of books and articles on the religious life of boys and girls, young men and young women, the courses of study and textbooks for religious instruction now available for pupils of adolescent years have been examined, and actual methods and results in the religious training of adolescents have been observed in the shaping of this chapter. Although the investigation has covered a period of many months, only partial findings can now be given, and this for the following reasons: 1. A large majority of Sunday schools are still using the International Uniform Lessons in Intermediate and Senior Departments. These Uniform courses are constructed on the old basis of a quasi-logical and quasi-chronological arrangement of biblical subject- matter, with no special consideration of the needs of pupils in the teen age as distinct either from the needs of those in the elementary grades on the one hand, or those of adult classes on the other. 2. The work of formulating the principles and aims and of outlining the material for courses of study based on the general principle of gradation is still in progress, and the outstanding characteristics and re- in 112 The Sunday School and the Teens ligious needs of pupils during this period still a sub- ject of inquiry and experimentation. 3. Except in a few instances it has been quite im- possible to judge fairly the results of particular courses and methods under the new system. These for the most part are new, and outlined on the presupposition that the pupils pursuing them have already had a cer- tain prescribed religious training and that they have already completed certain preliminary courses of study in the Primary and Junior Departments. No just esti- mate of the newer courses now available for the teen age will therefore be possible until these courses have been used with pupils having the background of ex- perience and earlier training which the courses them- selves presuppose. Tentative findings, however, at this time may be of aid to many students of the prob- lem in presenting to them a survey of the present situ- ation. It is hoped also that others will be encouraged by this report to further independent experimentation along original lines. The report which follows, con- sists of three parts; namely, (a) A brief statement concerning principles involved in the preparation of courses of religious instruction for adolescents ; (b) A presentation in outline of the available courses prepared especially for adolescents; (c) A brief statement concerning the International Uniform Lessons in their relation to the grades and ages under consideration. Concerning Principles. The fundamental princi- ple underlying the modern Sunday school movement on its educational side is that of the careful adaptation BU)le Study Courses for the Teens 113 of all courses of religious instruction, both as to con- tent and form, to the changing needs of the pupil at each successive stage of his religious development. This principle makes the living pupil and his immediate need, rather than the subject-matter of instruction, the starting-point in the construction of curriculum. It recognizes, further, that childhood and youth are not merely periods of development and of preparation for mature life, but that they constitute all there is of life to the pupil at any given time. Those who undertake the preparation of courses of study for pupils of the teen age must, therefore, first of all define for themselves as clearly as possible just what the religious needs and characteristics of the pu- pils of these ages (13-20 years) really are. Most of those who have seriously attempted such a definition are agreed on at least several vital points : 1. The adolescent period of life cannot be treated as a unit, and it is probable that at no time in the life of the individual are the changes due to physical and intellectual growth more rapid or more marked than during this period. 2. The early part of this period is the time within which the deeper religious feelings should begin to function in such a way as to determine conduct. This also is the period of developing self-consciousness which brings to the pupil the first clear recognition of his own personality, and of the fact that he must henceforth consider himself an individual factor of the larger life of which he forms an integral part. With this deepening of the religious feelings and growing consciousness of the self comes the need of personal, 114 ^^ Sunday School and the Teens voluntary adjustment to the accepted religious notions, beliefs and practices of the past, thus making early- adolescence the strategic period for the enlistment of boys and girls in a personal acceptance of the Chris- tian standards and ideals of life. 3. To the latter half of this period (16-20 years) more particularly belong those personal' adjustments of the individual to the larger world, involving the ac- ceptance or choice of a vocation and life work. Here also belongs that intellectual development characterized by a first keen desire to see life as a unit and to con- struct for one's self at least a working philosophy. Under normal conditions of development and training this should also be the period of greatest altruistic in- terest, and on the basis of this altruism the pupil must be guided both in the formulation of his life philosophy and in the choice of his vocation. 4. Uniformity in the training of groups of pupils in the later teen age is rendered quite impossible on ac- count of the individual differences which emerge when the pupil adjusts himself to his place and work in life, and on account of the constant need of train- ing selected groups for the work of religious leader- ship. Elective courses therefore are both desirable and necessary. Back of such elective courses, however, and underlying their selection, must be recognized at least three outstanding religious needs which character- ize this period. These are: (a) A Christian view of God and the world which shall inspire within the pu- pil an abiding passion for personal participation in the work of the Kingdom; (b) an intelligent choice of an occupation or profession, with a right appreciation of Bible Study Courses for the Teens 115 the opportunity which it affords for making a per- sonal contribution to the world's work; (c) mastery, sufficient for intelligent churchmanship and effective participation in organized church work, of the religious heritage of the race as represented in Bible and Church history, and in the organization, activities and larger objectives of the Christian Church. Concerning Available Courses. Various denom- inations and religious fellowships in the United States have for years provided more or less complete cur- ricula of religious instruction for their own Sunday schools. Other systems of graded instruction for the entire school have been prepared, or are now in process of preparation, under interdenominational and unde- nominational or independent auspices. It is no part of the purpose of this report to discuss any of these graded lesson systems in detail. The aim will be, ra- ther, to point out the special courses for the ages thirteen to twenty, offered by the more important and more thoroughly articulated of these systems. In each case there is a simple presentation of the course itself, together with a statement of principles as set forth by those who have been charged with its preparation. The order in which the reports are here presented has been determined for purposes of convenience by the relative length of the statements themselves. INTERNATIONAL GRADED COURSES The International Graded Courses have been pre- pared under the joint auspices of the International Lesson Committee and the editorial and educational departments of various denominational Sunday school Il6 TTie Sunday School and the Teens boards. The actual work of first outlining the various sections of these courses was committed to a smaller interdenominational group of men and women of large equipment and practical experience in religious educational work. Unofficially, this group or com- mittee has been most frequently referred to as the Graded Lessons Conference. The work of the Les- son Committee ceases with the preparation of the de- tailed outlines for the courses for each grade and department. The selection and preparation of text- books is left to the several denominations and such other publishers and societies as may desire to enter the field. The courses for the entire school are ar- ranged in units of one year and are thus adaptable to any plan of departmental classification. General Aim. The purpose of the courses in gen- eral is stated as follows : To meet the spiritual needs of the pupil in each stage of his development. These spiritual needs broadly stated are: (i) To know God as he has revealed himself to us in nature in the heart of man, and in Christ. (2) To exercise toward God, the Father, and his Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour, trust, obedi^ ence, and worship. (3) To know and to do our duty to others. (4) To know and to do our duty to ourselves. The Intermediate Course (Ages 13-16). The Intermediate Course takes cognizance of the character needs of the adolescent period. Its aim is to lead to the practical recognition of the duty and Bible Study Courses for the Teens 117 responsibility of personal Christian living, and to or- ganize the conflicting impulses of life so as to develop habits of Christian service. The outline of the ma- terial for the four" years of the course reveals an em- phasis on the biographical-historical material in the first two years, leading up to a study of the life of Christ in the third year, or at fifteen, which, accord- ing to such statistics as are available on the subject, is the age of most frequent conversion. Concerning the nature of the biographical studies of the first two years the outlines prepared by the Graded Lessons Conference contain this explanatory paragraph : " Biographical study is the picturing of a life. As such, it is to be distinguished both from historical and from topical studies. The biographical lesson is the setting forth of the real man as presented in the Scriptural or other material available as our source of information. It is not a historical study of the man and his times ; it is not an exposition of certain pass- ages; it is not the study of a truth illustrated by a man. It is impossible to picture a character without the historical setting, but the history is simply the background. Moral questions are involved in life studies, but the purpose is to present them in the con- crete as embodied in conduct. Later in life historical and doctrinal studies are fundamental, but here the end sought is a religious impulse through the apprecia- tion of personality." The aims and materials for the Intermediate Course as indicated in the printed outline include the follow- ing: Ii8 The Swnday School and the Teens FIRST YEAR The Aim. To present the ideals of heroic living, as exemplified by leaders of Israel who were inspired by faith in Jehovah, and as exemplified by North Ameri- can leaders of like faith. The Material, i. Leaders of Israel — Biographical Studies in the Old Testament, with the Geographical and Historical Background, Lessons 1-39. 2. Religious Leaders in North American History, Lessons 40-48. 3. Temperance Leaders in North American His- tory, Lessons 49-52. SECOND YEAR The Aim. To present the ideals of the Christian life, as exemplified by leaders whom Jesus inspired in his own and succeeding ages. The Material. Biographical Studies from the time of Christ to the present day: 1. Introductory: Jesus, the Leader of Men, Les- sons 1-5. 2. Companions of Jesus, Lessons 6-21 and Lessons 6-13. 3. Early Christian Leaders, Lessons 22-42 and Lessons 14-26. 4. John the Baptist, Lessons 43-52; Later Chris- tian Leaders, Lessons 27-39. 5. A Modem Missionary Leader — Alexander Mackay, Lessons 40-52. The purpose of the biographical missionary material offered in the fourth quarter of the second year is: " The more minute analysis of a single character and Bible Study Courses for the Teens 119 the more definite application of the study to the process of character-building in the pupil. In the life of a great missionary hero there is an abundance of concrete detail for young minds. The Christian life is seen in connection with actual persons, in thrilling situations and with the exhibition of unbounded per- sonal faith in God. It is intended also that a more careful analysis of a single character shall prepare the pupil for the nine months' study in the life of Christ which immediately follows in the lessons of the third year." THIRD YEAR The Aim. (a) To set before the pupil, through' a biographical study of Jesus Christ, the highest pos- sible ideals of Christian living in aspects and forms to which the impulses of his own nature may be ex- pected to respond; (b) to lead the pupil to accept Jesus Christ as his personal Saviour, and the Master of his life; (c) in one of the alternate courses for the fourth quarter, to reenforce the call to follow Jesus by presenting as an example the life of a character in modern days who forsook all and followed him. Historical. The Life of the Man Christ Jesus : 1. Jesus Entering Upon His Life Work. Les- sons I- 1 3. 2. Jesus in the Midst of Popularity. Lessons 14-26. 3. Jesus facing Opposition and Death. Les- sons 27-39. 4. The Teachings of Jesus. Lessons 40-52. The Life of David Livingstone. Lessons 40-52. I20 The Sunday School and the Teens The biographical method, followed during the first and second Intermediate years, is in this course applied to the life of " the man Christ Jesus." This method differs from the historical in that it aims to reveal the iimer life of Jesus and to trace the characteristics, aims, and achievements of that life, rather than to present continuous historical material. To make the pupil acquainted rather than informed, is the primary- objective of the course. To this end the salient features of the life of our Lord, as given in all four of the Gospel narratives, are brought out ; the material being arranged in a series of pictures, each making its contribution to the unfolding personality of Jesus. These pictures, again, are ar- ranged in three series, corresponding to the natural divisions of our Lord's work, the first leading up to the determined rejection by the Pharisees, the second to Peter's avowal of Jesus as the Messiah, and the third to the final triumph in the resurrection and ascen- sion. It has been found possible thus to bring out the dramatic movement of the story and at the same time to follow closely the customary harmonic arrange- ment and to observe the limits of the calendar quarters. The home life of Jesus' infancy and boyhood, the national hopes to which his ministry was the true re- sponse, and the personality, teachings, and career of John the Baptist, constitute the necessary background for the opening pictures of the great biography. These features, therefore, are presented in separate lessons, all other background material being left for the lesson writer to introduce as details of the suc- cessive lessons. To attempt any formal study of the Bible Study Courses far the Teens 121 geography of Palestine, the constitution of Jewish so- ciety, or the condition of the Roman Empire would, it is believed, retard the progress of the story more than the resulting information would be worth. For the same reason, the study of the teachings of Jesus is reserved for the fourth quarter, after the impres- sion of the personality of the Teacher has been made. The sense of historic continuity, however, is strong in pupils of fifteen ; and the spiritual results aimed for will, it is believed, be substantially increased if the class can be induced to enter actively on the work of constructing for themselves the full record of the life of Jesus. As an aid to this work, the references needed to carry the harmony down to the close of each lesson are given in connection therewith. It is confidently expected that the faithful and rev- erent teaching of these lessons to pupils of fifteen, by teachers themselves followers of Christ, will result in the free surrender of the pupil to Jesus Christ as his Saviour and the Lord of his life. If the course follows, as it should, the two years of preceding study of other biographies, this life choice will be intelligently made and fundamental for the shaping of character and ambition. The teacher and the pastor should co- operate in special efforts for the realization of this end. Alternative Courses. For the fourth quarter, the principles hitherto followed indicate two plans, either of which would appropriately complete this year's studies : (a) twelve lessons on what Christ taught that his young followers should do: (b) the life of some 122 The Swnday School and the Teens heroic modem Christian, presented so as to suggest the possibility and the reasonableness of living one's life wholly for Christ. Two alternative courses are accordingly presented : One on " The Teachings of Jesus," and the other on " The Life of David Living- stone." Appropriate biblical material is furnished with each lesson in the latter course. It is recommended that wherever possible classes take both courses, using time in addition to the regular Sunday school hour. As in the second year Intermediate the fourth quar- ter intended for the summer months oifers optional courses as indicated in the outline. FOURTH YEAR The Aim. i. To strengthen and encourage those young people who have decided to live the Christian life and to help others to accept Jesus as their personal Saviour. (a) By setting forth the New Testament ideal of a Christian. (b) By suggesting the fundamental experiences and characteristics of the Christian life. (c) By discussing the difficulties and hindrances which confront the young Christian. (d) By indicating the helps which are available for his Christian growth. 2. To lead young people into a sympathetic and intelligent attitude toward the Church and to help them to seek membership in it. (a) By a brief study of the nature and function of the Christian Church. (b) By a study of the organization, privileges and Bible Study Courtes for the Teem 123 opportunities for service in the local church and by a survey of the Church's wider rela- tionships and the larger Christian fellowship. 3. To awaken an interest in Bible reading and study as a means of personal spiritual growth. The Material. Studies in Christian Living: 1. What it Means to be a Christian. Lessons 2. Problems of Christian Living. Lessons 14-26. 3. The Christian and the Church. Lessons 27-39. 4. The Word of God in Life. Lessons 40-52. At sixteen the pupil is influenced very little by the claim that the Bible is authoritative, or that it is a delight in quiet hours of contemplation. At this age he finds the restraint of authority irksome and must be ruled by ideals rather than commands. He has little taste for thought except as a preparation for action, or as a means of solving the problems of life. He loves an active life, and the adaptation of definite means to lofty aims. He needs at just this period of his life a Bible which is " living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword" (Hebrews 4:12), a Bible that functions in life here and now as it has functioned in the lives of individuals and nations from the begin- ning. The lessons of the fourth quarter, therefore, make their appeal to him by presenting the Bible as a book of vital action and power, a book which has met the needs and problems of nations, groups, and individuals in all times and is fitted to satisfy the cravings of the human heart in every age and country. Thus pre- sented, it is believed that the book will become more 124 ^^ Sunday School and the Teens interesting and essential to the pupil than it ever has been before. Incidentally, the order of the lessons and the group- ing of the references suggest the successive forms of literature in which the Scriptures make their appeal. The reasonableness of our yielding to the authority of the Bible, in virtue of its never-failing usefulness and power and its response to the deepest needs of every human soul, is made clear. The lessons lead up to a general lesson on " The Bible the Word of God," in which, on the basis of the facts already studied, the class may be led in the formation of convictions concerning the Word. In the concluding lesson the Bible is presented objectively as a force in the world, the history of its influence corroborating our previous judgment as to its char- acter. The Senior Course (Ages 17-20 Years). At the date of this writing the courses for the Senior Department have been announced only for the first two years, ages 17 and 18. FIRST year The Aim. To lead the pupil to see life in proper perspective from the Christian point of view, and to aid him in finding his place and part in the world's work. To lead the pupil, through frank conference about himself, his limitations and his relations to the Kingdom of God, to a realization of the claims of Christ as Saviour and Lord, and of his service as the true basis of successful living. Bible Study Courses for the Teens 125 The Material. 1. The World as a Field for Christian service. Lessons 1-26. 2. The problems of Youth in Social Life. Les- sons 27-39. 3. The Book of Ruth. Lessons 40-42. 4. The Epistle of James. Lessons 43-52. SECOND YEAR The Aim. To awaken in young men and women a permanent interest in the development of religion as reflected in the history and literature of the Hebrew people. To relate the studies of this year to the per- sonal religious life of the individual student. 1. By reenforcing his sense of the presence of God in human history; 2. By emphasizing the ethical and social charac- ter of religion; 3. By inspiring him with the sense of his per- sonal responsibility to know and to share God's purpose for the world. It is purposed to offer in the third year Senior a survey of the New Testament similar to the Old Testa- ment Survey of the second year. In the fourth year Senior it is intended to offer a brief survey of Church history from Apostolic times to the present day. Those entrusted with the preparation of the courses fully recognize the fact that the peculiar needs of vari- ous class groups in the Senior Department are so varied as to demand ultimately a larger variety of elective courses. It is purposed, therefore, when the 126 The Sunday School and the Teens present survey of Bible and Church history shall have been completed, to offer additional briefer courses in Bible study, Christian ethics, Church and missionary history and temperance. These courses will be made available for use as rapidly as the demand for them and the facilities for their production will permit. THE INTERNATIONAL UNIFORM LESSONS These lessons still furnish the subject-matter of instruction for the majority of Sunday school classes in the Intermediate and Senior Departments of the school. It is, therefore, important that at least a brief statement should be made concerning the material of instruction which this system of lessons furnishes, with some suggestion as to the adaptability and value of the material for the ages under consideration. The lessons of the Uniform system are selected on the basis of what, in the estimation of its framers, should constitute the subject-matter or material of Sunday school instruction, and with a view to cover- ing the whole Bible in a given period of years. The center of interest in this system lies in the Bible, the Church, and the Sunday school organization itself, more than in the changing spiritual needs of the chil- dren who are to be instructed. It offers the same lesson passage to all regardless of age or previous in- struction, and is intended to furnish teaching material at one and the same time for adult Bible classes and the Primary Department. The courses are better suited for use in the upper grades of the Sunday school than for the elementary grades. For Interme- Bible Study Courses for the Teens 127 diate, and more especially for Senior classes, the Inter- national Uniform Lessons are very serviceable for Bible instruction so far as such a course can be pre- pared without a recognition of the essential need of graded material within the period of years from 12 to 20. The Seventh Cycle of Lessons covering the years 1912-1917 includes the following courses : 1912 — New Testament. Life of Christ. Synoptic Gospels. (Based chiefly on Mark.) 191 3 — Old Testament. Genesis to Joshua. Crea- tion to the Settlement in Canaan. 1914 — New Testament. Life of Christ. Synoptic Gospels (concluded). 191 5 — Old Testament. Judges to 2 Kings, with Prophets. 1916 — New Testament. Acts, Epistles, and Revela- tion. 1917 — ^January-June. New Testament. John's Gospel. July-December. Old Testament. 2 Kings, Ezra, and Nehemiah, with the Prophets. Valuable as has been the Uniform System in pre- paring the way for something better, it no longer meets all the needs of the situation. With the insistence upon the larger religious educational aim for the work of the Sunday school a change from Uniform to Graded lessons becomes imperative. For if the Sun- day school is to be a school in fact as well as in name, the course of Bible instruction which it offers must be based upon pedagogical principles rather than on any logical scheme of uniformity, however ably adapted to lessen its own inherent defects. 128 The Sunday School and the Teens BIBLE STUDY UNION COURSES The Bible Study Union (Blakeslee) Graded Lesson Courses, first published in 1891, aim to provide a com- plete system of connected and graded Bible study for the Sunday school. Under the influence of the general movement toward more carefully graded curricula the Union has prepared a new and complete Graded Series, intended to be in harmony with the principles of modern child psychology and pedagogy. Among the general characteristics claimed for this series are these : 1. A close and careful adaptation of the lesson ma- terial and methods of study to the needs of the pupil at each successive period of development. 2. A study of the Bible by the most efifective mod- ern methods. 3. A supplementing of the Bible by such other ma- terial as will best promote religious and moral develop- ment. 4. A practical application of the teachings of the Bible, with the aim of cultivating social as well as in- dividual morality and spirituality. 5. A constant endeavor to inspire and direct the pupils in giving expression to moral and religious truth. 6. The lessons for each year are so arranged that they can be used for nine months or twelve months. A brief description of the Intermediate and Senior courses will indicate clearly their scope and purpose. Bible Study Courses for the Teens 129 Intermediate Grades (Ages 13-16 Years) first year Title of Course : "Heroes of the Faith." The Aim. This course aims, by the presentation in story form of the lives of heroic characters inspired by high religious ideals, to kindle in the pupil enthusi- asm for the same ideals, and to mold his character by leading him to express his enthusiastic impulses in deeds of unselfish and courageous living. Special emphasis is laid on commonplace heroism — fidelity to those everyday duties which make up the lives of most people — and on a correction of the notion that hero- ism consists only in doing the spectacular or unusual thing. These lessons impress the possibility and the value of heroism at home, at school, on the street, or on the playground, the heroism of being honest in one's work, or resisting temptation, of doing the hard or disagreeable task faithfully because it is one's duty. Each year's work is planned to cover forty-eight lessons only, so as to leave room for special lessons or general exercises for Easter, Children's Day, Rally 'Day, and Christmas; or the time may be given to a fuller consideration of lessons that may seem to re- quire it. SECOND YEAR Title of Course : " Christian Life and Conduct." The Aim. The course is not intended to teach moral philosophy as that subject would be taught to college students. It is very desirable, however, for the teacher to have some understanding of the under- lying principles of morality. Why is an action right 130 The Sunday School and the Teens or wrong? Because the Bible says so? Or, on the contrary, do we not know that what the Bible says is true, because our conscience tells us so? What is conscience? Is it the voice of God speaking directly to the heart of man? Why, then, does it give such apparently opposing commands to different people? Can it be that conscience is nothing but the echo of social customs, good, bad and indifferent ? This is no place to discuss these problems ade- quately. But it may not be amiss to give here a brief statement of the more generally accepted principles of moral philosophy, as follows: We are not detached individuals, independent of each other. All human lives are interdependent. " We are members one of another." Moreover, the consciousness of this inter- dependence and the obligation which it involves is woven into the very texture of our minds. In the most commonplace judgment of fact, we tacitly affirm the existence of truth and error, and the claims of truth upon our lives. We can no more think our- selves out of the world of moral obligation than we can think ourselves out of the world of space and time. As to just what conduct is to be declared right, and what wrong, there is much disagreement and con- fusion. Here arise the moral problems which human- ity is trying to solve. But all men have this sense of obligation to the common welfare. It is this that we call conscience. Professor Royce has happily described conscience as the sense of obligation to be loyal. And loyalty he defines as having for its proper object not any single finite individual, but a cause which includes ourselves Bible Study Courses for the Teens 131 and other individuals. The common welfare, for example, of which we have just spoken, would be such a case. And he undertakes to find the solution for all our moral problems through the formula " be loyal to loyalty." Be loyal to your enemy's loyalty. Respect him for being loyal, even though your own loyalty may bid you oppose him. In all your relations with your fellowmen, try not merely to make them happy, try to make them loyal. If you are thus loyal to your loyalty, wherever you find it among men, that means that you will be loyal to God. For all our finite, fragmentary lives, in so far as they are truly, even though blindly loyal, are gathered into unity in God, " in whom we live and move and have our being." We now see the true value of the Bible in matters of conduct. It is to be regarded, not as an external authority, but as the supreme source of inspiration. As Browning says: " Truth is within ourselves. To know, Rather consists in opening out a way Through which the imprisoned splendor may escape, Than in effecting entrance for a light Supposed to be without." Moral truth, at least, is indeed within ourselves, as we have seen. The Bible kindles into greater flame that imprisoned splendor, so that it shines its way out through the dullness of our minds and the weakness of our flesh into life and deed. We read the Bible, and our own hearts are stirred by the moral enthusiasm which it breathes. We see how the great characters of the Bible solved the moral problems which they 132 The Sunday School and the Teens encountered, and our minds are clarified. We are better able to solve our problems. THIRD YEAR Title of Course : " The Story of the Bible." Explanatory Statement: The story of the writing of the Bible is full of dramatic situations and human interest. The earlier lessons of this course will give a vivid picture of life in the Roman world when the New Testament was being written. The pupil will first study the life of Paul from this point of view and will gain a clear and concrete conception of how Paul's letters came to be written and circulated among the churches. The story of the origin of the other parts of the Bible will be presented, as far as possible, in this same popular and interesting way. The Aim. i. To give moral and religious inspira- tion for everyday life. The pupil will be brought into as close touch as possible with the actual flesh and blood men by whom the various books of the Bible were written, and with the lives of faith and heroism out of which the Bible grew. 2. To give a proper mental equipment for future Bible study ; in particular, a proper method of study. The pupil will learn to ask regarding any passage of Scripture, " What meaning did the author of this passage intend to convey, when he wrote it ? " FOURTH YEAR Title of Course : " The Life of Jesus." The Aim. The aim of this year's work is so to present the personality of Jesus : Bible Study Courses for the Teens 133 1. That every pupil that has not already awak- ened to a personal religious life shall make a definite decision for Christ. 2. That every pupil who already counts himself a follower of Christ shall attain a deeper reali- zation of the meaning of discipleship ; and par- ticularly that the child-spirit of obedience shall grow into that of manly and womanly devotion to the Master of Life. 3. That every pupil shall be a church member be- fore the end of the year. This study is based chiefly on the Gospel according to Mark and the oldest elements of the other Synoptic Gos- pels. The endeavor is to reconstruct the his- torical life with its main movements, as far as the biblical and archaeological material makes this possible. The distinct aim is to portray Jesus over against the shadow of his contemporaries and enemies, in such a fashion that the pupils will instinctively and passion- ately take sides with him, as against his neighbors who could not appreciate his greatness, the Pharisees who could not appreciate his religion, the multi- tude who could not appreciate his purpose, and the priestly and Sadducean group that crucified him, and could not appreciate his essential place in the life of the world. The last twelve lessons of this year are on " Young People's Problems, — as interpreted by Jesus." They are intended for classes preparing for church member- ship and for Christian service. 134 1'^ Sunday School and the Teens Senior Grades (Ages 17-20 Years) first year Title of Course : " Preparations for Christianity." The Aim. 1. To broaden the student's knowledge of the Bible by giving him a conscientious view of the religion of Israel, and by showing how it prepared the way for the work of Jesus and culminated in his life and teachings. 2. Not only to give to the student a clear vision of the unity of all revelatipn, but through a definite ac- quaintance with the messages of Israel's teacher, to inspire right ideals of life and service. SECOND YEAR Title of Course : " Landmarks in Christian History." The Aim. Christian history is not a record of dead facts, but a living force; so it has a rich meaning for students of current events, and for those who wish to have a part in solving social problems. The purpose of this course is to furnish a basis for the understand- ing of the present activities of the Church and of the various agencies that are at work for the betterment of the individual and of society. It is not studied for information merely, but for practical usefulness as well. The plan is to measure the progress of human beings by certain landmarks in the history of Chris- tianity. These are to be found all along the way for the last nineteen hundred years, but for convenience we consider four periods: 1. Christianity in the Olden Times. 2. The Great Awakening. Bible Study Courses for the Teens 135 3. Anglo-Saxon Christianity. 4. Christian Expansion in the Nineteenth Cen- tury. THIRD YEAR Title of Course : " The Conquering Christ." The Aim. i. To strengthen faith in Christianity by a comparative study of the principal non-Chris- tian religions and Christianity. 2. To awaken intelligent sympathy in the great cause of missions by a careful study of the world as a missionary field, of the methods of missionary work, and of some of the chief results of the enterprise. The significance of the title " The Conquering Christ " will become apparent as lesson after lesson reveals " the absolute proof of the resistless power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ." The course is essentially one in which the missionary facts may be trusted to make their own appeal. The whole course provides lessons for twelve months, but classes wishing a nine months' course can take Parts I and II. Part I by itself makes an inter- esting three months' course in Comparative Religion. Part I. Non-Christian Religions and Christianity Compared. A presentation of their principal tenets, their ethical value, their power for good or evil, the charac- ter of their adherents, the ground they afford for a Christian approach, and the points at which they prove inferior to Christianity. Part II. Modern Progress of Christianity. A sketch of its extension among the nations of the 136 The Swnday School and the Teens world; of the geographical, social, and religious characteristics of the several fields; of the various problems that arise and of the manner in which the missionaries meet them; and finally of the present opportunities and outlook — the whole introducing at appropriate points concise biographies of notable missionary heroes. Part III. Principles of Missionary Practice and Fruits of Christian Conquest. An outline of the policies of the mission boards; of the kind of work pursued, and the specific value thereof; of the relation of the home Church to the entire problem, and a consideration of individual Christian obligation in the light both of the need and the opportunity; the whole emphasizing some of the chief consequences of the Christian missionary enter- prise. FOURTH YEAR Title of Course : " The Modern Church." The Aim. The aim of this course is to help the pupil through a study of the worship and work of the modern church, to become an active, well-informed church member. The persons primarily in view are young men and women of about twenty years of age who are soon to assume the responsibility of mature life in the community. But the course is adapted for use in the adult department, or by any individual or group that desires to understand the life of a church and the most approved methods of church work. A unique feature is a set of plans for studying the ac- Bible Study Courses for, the Teens 137 tivities of one's own church and the needs of one's own community. UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO PRESS COURSES The University of Chicago Press issues a completely graded series of textbooks for religious instruction in the Sunday school. The series is noteworthy in that it is prepared and edited with the cooperation of the faculty of a great university. The course comprises eighteen or more volumes, covering all the grades from the kindergarten to the adult department, supple- mented by a number of additional courses for adult study prepared by the American Institute of Sacred Literature. These courses of study are not graded closely ac- cording to years. The following four courses are re- commended for the Secondary Division or the high school grades and should be taken up in the order mentioned. Either irr the eighth grade, or in the first year of the high school a year is given to the study of one biblical book as a book. A choice is given between an Old Testament book and a New Testament book. While it is the intention of this course to emphasize the idea of a book, and while the entire biblical text is con- tained in the volume, the work is developed through explanatory notes and questions for the student's con- sideration which lead naturally to the most vital reli- gious truths. For pupils of the high school age, great men become again the central figures for study. This time, how- ever, they appear not so much as men of great adven- 138 The Sunday School and the Teens ture and striking experience as men living in our own world, removed from us only by a few centuries of time. The relation of these men to the world of their day, and their influence in shaping the thought and action of their own times, are made the basis for a study of our own heritage from the past and the pupil's relation to the world of to-day. Secondary Division Titles : The Gospel of Mark. Studies in the First Book of Samuel. Aims and Explanatory Statement. These two vol- umes are textbooks to be placed in the hands of the pupil and teacher alike. The complete biblical text is presented in each volume. Explanatory notes and carefully formulated questions lead the pupil not only to a correct interpretation of the text of the Scripture, but to a serious consideration of the religious teaching which is designed to direct and inspire the life of the pupil. The conception of a biblical book as a com- plete whole can best be obtained from these two vol- umes. The Gospel of Mark presents sixty-nine chapters, a tabular analysis of the Gospel, review questions on the book as a whole, and an ample dictionary of words employed. The division into chapters is entirely logi- cal, each event standing in a chapter by itself and receiving treatment separately and as completely as is practicable for pupils of the age for which the book is intended. The First Book of Samuel follows the same plan as that presented in the Gospel of Mark, developing Bible Study Courses for the Teens 139 the teaching through explanatory notes and questions. In this volume as in the other, division into brief chap- ters is logical. A dictionary is included. It is not intended that these two books should be used con- secutively by the same class, but rather that a choice should be made on the basis of preference for Old or New Testament work. Title of Course : " The Life of Christ." Aims and Explanatory Statement. This course takes for its basis the analytical outline of the life of Christ presented in Stevens' and Burton's " Harmony of the Gospels." Ample reading references are provided, the text being intended for both teacher and pupil. Oppor- tunity is given for constructive work, but the notebook provided is of such a character that the teacher is at liberty to suggest whatever constructive work seems preferable. It is possible to make a very thorough study of the life of Jesus through the use of this book and the reading references which are suggested. It is also possible to make a rapid survey, using the volume as a general guide, and selecting from any given chapter such portions of the explanatory ma- terial and such topics and questions as the teacher thinks can be successfully treated in the class hour. A careful assignment of work to the pupils usually meets with a favorable response because of its definite- ness, and the clear arrangement of the material for the study. For the use of the teacher who desires some- thing more thorough for personal study, the " Life of Christ " by Burton and Mathews, of which the above volume is a modification, is recommended. I40 The Sunday School cmd the Teem Title of Course: "The Hebrew Prophets, or Patriots and Leaders of Israel." Aims and Explanatory Statement. This course has for its purpose a presentation of the lives of men who faced great problems and critical situations and mas- tered them, thereby demonstrating the power of belief in God as a character motive, and also contributing to the growiiig conception of God which came through the development of the history of the Hebrews. So far as possible the material is presented in the words of the prophets through selections from the Scriptures. To aid the student in comprehending the lives of these men and the problems which confronted them, these selections are embedded in a continuous background of history from Samuel to the close of the Old Testa- ment period, each prophet appearing in his own times and under the circumstances which surrounded him. Through this course the pupil has an opportunity to study the growth of the idea of God which underlies our Christian religion, and at the same time to become familiar with heroic men whose qualities of courage, insight, patriotism and devotion are as evident in modern as in ancient times, and receive valuable em- phasis in this way. A special teacher's edition presents in fifty additional pages helpful suggestions and further references for reading. Title of Course : " A Short History of Christianity in the Apostolic Age." Aims and Explanatory Statement. This course completes the study of the three supreme subjects presented in the Bible, the Old Testament history, Bible Study Courses for the Teens 141 Jesus Christ, and the founding of the Christian Church. The method is very similar to that of " The Life of Christ." The illustrations are numerous and helpful to an understanding of the subject. Questions of de- nominations or of doctrinal bias are not taken up, the treatment being historical and not theological. PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL COURSES In the Protestant Episcopal Church a General Board of Religious Education, appointed by the General Con- vention, acts as a clearing-house for the various dio- cesan commissions and organizations charged with the duty of determining the courses of instruction for the Sunday schools within each diocese or smaller local group of churches. In directing the Sunday school movement for the entire church the General Board has issued a statement of principles, setting forth clearly the specific aims and materials of instruction which this Board regards as essential for each department of the school. We quote from this general statement of principles the two paragraphs relating to the Middle and Senior Departments, covering the ages under in- vestigation in this report: Middle Department (Ages 13-16 Years) The Aim. The building of a strong, devout, help- ful Christian character. This period includes the years in which the largest percentage comes to con- firmation and personal religious confession, or, on the other hand, takes the fatal steps toward evil. Em- phasis is to be placed on the personal life, the realiza- 142 The Sunday School and the Teens tion of the principles and teachings of our Lord, his authority as a teacher and an example. Material. Old Testament history as the moral de- velopment of a nation; its type characters, great events, crises; a more advanced study of the life of Christ; his moral and spiritual teachings; the begin- nings of the Church; missionary expansion; leaders of Christian history ; church worship ; typical forms of Christian and social service. Spiritual Life. Confirmation and the holy com- munion ; private and public worship ; prayer for others, for the world, the Church, the diocese, the parish, for those newly confirmed, the unconfirmed, for those who are careless, and for the development of personal in- terest in others. Senior Department (Ages 17-20 Years) There should be a clear distinction between the regu- lar Sunday school course and the studies of later years. A determining point analogous to graduation should be reached. This period presents the last opportunity most will have for consecutive study. It should there- fore cover such subjects as will best fit the pupil for his future as a Christian and as a churchman. The Aim. The determining of Christian character ; moral conviction; comprehension of the divine origin and mission of the Church ; responsibility for carrying on the work of Christ. Material. The prayer-book; Christian doctrine; Church history; Church policy; missionary work; the Bible studied in sections, by periods, by books, e. g., Bible Study Courses for the Teens 143 the Psalter, Messianic prophecies, the teachings of the Lord Jesus, selected Epistles. Spiritual Life. Emphasis upon the corporate life of the Church ; common worship, fellowship, and serv- ice. On the basis of this broader statement of aim and suggestion regarding subject-matter each diocesan or local organization is expected to work out its own courses of study in detail and to select its own text- books. A CURRICULUM FOR JEWISH RELIGIOUS SCHOOLS A curriculum intended for general use in Jewish religious schools has been prepared by a board of editors under the direction of one of the professors of Jewish literature at Yale University and principal of the Free Synagogue Religious School, New York City. It is admitted by the editors that the curriculum was in- spired by the movement toward graded courses of study in the Sunday schools of North America. The curriculum is printed in book form. The work for each grade outlined under five headings, as fol- lows: I. The Aim of the Class : 1. Religious. 2. Ethical. II. Method of Class Organization. III. Course of Study. IV. Memory Work. V. Social Service. In this Jewish curriculum grades 7 to 9 cover the period of the teen age. A general statement regarding 144 ^^ Sunday School and the Teens each of these grades will help to set forth the purpose and method of these courses of study. Seventh Grade (Ages about 12 to 14 Years) Aims. I. Historical. To impart a knowledge of the early rabbis and of their writings and to show that persecution, defeat and world-wide dispersion could not vanquish their religion. 2. Religious. In a simple manner to present God as a spiritual power, working for righteousness, and to inspire a feeling that the pupil must hopefully array himself on God's side in the attempt to realize the mission of the Jew. 3. Ethical. To build up the pure, optimistic, hero- worshiping boy or girl with clear ideals of justice and of service. General title: " The Defenders and Early Rabbis of Judaism from Judas Maccabaeus to the completion of the Talmud (165 C. E. to 500 C. E.)." The Social Service outlined for the Seventh Grade consists of writing letters to sick and shut-in children, class contributions and gifts for charity, active interest in all civic improvement and especially the School Guild for Social Service, kindness to the weak and the needy, and doing work for the local school, such as visiting absent pupils, contesting in school games, publishing a school paper, messenger service, planning for the school museum, assisting teachers, librarian and secretary, giving parties for poor children, etc.; the making of scrap-books for hospitals, class and school entertainments. This variety of activity offers op- portunity both for individual and cooperative service. Bible Study Courses for the Teens 145 Eighth Grade (Ages About 13 to 15 Years) Aims. I. Historical: To impart a knowledge of the struggles, sufferings and triumphs of mediaeval and modern Judaism, and to make the pupils feel their own union with Israel's past history. 2. Religious. To strengthen the feeling that God is a spiritual power working for righteousness and that he demands from each of us the highest life of which we can conceive. 3. Ethical. To develop pure, self-respecting, con- scientious boys or girls of enlarging ideals, ready to respond to the needs of their people. General title : " Great Men and Movements in Mediaeval and Modern Judaism, from the comple- tion of the Talmud to the present time (500-1910)." The forms of Social Service for the Eighth Grade are the same as those for the Seventh. Ninth Grade. Confirmation Class (Ages About 14-16 Years) Aims. I. Historical. The pupils must be led to see how Israel, throughout her long history, has been working and suffering for a cause. That cause has now a right to make a demand on the pupils. They must respond by devoting the best in their thoughts and lives, honestly and fearlessly, to the service of all men, by devoting this best to the cause of Israel. 2. Religious. To awaken a feeling that God is the complete embodiment of our highest ideals, and that not only do we need him in our work, but that he, too, needs us in his work. Hence upon confirma- 146 TJie Sunday School and the Teens tion, the pupil should feel that he must become an active synagogue worker and a faithful member of a noble people. 3. Ethical. To develop tolerant, pure, self-sacri- ficing youths and maidens, actively loyal to the high- est civic and moral ideals. . General title: " The Jewish Religion — Its Mean- ing, Its Demands, and Its Ideals." The pupil having completed the elementary course in ethics and the gen- eral survey of biblical and post-biblical history is now ready for a study of the essential elements of Juda- ism and of his duties to himself, family, neighbors and religion. The Social Service recommended for the Ninth Grade is a distinct advance over that of the Seventh and Eighth Grades. It includes membership and ac- tive work in synagogue and temple, membership in Peace Societies, Civic Improvement Leagues, fresh air organizations, etc., doing work for the school and synagogue such as choir service, ushering, school or- chestra and such other activities as have already been suggested as adapted to this age. THE KEEDY COURSES The Keedy Courses comprise a series of graded text- books published by the Graded Sunday School Publish- ing Company of Boston. All the books of the series are planned for use with pupils from 12 to 18 years of age with no further gradation within this period. The texts require independent Bible reading and study on the part of the pupils together with a certain amount of written work in connection with a pupil's notebook Bible Study Courses for the Teens 147 accompanying each course. The Courses comprise the following: Title of Course : " The Life of Christ." Explanatory Statement. A course of study glorify- ing the matchless character of Jesus Christ. The course applies the principles of psychology and peda- gogy to the gospel material and is intended for pupils 12 to 16 years of age. The interest of these ages is not in truth but in person — in exceptional and heroic persons. This commits the teacher to biography and especially to the life of Christ. The gateway into the life of a pupil of these ages is not through academic knowledge but through his admirations, his apprecia- tions and his loves. The aim therefore is not to ex- plain Christ, but to beautify him and glorify him. Title of Course : " Early Christian Heroes." Explanatory Statement. A course in Christian biography beautifying and glorifying the men who appreciated Jesus. It makes attractive to the pupil the Christian ideal and glorifies the life of these New Testament disciples of Christ. It does this in the be- lief that an approval by the pupil of the devo- tion of these men to Jesus is the guarantee of his own loyalty to the knightly Person of Faith, an appre- ciation of whom brings life. In a knowledge of the beliefs, ideals and consecrations of these New Testa- ment men, the pupil will find an interpretation of his own vague and conflicting ideals. Title of Course: "Old Testament Heroes." Explanatory Statement. A course of study de- signed for pupils 13 to 17 years of age, beautifying and glorifying the moral and religious qualities of Old 148 The Sunday School and the Teens Testament characters. The impulse for great and good hving comes from contact with great and good men — the transfer of life is from person to person. Pupils will emerge from these years with some kind of choice. This course aims to create right ideals, right feelings, right estimates — the materials out of which choices are made. THE BEACON SERIES OF GRADED MANUALS The Unitarian Sunday School Society publishes a graded course of lessons known as " The Beacon Series of Graded Manuals." This series has been prepared by a group of active Sunday school workers in cooperation with experts in education and psychol- ogy. It avowedly aims to present religious material in a rational, constructive manner, and offers carefully graded subject-matter for pupils of various ages from 6 to 17. In the treatment of biblical material the result of most advanced biblical criticism has been ac- cepted, while at the same time an attempt has been made to avoid critical methods in the presentation. In the use of non-biblical material the selection has pro- ceeded upon the assumption that " whatever is vitally related to religious development is suited to Sunday school use." The courses provide for the Eighth to the Twelfth Grades, covering the ages concerned in this report, and include the following: Eighth Grade, "Jesus of Nazareth;" Ninth Grade, "Work of the Apostles;" Tenth Grade, " Movements and Men of Christian His- tory ; " Eleventh Grade, " Comparative Studies in Bible Study Courses for the Teens 149 Religion," " An Introduction to Unitarianism ; " Twelfth Grade, " The Bible as Literature." CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION COURSES The courses of Bible study prepared by the Young Men's Christian Association and the Young Women's Christian Association, in so far as they concern the ages covered by this report, consist of various text- books, of from 20 to 30 lessons each. The general sequence of study followed is to begin with a text- book on the Life of Christ, followed the next year by a textbook on Old Testament heroes and the third year a textbook on New Testament heroes. The gen- eral plan on which a large majority of the textbooks are prepared includes the use of daily Bible readings and the subdivision of the weekly studies into daily assignments. On each of these three general topics separate text- books are provided for use with groups of different ages from 12 to 17 years. Students beginning in the earlier ages and continuing their enrollment in Asso- ciation classes through the entire period covered by these courses, would thus go through the course of three years' studies twice, using textbooks of some- what larger scope and with somewhat fuller material the second time. The use of Association courses, while confined almost entirely to voluntary classes, actually extends to a very large circle and to a widely diversified constitu- ency including, on the one hand, groups in colleges and preparatory schools, and, on the other hand, groups of boys and girls, young men and women from 150 The Sunday School and the Teens many different occupations both in the city and in rural communities. In an increasing number of cases the work of the Association is being correlated with that of the Church through the Sunday school. Chapter X THE CHURCH'S PROVISION FOR ADOLES- CENT SPIRITUAL LIFE This subject touches the very heart of the Church's life and activities. Unless young people of the teen years are won to Christ the mission and the oppor- tunity of the Church are largely lost. One hundred and sixty-five responses to an extended questionnaire were received from pastors and super- intendents of Sunday schools, representing local situ- ations in the various parts of the United States and Canada. The denominations represented in the an- swers include, Baptist, Christian, Congregational, Dis- ciples, Lutheran, Methodist, Presbyterian, Protestant Episcopal, Reformed Church, etc. It is gratifying to note that the majority follow the plan of personal interviews and many keep classified lists of young people for such purposes. A surpris- ingly large number have the pastor's or catechetical class. Others state that they have " Long thought of such a class, but as yet have not attempted one " and still others say : " Will start one in the fall." It is evident that this most effective method is coming into general favor, in the various denominations of the land. Pastor's Class. The pastor's class offers the op- 152 The Sunday School and the Teens portunity of securing, in most helpful fashion, the co- operation of parents and Sunday school teachers. The answers to the questions reveal the fact that pastors not having such classes practically have no definite or systematic plans by which to get into per- sonal touch with the young people of the congregation and the community. This time-honored method of religious education approved now by the study of modern psychology and pedagogy, deserves to come into universal use and practice. Analysis of Questionnaire Methods Employed to Help Teen Boys and Girls to Personal Allegiance to Jesus Christ and Church Membership. In stating methods for bringing teen age boys and girls to Christ the following predomi- nated : personal interviews chiefly ; keeping a classified list; pastor's or catechetical class meeting weekly, in many cases from November to Easter, in others for six weeks ; some, however, hold these only a few times before communion. Class age. From ten to forty; mostly children, however. In one instance the pastor has four classes, one for each grade according to age, meeting six weeks before Easter. Printed material used. Bible, Hymn Books, Cate- chism, such as Luther's, The Heidelberg and Shorter catechisms. Probationers' Manuals and various leaflets. The time of holding these classes is sometimes in the evening and sometimes in the afternoon and, in some Provision for Adolescent Spiritual Life 153 cases, on Sunday; occasionally such a class is held during the Sunday school hour. Decision Day in the Sunday school is observed by some ; a few report that they have entirely abandoned the plan ; others are not in favor of Decision Day. Decision Day. The methods employed in con- nection with Decision Day are personal work by pas- tors and teachers, special addresses, evangelistic serv- ices. Almost without exception, such services are carefully graded with a view to the ages of the schol- ars. In some cases the use of cards for signatures is recommended. Many hold special meetings during the week of Prayer, Passion Week and Lent. A number report special sermons for young people at the evening services, several times a month or monthly, semi-annually or annually. Cooperation with Parents. Cooperation with parents is summed up in the two words: Personal Work and Organization. Irreligious or negligent parents are mainly re- sponsible for boys and girls not joining church. Some objections made by parents are: the financial hin- drance ; lack of understanding on the part of boys and girls ; " not good enough ; " " not old enough ; " " let alone policy ; " " compulsion." In the majority of cases, however, parents are glad to give their consent. Family worship in the homes is emphatically en- dorsed and is regarded as the strongest aid in win- ning the boy and girl, but the lack of such family wor- ship is frequently noted. The enlistment o| the cooperation on the part of 154 ^^ Simday School and the Teens teachers is secured by appeals from the pulpit and in private, personal conferences. Additional Methods of Winning to Christ. The same method is followed to secure the cooperation of teachers in personal work and in Christian culture. In practically all instances congregations report spe- cial organizations, such as Young People's Societies, Church Clubs, Leagues, Christian Endeavor, Brother- hoods, Junior Societies. Uniformly favorable com- ments are made concerning the Organized Class. Additional methods of winning to Christ, coming out of personal experience, are referred to, as: work for the individual; classes in religious education for teachers, parents and workers; the holding of Week- day Religious Instruction School ; " the Saturday afternoon Children's class or a Religious Day School very beneficial ; " correspondence ; the formation of weekly choruses ; the personality of pastors and teach- ers. Reasons for Failure. Lack of success in methods to win boys and girls to Christ are classified as fol- lows: nagging; compulsion; too much formality; dry sermons ; faultfinding ; too much praise of some special boy or girl; too much stress laid on pleasure; all methods in which the children " are naturally led away from Christ ; " stress laid on mere numbers ; whole- sale leading of classes into the Church by evangelists ; gathering crowds without thought or regard to edu- cational purposes; those involving too much publicity — Decision Day and revival methods; promiscuous talking. In the responses to the foregoing questions concern- Provision for Adolescent Spiritual Life 155 ing methods of winning to Christ, there is conspicu- ously absent a sufficiently distinctive program, ex- cept in isolated cases, for securing the cooperation of parents and especially a lack of well-defined, sys- tematic methods to reach children and young people not related to the Sunday school or the societies or families of the church. There is evident, also, the sense of responsibility and the painful feeling of the use of insufficient methods to reach an adequate number of children who have come under the influence of the Church. The most positive note sounded is in these words: " The method that pays best is the pastor's personal work with the teachers and in the home with the par- ents." There is apparent, however, a lack of any sense of corporate responsibility on the part of the governing body of the local church. Enlistment for Service. To the question " What methods are you using to enlist the boys and girls of the teen age as workers in the church? " there is miss- ing in the answers a realizing sense of the fundamental principle of modern education, the application of which has revolutionized methods. " We learn by doing." Self-activity is the law of growth. There is missing, also, in the answers, particular reference to adequate adult leadership, so positively essential to effective and even wholesome spiritual life among young people. Effort is made to train leaders. Methods followed are the appointment of committees in various organi- zations, holding public office, ushering work. Boys' Council, the Organized Class. 156 The Sunday School and the Teens In seeking to enlist candidates for the ministry oc- casional reference is made to the subject from the pulpit and many pastors keep a look-out for candi- dates. Personal encouragement is given. The officers and membership in the executive com- mittee of the Young People's Society are in some cases selected by the church officials ; in others by the society. Instruction is given in some cases. In training for teachers and leaders in the Sunday school work, minor offices are filled, talks given, per- sonal work done, young people act as substitute teach- ers and in many places are enrolled in Teacher Train- ing classes. There is evident a constantly increasing develop- ment of methods used to give missionary information and to arouse interest in missions and Missionary So- cieties, such as Mission Study classes, special sermons, missionary program, special work for foreign-speak- ing people, missionary statements in the Sunday school and the training of a Missionary Superintendent. The field of effort for charitable enterprises, such as community life and the Juvenile Court, is prac- tically undeveloped. Many young people are doing splendid service in relation to the hospitals, orphanages, homes, distribut- ing flowers, raising money and securing gifts of spe- cial material for orphans' homes, etc. Contributions, as a rule, are taken for charitable or- ganizations, especially in city churches. Rescue Mis- sions, Settlements and City Missions interest some. The giving of toys, clothing, picture cards and maga- zines are common methods of training. Provision for Adolescent Spiritual Life 157 Practically little or no effort is made to interest in any interdenominational activity such as the Bible So- ciety or Young Mens' Christian Association. In the case of the boys the Young Men's Christian Association relates itself to the local churches in many instances. Teen Age Activities. The enumeration of activi- ties of teen boys and girls in the church, include the Organized Sunday School Class, Christian Endeavor, Committee Work, Bulletin Boys, Church Weekly, Al- tar Guild, Flower Committee, Sunday School Choir, Boys' Club, Girls' Club, Story Tellers' Club, Dramatic Entertainments, Bazaars, Debates, Baseball, Lectures on Trade, Sewing and Embroidery Classes, Boy Scouts, Camp Fire Girls, Summer Camp, Gymnasium for boys and girls. Knights of King Arthur, Queens of Avilion, Brotherhood of Andrew and Philip, work in preparing to have a new church, Home and Foreign Missionary Society, Messenger Service, Civic Activities, Temperance Societies, Good Cheer Club, etc. Methods used to promote enlistment include liter- ature, personal effort, mass meetings, banquets, par- ental cooperation. Training for Service. Training for service indi- cates a rather large range of subjects, in addition to the usual Teacher Training and Mission Study text- books, such as the study of psychology of teaching, papers prepared and read in discussion of the needs of the school, summer conferences, " training for leader- ship class," "training for service class," lectures, li- brary of religious pedagogy, class in religious educa- 158 The Sunday School and the Teens tion, class in Bible study for religious leaders, class in child study and Boys' Department. There are reported also interdenominational train- ing groups in the neighborhood, through the Young Men's Christian Association, Graded Unions, Sunday School Associations and Church Federations. Other answers vary as to assignment of various pieces of work in conducting training groups. Some assign such work; others say that it frightens them away. Further training is secured by research work, defi- nite community work, the study of various coun- tries, the assignment of special methods of work with a view to training for leadership, as in Bible study, Teacher Training, leading Sunday meetings, athletic games, etc. Still further activities of teen boys and girls are re- ported: gymnasium games, outdoor games, tramps, hikes, trips to woods, etc., use of wireless, camera, orchestra and literary clubs, Bible study and Sunday meetings. Summing up the statements of enlistment for serv- ice and training for service, it is manifest that many local churches are utilizing wise and sane methods. A careful review of the material furnished in the questionnaire makes plain the increasing time and at- tention given to young people on the part of pastors and the local church. There seems to be an absence, however, of a carefully-prepared, well-defined plan of campaign. In many instances, the pastor seems to be " going it alone." There is urgent need of coordi- nation of the various agencies and activities of the Provision for Adolescent Spiritual Life 159 local church so as to keep them true to the supreme work of winning the young to Christ. Need of Coordinated Plan. The local church too often fails to put into effect, definite effort to reach the children and young people outside of the circle of the congregation. The rapid multiplication of pas- tors' classes indicates an increasing appreciation of the value and necessity of the teaching function of the minister. The evangelical churches of the land are sorely in need of the restoration of some parish sys- tem. Local federation and the Sunday school should aid the churches in the solution of this problem and in many communities and country districts a neighbor- hood canvass made once or twice a year would be helpful. A really urgent need is the recognition on the part of pastors and church people, including parents, of the importance of giving more time for religious nur- ture and instruction. This should include the train- ing of parents. The home in the church is no less im- portant than the church in the home. Pastors, teachers and parents must recognize two facts : Adequate Community Religious Education. I. In our system of voluntary religion in the United States, organized religion, that is, of churches, must voluntarily, at their own expense, provide an adequate system of religious education for the children of the entire country ; not simply children directly connected with the local church. l6o The Sunday School and the Teens The problem is not simply how to bring a few chil- dren to religious maturity. It is not simply how to maintain a good local church or even a local denomina- tion. The problem is, how to coordinate and cooper- ate and, through cooperation, produce a religious civilization. Here recognition must be given to the truth that the family is the unit of civilization, and that the chil- dren of the family are entitled to as much time and consideration on the part of the ministers as the adult members. It must be remembered that the Church is the only agency dealing with the nation's childhood in a repre- sentative, systematic way, for the provision for more religious instruction. It exists for that purpose. So does the home; but the home and the community must look to the Church for the unity and coordinated power which the Church secures in organization. The Church must help the home by calling attention to its accumulation of facts, failures and successes ; thus in training the home the home is enabled to help the Church. Childhood Religions. 2. The other fact needing recognition and emphasis is that when the child comes to our care, there are in him enough divinely planted instincts to make him a religious man if only these are cultivated, exercised, developed and not ignored or thwarted. Children accept the idea of the presence and fact of God and of immortality. Children have the quality of faith and goodwill. The question is, will the Church utilize more fully the opportunity in the impressionable, • formative years of life? Provision for Adolescent Spiritual Life l6l The modem watchwords are Efficiency and Con- servation. This questionnaire proves beyond a doubt that efficiency in the Church depends upon the atmos- phere surrounding the impulses of and work given to children and young people in the childhood and adolescent period. Conservation means the saving of resources, and reiterates the old truth that prevention is better than cure. Facts would seem to indicate that ten per cent of the pastor's time and attention and that of parents and Church leaders is given to the win- ning and enlistment of the young. The harvest from this ten per cent is 80 per cent of the accessions to the Church and practically 90 per cent of its officers and leaders. What would be the result if pastors, par- ents and Church officers gave 50 per cent or 60 per cent of their time and energy to the efficiency and conservation of the young life for the Church and the community. The time is at hand when our entire educational sys- tem, the so-called secular and religious, needs to meet life practically. The teaching function of the minis- try and the coordination of religious educational agen- cies must be magnified in the curriculum of the Theo- logical Seminaries. The minister, after all, must be the headmaster of religious instruction. Chapter XI THE SUNDAY SCHOOL AND THE HOME The plan of this chapter on Home Relationship was based on three lines; namely, meetings for con- ference, a questionnaire, and contributions by indi- viduals. Owing to the remoteness of some of the conferees it was not practicable to have a meeting for all. However, a few met several times and outlined the work. A questionnaire was thus prepared for the purpose of collecting data concerning: I. The Home. II. Instruction by Parents in Sex Life. III. The Home and Sunday School Attendance. The attempt was made to have the answers bear on the problems of the teen age. The results of this en- deavor have been collated and are herewith presented. The geographical distribution of the writers of the answers is most satisfactory, as it extends from British Columbia and Nova Scotia in the north to Louisiaiia and Mexico in the south, from Maine in the east to Washington and California in th6 west. De- nominationally the response is also representative, as the replies come from workers, chiefly pastors, of sev- enteen denominations and a few union churches. Mothers' or Parents' Associations. This was the heading of the first division of the questionnaire. 162 The Swnday School and the Home 163 The analysis of the 170 replies returned show the fol- lowing facts: 155 have no Class or Association, 6 have Classes, 4 have Associations, 4 have Mothers' Meetings and i has Mothers' Club. A Sunday school Missionary whose work covers a large part of a state says, "I do not know of one in the state." Of the fifteen reporting some kind of Class or Association the time of meeting is given as weekly or monthly ; on Sunday afternoon, or a week-day morn- ing, afternoon or evening. This indicates that there is no particular time for the holding of a successful Class or Association, but that everything depends upon locality. In making the report twelve say, " We have a Home Department in connection with our Sunday school " ; evidently concluding that this Home Department is sufficient for the mothers. A number report other organizations, such as the Ladies' Aid, Women's Clubs, Missionary Societies, in which more or less special work has been done oil behalf of mothers. One reports a Mothers' Meeting in connection with an academy and four report Mothers' Associations or Parents' Associations in connection with the day school. One city Parental Association is reported as meet- ing occasionally, and the attempted organization of a Mothers' Meeting failed. The topics considered are, " Home Making and Training," " Sympathetic Friendship between Parent and Child," " Confidence between Children and Par- 164 The Sv/nday School and the Teens ents," "How to be Clean in Thought and Habit," " What Relation should exist between Mothers and Sunday School Teachers ? " " Home Courtesies," " Clothing," " Food," " Sex Hygiene," " Instruction of Youth." No specific results are reported. To those who have expressed a desire for help in the organization of Mothers' Meetings and to those who may wish to begin this form of endeavor, the following by Mrs. Wilbur F. Heath, Somerville, N. J., will be suggestive: Mothers' Meeting. No religious work is advanc- ing more rapidly than Mothers' Meetings in connection with churches and Bible schools. Mothers' Meetings are not new, as the following brief historical out- line will show. In 1815 an association called the Union Maternal Association was formed. In 1833, through the influence of this Association, 1500 mothers in the Sandwich Islands were banded together in Mothers' Associations. In 1836 and following years Associations were formed in India, Turkey, Ger- many, Southern Russia and South Africa. Several years later this work was taken up vigorously and Mothers' Associations in our own country were or- ganized. In the past few years the work has in- creased and is now so closely identified with Bible school work, that no Sunday school institute or con- vention program is considered complete unless some time is assigned to the consideration of the work of Mothers' Associations. Pastors, superintendents, teachers and workers throughout our country are asking for information regarding this most important The Swnday School and the Home 165 work, which they consider vital. Mothers are de- manding the best for their children and are everywhere pleading for assistance, as replies to letters of inquiry sent to State Elementary Superintendents indicate. Mothers' Associations bring the home and the school into partnership and thus form an allied force that is of immense value. What can these Associations do? Uplift the home, help mothers to realize that religious training of chil- dren and youth in the home will develop strong char- acter in the children who are to grow into Christian men and women. They may be made especially help- ful to parents of children in the teen age. There has never been a time when so much interest has been taken in mothers as just now. It is evident that if we would save the children and young people we must save the mothers. The work stands in the front ranks and in addition to the efforts to form Mothers' Asso- ciations in every school, publishers of Sunday school literature are sending out leaflets showing how to form Mothers' Departments. D. C. Cook, Elgin, Illinois, publishes a complete set of leaflets. Houghton Mifflin & Co. of Boston have a corres- pondence course and a magazine called Home Prog- ress, the object being to interest mothers in child study. Books and magazines devoted to mothers' problems and child training are to be found in every public library. The earnest cooperation of mothers must be se- cured. Convince mothers that the best work is the wisest and gives, the largest returns and that, as some- one has said, "As the sculptor needs the chisel so 1 66 The Sunday School and the Teens God needs the mothers in the training of the child." Thus a valuable ally will be secured. Parents' Meetings should be held frequently, for the father has a responsibility which he cannot shirk, especially to boys of the teen age. A question constantly being asked is : " How shall we organize Mothers' Associations ? " A leaflet called " Plans and Programs for Mothers' Associa- tions " is issued by the Sunday School Times, Phila- delphia, Pa. This gives definite information with suggested programs and outlines and a list of books for a parents' library. Parents' Department. Professor Edward Porter St. John has lately been advocating the formation of a separate department in the Sunday school, coordinate with the Home, Teacher Training and Missionary De- partments. In this he would promote classes for fa- thers and mothers for the study of childhood and youth, its development and the proper dealing with its problems. Professor St. John's idea is akin to Mrs. Heath's suggestion and is published in pamphlet form by the Pilgrim Press. More and more the Christian Church is coming to recognize the necessity of men becoming the examples, friends and instructors of boys in their teens. It is especially time that the father should exert an up- lifting influence upon his son. Hence the value of the following on " chumminess." Father and Boy. The son plus or minus his father, which? In the arithmetic of the home much is determined by the sign that joins father and son. Son minus father equals variance. Son plus father The Sunday School and the Home 167 equals " chumminess." So it should be of value to take apart " chumminess " to see how it works. First of all it is characterized by mutuality. Be- tween father and son it should be " give and take." Just as early as possible commanding ought to give way to counseling on the part of the father, for it is only in our thoughtless speaking that the idea of sonship implies truckling — the function of the father being to order around, of the son to obey. The ideal of perfect sonship excludes bossing. Filiation con- tinues through life, but compelled obedience, proper and becoming only during the " integer " yfears, should be unknown and unnecessary during the teens in the great-spirited concord of maturing souls finding and possessing each other. What a splendid man Joseph must have been not to have marred a single line in the portrait Jesus painted of the Father. Such oneness between father and son necessitates a single standard in character-building. For years the son is apt to be but the shortened shadow of his father; for all time the father's example will be po- tent for good or evil. And as faults and weaknesses are commonly much easier to imitate than excellences, it often happens that the former are much more con- spicuous in a man's son than the latter. " Monkey sees, monkey does " is true of all boys ; from the earli- est the larger influence passes through the eye and not through the ear. Says Baldwin, " The ethical life itself, the boy's, the girl's conscience, is born in the stress of the conflicts of suggestion, born right out of his imitative hesitations." 1 68 The Sunday School and the Teens Therefore, love to God is better illustrated by a father's life than enforced by his words ; duty to man he more finely exemplifies than enjoins. If the son is to be helped by good literature, the father must not fill the book-shelves with trash or " goody-goody " froth. If the son is not to smoke cigarettes, the father must let the cigar alone. The father who would have his son continue in Sunday school and church, must attend himself. There is much suggestiveness in the Scripture expression that " Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah." Trust, without which there can be no " chummi- ness," grows apace from this intermingling in prac- tice and precept. If responsibility is opportunity added to ability, then as the son shows signs of even the slightest ability, the father should make the oppor- tunity for his son to invest his full powers. Propor- tionate responsibility should be measured to the grow- ing boy. The father should not prematurely make an old man out of his son, neither on the other hand should he keep him a baby. Let the father think back in his own life how many months, or years even, before parental permission was granted he went swimming with his cronies, and then give his son the benefit of his experience. Time after time boys have skipped down-town in our cities before their par- ents considered them old enough to leave the neigh- borhood in which they lived, and long before they were trusted to do any buying for themselves at the big store. Definite responsibility shows just so much trust in the son, and with but few exceptions, when started early enough, such trust brings its own re- The Stunday School and the Home 169 ward. If the son is given an allowance, or better, a wage for certain duties, the father is unwise who dic- tates the method of expenditure. All this demands " at-one-ment " in motive and aim between father and son, which is the costliest item of paternal expenditure. The father must be his son's hero and not allow any other man to become the idol of that son's worship. Admiration for one higher than himself is to this hour, as at all hours, the vivify- ing influence in a boy's life — the direction of the cur- rent of imitation indicating the pole of magnetic at- traction. By paying the price most fathers can make themselves heroes to their son's order, for with a man of the right spirit, who has the fiber, filial loyalty will go far toward continuing him in fact what he has been in fancy. In the eyes of the boys, not the risen, but the rising, are clothed with superior distinction. It is this hero-worship that produces comradeship and soli- darity, and that is a dire day in the father's life when he surrenders to another his title Optimus Maximus in the pantheon of his son's gods. In the sum of father plus son that ennobling thought of Shakes- peare finds complete fulfillment : " So we grow together, Like a double cherry, seeming parted. But a union in partition, Two lovely berries molded on one stem; So, with two seeming bodies, but one heart." Parental Sex Instruction. The second division of the questionnaire was composed of inquiries concern- ing " Instruction by Parents in Sex Life." As before, 170 papers were returned. The reading 170 The Sunday School and the Teens of these furnished a fund of information and sug- gestion well worthy the most serious consideration of all interested in the study of the Adolescent Period. The first question was " What are the parents of our congregation doing with this matter ? " Answers were as follows : 16 said, " Nothing definite " ; 19 said, "Very little"; 31 said, "Nothing"; 21 said, "I do not know " ; and 22 made no attempt to answer this question, which probably means that nothing is being done in the congregation with which they are con- nected. Fourteen report that regular instruction is being given in the home by parents; in some cases father talking to boys and mother talking to girls. Others state that parents give the instruction in pri- vate and do not wish to talk about it. Six pastors re- port that they are urging the parents of their congre- gation to talk about the matter. The result of this is that parents are beginning to read literature and in some cases to pass it over to their children. In answer to the second question, " What is your Sunday school doing to cooperate with the home in sex instruction?" 22 made no attempt at an answer; "JJ report " Nothing " ; 18 say " Nothing definite " ; and in 7 schools talks are given by teachers or physicians in the appropriate grades of the Sunday school. One school has had a conference with fathers by an expert. In another school an expert addressed the Sunday school teachers. One church is planning to have a physician as sex instructor for the congregation. One school sends delegates to boys' conferences. One rec- tor gives instruction to boys in his confirmation class. In a few schools teachers or others consult with The Swnday School and the Home 171 parents, or urge the parents to improve their oppor- tunity. The third question was : " Tell of classes or lecture courses dealing with this subject in your vicinity of which you have knowledge." As before, 22 made no attempt at answer ; 1 1 say " No knowledge of such classes or courses " ; 12 report classes or lectures in the local Young Men's or Young Women's Christian As- sociation; 3 report lectures to college students by physicians, also one course in the high school by specialists, and in one instance a lecturer was secured for three villages. Three report special lectures to men and also to women by evangelists. " A ten days' social purity campaign " was held in Santa Cruz, Cal- ifornia; a class for girls over sixteen was reported. One brotherhood reports talks to boys by physicians. Twenty-seven report a knowledge of the good accom- plished by this instruction, while ten declare they have no experience nor knowledge of anything special. One pastor says, " Men instructed in youth are the best type of men I know." The response to the question, " What literature especially designed for parents have you found most helpful ? " was suggestive. At the head of the list stand Stall's books recommended by eighteen. Two have used the literature sent out by the Purity Depart- ment of the International Sunday School Association. Two use The American Motherhood Magazine. Some of the books that have been used and are recommended are: The Bible ; " The Coming Generation," by Forbush ; " The Girl in Her Teens," by Margaret Slattery ; " The 1/2 The Sunday School and the Te«m Course of Life," by Delia Thompson Lures ; " From Youth into Manhood " and " Reproduction and Sex- ual Hygiene," by Dr. Hall. "The White Cross Series" is used by some. Dr. Elizabeth Muncie's " Four Epochs in Life " is suggested by two. One writer speaks of the tracts of the Society of Social and Moral Hygiene of Spokane, while another refers to the books issued by the Society of Moral Prophy- laxis. Many interesting answers are given. For example, one pastor says, " Best results are from answering questions given as they are asked and increasing in- formation as the child grows." Several pastors take the ground that great care should be exercised in this instruction, and one instance is given of a case where much harm was done by a crank who used improper language. A superintendent of Bible School and Christian Endeavor Work having under his management twenty- two Sunday schools and eight Christian Endeavor So- cieties says, " From what I know of the work in this state I think our Sunday schools are as silent as the tomb on this important matter. I do not know of any special work being done in the homes, and am of the opinion that it is woefully lacking. I think the Sunday schools of our denomination in this state are doing practically nothing. I do not know of any class or lecture course. It is my personal opinion that this subject should be frankly and freely discussed by parents and children both among boys and girls. As a parent I found such a course worked well in our fam- The Sunday School and the Home 173 ily. In the main, I think heart to heart talks between parent and child much better than any liter- ature. It is not well for the child's mind to be directed to such subjects unless very carefully and wisely guided in the consideration of the same. The best literature is likely to bring about thought and impres- sions that may not be wholesome." A California pas- tor, speaking of the classes or lecture course in his neighborhood, says, " There are none. I distribute Biederwolf's ' White Life for Men ' among young men. This has done great good and many have thanked me for it. In another church I had a physician address some young men and it did them much permanent good. The boys want to learn, and from good or evil sources they will learn. One diffi- culty is that a pastor has to pay for such literature out of his own pocket. I have spent much that way. The greatest hindrance is that parents do not feel that their children need any instruction from themselves, from their pastor, or from any physician in these mat- ters." A careful study of the answers given leads to these conclusions: For some time past there has been a growing realization of the importance of sex instruc- tion for adolescents. Many who acknowledge their inability or unwillingness to undertake such teaching are ready to admit the necessity of it. Many others express themselves as being ready to begin the delicate task when some approved method is wrought out. A few have applied themselves to the work and report encouraging success. The writer very emphatically 174 The Sunday School and the Teens declares his conviction that a great injustice is done to the youth, both male and female, who are not favored with such instruction, and urges on the re- ligious educators of the world the need for a united and determined effort to impress upon parents their duty in this respect and to indicate the blessings that will result from the intelligent performance of this duty. Recognizing in the second place, that it is not enough to point out the importance of sex instruction, we urge the formation in every Sunday school of a class of parents in which serious and prayerful considera- tion may be given to methods of imparting this in- struction. The leader of such a class should be care- fully selected, methods successfully employed should be presented, questions should be asked and answered for the purpose of anticipating and preventing harm- ful results. In the third place, we rejoice in the fact that there is a rapidly increasing literature on the subject. The church should purchase the necessary books, some for parents, some for Sunday school teachers and some for adolescent pupils. The classified list of books listed in the chapter on the Physical Life of the Adolescent is recommended for this purpose. Sunday School and Home Attendance was the general subject of the third division of the question- naire. One hundred and seventy returns were exam- ined with the following results : Is time of school session a hindrance ? As the time for holding the session was not asked, the majority do not state it. In some places the Sunday school is held before the morning service of the church, in other The Sunday School and the Home 175 places just after the morning service and in others in the afternoon. Three answered that the time of meeting that is preferred by the majority of the people is the best time, thus emphasizing the truism : What is good for some may not be good for others. One hundred and twenty-five say without qualification that the time of holding the session is not a hindrance. Ten others are just as positive that it is a hindrance. One is doubtful ; another is uncertain, while sixteen are of the opinion that the time of session is a hindrance to the old or to certain classes of persons but not particu- larly to those of the teen age. A number have experi- mented and conclude that whatever hour is selected it would shut out some persons. One writer declares that " if the hour of session were a hindrance it would be changed." This is the declaration of a progressive Sunday school man. In one instance the Sunday school is reported as being held in place of the morn- ing church service. 2. Is there parental indifference and lack of co- operation ? Thirteen do not answer ; 34 say " No " ; 51 say "Yes"; 39 say "to some extent," "to some degree," or " somewhat " ; 19 say " No, except in a few cases " ; 10 say " in many cases " ; 2 declare that there is " fair cooperation " ; 3 complain of the non- attendance of parents at Sunday school ; one places the responsibility upon the Sunday school ; which declara- tion is worthy of serious consideration. 3. Very little parental opposition to the attendance of those in the teen age has been reported. One pas- tor has found those who do not send their big boys and 176 The Sunday School and the Teens girls to Sunday school because they themselves " were forced to go " ; another reports that some of his parents " fear contamination in the Sunday School " ; while two write that parents " fear the overcrowding or over- working of the young people." " Lazy habits," al- leged " lack of time," " visiting " are reported of some " Christian parents," and using the Lord's day for pleasure of " wealthy parents." One reports that his parents " object to note-book work " in Sunday school. Twenty-one report that parents are opposed to the attendance of their big boys and girls because of ir- regular and incompetent teachers. There is a strong protest against the lack of adequate preparation on the part of teachers. A due regard to this protest may stop some leaks. Several indicate how they overcame the opposition of parents on the score of incompetent or irregular teachers. In one department the whole force was de- posed and replaced by others. In another school " careful investigation was made " and the cause for complaint removed. One live pastor says, " If a teacher is absent we have a substitute, if incompetent we put in a new one, if irregular we dismiss him." In many places a substitute teacher is provided in case of absence of the regular instructor. Teacher Train- ing classes are doing much in providing competent teachers. Much more will be accomplished as the number of these multiply. Poor methods are responsible in eight schools for keeping the adolescent boys and girls away and " lack of equipment " in four other schools. In one school " rough boys " keep others away. This group of an- The S'U'nday School and the Home 177 swers is very suggestive. Seven report that the " char- acter of leadership " keeps pupils of the teen age away from Sunday school. In two instances the superin- tendent is a man of questionable character and in an- other case it is the teacher whose character is below par. In only one case is there reported opposition to attendance by irreligious parents. There is, however, quite general indifference on the part of such fathers and mothers, while many are desirous that their boys and girls attend Sunday school. 4. Does social standing interfere with the attendance of those in the " teen age at Sunday school " ? One hundred and six say "No"; 15 say "Yes"; 14 say " Rarely " or " Very Little " ; 4 say " Somewhat " ; 31 give no answer to the question. 5. Is distance of homes from school any objection? Ninety say " No " ; 33 say " Yes " ; 14 say " In a few cases " ; 25 say " In some cases " or " Sometimes " ; one says " I think so " ; 7 do not answer this question. 6. Do legitimate home duties interfere? Sixty-six say "No"; 18 say "Yes"; 31 say "Seldom" or " Rarely " ; 30 say " In some cases," " To some ex- tent " or " Sometimes " ; 25 return no answer. 7. Does Sunday labor or long hours of work through the week on the part of boys and girls prevent attendance ? Sixty-eight answer " No " ; 37 answer " Yes " ; 20 answer " Rarely " or " In a few cases " ; 21 answer " In some cases," " Sometimes " or " To some extent " ; 24 do not answer this question. Here are some of the occupations that interfere with the attendance of pupils of the teen age : selling Sunday newspapers, ten; telegraph operator, one; tele- 178 The Sunday School and the Teens phone operators, two; restaurant work, two; caddy, one, and work in drug stores. Among other encour- aging facts comes a little story of heroic devotion and consecration : " A grandmother, after working hard in a mill all week, gets up at four o'clock on Sunday morning to do the housework, dress the children and bring them a mile to Sunday school." If there were more like her, would the teen problem be so difficult? 8. Does the home use of Sunday recreation, includ- ing newspapers and autos, seriously interfere? "Yes" is the answer of 84 writers; "No" of 31 writers ; " To some extent " of 23 writers ; " Seldom," " Not seriously," " Little " or " Very little " of 15. One says " Not yet" and 15 do not answer. Of the 84 who say " Yes " some are most emphatic in their answers ; one Massachusetts pastor writing " Yes, Yes, Yes." 9. Is the failure of teachers to visit homes a factor? Ninety say " Yes " and many of these consider it a " marked " or " serious " factor; 35 say " No "; 17 say " To some extent " or " Somewhat " ; 5 say " Per- haps " or " Probably " ; 23 give no answer. Some schools have a follow-up system of cards and letters which works well where teachers cannot or do not visit. Other schools employ paid missionaries to do the visiting. ID. Does lack of clothing prevent attendance? Seventy answer " No "; 34 answer " Yes "; 31 answer " To a very limited extent " or " In a very few cases " ; 21 answer " Sometimes " or " Somewhat " ; 14 do not answer the question. Some Sunday schools provide their needy members with clothing, while " Pride The Svmday School and the Home 179 rather than the lack of proper clothing keeps some young people away," is a statement that has much truth in it. 11. Does the taking of a collection prevent attend- ance? A large majority of the answers, no, are " No," while only 14 are " Yes " or " Sometimes " ; " To a very limited extent " is the answer of 25. Twenty-one return no answer. 12. The answers to the question. What effect has lack of home control on attendance? are most sug- gestive and worthy of very careful study. Twenty- six give no answer ; 44 say " Important," " Marked effect," " Evil effect," " Far-reaching," " Great effect," " A very decided effect " ; 15 say, " Tends to irregular- ity and dropping out of school " ; 8 say " Some effect " ; 7 say " Considerable " ; 6 say " Serious." One declares that this cuts down the attendance 50 per cent; another says 30 per cent; another says 25 per cent; two say 10 per cent; one says "slightly lowers average," and five say " makes attendance sporadic." A great variety of answers were given, all indicating that the home is responsible for irregu- larity in attendance or for the non-attendance of young people in the teen age. One pastor sums up the mat- ter thus : " Home control or the lack of it is seen in all the success and difificulties of the Sunday school." Two say, " The secret of the whole matter is largely here." Another declares, " It makes all the difference in the world." On the other hand, twenty report that the home control of those in the teen age is very mani- fest. To be highly commended is the spirit of six writers who say in substance " We endeavor to have i8o Tlie Sunday School and the Teens • enough enthtisiasm to secure the attendance of big boys and girls regardless of the parents' attitude." 13. How far do Saturday night entertainments or social engagements affect attendance? Thirty-two say " Not at all " or use words to that effect ; 59 say " Not to any appreciable extent," " To a very small extent" or "Very little"; 16 say "Somewhat" or " To some extent " ; 15 say " To a very large extent " ; 9 say " Seriously " ; 3 say " Considerably." " About 25 per cent ; " " About 10 per cent ; " " One of the most prolific sources of decreasing attendance ; " " More as to teachers than as to pupils," are the answers of others. 14. Which of the above in your judgment are the most important? Fifty-one do not answer. The astonishingly large number of ^7 declare lack of home influence and control to be the most important; 16 consider poor methods, irregularity and incompetency of teachers the most harmful ; the home's use of Sun- day for recreation is the most important according to 34; while 21 declare that teachers' failure to visit in homes is responsible for much of the non-attendance of those in the teen age; 10 put the blame partially on Saturday night entertainments and social engage- ments ; 6 put it on poverty ; only 7 ascribe non-attend- ance to Sunday labor or long hours of work through the week. A Canadian pastor says, " We have found that when the teachers and officers of the school get busy, the hindrances cease to have any bearing on the problem. It is exclusively a matter of interest and enthusiasm on the part of the Bible school leaders." Another pastor writing from Maine says, " In my The Stmiday School and the Home 181 judgment we must have a revival of family religion. I mean that parents must be brought to see that they have a supreme duty to give careful personal attention to the religious life and development of their children." A pastor in Montana who has evidently given close study to the subject declares, " I find class spirit covers a multitude of sins. Our teen people are faithful now and are growing." 15. Other factors that contribute to non-attendance of boys and girls of the teen age are given : Sunday pool rooms, 3; Sunday theaters, 4; Sunday picture shows, 4 ; Sunday baseball, 1 1 ; trolley rides, outings and summer resorts, 13; skating in winter, 2; loafing, 3; funerals, parades, clubs, fishing, hunting, boarding house conditions, big boy problems, pretended illness, spirit of unbelief pervading community, 5; lack of spirituality in the church, 3 ; unreached foreigners, 2 ; Sunday school tramps, intensity of modem life, dis- inclination of boys and girls of the teen age to go to Sunday school, 5. Helpful suggestions are oflfered for increasing the attendance of pupils in the teen age. Make the work of the Sunday school more intensive and specific; make the Sunday school so attractive that boys and girls of the teen age will not want to remain away; have more visiting by pastors and teachers; tone up the life of the church ; endeavor to secure the attend- ance of parents and other adults at the Sunday school ; work for more live and trained leadership in Christian work, especially in the Sunday school ; provide better equipment in Sunday school for work for the teen age; pay a Sunday school visitor. 1 82 The Sunday School and the Teens Sunday School Attendance Suggestions. A President of a County Sunday School Association in New York State gives his opinion thus : " Boys and girls of the teen age go where they can get what they want. If they are not in the Sunday school it is be- cause the school has nothing to give them." An Illinois pastor writes : " A notion of the boys and girls themselves that they do not want to go to Sunday school any longer is after all the most serious reason for non-attendance in the teens. It is not parental in- difference or defects in the school, but the fact that most of them have left the day schools and want to be free from other school duties." On the other hand another pastor declares, " The factor most serious in our city is lack of schools making adequate provision; in sympathetic leadership." A director of religious education in a city school sums up the matter thus : " I think these questions are working at the wrong end of the problem. Ob- stacles are never allowed to stand between a person and some good he really wants. I believe people really want religious and moral training for their chil- dren, but they have no faith in existing Sunday school methods to give it with any adequacy. The Church should concern itself more, I think, with setting up a school that will be efficient according to present-day educational standards. We have paid, relatively, too much attention to getting people to come, and too little to making it worth while. We must change the Church system and make this work the main thing, give it the right of way, give it money, more time, pro- fessionally trained teachers, textbooks that rank with The Sunday School and the Home 183 day-school books, and buildings equipped for educa- tional work." Since many in their answers have laid great stress on the importance of the home life, the answer to the question, given by one who has had wide and varied experience, is of special value in this study. Home Department and the Teens. The Home Department most certainly has a special relationship to the adolescent period. Up to the age of five years the home is the controlling influence in the life of the child. If the parents allow any outside influence to be stronger than that of the home as the child grows to maturity, they have weakened the strongest safe- guard the boy and girl can have. The school is a close second controlling influence, but it should always be second, not first; the church has its influence, and that is well, but still the home should come first. The Home Department aims to keep the closest union be- tween the church and the home. The Home Depart- ment aims to have the home rules emanate from the one infallible guide book — the Bible. It is a well-established fact that the existence of members of the Home Department in the home — usually the mother and the grandmother — means a Bible governed home, the safest place for the training of boys and girls just coming into knowledge of life in all its great meaning. The best of people err often ; their judgment is faulty. If the home is governed by what mother and father says, and mother and father know little of the teachings of the Book, then the counsels and decisions are open to question, and the majority of our bright inquiring boys and girls will 184 The Sunday School and the Teens question. If, on the other hand, when questions are raised, the best of authority is consulted and a higher mind than any human mind is consulted, the boy or girl is satisfied, and much has been accomplished. In such a home they are taught to go to the source of all wisdom, are taught the extremely practical nature of the book and are made to understand that there are no double standards in His Word. Thus among all the helps, all the books of the world, the Book has its rightful place, — the first place. For example : A mother said to me, " I am so glad that I have been able to keep up the habit of studying the Word. It helps in so many ways. My sixteen-year- old daughter came to me and said, ' Mother, did you have to try to keep good and pure when you were my age ? ' I said that I did have to try, but that she had a talisman I had not. She asked me what and I said, ' You are a Christian, and I was not when I was sixteen; and you have accepted Him as your guide in all things. Get your Bible and read i Cor. 3:16-17. Now, dear, you remember how he felt when his earthly temple was defiled, how he drove the money changers forth and how angry he was ? If we are his spiritual temples, how it does urge us to keep ourselves pure and undefiled for him.' Edith was still for many minutes, and when she rose to leave she kissed me and said, ' It is so good to have a mother to help and so fine to think that both mother and I can go to the unquestioned source of power for guidance. I am going to tell the girls about this. We do meet so many temptations, and those of us who are Christians ought to realize as I do now, just what our own selves mean to him.' " Chapter XII HOME CONDITIONS AND THE ADOLESCENT GIRL " To save society, the home must be saved. The Church is called to no task more imperative, to none more exalted." In an investigation recently under- taken by the Association of Neighborhood Workers in the City of New York, an effort was made to deter- mine how many girls between the ages of 14 and 18 years living in tenement neighborhTsods, were provided with adequate homes. To quote Miss Daniels who directed the investigation : " For the sake of setting some standard and taking into consideration existing conditions in tenement districts, an ' adequate ' home is defined as one where the girl has some opportunity for quiet, a certain privacy in sleeping, bathing and dressing, and food such as is found in the average tenement family. Added to this the house must con- tain no lodgers, and the parents must show an interest in the girl. Defined in this way, the estimated num- ber of adequate homes as judged by social workers is one-tenth. One worker gave less than one-tenth, another but one per cent; in only one case did the worker feel that most of her settlement girls were adequately provided for. The inadequacy of the phys- ical home is made startlingly clear by Mr. Vieller's report that, in spite of the many efforts to better con- 1 86 The Sunday School and the Teens ditions, there still remain in the City of New York 100,000 separate tenements and 80,000 buildings hous- ing 3,000,000 people unprotected from the danger of fire. There are 100,000 dark, unventilated rooms without even a window into the adjoining room; and over 1,000,000 of these homes have no bathing facil- ities beyond a common sink." Vieller Housing Reform. Such statistics as these can mean only one thing, a tremendous overcrowding in practically every home of the working class. This overcrowding is unqualifiedly bad. The working girl returns at night to a few small rooms, some of them without light or ventilation, all of them crowded to the limit by the family. She has nowhere to rest, no moment of quiet in which to recover her equilib- rium after the hard day's work. In many cases she must help with the housework. If she wishes recrea- tion, she must find it elsewhere ; and at night she must sleep with one and perhaps more bed-fellows in a badly-ventilated room, the street noises breaking her rest. Aside from the danger of infection and conta- gious disease, the strain on the nerves caused by this overcrowding is enormous. The increasing number of nervous breakdowns alone, proves this. The moral and social effects are even more serious. What the effects of such conditions may be can be judged from the fact that " in European cities an appreciable pro- portion of the prostitutes who are brought up in such circumstances, trace their fall to incestuous relations." The Social Evil. And it is not alone in European cities that such conditions obtain. Miss Daniels' in- vestigation has revealed the fact that, in a very large Home Conditions cmd the Adolescent Girl 187 percentage of cases the parents do not know anything about the places where their children are employed, not even the names of the firms or the streets. Their knowledge, in many instances, is limited to the amount of money contained in the pay envelope at the end of the week. The dangers of the noon-hour and the pit- falls which are deliberately laid to ensnare the young feet going to and returning from work are matters of which the parents remain apparently unconscious. According to the statistics of the Census Board there are in the City of New York approximately 375,000 young people between the ages of 14 and 18 years. Over half of these young people are girls; girls shy and awkward, self-assertive, rude, giggling; slangy and yet puzzled; wondering, striving to understand, looking out on the world with wide eyes and growing curiosity ; shy and reticent creatures who comprehend not at all this strange thing called life. And from among these girls will come the 10,000 girls, who be- tween the ages of 14 and 18 years are to be found working in factories; there will come the 13,000 girls standing through the long day in our stores ; the 19,000 who are employed in the homes of others, or who are busy playing the part of little mother at home; from among these 188,000 girls will come also the teachers of the next generation, and lastly, far more than half of the 5,000 prostitutes that recruit the vast army of women who must sell their bodies to live. While the physical conditions which obtain in the tenement home may not apply to the more prosperous working fami- lies, there is to be found quite as noticeable a lack of understanding and sympathy between the parents iSS The Sunday School and th» Ttent and children of the better-to-do classes, similar failure on the parents' part to understand the recreative and social needs of their young people. This explains why the cheap theaters and the dance halls flourish in our midst and why the excursion steamers and public parks become the popular, if not the natural, scenes for courting and mating. The Homeless Girl. And what shall be said about the homeless girl, the girl who lives in the cheer- less hall-bedroom with no place to receive her friends and no attraction greater than the four cramped walls to hold her, upon her return from work at the end of the long day? In Miss Daniels' investigation of boarding houses and hotels for girls, 33 houses were visited ranging from poor to excellent. It was found that the total number of girls who could be accommo- dated in these hotels and boarding houses was 2,567. The charges for board and room varied according to the purposes for which the houses were established. The hotels aiming at self-support charged from $3.50 to $8.00 per week. The rates in others varied from $2.5p to $6.00. And there were a few of a distinctly municipal and purely benevolent character where there was no charge. It is difficult if not impossible to ascertain the num- ber of girls who are alone and bravely struggling for a decent livelihood in our great cities and living under forlorn and cheerless conditions. The pitiful note left by a young girl who, worn out by the struggle, recently committed suicide, reveals the tragedy of this lonely mode of living. The note read, " My feet ache so, and nobody cares." That was all; just an over- HoTne Conditions and (he Adolescent Girl 189 fatigued physical condition and a bitter realization that nobody cared. Does it not serve as a challenge to us, who call ourselves Christians, to prove that someone does care and that caring deeply, a united and persistent effort shall be made to meet this urgent need? Chapter XIII THE SOCIAL AND INTELLECTUAL LIFE OF ADOLESCENTS The subject of this chapter, as assigned to this com- mission, involves the assumption that the Church does render a real service to boys and girls in the develop- ment and stimulation of their social and intellectual life, or that it should do so. An inquiry into the facts by means of an extended questionnaire brought one hundred and eighty-eight responses from pastors and church workers, representing a wide range of local situations. As might be anticipated, a large majority of the answers were very general and indicated that in the main the churches follow an easy drift, making use of the somewhat common social and literary organiza- tions and activities, usually without their careful cor- relation with other church features in a unified scheme of work for the church or the community. It is apparent that in many cases the reason for the activities is to help build up the church and Sunday school as such, rather than to help primarily the boys and girls enlisted. In too many cases also it is evi- dent that the objective, while it includes the personal pleasure or development of the individual boy or girl, falls short in that it does not include directed activity, 190 Social and Intellectital Life of Adolescents 191 calculated to increase the fruitfulness of the lives of boys and girls in forms of service to others. A resume of the more significant responses to the questionnaire reveals the following suggestions: Question i. What Kinds of Social Activities are you Carrying on for Boys 13-16 Years of Agef Typical Answers : Athletics ; boys' clubs ; organiza- tions, such as KJnights of King Arthur, Boy Scouts, Boys' Brigade, Junior Christian Endeavor; organized Sunday school class; hikes; supervised games; class, club and department socials ; dinners ; entertainments ; picnics ; camps ; tournaments ; contests ; encouragement of the use of the Young Men's Christian Association and attendance at church services. Question 2. What Kinds of Social Activities are you Carrying on for Girls 13-16 Years of Agef Typical Answers: Athletics; Junior Young Peo- ple's Society; organized Sunday school class; girls' clubs; music and sewing instruction; missionary cir- cles ; Camp Fire Girls ; socials and parties under club and Sunday school class auspices. Question 3. What Kinds of Social Activities are you Carrying on for Boys 17-20 Years of Agef Typical Answers: Athletics; conducting special church services; young people's societies; missionary circles; class feeds; hikes; organized Sunday school class; young men's club; scout leadership; baseball; cooperation in men's federation ; socials at homes and church; entertainments; debates; camps; picnics; su- pervised games and tournaments. Question 4. What Kinds of Social Activities are you Carrying on for Girls 17-20 Years of Agef 192 The Sunday School and the Teens Typical Answers: Athletics; gymnasium; young people's societies; organized Sunday school classes; missionary circles ; picnics ; games ; dramatics ; parties ; banquets; social times at religious meetings; Camp Fire Girls ; reading and music clubs ; socials at church and homes; social service club and mission for relief of needy and comfort of sick. In the responses to the foregoing questions concern- ing the social activities there is conspicuously absent a sufficiently distinctive program for the boys and girls to meet the special interests and capacities of each sex. There is missing also any reference to adequate adult leadership, so positively essential to effective and even wholesome social life among young people. The major effort up to the age of 20 seems to be to have socials for the amusement of the boys and girls, while in fact both boys and girls would rather serve than be served. The reported social activities might more properly be called society activities, for many of them are sim- ply performances without aim and without underlying principles. The whole report on social activities shows that most churches are not living up to the pos- sibility of making a definite program for their young people that shall mean doing definite things which are social in accord with the social ideal and the motive of the Kingdom of God. For instance, there are definite things which a boy may do in his community. He may work on the clean street program, help on the health propaganda, " swat " the fly, beautify the yards, he may build the playground, construct the apparatus, teach younger Social and Intellectual Life of Adoletcentt 193 boys how to play, report cases of need, learn to care for the invalid and injured. Why is it we cannot see the difference between the religious values to a boy of an ice cream social and a chance in a mining town to be handy in times of disaster through an ambulance corps or the like? It is time that the social program of the churches meant to its young men and its young women what the social program meant to the young man of Nazareth. We would have no problem of grouping young men and young women if we would ask their service in the solution of the life problems of their communities. This would involve as the foundation of much of the social activities of young people a careful study by adults, assisted by the young people themselves, of the various needs and opportunities which exist for helpful forms of social service. The boys and girls would enter with more zest into a program which rises above being good and happy to the point of being good for something and making other people happy. Question 5. What Kinds of Intellectual Activities are you Carrying on for Boys 13-16 Years of Age? Typical Answers: Those offered by the responsi- bilities and training of young people's societies work ; lectures and talks; encouragement in reading; Bible school memory work; graded Sunday school lessons; participation in scout work; mission study; prayer meeting and young people's programs; debates; life problem discussions; systematic Bible study work in graded courses with note-book requirements and with gradings and promotions ; missionary reading courses ; talks by specialists on various vocations ; good Sunday 194 The Svmday School and the Teens school library; clubs, such as camera, wireless, aero- plane, orchestra, etc.; amateur dramatics; encourage- ment to make most of public schools and go on to higher education if possible ; use of public library and reading rooms, with occasional suggestions from the pulpit as to reading. Question 6. What Kinds of Intellectual Activ- ities are you Carrying on for Girls 13-16 Years of Age? Typical Answers: Bible school memory work; mission studies; instruction classes in sewing, short- hand, music; graded Sunday school lessons; Sunday school library ; instruction on life problems in pastor's class. Question 7. What Kinds of Intellectual Activities are you Carrying on for Boys 17-20 Years of Age? Typical Answers: Mission studies; graded Sunday school lessons; debates; teacher training; instruction classes in public speaking and personal efificiency ; club work, such as camera, wireless, aeroplane, scout, or- chestra, story-telling, etc. ; literary evenings ; lectures ; talks; round table discussions, etc. Question 8. What Kinds of Intellectual Activities are you Carrying on for Girls 17-20 Years of Age? Typical Answers: Missionary and history studies; literary programs; Sunday school lesson, including preparation of programs for class meetings and serv- ices; story-tellers' club; instruction in cooking, womanhood, domestic science, hygiene of the home; personal efficiency and Teacher Training class. In the responses concerning the intellectual life it is apparent that in the majority of cases it is expected Social and Intellectual Life of Adolescents 195 that the intellectual nature of the youth shall be cared for mainly by other agencies than the church or Sunday school, but in only a few instances is there any recog- nition of the fact that the church may play a very vital part in attaching boys and girls to the distinctively educational agencies and institutions of the community life, or through active cooperation with these agencies increase the efficiency of their services. In view of the full schedule now required by most public and private schools of both boys and girls, care should be taken by the church not to multiply the number of studies, papers or preparations for club or other program activities to an extent which would involve inefficiency in school work or a physical over- load to the youth. This consideration should not, however, be allowed to prevent real intellectual work in connection with the Sunday school, nor should it prevent, at some time, membership in a pastor's class or other class preparatory to church membership. This Sunday school work and pastor's instruction should not be simply literary but should include prac- tical studies in Christian conduct and preparation for usefulness in the Sunday school, the church and the community at large. Question p. What forms of Social Activity Might the Church Suggest for the Proper Development of Boys and Girls 13-20 Years of Age? In order to reveal accurately the haphazard variety and groupings of features suggested, a verbatim copy of these answers is given in full. Typical Answers : " Any club which has for its object help to the church and hence to humanity." 196 The Sunday School and the Teent "A social meeting with games under strict super- vision by men or women." " There are many forms if you have good leaders." " Entertainment of different youths in homes of those interested, at meals, or in the evening; prefer- ably by invitation of youth in family." " Messenger service." " Social evening for some Department, at least every week. There should be varied activities. Our motto, ' Something doing every week for some Sun- day school class.' " " Inter-church athletics and socials." " Organize them, have trained leaders, and they will care for themselves." " Sunday school classes should be organized for social pleasure and social service." " Clubs, socials, contests." " Literary contests, spelling contests." " Work for hospitals, making of picture books, etc. Dressing dolls for foreign missions, the adoption of support of scholars in mission schools." " Games such as baseball in summer and indoor games in winter can be arranged for the boys." " Boys' and girls' clubs, designed to interest in vari- ous forms of social service." " Utilize and develop gang tendencies into lines worth while, such as Scouts, King Arthurs, Boys' Brotherhoods, etc." " Our problem is to limit social diversions for young people." " A leader for boys and one for girls in all activities where there are no Young Men's Christian Associa- Social and Intellectual Life of Adolescents 197 tions near by. The gymnasium is one of the best helps." " A social evening, an afternoon outing, and expedi- tions to the institutions of the city." " There might be a boys' and girls' social club. The young people might be invited to meet at the pastor's house occasionally for a social evening." " Athletic sports, games, literary gatherings, etc." " Clubs, parties, camp life, regular socials." " ' Their name is legion.' Any and every permissi- ble social activity might be suggested by the church for the proper development of these ages." " Under class organization such as Young People's Society of Christian Endeavor, and similar organiza- tions." " Work along lines of public playgrounds, etc." " Well-planned and supervised social evenings with competent speakers for a twenty-minute address." " Helping in keeping city beautiful, tidy and clean. Forms and kinds of play." " Opportunities for physical, social, intellectual and moral improvement in boy scout work." " Monthly socials and weekly prayer meetings." " Picnics, debates, song services, refreshments, con- certs, etc." " Indoor picnics." " Fireside socials, story-telling hours, musicals, recitals, games, Christian Endeavor socials, occasional suppers." "Evenings with authors; musicals, lectures, enter- tainments ; literary socials, historical, biblical, spelling, formalities of polite society." 198 The Sunday School and the Teens " Boys' basketball, girls' clubs and sewing guild, dancing." " Church socials, home socials, auto rides." " Monthly social at church, occasional socials at homes, picnics. A church 'get together,' with social pleasure, not money making, as the objective." " Frequent socials in homes where classes can study the social needs of those of their own ages. Gymna- sium work among girls is largely a social pleasure." " More socials for mixed crowds." " Socials, summer picnics, baseball, tennis and out- door sports for boys, hikes, fishing trips, camping parties. For girls — picnics, tennis, sewing clubs, milder outdoor sports, camping trips, occasional parties, etc." " Work in the settlements, neighborhood visitation to study local conditions." " Singing classes, Bible studies, select reading courses." " Visit the sick and those in prison, look out for the friendless, needy and aged." " Socials, stereopticon, amateur plays, concerts, lectures." " Class teams for baseball and basketball." " Industrial work." " I do not know." A resume of the above presents the following fea- tures : Young people's rooms in the church ; young people's societies; clubs, such as literary, Scout, King Arthur, musical, sewing, etc. ; contests ; games ; gymnasium ; systematic schedule of group and class socials Social and Intellectual Life of Adolescents 199 in homes and church; hospitality in homes of pastor and layman; inter-church socials and ath- letics; parties; banquets; musicals; illustrated lec- tures ; amateur plays ; dancing ; hikes ; outings ; camps ; social service clubs; home missionary activity and foreign missionary support and directors of boys' and girls' activities. For the conduct of most of the activities suggested very few have any extra equipment other than that common to most churches and homes, the initiation and conduct of the features depending mainly upon adult leadership in the form of encouraging counsel, if not in the form of personal direction. In large measure the features are calculated to furnish oppor- tunity for fellowship in recreation and the passing of time under harmless conditions, while in very small measure is there any suggestion of fellowship in serv- ice. Special emphasis should be placed upon the sug- gestion of more closely attaching the home life to the church life through hospitality extended by church members to the boys and girls of the Sunday school and community. Many social problems would be solved if the homes of church people rather than public places were made the social centers for the young people of the community. Question 10. What Forms of Intellectual Activity Might the Church Suggest for the Proper Develop- ment of Boys and Girls 13-20 Years of Age? Typical Answers: Library or reading-room in church or Sunday school; reading clubs; memorizing of Bible and literary gems; story-telling; illustrated lectures; educational trips; club organizations and 200 The Simday School and the Teens instruction in music; biography; nature studies; church history; political and social economy; Bible and mission studies; Teacher Training; inter-church debates ; use of influence with schools to seek intellec- tual health rather than book cramming. These suggestions bear too heavily on matters of general education and give too little attention to the discussion and study of the personal life problems that confront boys and girls of these ages. It is prob- ably wise that matters of general education, intellec- tual training and equipment for earning a livelihood shall be left largely to the public and other social in- stitutions conducted specifically for such purposes, but the church should seek to supplement the schools by furnishing instruction and by encouraging study along the lines of the personal duties and the rela- tions which come to boys and girls as they grow into young manhood and young womanhood. In- struction on many of the most vital problems of the personal, domestic, social and religious life is not only the legitimate work of the church, but can best be given under church auspices. Question ii. How can the Church Promote and Supervise the Social and Intellectual Activities of the Youth? Typical Answers: Finance them; provide adult leaders and workers who are in sympathy with the church ; through the appointment of competent men and women to plan suitable activities ; through an employed church director to work with the young people; more cooperation of parents; by the pastor and his leaders conferring together until work is correlated Social and Intellectual Life of Adolescents 20 1 in all societies with a definite aim in view; by pro- viding suitable rooms for the meetings of the young people and giving them adequate chaperonage without too strict censorship ; through inter-church federation ; neighborhood clubs, etc. ; through teachers of Sunday school classes; through planning activities so as to bring them as nearly as possible to self-support; de- velop enough rich and generous men and women to provide a competent pastor's assistant to direct young people's activities; through seeking relief of children from public school overstrain ; through throw- ing into bold relief community needs and enthusing young people to help in meeting them; by a compre- hensive year's program, including assigned discus- sion to individual Sunday school classes; group organizations ; by making the church committee organi- zation include competent committees for the develop- ment of boys' and girls' activities; by the church giving more attention to the nurture of the spiritual life and less attention to social and educational de- vices; by providing Young Men's and Young Women's Christian Association equipment and ac- tivities, and by inducing the boys and girls to identify themselves with these organizations. The fundamental need seems to be for an intelli- gent conviction that the intellectual life of the child should not be left largely to accident. There is also needed a comprehensive program (homemade, not imported) which shall recognize local conditions and utilize to the best advantage leaders and workers of right motive, but at first of little training or experi- ence. Again attention should be called to the fact that 202 The Sunday School and the Teens the church should feel obligated to promote the social and intellectual life of boys and girls and not simply promote the interests of the church by social and intellectual devices which attract boys and girls. There is no doubt that if the church strengthened its effort in establishing Christian motives in young people and securing their hearty commitment as fol- lowers and representatives of Jesus Christ, there would be furnished in the lives of many boys and girls the necessary substratum upon which other cul- tural activities might be safely and effectively built up. In view of the fact that the church people of the community in many places have provided a Young Men's and Young Women's Christian Association equipment and support the activities of these organi- zations, it is important that the churches themselves should more largely take advantage of this provision and recognize and encourage the use of these Associa- tions as institutional departments of the churches for special and extensive lines of work for their boys and girls. A deliberate effort to identify the boys and girls of the community with these organizations, such as is made to identify them with the various Sunday schools, and a plan to place church workers as leaders in these organizations, as is done to place them in the Sunday school as teachers, would make these organi- zations far more helpful to the church. Question 12. Do you ■find One-night, Two-night, Three-night Programs, or Courses Reaching Over a Period of Weeks Most Acceptable for Boys or Girls in Their Teensf, Social amd Intellectual Life of Adolescents 203 Typical Answers: A large majority favor a one- night program; a few favor short courses, one or two nights a week ; many respond that school work and parents' objections to regular meeting engagements make frequent or series of meetings impractical; sev- eral emphasize desirability of succession of short-term events covering a variety of interests. Series of meetings should not exceed six in a course. Question 7j. What Provision is your Church Mak- ing for the Social and Intellectual Life of Boys and Girls in Setting Apart Room for Such Activities as Games, Debates, Club and Reading Purposes? Typical Answers : Would be an injury in this com- munity; community house supervised by committee, aided by older girls and boys; use basement of church for socials, etc. ; each class has its own room ; class rooms; parlors of church with kitchen service; allow use of chapel for such purposes whenever re- quested ; have an up-to-date Sunday school plant ; have $3,000 institutional building ; use nearby Young Men's Christian Association; have twelve rooms of vary- ing size in addition to auditorium ; have well-equipped gymnasium; several rooms for class and social pur- poses; use Sunday school room for such activities; parish house well equipped with games. The responses to this question indicate in a ma- jority of cases a willingness to " allow " the boys and girls to use certain rooms but only on occasional de- liberate plan to initiate or direct their use. Not a few churches respond that they have plenty of rooms, but it is interesting to note that the replies by the same 204 The Sunday School an£ the Teem churches to other questions indicate that the roonas are simply maintained, not used. Question 14. How Does Your Church Raise the Standard of Boys and Girls in Their Teens Along Social and Intellectual Linesf Typical Answers: By trying to teach religion and morals ; by cooperating with the parents who come to receive the inspiration of religious worship and preach- ing ; by the assumption of college training as a normal expectation ; through encouragement of parental care ; we seek to make it pay for boys and girls to attend church socials rather than town affairs ; by indirect in- fluence — whatever we have is good — no slackness or carelessness is allowed in our affairs ; not at all ex- cept as its religious teachings affect moral character; by instilling the thought that the church has a right to expect the best kind of intellectual development and social life; by planning entertainments of high grade; by preaching sermons on courtship and mar- riage; we come into contact with the young people personally to a great extent in Sunday school but es- pecially through our institutional work; we try to show our approval of the best in the social and intel- lectual life of the village; that must be done through personal appeal to gang leader first, then through him to the crowd; through broad original Sunday school platform and class work; by making the church an active center of properly conducted social pleasures; by keeping these activities under the shadow of the church ; having socials and classes that in the end can be remembered because of friendships and acquaint- ances made and knowledge gained; our organization Social and Intellectual Life of Adolescents 205 does so largely by the combined appeal to the chivalric and the desire to do something worth while ; by keep- ing activities in the church building and under church leaders as much as possible; by rare personal workers whose influence has been superb; try to keep pulpit work stimulating; by discouraging imprudent amuse- ments by supplanting them with better ones; through the public ministry; through teaching in Sunday school classes; by example and by personal talks; by endeavoring to secure at all times only the better edu- cated and cultured Christian teachers. It is gratifying to note that in the responses to this question the main emphasis is put upon direct per- sonal leadership, counsel, and encouragement. It seems to be duly recognized that higher standards are set by example more effectively than by precept and that the defining of high standards requires close per- sonal contact of people of education and culture with the young people whom they would influence. Question 15. What Provision is Your Church Mak- ing for Boys and Girls, to Take the Place of Cheap Picture Shows and Objectionable Social Resorts? Typical Answers: Very little, if any, provision; we do not believe that the church should attempt to rival on these lines ; we aim to make the spiritual work of the church attractive for both young and old; we are trying to make the social opportunities offered by the church at once regular, frequent and appealing; we encourage the high grade of pictures and urge dis- crimination by giving them clean, wholesome exercise in our gymnasium to keep them from such places; maintain a down-town club room along Young Men's So6 The Swnday School and the Teens Christian Association lines; encourage Scouts and Camp Fire Girls; endeavor to develop a sentiment which will induce authorities to supervise closely such amusements; by conducting illustrated lectures, enter- tainments, amateur plays, picnics, etc.; by maintain- ing an open church with variety of events made as broad and as interesting as possible ; have a union lec- ture course conducted by the churches; illustrated travel talks; make the church an attractive social cen- ter open everyday; we emphasize development of the physical through our gymnasium and also have plays occasionally by our own people; urge our boys and girls to abstain from attendance at such places and ask adults to cooperate; put in a mov- ing picture machine (children free, young people a nominal charge) ; by endeavoring to give them all the good, clean, wholesome amusement we can in the church; by just showing an interest in the welfare of the boys and girls and encouraging them in their social enterprises; we use the resources we have to make young people feel that we care for them ; the only effectual way is to do away with the shows and resorts. The keynote in these responses is to the effect that Christian people individually and combined, as in the church, should become intelligently appreciative of the moral interests of boyhood and girlhood and should spend enough time and effort in personal co- operation in recreative activities to get a hold upon the boys and girls who are now the easy victims of amusement mongers, whose only purpose is the secur- ing of money at whatever discounting of ideals, at Social and Intellectual Life of Adolescents 207 whatever hazarding of purity, at whatever wrecking of righteous motives. It is perfectly normal that a boy or girl should desire recreation and enjoy that recreation best in company with others. The demand for this is so great that if the church or Christian people do not furnish the op- portunity, others of less worthy motive will meet the demand on a commercial basis and the Christian forces of the community will lose their rightful spon- sorship for the play life of the people. It is not nec- essary that the church itself shall conduct all kinds of amusements. It has other tasks specifically its own, but it may by encouraging the right kind of amusements, by discouraging wrong amusements, and at times by pioneering in the discovery of effective forms of amusement, play an important part in puri- fying the recreative life of young people. Question 16. How do your Church Officials Partici- pate in the Social and Intellectual Life and Activi- ties of the Boys and Girls? Typical Answers : Send out circular letters of sug- gestions along this line to men of the church ; personal participation by Sunday school officials and teachers mainly; through the pastor; there is considerable fel- lowship between old and young and Christian sympa- thy and desire to help on the part of the officials ; by appointing a supervising committee; have small en- couragement from our church officials except to sup- ply the means financially for carrying on the work; older officials help financially ; younger officials help in activities ; show an interest in furnishing opportunities for recreation and an interest in using their games; 2o8 The Sunday School and the Teem visiting the clubs occasionally and entertaining them at banquets ; hire a director for certain clubs ; some of the officials are leaders; by attendance personally; occa- sionally opening their homes to young people's social affairs; by planning young people's activities and at times participating in them; principally by visiting the young people's events; our church officials are officers in some of the young people's organiza- tions. While care should be exercised not to have young people's activities conspicuously dominated by old people, there are other things that can be done by old people besides merely giving financial support. Young people covet the sympathetic encouragement and counsel of older people in connection with their social and intellectual plans, but the advice is best received when it is privately given and without the embarrassment of making the boy or girl appear to his associates to be dependent or under too rigid su- pervision. When one can do it naturally and gracefully it may at times be well for the older folks to participate in the activities of the young people, but it should always be done on the young people's ground. It is a fine art for people with age and experience to transfer to young people the best fruits of their training and do it in such, a way as to increase rather than decrease the self-dependence of the young. Sympathetic encouragement and guidance rather than domi- nation or conspicuous supervision is the proper serv- ice which church officials may render to young people in their social and intellectual activities. social and Intelltctual Life of AdoUsctnU 209 Question ly. In What Way is your Church Inftu- encing Boys and Girls in their Teens? (a) In suggesting and providing reading matter. (b) By promotion of vocational talks. (c) In story-telling hours, discussion clubs, etc. Typical Answers: By announcing good books on the church calendar; by operating a good Sunday school library; by the circulation of good Sunday school papers; through cooperation with the local li- braries; through debates and lectures; through per- sonal influence of the pastor and the free use by young people of the pastor's large library; by round table discussions conducted by Sunday school classes ; through Sunday school story-telling hour for little children ; short story-telling at club meetings ; through talks to Sunday school class clubs and before young people's societies on different lines of life work. The strongest emphasis in the responses to this question is upon a good Sunday school library, Sunday school papers, and the suggesting of books and liter- ature worth reading. There is evident lack of effort on the part of the churches to do what they might in acting as a go-between, bringing together young people who need counsel and advice on practical forms of life activity and the people who by character and experience are qualified to give such advice. The church through its Sunday school or other organiza- tions should call upon more people of the right kind, not to give lectures, but to meet small groups of boys or girls for informal friendly counsel along the line of some definite life problem. The arranging of such informal and confidential conferences on definite 2IO The Sunday School and the Teens topics is an easier matter than most people suppose and they are helpful to both old and young. Question i8. What is your Church Doing to Stimu- late Healthy, Normal Relationships and Acquaint- ances Between Boys and Girls of the Later Teens? Typical Answers : Giving them meeting places un- der right auspices in connection with public services; young people's societies help some, but are inadequate ; through the senior society composed of young men and young women having many socials; teachers in the Sunday school have this in mind and introduce the matter for discussion on proper occasions; through talks by the pastor and personal interviews to caution individuals; Sunday school and club so- cials; young people's societies; socials and business meetings; prayer meetings; by attempting to make them manly Christian boys and pure Christian girls; having mixed socials, parties and contests; young people's societies; excursions and outings, always under capable supervision; organized classes under proper auspices entertain each other; special socials conducted for young people of the same ages ; fellow- ship in the choir; by annual dancing parties of the girls' club; picnics, drives and athletic contests for boys and girls together. Question ig. What is your Church Doing to Help the Intellectual Life of the Boy and Girl Through Co- operation with the School Authorities and Teachers? Typical Answers: Visiting teachers and talking over individual cases ; advertising school affairs as re- quested; conducting parent-teacher meetings; through pastor's emphasis on value and service of the school; Social and Intellectual Life of Adolescents 211 endeavoring to influence the teacher; the pastor aids boys in his library in special work they may have in school; visits the schools; invites suggestions from school teachers as to methods and offers service in any reasonable way; several members of the school board are members of our church ; many of the teach- ers attend church services; pastor is a substitute teacher in the high school; literary topics discussed at young people's gatherings are chosen from those in the public school curriculum; prizes sometimes given to pupils who acquire a high standard in certain sub- jects in the schools; when educational entertainments are given, nearby schools are provided with tickets in- suring reduced rates; supplement school training by emphasis on character rather than scholarship; some of the Sunday school teachers are teachers in public schools; as much as permitted, but school authorities do not seem to see any serious needs in this direc- tion ; the pastor lectures in the public schools. Most of the responses to this question indicate that nothing is done or even attempted, while a consider- able number report vaguely an interest, a sympathy and moral support. Of course, there should be great care exercised to avoid interference with social man- agement, and teachers should not be called upon to work their social connections for the special advance- ment of any church interest. However, it lies clearly within the province of the church to establish a much closer relationship between the public school teachers and the parents of the children ir^ whose nurture the church is interested, and it is possible for the Sunday school workers and pastor to do much toward creating 212 The Sunday School amd the Teens a substantial sentiment among citizens and children, making for loyalty to the purposes and the adminis- tration of the schools. In view of the fact that many problems arising in the school with relation to a child are the outgrowth of conditions in the home and social life over which the school authorities have no control, it is often pos- sible for the church to help the teacher by exerting its influence in the correction of these non-school fac- tors in the case of individual children. This means a sympathetic and close cooperation between the school teachers and the church workers. Question 20. How is your Church Cooperating With Employers Who Are Carrying on Welfare Work for their Teen Boys and Girlsf Typical Answers : By moral support and agitation ; by giving good suggestions to men employing such help ; by having a social service committee and an em- ployment committee; by endeavoring through em- ployers to inyite such boys and girls into the circles of influence in the church ; by church committee work- ing with inter-church federation; have opened church to a series of lectures on health, girls' wage problem, etc. ; by urging humane treatment, Sunday rest, etc. Only 19 out of 188 replies contain any answer to this question, and most of these indicate that either nothing is done or that there seems to be little oppor- tunity for such service. Evidently the church inclines in general to fight shy of any possible complica- tions with employers or with the problem of the la- boring classes, in their relation to their employers. The church, as such, has more important business Social and Intellectual Life of Adolescents 213 than petty meddling with business agreements be- tween employer and employe. Its unquestioned tasks in this connection are that of developing a public in- telligence as to the conditions which make possible or impossible righteous and happy living; the awak- ening of the public conscience, both among employers and employes which shall demand equitable and con- siderate treatment one of the other, and the estab- lishment of a public demand that, true to the princi- ples of Christ, individual enterprise or gain shall not be at the sacrifice of the general social welfare. Whatever conduct of investigations, whatever presen- tation of high ideals and whatever crystallizing of sen- timent into action shall make the church able to ren- der these forms of service are not only justifiable but obligatory upon the church if it shall fulfill its mission. Question 21. What is your Church Doing in Train- ing Leadership for the Intellectual and Social Activi- ties of Boys and Girls in Their Teensf Typical Answers: Have boiled down such books as "Church Work for Boys," and "Boy Life and Self-Government" and sent them to our teachers of boys in their teens; pastor makes it a definite part of his work to conduct training classes and personal conferences for the training of leaders; teach boys and girls as leaders in organizations; get young men to teach in Sunday school under the guidance of an employed Sunday school superintendent specially trained for his work; the church does not appreciate this need but looks to the minister to run things, much to the detriment of the work; training through com- mittee service in Sunday school and young people's 214 The Sunday School and the Teens society; training class for Sunday school teachers; pastor selects leaders and personally coaches them; have training for service classes; encouragement of Sunday school teachers when good work is done ; send the boys to summer training camps ; put the boys and girls on important working committees; have a boy in training at the Young Men's Christian Association to be a gymnasium leader; this burden is shifted en- tirely upon the pastor and a few men and women, and only a moderate work is therefore being done. Unquestionably one of the reasons for the restricted training for leadership is to be found in the lack of sufficient definition of the tasks of Christian service which might be rendered by the boys and girls under church influence, thus leaving a course of training for leadership without any definite or inspiring objective. When one trains to be a leader, he wants to know what he is to lead people into. There is too fre- quently a call to get ready to do something without any statement of what that something is to be. When the church in any community, as a result of careful investigation and planning, shall define in de- tail the objectives of a campaign of Christian devel- opment and service, it will be possible to enlist a considerable number, both of young people and adults, for courses of training that will fit them to lead their classes or associates to the accomplishment of the ob- jects defined. There are always good people ready to train themselves for a definite and worthy cause. The church has long held up good ideals for people to believe in. It must now define the tasks of Chris- tian service that people must work out and leaders Social amd Intellectual Life of Adolescents 215 appear only where there is something real to be done. General Observations, i. Training and responsi- bility of leadership is generally allowed to rest too ex- clusively with the pastor. More specially trained leaders should be provided, with more conspicuous and final responsibility for leadership of the youth. 2. Boys and girls, with adult coaching that will be adequate without being patronizing or embarrassing, should be encouraged to more self-activity in their own behalf. The gradual but sure development of independence in thought and the steadily increasing acceptance of individual responsibility, which are the proper fruitage of adolescent life, require that boys and girls in their teens shall less and less have good things done for them and more and more shall they do good things for themselves and others. 3. The church should not consume its energies in self-support, nor should it relieve the home, the school or other institutions from their rightful duties, but it should be an energizing campaign organization with its adherents all working members of a cam- paign committee, working aggressively to establish the Kingdom of God in the lives of the boys and girls of each community. 4. True to the teachings and spirit of Jesus Christ, the church must establish among boys and girls in their teens a recognition that individual welfare is subordinate to the general social welfare, that the value of a life is not measured by consumption but by output and that each one may add to his own good works the rich fruits of a beneficent leadership. Chapter XIV THE PHYSICAL LIFE OF THE ADOLESCENT The replies to one hundred and sixty-nine ques- tionnaires returned by churches representing a wide variety of church work form the basis of this study. Herewith are submitted the questions, a summary of the replies and the definite recommendations based thereon. Question i. Has Anything been Attempted in Health Education {Care of Nose, Eyes, Fingers, Value of Bathing, etc.), if so, What, and with How Much Success? Ninety-three reply "no"; 21 make no answer; 20 said they left the matter to the public schools, by whom this work in health education they feel is being well done. Forty churches report definite health education in the following manner; 5 gave instructions to Boy Scouts and other organizations among boys; 5 hold gymnasium classes and have shower baths; i had a personal hygiene class; 7 report addresses by phy- sicians to a mothers' class, to brotherhoods and to boys ; 2 had first aid classes ; i says health education is provided in connection with temperance lessons, and another in connection with Christian Endeavor meet- ings; 2 provide medical examinations in connection with gymnasium work; 8 said they had done some 216 The Fhyncal Life of the Adolescent 217 definite work in health education ; three in cooperation with the local Tuberculosis Society and other agencies and by observance of a Tuberculosis Sunday ; i held talks on sex hygiene; 4 made spasmodic efforts to promote such education but lacked definite sugges- tion. In one community the churches urged the schools successfully to provide medical examinations. In each instance where such work was held it proved successful and worth while. The answers of some, and the large number failing to reply indicates a lack of interest in the subject; some saying such work is unnecessary. Such indi- viduals we believe do not realize the physical basis of character and that the question of health is largely a moral question. There is such a thing as the religion of the body and this is closely related to religion of the soul. The body may be the seat of many temptations and in the fight for victory over temptation the youth needs expert yet practical knowledge of health laws. We believe the church may avail itself of the oppor- tunity of utilizing health facts in its work of religious education and should feel responsibility for pressing home the moral and spiritual aspects of faulty living and physical inefficiency. Question 2. What Physical Activities, if any, are carried on by your Church f '{a) Physical Training (b) Athletics. Fifty-four reply " none " to (a)' and (b) ; 19 make no reply, 27 make no reply to (a) but make reply to (b). Nine reply "none" to (a) but reply to (b) ; 3 reply " yes " to (a) and (b) ; i replies " limited." aiS Tht Swnday School and the Teens To this second query of the questionnaire we have therefore a much more complete return, indicating that so far as physical activities are concerned the church is more active. Tvirenty-one state that gymnasium classes are con- ducted, the majority making it clear that they have their own gymnasium. One church has an athletic field in the summer and 55 report such clubs as base- ball, basketball, tennis, hockey and track athletics. One church has eleven baseball teams. A few have military organizations. Inter-Sunday school athletic organizations are mentioned by several with annual athletic meets. Several prefer to have the Young Men's Christian Association take charge of this work, as it has expert leadership, and many believe all this work should be done by the Young Men's Christian Association rather than by the church. This phase of the study reveals a large and increasing participa- tion by the church in athletics, both indoor and out- door. Question 3. What Methods of Supervision, Vol- unteer or Paid, are usedf Sixty-seven do not reply, 29 reply " none," 35 say " volunteer," 6 " paid," 7 " volunteer and paid," 5 " supervised by pastor." Two pastors have assistants. Three mention specifically that the Young Men's Chris- tian Association supplies the supervision. The secret of success in such work is supervision. Given good supervision the results are excellent. This supervision may be secured in one of several ways. First, there may be in the church an individual with strong magnetic character, a natural leader and a The PK^sicat Life of tJu Adoletcent 319 good disciplinarian, with a fair knowledge of the technique of physical work, who can be given charge of gymnasium classes and the organization of athletics. Such individuals, however, are rare. Often a young man having all the qualifications in character, but lacking technical knowledge may be sent to the local Young Men's Christian Association for special training. In the absence of such an individual the church may call upon the Young Men's Christian Association to furnish a leader, either as a volunteer or a paid worker. Where it is possible, such an out- side leader should be paid, as a greater degree of regu- larity in service can be demanded. Such a paid direc- tor can train volunteers to assist in the management and direction of the activities. Sane management is essential if it is intended to make such activities yield the highest and best results and to fit them into the general scheme of religious education. The following is a suggested schedule for class work where a suit- able gymnasium is available. THE CLASS SCHEDULE For men — Mondays and Thursdays at 8 p. m. In addition, the gymnasium is open from 5 to 7 p. M. for informal games, for business and professional men. For older boys, 16 to 18 years — Friday, 8 p. m., and game practice Wednesday, 4 p. m. For boys, 12 to 14 years — Monday and Thursday at 3.30 p. M. For small boys — 10 to 12 years, Saturday at 9.30 !A. M. 220 The S%mday School and the Teen* For women, class schedule adapted to convenience, and to be held at least two nights each week. For girls — 12 to 16 years, Friday 3.30 p. m. For small girls — 10 to 12 years, Saturday 10.30 A. M. Of course this schedule must b^ adapted to meet ex- isting needs. All this work should be under the general manage- ment of a Physical Department Committee, all appli- cants to the gymnasium should receive a physical ex- amination before being permitted to exercise, and a medical staff should be organized to make such exam- inations. Question 4. To What Extent is there Participation in These Activities by (a) Males? (b) Females? Eighty-five make no reply, 12 reply " none," 28 make no reply to (b), but say they have work for males, 5 reply " none " for females. Twelve others give definite replies as to percentage of each sex using the privileges: males, 60, 15, 40, 25, 20, 50, 50, 50, 50 to 75. 30, 5°. 125 boys, 75 men; females, 30, 12, a few, 50, 18, 25, 50, 50, 20, 25, 40, 50 girls , 50 women. The study indicates that more has been done for boys and young men than for girls and young women, though the latter are as much if not more in need of such training, and the community furnishes less oppor- tunity for them. Under trained leadership interest can be aroused and maintained for both sexes. Question 5. What Equipment is there for this Work? Describe in detail. Sixty-seven make no reply, 46 reply " none " (6 of these use Young Men's Christian Association), 56 The Physical Life of the Adolescent 221 others reply in language like the following : " Very little except dumb-bells, Indian clubs and wands " ; " very poor, but better than nothing " ; " very little money " ; " none except what individuals provide " ; " no equipment for inside work " ; " none, — a crying need. This town of 7,000 has no boys' club or gym- nasium. Badly needed " ; " nothing " ; " boys hired their own club room and used opera house for practice and games " ; "a room for gymnastic drills and basket- ball, handball, etc." ; " very meager since the room was built for another purpose " ; " our baseball team has suits which the Bible class helped them get. The men furnish their own bats, gloves, etc."; "room 15 x 30 with horizontal bar " ; " rear lot 45 x 45 " ; " vaulting horse, dumb-bells, trapeze, horizontal bar, Indian clubs, mats, gloves " ; " tents, balls, rackets, etc., and plot of land adjoining the church." This indicates that many churches are undertaking work under conditions of very limited equipment and such work can hardly succeed. On the other hand many are putting in good equipment and these have very good results where supervision is good. This is indicated by replies such as the following: "Gym- nasium 48 X 80 equipped. Swimming pool 18 x 38, with showers and locker rooms " ; " gymnasium 60 X 90 feet. Swimming pool, shower baths " ; " well- equipped gymnasium ; shower baths " ; "a gymnasium under the church about 30 x 50, but fairly well equipped " ; " our basement is equipped for gymnasium work, with dumb-bells, clubs, wands, horse, parallel bars, rings, ladder, punching bag, trapeze, standards and mats, baskets and goals " ; "a splendid room built 222 The Sunday School and the Teens as part of the church, quite large and as thoroughly equipped as the average Young Men's Christian Asso- ciation, if not more so. Dressing-room, lockers, shower bath " ; " a fairly good room with hard floor in basement of church. Plenty of light and air " ; " gym- nasium 55 feet square, showers and locker-rooms and office and toilets " ; " gymnasium, bowling alleys, pool tables " ; " gymnasium, game and social rooms " ; " a good gymnasium with the usual equipment." The following is an indication of how not to conduct phys- ical work ; " Stick work mostly, tug of war, stick fencing, stick trapeze work, jumping, acrobatic stunts " — particularly if stunts are all and in all. Physical training should be for the mass and not for the expert. The following experience is typical where super- vision of the right sort is not available : " Several years ago under a former pastor the church was given a fine gymnasium. The first year it worked well. The second year less satisfactory. The third year it petered out. There was no paid superintendent in charge." This is but another argument for adequate super- vision. Question 6. Is there any Attempt on the Part of the Churches to Cooperate in Furnishing Activities? Sixty-three make no reply ; 53 reply " none " ; 25 reply " yes " ; 4 reply " with Young Men's Christian Association " ; 25 others indicate some forms of co- operation, most of which are only half-hearted and indicated that very little thorough effort has been made. There are possibilities here, however, which the churches have yet to test. The Physical Life of the Adolescent 223 Question 7. Is there any Cooperation Received from the Young Men's Christian Association, and if so, what? Fifty-five make no reply; 58 reply "none" (21 of these have no Young Men's Christian Association in their cities) ; 5 simply reply "yes." Forty-seven others reply as follows : " None but what they furnish to members"; "they furnish a leader who outlines the athletic events for all churches " ; " not very much outside of sympathy " ; " use of equipment, cooperation of the boys' secretary and the physical director, physical activities are di- rected and carried on exclusively by the Association " ; "our men have subscribed for a goodly number of memberships for our poorer boys and young men " ; " we pay weekly for support of Young Men's Christian Association and then put our boys there " ; " we use the gymnasium at the Young Men's Christian Asso- ciation for the basketball games " ; " they superintend, encourage and direct athletic leagues " ; " physical classes of boys from all our churches " ; " Young Men's Christian Association furnishes athletic aid, but not in particular cooperation with church " ; " they furnish the place, means and rooms at small cost '' ; " some of our boys are members of Young Men's Christian As- sociation " ; " some of our young ladies attend Young Women's Christian Associations " ; " many of our boys are members of Young Men's Christian Associa- tion " ; " two groups of boys are under the Young Men's Christian Association regime " ; " in many prac- tical forms " ; " certainly, the best I have seen in any city " ; " special man in the boys' department of the 224 ^^ Sunday School and the Teens Young Men's Christian Association to establish just such relations between the Young Men's Christian As- sociations and the Sunday schools through Sunday- school clubs " ; " Young Men's Christian Association Boys' Work Secretary is active in stimulating churches to develop boy life " ; " we are in a baseball league of church and Association " ; " our boys' secretary visits all the churches and arranges friendly matches " ; "yes — church athletic league for boys, 15 to 19"; " yes, they supply instructor gratuitously " ; " have use of their gymnasium " ; " contests held in Young Men's Christian Association and supervised by Y. M. C. A. men " ; " apparatus and plunge opened to groups free, occasionally " ; " yes, the Association has given the bowling teams of the league the use of the alleys at half price " ; " yes, some of our young men get normal physical training there and aid us with our boys " ; " there is a very intimate relation between this church and the Young Men's Christian Association " ; " most of the active work in the Young Men's Christian As- sociation is done by members of this church and parish because of this relation and of the complete equip- ment of the Young Men's Christian Association, the church as such, does not attempt what it otherwise would." Several report adversely, saying : " The young men of churches provide all the Young Men's Christian Association we have. Young Men's Christian Asso- ciation officials in state and county show little appre- ciation of this, only use us " ; " leaders of Young Men's Christian Association have seemed to pastors here willing to get, but give little of credit, coopera- The Physiccd Life of the Adolescent 225 tion or general return " ; " it is the other way round " ; " for themselves " ; " very little, it runs its own affairs." Question 8. Is there a Sunday School Athletic League, and in What Way has it Ministeredf Thirty-nine make no reply ; 80 reply " none " ; 4 are about to organize one ; 41 reply " yes " that they have such leagues. Some are well organized, others deal with some specific sports only. The accompanying comments are interesting : " No, have tried it, but results were disappointing. Very- hard to control"; "Have just started, I have never known much moral or religious good to come from them, though I have been active in them and think I see possibilities, but leadership is the one thing lack- ing " ; " added somewhat to the number attending Sunday school " ; " federation of Bible classes " ; " at- tempted, but did not appeal to boys " ; " Yes, it is under control of an athletic committee appointed by the Sunday school Board of the church. There is now an attempt to organize an inter-church athletic associa- tion to be controlled by a committee composed of one member appointed from each church " ; " there has been a brotherhood bowling league for the last two winters. It has brought the men of the different churches together " ; " provisional organization. Held Field day; 59 schools represented, 230 entered. County Sunday school organization is discussing taking it over ofificially. Awaiting action of churches " ; " Basketball leagues for three ages. Teams from four Sunday schools " ; " Yes, a great deal of good is be- ing done " ; " A basketball league officered by Sunday 326 The Sunday School and the Teeni school officers from various schools. An athletic meet and a tennis club similarly administered " ; " Field games with competing Schools " ; " Doing good work " ; " Young Men's Christian Association ran Sunday School Athletic League for all Sunday schools for three years " ; " Stimulates interest " ; " There was, but we drew out on account of finances." There are four cities in which very successful Sun- day School Athletic Leagues have been organized — namely, in Chicago, under the Cook County Sunday School Association; in Brooklyn, where as many as one hundred churches have been members at one time, and the work of which includes an annual Sunday school camp, big athletic meets in armories, swimming instruction, baseball and bowling leagues, first aid to the injured classes and lectures in sex hygiene. A similar league is in force in Springfield, Mass., where the churches have the cooperation of the students of the Young Men's Christian Association College and the use of its equipment. These students not only coach the boys in athletics, but teach them in the classes in Sunday school. One Sunday school reports a large number of additions to the boys' classes so that it was a problem to know how to take care of them in the way of securing enough teachers. These three leagues publish handbooks which it will be well for those interested to secure. In Bloomington, Illinois, the Young Men's Christian Association has opened its equipment for the use of the churches, and a league has been formed upon a cooperative basis, there being no dues and all charges are shared where such occur. The league is largely self-sustaining. In most in- The Phtfsical Life of the Adolescent 227 stances where such leagues are a success it is because of the active cooperation of the physical department of the Young Men's Christian Association. It is be- coming a settled policy in the Young Men's Christian Association that one of its first duties is toward the churches and the latter may utilize to the fullest extent the technical leadership and experience of the Asso- ciation. Question p. What has been the Result of these Dif^- ferent Physical and Athletic Activities upon (a) Church or Sunday School Attendance, (b) Church Member- ship, (c) Enlistment of Workers, (d) Decreasing At- tendance upon Doubtful Activities, such as Pool- Rooms, etc. Eighty make no reply; 16 reply "none"; 11 reply to (a) "increased it" — of these, 10 reply to (b), (c) and (d) as follows: (b) "none special" "not noticed yet," " some increase," " nothing to show yet," " don't know," 5 make no answer ; (c) " not yet," " helps," " some help," " don't know," " imperceptible," S make no answer; (d) 2 reply " yes," " some effect," "already evident," "none," " unappreciable." The other replies are as follows : " Increased attendance about 5 per cent " ; " Good," to (a), (b), (c), (d) ; "small," to (a), (b), (c), (d) — " our young people do not frequent such " ; " help- ful" to (a), (b), (c), (d) "yes"; "helpful" to (a), to (c) — " some feel that they cannot give time enough for this outside work, others enjoy it," to (d) — " think it contributes to decrease above tendencies " ; (a) helps a little, (b) helps some, (d) don't know; (a), (b), (c) — "has helped to some degree, (d) — 228 The Simiay School and the Teens have no statistics to report." Three reply it helped the attendance. " I think Young Men's Christian As- sociation work hinders rather than helps church in- terest," (a) — "keeps boys together"; (a) — "im- proved attendance in boys' classes"; (a) — "baseball team increased attendance in Bible school." " It has stimulated in some degree." " Can't say as yet. Some of the boys we are most anxious to get cannot be interested in some of the organized athletics." " Too recent a movement to tell, although I believe it will prove its worth." (a) — " improved," (b) — "nothing much," (c)— "no," (d) —" somewhat." (a)— "hardly noticeable," (b) —" slight," (c) — " fair," (d) — " excellent." (d) — " it surely would be of benefit." (a) — " has increased male attendance in Bible school." (b) — " through Bible school many have come to the church." (d) — " has much to do with keeping boys away from such places." (a) — " increased Bible school attendance." (c) — " successful in enlisting workers." (a) — " has helped," (b) — " not able to judge." (c) — "unable to say," (d) — "could not say." (a) — " good on Sunday schqol attendance," (b) — " indirectly good." (c) — "good, has given us several," (d) — "fair." (a) — " it has held many boys and secured some." (b) — " none directly." (a) — "good while the games last, then fades out." The Physical Life of the Adolescent 229 (a) —" helped," (b) —" don't know," (c) — " helped," (d) — " at the time." (a) — " imperceptible yet, not fairly tested," (b) — same reply as (a). (c) — " splendid, two committees of 7; Baraca class (40) organizing to direct contests. Other classes or- ganized under separate athletic directors. Thirty-five brought into renewed activity," (d) — " impercepti- ble." (a) — " they have added to attendance of men at Bible school and evening services," (d) — " I am sure that the bowling league has done this to some." (a) — " temporary improvement, until novelty is oflf." (a) — " attendance in class using the activities has been improved and enlarged," (b) — " nearly all the boys united with the church," (d) — "marked." (a) — " helps both," (b) — " ties them up to church and makes them easily reached." (c) — " yes, get teachers for Sunday school much easier." (d) " it will kill pool-room if well worked, boys get all they want here." (a) — " increased our boys' attendance," (b) — " nearly all of our boys and young men are members now." (c) — " very good," (d) — " still a matter of ques- tion." (a) — " helps hold boys," (b) — " holding boys helps in the end." (a) — " I think some boys have been held," (b) — "no effect," (c)— "no effect." 230 The Sunday School and the Teens (d) — " considerable good done here." (a) — " good," (b) — " several have been won, others have been held." (c) — " several new workers found," (d) — " good." (a) — " Sunday school attendance helped slightly because it was a condition of membership in gymna- sium," (c) — "several volunteers helped," (d) — " don't know." (a) — " kept boys together through K. O. K. A.," (b) — " some united with church ; otherwise lost to both Sunday school and church," (d) — "pool-rooms have lured some away." (a) — " increased it somewhat," (b) — " no marked result as yet," (c) — " some have been brought into service." (a) — " it is the business of the church to develop spiritual life. We are giving too much attention to physical, athletic and special activities." (d) — ■" pool-rooms open on Sunday keep our boys away." (a) — " a marked increase among older boys at church." (b) — " evangelistic campaign this spring brought in nearly all." (c) — " developed several good leaders," (d) — " some." (a) — " in two years a 50 per cent increase of boys between 15 and 20." (b) — " about 15 boys in church in 18 months." (c) — " these young people are growing into Chris- tian Endeavor and church." The Physical Life of the Adolescent 231 (a) — "no one can belong who does not attend Sunday school." (b) — " nearly every young man in the athletic club has now been won to church membership," (c) — " many of them have found it a stepping stone to aggressive religious activity in the church." These answers on the whole — and we could quote twice as many — show that the physical activities are successful in bringing boys and young men to the church and often result in their coming into the church. We believe that as the church becomes a real social center it will prove attractive in winning the interest of the youth. Question 10. If Your Physical Training and Ath- letic Plans have met with Failure, state why, in Refer- ence to (a) Supervision, (b) Equipment. One hundred and thirty-three make no reply. This probably indicates a lack of knowledge of the real is- sue or a general satisfaction with results. Thirteen reply no failure. The following from twenty-two churches are given as causes of failure : " lack of building, also loca- tion " ; " unable to secure any young man or older man efficient who would give time to the work " ; (a) " cost too much"; (b) "have no gymnasium"; "lack of sustained interest in boys and tendency to become ex- clusive club " ; " the chief difficulty is in equipment " ; " have had very few plans, therefore very little super- vision or equipment " ; " whole fault in equipment, supervision all that could be desired " ; " lack both in church " ; " were not intended to be permanent " ; " lack of supervision and equipment "; " lack of en- 232 The, Svmday School and the Teens thusiasm from church " ; " felt that it was properly Y, M. C. A. work ; " some classes have failed because teacher neglected to supervise " ; " need more room " ; " (a) our problem, (b) too small " ; " supervision and leadership are the essentials, the only failures we have experienced have been due to these two things " " (a) want better, (b) and more " ; " (a) better needed, (b) not proper kind " ; " believe supervision most es- sential " ; " we ought to have paid supervisors, but cannot afford it"; "weak because of both." Question 11. Has Effort Been Made to Promote Sex Education by the Church or Sunday School Through (a) Conference of Parents, (b) Instruc- tion by Teachers, (c) Talks or Lectures, (d) Spe- cial Study Courses, (e) Distribution of Literature, and if so, What Literature? Thirty-three make no reply, 66 reply " no " ; 6 reply as follows : " no, parents have not encouraged my ad- vances along this line"; (c) "yes, by pastor"; (e) " no, literature is dangerous, heart to heart talks be- tween parent and child better"; (c) "somewhat"; (b) " except in some boys' classes " ; 20 reply as fol- lows : To (a) 9 say " yes," 3 say " no," and 8 make no reply; To (b) 7 say "yes," 2, "no," and 11 make no reply; to (c) 17 say "yes," and 3 make no reply; to (e) 4 say "yes. National Society for Moral and Sanitary Prophylaxis literature provided by social service committee — 8,000 distributed in boys' classes " ; 4 say " no," i " very little," i " Association Press," and 10 make no reply. We are glad to report that 11 held conference with parents — a form of service which should be greatly The Physical Life of the Adolescent 233 accelerated as full responsibility must finally rest with the parents. Twelve reply as follows: i — (e)^ " Yes " ; 2 — " no special effort " ; 3 — " just a begin- ning " ; 4 — " a couple of lectures " ; 5 — " for boys and young men, talks on social purity " ; 6 — (c) "a phy- sician gave the Boy Scouts a talk"; 7 — (a) "no"; (b) "some"; (c) "no"; (d) "no"; (e) "no"; 8 — (c) " two lectures " ; 9 — (c) " talks by teachers " ; 10 — "an occasional talk by a physician"; 11 — (a) "no"; (b) "yes in my own class"; (c), (d), (e), "no"; 12— (a) "none"; (b) "a little"; (c) "a talk"; (d) "none"; (e) "a little." " I talk to my class somewhat on the subject." " Nothing done except some talks to Boy Scouts, with fine results." " I have on my desk at all times ' From Youth into Manhood ' and ' Reproduction and Sexual Hygiene.' " " A mothers' class in Sunday school." (c) " Talks before the Sunday school teachers by experts." (e) " Some literature." (b) " Something is being done in a small way." (c) " The local high school is taking up this work." (d) " Mrs. Wells, the police woman of Los Angeles, delivered a lecture this year and a tract on Sanitary and Moral Prophylaxis Society was distributed." " Have always met with opposition on part of par- ents." " Now and then a talk to a Sunday school by a medi- cal man." (a) "One mothers' meeting." (b) "Not as yet." (c) " To fathers." (d) " No." (e) " No." (a) " Mothers' meeting at Settlement House, also 234 The Sunday School and the Teens girls' clubs." (b) and (c) "Yes." (d) " No." (e); " Woman's Christian Temperance Union and various publications, such as The Survey," etc. " We have free lectures in the hospitals and we ad- vertise these as much as possible. We secure M.D.'s for lectures to our boys and to our girls." (b) "A doctor has given a few talks to young men along the sex lines." " Am planning a similar lecture to the young ladies." " We cooperate with Social Purity League." (c) "By doctor to boys." (e) "Hall's 'From Youth into Manhood.'" " No, except as our missionary goes into the homes. Some very good work has been dbne in this way. No organized work has been done." (a) "A mothers' meeting." (c) " Doctors lecture for us." " Lectures in July, 1912." (a) and (b) " None." (c) " Pastor has given ad- dress to Baraca Class." (d) " Studies in Social Christianity." (e) "None." " Talks at chapel." " Plan lectures for next fall. We do some person- ally with boys." " Planning for this in near future." (a) " Meetings for men and women." (b) "Talks and lectures to boys." (c) (d) " ' What Young Men Ought to Know.' 'Self and Sex Series.'" (e) "That issued in pamphlet form by the International Sunday School Purity Department." I am considering efforts in this direction. I believe the time is ripe for work of this sort The Physical Life of the Adolescent 235 (d) "Life problems." (e) "'What Boys and Girls Ought to Know.' ' Health and Hygiene of Sex.' " (e) " Nothing further than that the committee on Moral and Social Reform in the Presbyterian Church in Canada keeps urging parents to give such instruc- tion to their children." (b) " In Knights of King Arthur." (a) " Young Men's Christian Association and Men's League." (a) "Not that I know of." (b) "No." (c) " Two courses of lectures at Young Men's Chris- tian Association the past year." (d) and (e) " No." " By Woman's Christian Temperance Union talks and literature." (a) "No." (e) " To a very limited extent." Question 12. What Have Been the Results Where Such Efforts in Sex Education Have Been Given a Fair Test? 123 made no reply. 22 do not know or have not tested it. 12 reply " Good." " They are good, expressed by a good and clean de- velopment among our young people." " Closer parental supervision." " The value of sex instruction to a boy or girl can hardly be estimated, it is so great. The day-school boys have it through the medium of Young Men's Christian Association." " We do not wish to introduce sex subjects (as such, directly treated) in our Sunday school teaching; 336 The Sunday School and the Teen* hence cannot answer questions. But we know that its introduction — no matter how administered — would take out lots of our girls instantly. Our parents, mothers, etc., would say ' That's my business ; not that of the Sunday school.' " " We have not tested it except in our home. The home is really the proper place for it. But where it is not given in the home the church might come to the rescue." " The results have been gratifying in proportion to the efforts made. Our Sunday school teachers are waking up. My men's Bible class, numbering 150 members, frequently discusses relative subjects." " Pure and clean lives. An increasing dignity of manhood and womanhood." " Have noticed in families where sex education has been given, a higher standard of morals. Have not seen it tried in the church as a whole." " Parents have approved my work." " Cannot say, but not much immorality prevails among our girls — much among boys and young men." " Our work has not been large. Lectures and plain talks to boys and girls by experienced men and women have resulted in good." " Parents are beginning to wake up and are deeply interested. They give their children more attention and help. It has braced the young." Six reply " Trained and capable leaders." " Lead- ers need to be set right on the question." " Good sensible instructors of the Sunday school workers. Small leaflets for parents and children." The Physical Life of the Adolescent 237 Other replies say : " Such help as would come from a wisely organized secondary department in nation, state, county and school." " Unfeasible to operate." " The church and Sunday school need to emphasize more the spiritual and not so much the social and physical." " A capable superintendent to take charge of this work in particular." " Organizations, stimu- lus of knowing others are doing it." " Training." Six reply, "wise and efficient physicians who are Christians." " The Woman's Christian Temperance Union in the mothers' meetings." " Special meet- ings." " Education as to its importance, then the nerve to go ahead and do it." " That the pastor, superintendent and teachers be informed and active in stimulating such efforts." " Think an annual les- son could be brought out in the International system to deal candidly with the subject." " Instruction given to teachers and pastor." " Aid of pastor, Sun- day school superintendent and teacher." Question 13. Do you think it is the Duty of the Church to Promote Sex Instruction? Seventeen make no reply, 9 reply " No," 5 are doubt- ful, 14 believe it belongs to the parents, 94 reply, " Yes, if wisely done and properly supervised." Thus the majority reply in favor of such teaching which represents a surprising change in sentiment in recent years. Twenty-seven others give reply as follows: " Think not, unless the right person is on hand to do it." " Too many attempts in this line have been ill- advised and crude. The church would better leave this matter to the parents and the family physician," 238 The Swnday School and the Teens " No, not strictly. The line of approach of the church should be through idealism. Sex instruction is primarily the work of the parent, secondly of the public schools, or the family physician. The church may deal with this in its parents' classes. But this subject is as delicate as it is necessary, and much more harm than good can easily be done by allowing every incompetent person, having zeal, but lacking knowl- edge, to take it up." " That would depend on circum- stances ; I think it primarily the duty of parents in co- operation with wise family physicians where possible. Some ministers can do it perhaps." " Within wise and well-defined limits and by properly equipped teach- ers. Haphazard or ill-considered words in regard to the sexual dangers in the teen ages are of more damage than benefit." " I do most certainly, but we encounter opposition from parents. Our parents are almost ex- clusively Cornish." " I think the church ought to work through the parents as much as possible." " I do, but public opinion must largely influence method." " Where conditions demand it and where other or- ganizations fail to provide it." " Somebody should, rightfully the parents. If they do not, the Sunday school through its teachers, by special class gatherings, could best do so." " I prefer that it should be done by the parents in the home, yet there are homes where it will not be done." " Only with great discretion." "If parents will not, then let the church. If this instruction is taken from parents, parents will lose the child's confidence." " Either church or public school, but no one should attempt it without training espe- cially for it." " Yes, but not in such public fashion as The Physical Life of the Adolescent 239 per preceding questions. Personally I reached the end through quiet conference in my classes." " It is the duty of parents. The pastor has done something in this way with the boys." " Yes, more than it does, much more, but the difficulty is to secure help of those who will not make a mess of it." " I think the home is the place for such instruction, but since so many homes fail to do it and possibly are incapable of it, it seems that the church or Sunday school should do it." " Use influence to have parents and teachers in public schools give sufficient instruction." " In my judgment, of doubtful wisdom unless directed in the very best way." " It might be to parents if we could get them to listen." " With wisdom and care by seri- ous, sensible people." " Yes, so long as the state makes no provision, the present method of neglect is simply criminal." " I think that much may be done indirectly through the parents. The church might well impress upon the parents their duty in this mat- ter. The pastor might do this by giving a talk to the mothers and then to the fathers in groups." " If the church does not, it will not be given in a large number of cases." " Not specifically. Only by im- pressing the duty on parents." Question 14. What particular help does the Sunday school need in such an effort? Fifty-seven make no reply, 8 reply " none " ; 7 reply " help and cooperation of parents " ; i replies " in upper intermediate and the senior classes more on week-days than on Sunday " ; i replies " a big and aw- ful waking up," and another says " classes in physi- ology." Sixteen make reply as follows : " Specific 240 The Sunday School and the Teens instruction to the officers and teachers," " It needs to have teachers who have been taught how to deal with the subject. Teachers require literature on the ques- tion, and have both men and women instructors to hold conference with Sunday school teachers and Christian workers to discuss ways and means of im- parting instruction needed." " Teachers need train- ing." " A conference by teachers as to methods." " All men teachers for classes of older boys. Frequent lectures on the sex life of the growing boy. Confer- ence with parents and with teachers." Two reply " special teacher." " Competent teachers." " Clear instruction from clean-hearted teachers of tact and judgment." " Knowledge to qualify teachers on this subject." " A trained corps of teachers and workers." " The teacher ought to be trained." " Male teachers for all boys' classes. Instruction in sex matters for teachers." " Trained teachers and leaders." " In- struction in sex matters for teachers." " Trained teachers and leaders." " The cooperation of all offi- cers and teachers, the church members and parents." " Helps for teachers." " Wise teachers." " I ques- tion the wisdom of such a venture with the average teacher to work through." " Better let it alone and go at parents." " Educate men and women (married and parents, if possible) to meet in classes and singly all boys and girls." " Co- operation of parents, suitable literature, special prepa- ration for teachers Conferences." " Get parents in- terested and secure proper persons for giving instruc- tion." Three reply " Parents' cooperation." "Lessons." "A high-toned and brief textbook," The Fhysical Life of the Adolescent 241 "Textbooks and specialists. Average person should not undertake statement of this matter." " Graded studies." " A short practical textbook for teachers of the adolescent youth. Classes formed for careful study of this matter." " Special lessons." " A book suitable to place in the hands of a boy or girl and which would do no harm if interchanged." " Proper instruction, proper literature." Six reply " Suitable literature and wise teachers." " Literature, charts, instruction by competent teachers on use of public toilets, etc." Three reply " Literature in pamphlet form." " Good, safe, sane speakers." " Two or three wise men and women in Sunday school, conversant with the subject, very discreet and without false modesty." " Needs a competent and sympathetic man who can speak to boys and girls." " Woman lecturer for girls." " Must find those who can handle the sub- ject." " A lecturer who is thoroughly competent." " A man and woman of adequate knowledge and tact." " Men who know what ought to be done and then men who would be able to do that thing." Summary and Recommendations. While definite suggestions have been made all through this chapter, it will be wise here perhaps, again to restate these and add others. The study reveals at least the fol- lowing situation: I. That physical education has not been seriously considered as a legitimate part of religious education, but that to adequately promote character-building the physical basis of character must be considered and proper ethics developed and taught by the church. 242 The Sunday School and the Teens 2. That those churches which have had adequate equipment for providing physical activities under trained supervision, have found such experience of value in interesting young men and boys in particular. 3. That where the churches have sustained a co- operative relation to the Young Men's Christian Asso- ciation, trained leaders and experienced workmen have been available for the direction of such activities. The commission advocates more extensive coopera- tion and suggests that the Young Women's Christian Association may sustain the same relation to work among yoiing women and girls. 4. Any attempt at furnishing physical exercise or of conducting athletics must be done in harmony with physiologic principles. Serious harm may come to those who are under injudicious management. To this end a trained director may be supplemented by a medi- cal staff. Physicians in the membership of local churches, if properly approached, are usually willing to serve on a medical staff and report upon the phys- ical condition of each entrant for physical privileges. Preliminary medical examinations are essential if the work is to be scientific. 5. The interests of those for whom it is sought to provide physical exercise of whatsoever character should be safeguarded in that such work should in ad- dition be undertaken only where rooms or gymnasia adequately ventilated and thoroughly sanitary in char- acter, are available. Many churches are careless in this respect and in some instances used quarters ab- solutely unfit for such work. This refers specifically to indoor activities. There is much that can be done T}i£ Physical Life of the Adolescent 243 without equipment in the form of outdoor recreation. This is referred to in another part of this chapter. 6. The experience in the organization and manage- ment of Sunday School Athletic Leagues suggests that where churches unite in an effort to promote such work many forms of recreation are possible. The tendency in such organization, however, is often to emphasize too great athletic specialization and thus fre- quently evils characteristic of such emphasis creep in and the real objective is lost. The motive in such work should be character-making and great care must be exercised through careful leadership lest the desire to win, the emphasis upon prizes and trophies, does not pervert the aim of such exercises. In fact we be- lieve that if the word "athletic" is eliminated from the name of such a league and some form of organisa- tion he effected in which athletics are only a part, a more balanced work will result and extreme special- ization avoided. 7. In reference to the promotion of sex education the majority of those who have replied to the ques- tionnaires believe that the church has a responsibility with reference to the subject. The subject is not physiologic alone, but moral as well, and in all instruc- tion not only must correct physiologic information be given, but there must be an appeal to the will as well. It should be understood that any presentation of this subject to young people should be separated absolutely from that of the Social Evil. It is very easy to swing from the discussion of the normal and natural to the abnormal. 8. For the purposes of the church we believe that 244 ^^ Sunday School and the Teens one of the best methods of giving instruction in this subject (averting most if not all dangers of falling into error) is, that an attempt be made to bring to- gether for conference under the direction of experts those who are qualified in character and in natural leadership to give such instruction. These may be some laymen as well as professional men and women of tested influence in the community and in the work of the church, about whom there is no question. In the conference suggested which would cover a num- ber of sessions, definite instruction should be given to these selected leaders as to what shall be the con- tent of their message upon the subject of sex instruc- tion to various age groups. After the subject-matter has been thoroughly debated and unanimous approval secured, then these instructors and lecturers may be released to the churches for service as such service shall be requested. There is need of very wise di- rection as to policies which shall extend over a period of years as well as to methods. This formative period, when ideas are fluidic, is usually important. Policies made now can only be undone with greatest difficulty. 9. We believe that in the order of importance par- ents' conferences are most desirable. The best re- sults are secured where the women meet together on the one hand and where the fathers segregate for the purpose of discussion. There is a place, however, so experience indicated in several places, for the joint conference of mothers and fathers but these require special tact in their preparation and conduct. The first responsibility rests upon the parents. Mothers The Physical Life of the Adolescent 245 and fathers are particularly anxious to receive coun- sel as to how best to instruct their children. 10. Next in importance we believe are study courses wherein sex hygiene is taught as a part of a regular course in personal hygiene. Thus the most natural approach is secured. A special course of studies in sex for boys has been prepared by the Physical De- partment of the International Committee of the Young Men's Christian Association for use in churches. These have been written by Dr. Winfield S. Hall and published by Association Press, New York. To date there is one series of studies for pre- adolescent boys entitled " Life's Beginnings " and an- other for boys in early adolescence entitled " Develop- ing Into Manhood." In these studies information is presented for the use of wise leaders which can be presented in a series of studies. A third series con- sists of a series of discussions of the social evil for use by men's clubs. This is written by Rev. Orrin G. Cocks and presents a complete discussion of the whole subject in all its bearings, which will serve to make men intelligent in dealing later with the problems of vice in their communities when the issue is raised. Failures to correct conditions in the past have been du to lack of complete information which these studies supply at least in part. 11. There is also a place for the lecture method by the right lecturers. It is wise that at some one period of each year a pronouncement be made to all the males of the Sunday school on the one hand who are in their teens and upward, and to the girls and women on the other hand in segregated groups, at which time the 246 The Sunday School and the Teens position of the church will be stated upon the subject of personal purity. This the church has seldom done, and undoubtedly this is responsible for the frequent errors found among church and Sunday school at- tendants. The church should make its position known and in this respect the pronouncement would have a wholesome effect if rightly done, though the wisdom of such lectures, as has been said before, depended en- tirely upon the lecturer available. For parents' meet- ings, teachers' meetings and separate groups of boys or girls, it is altogether necessary to have skilled speak- ers who have the right spirit, a knowledge of the facts, plenty of common sense, as well as the physiologic and religious points of view. 12. The use of wholesome literature is wise if used with discriminating care and the following titles have tested value and wholesome effect. While we suggest literature for certain age groups, these age limits are often deceiving, for as a rule the youths are much farther advanced in their knowledge of at least cer- tain aspects of the subject than we usually are aware. Literature For Christian Adults. " Four Epochs of Life," by Dr. Elizabeth H. Mun- cie of Brooklyn ($1.50). " Christianity and Sex Problems," by Hugh North- cote ($2.00). For Parents and Teachers. "Genesis," by Dr. Talmey ($1.50). " Sex Instruction for Boys," by John L. Alexander. The Fhyiicdl Life of the Adolescent 247 For Practitioners. " Instructing the Young in Regard to Sex," by Wil- liam A. McKeever (.10). " False Modesty," by E. B. Lowry, M.D. (.50). For Boys 9 to 12. "The Boy Problem," (Society of Sanitary and Moral Prophylaxis) (.10). " How Shall I Tell My Child? " by Mrs. Woodallen Chapman (.25). " How to Tell the Story of Reproduction to Chil- dren " (Mothers' Union) ($1.00). "What My Uncle, the Doctor, Told Me" (Society of Sanitary and Moral Prophylaxis) (.10). " Life's Beginnings," a series of studies for use by teachers, by Winfield S. Hall, M.D. (.25). For Boys 12 to 16. " From Youth Into Manhood," by Winfield S. Hall, M.D. (.50). " Developing Into Manhood," by Winfield S. Hall, M.D. (.25). " Truths — Talks with a Young Boy about Him- self," by E. B. Lowry, M.D. (.50). For Young Men. " Himself — Talks with Men about Themselves," by E. B. Lowry, M.D. ($1.00). "Reproduction and Sexual Hygiene," by Winfield S. Hall, M.D. (.90). "The Young Man's Problem" (.10), and "Health 248 The Sunday School and the Teens and Hygiene of Sex" (.10), (Society of Sanitary and Moral Prophylaxis). " The Social Evil and Methods of Treatment," by ' Orrin G. Cocks. For use as a basis for discussion in men's classes or clubs (.25). For Girls. " Life's Story," by Jeannette Winter Hall (.25). "Confidences," by E. B. Lowry, M.D. (.50). "Confidential Chats with Girls," by Wm. Lee Howard, M.D. ($1.00). For Young Women. " Herself — Talks with Women Concerning Them- selves," by E. B. Lowry, M.D. ($1.00). " Womanhood and Its Development," Luella Rum- mel ($1.50). Sunday school workers will find of great value the literature of the Society of Social Hygiene, Portland, Oregon, of which Harry S. Moore is secretary, and of the Pennsylvania Society for the Prevention of Social Disease, of which Robert N. Willson, M.D., is secre- tary. Suggested Department of Hygiene and Physical Education The following proposed scheme of organization for the conduct and promotion of studies and activities related to the physical and moral life of the adolescent boy and girl and adult man and woman in church and Sunday school. Form of Organization. I. The General Commit- The Physical Life of the Adolescent 249 tee to be composed of physicians, lawyers, teachers (particularly of biological subjects) physical educators, college and high school athletics. The members of this committee to be Christian men and women having an intimate knowledge of Sunday school work. This committee to appoint the following subcommittees which in turn may appoint other committees when deemed advisable. II. Subcommittees, i. On health education (or health league) with divisions as follows: (a) Per- sonal hygiene or personal efficiency. This committee to arrange !talks on the following subjects: (i)' Tobacco. (2) Alcohol. (3) Sex problems. (4) Other health topics. It would seem logical that the work of the present Temperance Department and the Purity Department should be combined with the work of this subcom- mittee, as temperance and purity are an important part of health education. Many people who ought to be reached fight shy of temperance and purity talks. Such topics can be most eifectively discussed under the heading of personal efficiency, (b) Domestic Hy- giene. To cover the following: (i) Home cleanli- ness, such as ventilation and sanitation. (2) Care of the sick. (3) Causes of disease. (4) Plumbing, lighting, decoration, etc. The object of these talks to be the giving of information which will protect and conserve the health of members of families in their home life, (c) Community Hygiene. To discuss such topics as: (i) Street cleaning. (2) Garbage re- moval. (3) Sewerage disposal. (4) Water supply. (5) Quarantine, the Social Evil, etc. The object of 250 The Sunday School and the Teev^ this division would be to enable individuals to co- operate intelligently with the city's efforts to protect public health and also to teach the spiritual significance of Social Service. Libraries should be established containing good books on health topics. The work of this subcommit- tee (on health education) will be done largely through lectures and appropriate printed matter judiciously distributed and through the development of study courses. It might be advisable for this committee to cooperate with other agencies with similar objectives and previous experience that should prove of great value in conserving initial effort. 2. On Recreation, (play life) — " Through-the- Week " activities. This committee \Y0uld naturally be interested in relating the church and the Sunday schools to the public playgrounds, parks and baths in a cooperative way for the young people in the ado- lescent period. (a) Outings, (i) Picnics. (2) Saturday after- noon hikes. (3) Summer camps. (b) Boy Scouts. (c) Athletics, (i) Games, as baseball, basketball, tennis, etc. (2) Track and field sports. It may be advisable on account of the nature of these activities to adopt a special platform setting forth the objectives, also some simple general rule regarding reg- ulations, control and amateur definition. A plan for local control like that of the Sunday school leagues of Chicago and Brooklyn might furnish example. (d) Aquatics, (i) The teaching of boys and girls to swim. (2) Swimming contests. (3) Boating. The Physical Life of the Adolescent 25 1 (e) Gymnastic activities. To be considered by churches that have gymnasiums. The church which has a gymnasium ought to experi- ence no difficuUy in organizing and conducting a de- partment such as has been suggested. Reasons for proposing a department of hygiene and physical education for the Sunday school: i. There is a tremendous need for sane health education and for the direction of play activities by the constructive forces in any given community of which the church is an example. 2. No organization in a community is better qualified to do the work comprehended by the proposed department than the church, for the follow- ing reasons : (a) Every church has an auditorium and class rooms, i. e., meeting places, (b) There is found in almost every church membership lawyers, teachers, physicians, etc., well qualified to do some of the work proposed by the Department of Hygiene and Physical Education. There are hundreds of capable men and women in our churches who take no part in church work for the reason that they do not feel qualified to do what is commonly understood as church work, i. e., teaching the Bible to groups of boys, girls, men and women, or lead religious meetings. I am thoroughly convinced that a department such as has been suggested would enlist hundreds of men and women now idle, so far as church work is concerned, in a new kind of real church work, adding just so many more individuals to the present not too large a number of church workers. The Boy Scout movement and the Sunday School 252 The Sv/nday School and the Teens Athletic League have already demonstrated that men are ready to serve, and the Men and Religion Forward Movement has paved the way for still greater things. The organization of a department of hygiene and physical education would be most timely and would furnish a means for putting to work the many men in- terested in church work through the efforts of the Men and Religion Forward Movement. A Form of Organization for the Control of Athletics IN THE Local Sunday School CONSTITUTION AND BY-LAWS OF THE ATHLETIC DEPARTMENT of the ,. .- Sunday school. a. Constitution Article I. Name This organization shall be known as the Athletic Depart- ment of the Sunday school. Article II. Object The object of this department is to give all members of this Sunday school the opportunity to take part in wholesome amateur athletics under such conditions as will develop Christian character and promote loyalty to the church and Sunday school. Article III. Amateur Definition The commission suggests that there be incorporated here The Physical Life of the Adolescent 253 the amateur definition adopted by the Athletic League of North America, which is as fallows: Athletic Platform Principles. We recognize in Athletics, when wisely directed: (a) A form of supplementary physical training for the de- velopment of bodily vigor, (b) A great educational force developing the coordination of the muscular and nervous sys- tems and contributing quick motor reactions, muscular skill and precision, (c) An excellent means of teaching social relationships and social coooperation, and of satisfying the play instinct, (d) A means for the development of char- acter, through self-control, temperate living and fair play. We do not Favor, (a) The placing of emphasis upon prize-giving and believe this should be secondary and inci- dental, (b) Any form of commercialism through bribes, or special honoraria offered as inducements to men to com- pete or demanded by them for competing, (c) The recruit- ing of athletes by one organization from another, (d) That high degree of specialization in athletics which interferes with the harmonious development of the bodily functions. (e) That practice in competition which leads to excesses and undue nervous expenditures or which results in a state of mind not in keeping with true sportsmanship. Article IV. For the direction and control of this department the following officers shall be elected annually by the Sunday School Board: Chairman, ist Vice-chairman, 2nd Vice-chairman, Secre- tary, Treasurer. These officers must be approved by the pastor and by th© Sunday school superintendent. The pastor and Sunday school superintendent shall be members ex oflScio of this group. Article V. 1. Amendments must be sent in writing to the Secretary at any regular meeting. 2. No amendment shall be adopted unless it has been dis- cussed at a previous meeting. 254 The Svmday School and the Teens 3. No amendments to this Constitution shall be adcfpted except upon two-thirds vote of the officers voting and pres- ent at the meeting. B. By-laws Section I. Election of Officers 1. The Sunday school superintendent shall appoint a nom- inating committee one month before the annual meeting, whose duty it shall be to select a list of suitable candidates. 2. The officers shall be elected by ballot by a majority vote at the annual meeting of the Sunday school Board. Section II. The duties of the officers shall be those usually ascribed to said officers. Section III. Committees 1. Executive. This committee shall be composed of the officers and two additional members appointed by the pastor. 2. Additional committees may be appointed when deemed advisable. 3. The pastor and Sunday school superintendent shall be members ex officio of all committees. Section IV. Quorum Five elected members of the executive committee shall constitute a quorum. Section V. 1. Amendments must be sent in writing to the Secretary at any regular meeting. 2. No amendment shall be adopted unless it has been dis- cussed at a previous meeting. 3. No amendments to these By-Laws shall be adopted ex- cept upon two-thirds vote of the members present and voting at the meeting. The Physical Life of the Adolescent 2$$ Section VI. Order of Business 1. Roll call. 2. Reading of minutes of last meeting. 3. Treasurer's report. 4. Report of managers of teams. 5. Report of committees. 6. Unfinished business. 7. New business. 8. Adjournment. Section VII. Duties of Executive Committee 1. To appoint the managers for the various activities and teams. 2. To virork out eligibility rules and such other provisions as are necessary for the conduct of this department. 3. To pass upon and decide penalties. 4. To settle all paints not covered by the Constitution and By-Laws. Section VIII. Duties of Managers In general to organize and promote the activities over which they have jurisdiction as follows: 1. To prepare the schedules for contests. 2. To determine the composition of teams. 3. To personally accompany teams in all contests at home or abroad, or if impossible to do so, to select representatives. 4. To present monthly reports of their work to the execu- tive committee. S- To secure from the Sunday school superintendent a list of the eligible individuals for the next month's contests. Section IX. Rules of Eligibility I. Any amateur who has been a member of this Sunday school for a period of 60 (or 30) days may become eligible for competition upon application for registration to the sec- retary of the executive committee. Such an individual how- 256 The Sunday School and the Teens ever must have attended at least six full sessions of the Sunday school during these two months. 2. To remain eligible for competition for any particular month individuals must have attended at least 3 (or 2) full sessions of the Sunday school during the preceding month. 3. Any individual who has been suspended by any other organization conducting athletics is ineligible to compete in this department until reinstated by the organization which originally suspended him. 4. Any individual who fails ta attend 3 (or 2) full ses- sions of the Sunday school during any given month, is in- eligible to compete during the following month. 5. Any individual who has within 90 (or 60) days repre- sented in athletics another organization must receive a re- lease from that oi-ganization before he can be declared eli- gible in this department. Section X. Suspensions 1. Any member of this department who competes in Sun- day athletics suspends himself and is ineligible to compete until reinstated. 2. Any member who uses tobacco or profane language or isin any way disorderly during a contest shall be suspended. 3. Any member who takes part in athletics for money or competes with or against professionals where gate receipts are charged, suspends himself and is ineligible to compete until reinstated. Section XI. Protests Protests must be handed in writing to the secretary of the executive committee or a committee especially appointed to hear such cases. Section XII. Reinstatement Individuals who have been suspended for the following or other causes may be reinstated only by the executive com- mittee. a. For competing on Sunday. Just how long such indi- viduals should be kept out of competition before being re- instated depends upon whether it is the first, second or third The Physical Life of the Adolescent 257 offense. A second or third offense should be dealt with more severely than a first offense. b. For using tobacco or improper language or for dis- orderly conduct during contests. The action of the execu- tive committee here should be determined by the circum- stance surrounding the case. c. For competing for money or with or against profes- sionals where gate receipts are charged. The particular set- ting of the offense should be carefully considered. The general character and tendency of the offender and the effect of the offense should guide the committee in its action. Read the following carefully. While it is the pur- pose of this department to furnish wholesome athletic competition to all individuals and not to keep anyone out of competition, it should nevertheless be recog- nized that for the best results all individuals must observe certain definite rules and regulations. Unre- stricted license is not liberty, but makes for lawlessness and is just as undesirable in athletics as it is in any other phase of human activity. The executive committee should impose penalties for the purpose of teaching offenders helpful lessons, so that wilful breaking of rules will be reduced to a minimum. Chapter XV RECREATION AND SOCIAL CONDITIONS Statement. "The Spirit of Youth and the City- Streets," by Jane Addams, is a loud call to the church to understand that insistent quest for recreation and pleasure which drives young people from the home into the highways and byways with all their fascina- tion and peril. It is a call to abandon isolation from the community responsibility and to enter actively into a partnership with the community in a program of utilization of this Niagara strength of youthful enthu- siasm for service and not for waste. It is the call to right formation not reformation. The church and Sunday school must move out from a purely Sunday program. Its duty is not concluded with spiritual instruction on Sunday. The physical, mental and social life of its young people must be re- garded as essentially spiritual as the channels through which that spiritual life is expressed and tested and toned. Failure to understand the opportunities and perils of the week-day life and to guide and guard in the hours between Sundays means a neutralization and frequent loss of the Sunday impact and influence. " We have lost a generation out of our church " is the sad confession of many a pastor because of a fail- ure to nightly compass and direct within the church those surging forces of the years of adolescence that 258 Recreation and Social Conditions 259 found too little response or channel within the plans of the church for them and, breaking the sluiceways of the home and Sunday school, make for destruction instead of conservation. In this investigation of the community and the recreative and social life of the adolescent we have squarely recognized community conditions as they exist in the average town and city. We have sought to discover what is wholesome in this quest for recrea- tion and to suggest plans of cooperation by church, Sunday school, day school and home, that shall con- serve this for good. It has felt that most of the perils of the community for to-morrow will be avoided if we can put the right emphasis upon the adolescent life of to-day and that the church and Sunday school are potent factors in the accomplishment of this pro- gram for to-day. For facility, this discussion has been subdivided under the following heads: Home conditions of the adolescent girl; bowling alleys; pool-rooms, lounging places, dance halls, cheap theaters, moving pictures, parks, playgrounds and baseball grounds, wider use of public school and Sunday school plants and com- munity clubs. The subject of athletic organizations in the community is treated under the Physical Life of the Adolescent in another chapter, while that of the social evil, drink and gambling is covered under Safeguarding Adolescence Against Community Moral Perils. Reports and recommendations are given under the various heads noted above. They are rich in material and suggestions. All may not agree with the positions 26o The Sunday School and the Teens or conclusions. This is not to be expected. They may run counter in some cases to accepted church traditions. They are, however, the result of the thought and experience of men and women who have been closest to the problems and whose standing entitles their statements to a fair hearing. It is hoped whatever may be the individual conviction of those who read, as to the methods to be employed, that there may be a clear recognition of the facts presented revealing a great need, and the acceptance of the principle underlying all of this material of the respon- sibility of the church, Sunday school and home seri- ously to readjust to meet the need presented. Out of the many suggestions embraced in these con- tributions these at least may be crystallized : 1. The Church must recognize the call for recreation and social life as a God-given instinct with a clear right to normal expression. 2. The Church should hail this instinct as an op- portunity for a new grip upon the young life, as a point of contact at a time of life molding. 3. The Church should know community conditions both wholesome and harmful, in order to provision for this need. 4. The Church should actively cooperate with all community organizations and forces which are aiming to provide wholesomely for this need. 5. The Church should organize to oppose those forms of community recreation involving peril to the young people. 6. The Church should supply what is wholesome on recreational and social lines not adequately provided Recreation cmd Social Conditions 261 by the community, providing wise leadership can be secured. " The spirit of the home may find no resting place in the palace, it may be a joyous presence in the crofter's cottage, but wherever it is to dwell, it must have light and air, room and privacy, a chance for quiet and a place for play — an environment and an equipment which does not make praise of it an irony, or prayer for it a farce." Chapter XVI POOI^ROOMS A GROUP of high school boys, when asked to indicate for the average boy, the first step away from the path of rectitude, suggested the " pool-room." After some discussion, this was generally agreed to by many other boys present. In conducting a particular search for a certain boy, twenty pool and billiard halls were visited in the cen- tral part of a great city. Most of them were found free from serious objection. They were not ideal places for boys to spend their time, but they were so much better than usually described that it was a mat- ter of comment. How can the statement of the high school boys be reconciled with the facts of this discovery? There are several conclusions suggested by the facts in the case as they become better known: I. The real damage to boy life may not be generally done in these brilliantly lighted, down-town, much- frequented pool and billiard-rooms. They are in a well-regulated city under some police surveillance, but even more significant is the fact that they are patron- ized by many men with whom boys are acquainted, and the boys may not wish to be found there. The greatest danger along this line is usually to be found in the smaller fore-room, in the less frequented neigh- 262 Pool-Rooms 263 borhoods, where boys congregate in well-defined groups. These are the chief sources of danger and the least known to many people in the community. 2. The boy who gets the pool-room habit will find it a serious task to break it. What is the pool-room habit? At its foundation is the desire to be with other boys, a natural and normal desire, and generally there is no other place to go and still be with the boys. 3. Pool-rooms and like places are under the regu- lation of adequate laws in many states. Many Sunday school workers do not even know what these laws are. If a pool-room is known to be violating the law, a visit to the proprietor and a frank, fearless and yet kind presentation of the matter will often cause great im- provement. Very few of the people who run these places are in a position to go on breaking the law after they know they are being observed. 4. Pool-rooms and like gathering places will con- tinue to draw crowds of boys so long as no other places are open to these boys. It is true that they would draw some boys, though scores of other places are open, but a great responsibility lies upon Sunday schools to provide healthful gathering places as well as closing the damaging kind. 5. It is a misfortune that so many people regard pool, billiards, and bowling as being wicked in them- selves. As a matter of fact these are games in which skill is a larger factor than chance, and because of that are infinitely above games of chance in their moral tendency. They may be made games of chance, but that is a part of the environment to which they have been condemned. In many communities bowling has 264 TJte Sunday School and the Teens now lost its bad name, and is classed among healthful amusements, while in other places bowling alleys are sinks of iniquity. Yet it is bowling. The same tran- sition is probably taking place with reference to bil- liards and pool. 6. In some communities pool-rooms and bowling alleys are allowed to exist as adjuncts of saloons; or, if not a part of a saloon property, there is a recognized relationship between a saloon and nearby pool-room which works almost the same ill. Any community with half a will can remove this danger to some extent. It is a menace so generally recognized that very little effort is needed for its suppression. 7. Remedies will suggest themselves as one reads the foregoing paragraphs: (i) Pool and billiard- rooms should be stripped of all adjuncts and reduced to the games they advertise. (2) Pool-rooms and other game rooms should be required to be easily ac- cessible; as far as possible on the street level, with all windows clear so that the inside may be clearly viewed by passers-by. Added to this, frequent visits by men who are willing to sacrifice a little time for the good of the boys of the community — men well- known, who will openly visit these places and let it be known that they intend to acquaint themselves with the methods of the place and to observe their patrons. (3) Gathering places for boys which will be under right auspices; multiplication of social centers under the control of constructive forces; the assumption by the church of its privileged place as a director of social features among its young people; more oppor- tunity for boys in the later teens to meet girls oiE like Pool-Rooms 265 age under helpful influences and amid approved surroundings. (4) Legal enactments, including pro- visions similar to the Michigan law regulating pool- rooms, and providing also that it shall be a misdemeanor for a proprietor of one of these places to allow drinking, immoral language or betting in his place; finding also that it may be possible for parent or guardian to notify the proprietor of any such game room not to allow a designated boy to frequent the place. Lounging Places. Lounging places are the har- vest of the seed sown when the younger boy is allowed to " run the streets " after nightfall. The boy whose whereabouts after nightfall are not known to his parents is usually in danger. For almost every loung- ing place some adult is responsible. The owner of the property or business has some very definite respon- sibility which he should be forced to assume. Loung- ing places continue to exist, because no one cares enough to correct them. But they are based on psy- chological laws, and may not be done away with with- out providing something to take their place. Two factors are needed to remedy the situation. A new place to meet, under better surroundings, and an older boy or young man to lead the crowd into better things. Little has been said about the danger side of these things. Does anyone doubt there is grave danger in conditions as they exist now? Scores of pages could be filled with stories from real life which mark present conditions in this direction as open gates of hell. Chapter XVII DANCE HALLS It requires but little study of any phase of the rec- reation problem to see its intimate relation to the greater economic, political and social activities of the day. The scandalous revelations in San Francisco a few years ago and a number of the more recent in- vestigations of political corruption in other cities, have shown the close relation between certain forms of recreation that have been permitted to foster the social evil and public maladministration. In this respect dance halls have been among the most serious offenders. Not only have they pandered to the lust of man, but they have also enticed many a young person into the will-destroying appetite for strong drink. Many cities and commonwealths have recognized the possibilities for corruption of these places of free and intimate mingling of the sexes and have passed stringent laws for their regulation and control. But it is just here that the weak or avaricious public official betrays the public confidence. The least departure from a firm and trustworthy adminis- tration of both the letter and the spirit of the law lets loose the floods of evil influence. And so great and far-reaching is the temptation to secure political and pecuniary gain from the passion of man and the weakness and depravity of fallen women, that a great 266 Dance Halls 267 municipality may soon become honeycombed with vice under such conditions. Not only does this maladministration affect the adult life of the community, but it also presents actual conditions that do much to contradict and destroy the effect of all efforts to instruct boys and girls in ideally right thinking and acting. For the shock that comes to the young man when he first assumes the toga of citizenship and finds his ideal man in the com- munity winking at or condoning practices so contrary to all good teaching, not infrequently makes of him either an indifferent or an immoral citizen. But many of these evils are merely perversions of right things and right possibilities — a depraved use of what other- wise would prove a means of development and bless- ing to man. In dealing with the problem of dancing we are deal- ing with a fundamental instinct of human nature. The people of all degrees of civilization, from the most sav- age to the most enlightened, dance. It is one of the first and most valuable methods of expressing feeling in connection with the more vivid experiences of life. The Greeks long ago demonstrated the great value of ex- pressing themselves through graceful, rhythmic move- ments of the body. They were also among the first to prove the intimate relation between a harmoniously developed body and the harmony that does so much for mind and spirit. But dancing is not only a graceful art which tends to produce harmony of body and spirit, it is also the most primitive art. Although there are savage tribes so low in the human scale that they are practically 268 The Svmday School and the Terns devoid of anything that could truly be called music, there are none known that do not dance upon the more important occasions in their lives. Darwin claimed that music had its origin in the love efforts of the male in wooing his mate; but more complete ob- servation seems to indicate that it originated in the rhythmic sounds which after a time were uttered as a fitting accompaniment to the cadences of the dance. This tendency toward rhythm also gave rise to the poetic forms of expression and probably had its own origin in the rhythmic movements of the heart and other organic functions. From these things it is clear that any effort entirely to suppress dancing merely militates against a natural instinct and interferes with a mode of expression that underlies, and can be made to stimulate, some of the most elevating of the human arts. But we must not confuse dancing in its noblest and most helpful forms with the simple and often more or less depraved examples of it with which we are famil- iar here in America. While many nations have em- bodied most of their characteristic social customs and feelings in dances peculiar to themselves, here in cosmopolitan America we have neither folk dances nor folk-songs. The possible exceptions to this are the " hoe-down " and " plantation songs " of the Southern negro. And it is through the folk dances, brought over by our foreign immigrants, that we are beginning to see some of the higher possibilities of the dance. The great movement for recreation that is sweeping over the country has afforded the opportunity for the Dance Halls 269 study and modification of folk dances to our needs. It is also calling attention to the undesirable things in connection with our own dance practices. As dancing has been proved to be both a healthful and helpful art, we probably have now entered upon a new era in its development here in America. And we shall, no doubt, also evolve the forms of it that will furnish expression for the movements and feelings that are at once both joyous and closely related to health, beauty, and moral vigor. What we need, therefore, in regard to dancing is not suppression, but enlargement and control. But it must be the kind of enlargement that will make dancing express the highest social virtues. Just as in Grecian life it was one of the fundamental elements that placed poetry, the drama, and especially the ex- pression of physical beauty in sculpture, on a plane which has never since been equaled, it must be made to embody our highest ideals of physical poise, of grace in movement, of beauty, of dignity and harmony of physical and spiritual development. If the Greeks of more than two thousand years ago were able, through the rhythmic movements of the dance, to develop a mental and physical character that gave them long years of unequaled success, and which has for all the centuries since, made them the models of the civilized world in matters of culture and art, enlarge- ment along the lines of their development should do much that is good for us. Through the adoption or origination of folk dances we may find poetic physical expression for the funda- mental emotions of life. Through the rhythm of the 270 The Sunday School and the Teens dance movement we may develop a sense of rhythm and harmony of music. Through the graceful phys- ical expression embodied in the dance we may broaden and deepen our sense of beauty for painting, sculpture, and architecture. 'Dancing, being the mother of all art, may yet keep us from degrading ourselves through the gross materialism of an age that is too intensely absorbed in money getting and mere material pros- perity. The Greeks danced themselves into an undying love for beauty and we may yet find dancing one of the best means of leading our nation into general and enduring interest in the richer harmony of things. But as with the Greeks, our dancing needs the stimulus of a high purpose ; it demands intelligent guidance and control. While we must not condemn dancing because of its abuse, we must remove the opportunity and the desire for its abuse. And in this lies the great oppor- tunity for the home, the school, and the church. Present Conditions. It would be criminal to close our eyes to the fact that dance conditions as they exist are unsatisfactory and in many cases positively and disgracefully bad. This is particularly true of the. dance halls in our large cities. The recently published statements of the Vice Commission of Chicago show that many of these danc^ halls are directly connected with saloons, that many of them are the resort of pro- fessional prostitutes, and that they are often frequented by girls too young to realize the moral danger to which they thereby expose themselves. While "tough" danc- ing is strictly under the ban of the law, the Commission has shown that even outside of the " red-light " dis- Dance Halls 271 tricts only honest and determined administration of public affairs entirely prevents it. These dance halls, it should be remembered, are entirely different places from the academies where dancing is taught. Unlike the dancing academies, their sole interest is often a depraved commercialism that fattens itself upon hu- man souls. With them the legitimate promotion of recreation is supplanted by a greedy thirst for gain. The proprietors of these dance halls, however, are not the only people responsible for these evil condi- tions. They merely take advantage of conditions which are favorable for the perversion of a legitimate amusement. The causes which lead young people to the vile dance halls in preference to those of a better type must be taken into account. Several of these are vital to the whole problem. I. Crowded, unsanitary, unattractive homes are responsible. It was only a few years ago that the city of London had 300,000 people living in one-room tenements. Of this number approximately 40,000 lived 5 in a room and 8,000 of them 8 in a room. The training in indecency engendered by such conditions, leads many of the inmates almost as a matter of course into lives of shame, and they are afterwards very naturally found where there is music and gayety and more cheerful surroundings. But even more pre- tentious homes are often cheerless, uncomfortable, and filled with a spirit that induces their young people to seek amusements elsewhere. And with the lack of guidance, interest, and care, so often manifested by such homes, the possibilities for evil associates and perverted impulses are great. 372 Th« Sunday School and the Teent 2. The economic and hygienic conditions under which girls labor in many factories, department stores, and other places of business, are another fruitful cause. The majority of girls in the department stores are not paid over six or seven dollars per week. As this is barely sufficient to provide for the necessities of life, girls have little margin for sickness and lost time, and none for amusements excepting of the cheap- est sort. Working as most of them do in the continual pres- ence of the luxuries of dress and adornment, it is not to be wondered at that they imbibe tastes and longings far in excess of their slender means. Hence the temptation to gain additional money by the easy means of bartering their bodies, bears in upon them with a force unknown to their more fortunate sisters. To add to the power of the temptation, they are often re- quired to dress in a way that either demands an ample supply of clothing or heavy expense in time or money for laundering and renovating. But far worse is the fact that temptation often comes through those in authority over them, even sometimes from the pro- prietor himself. The whole tendency of modern life is to place more and more strain upon the nervous system. Social hygiene is now emphasizing the fact that the sexual feelings are especially sensitive under the conditions of modern life. And it is a well-known medical fact that practically the same conditions in regard to the stimulation of nerve-cells exists at the point of ex- treme exhaustion, where there is temporary revival of a feeling of great strength, as where there is uu- Dmtt Malit 273 natural stimulation brought about by alcohol. Henea the tendency to laxity of moral purpose that follows the extreme physical exhaustion of a long and trying day either in the store or in the factory. Besides, such a day leaves the girl with little desire, and no strength, for study or self-improvement. Amusement requiring no thought, or which is full of excitement, is the very natural demand of the over- tired, nervously exhausted body. The unsanitary physical and moral conditions prevailing in many fac- tories and places of business, have been such a flag- rant contributing cause that great improvement has been required within the last few years. But that much remains to be done in many places is still quite eviderft, both for the sake of health and morality. 3. Many girls working in stores and factories live in cheap apartments or in unattractive boarding houses. They are largely the girls who have made themselves homeless for the sake of the city with its excitement and apparently higher wage. After an exhausting day, the allurements of the dance halls and the cheap places of amusement are greater than the attractions of their rooms. The sense of self-responsibility, fos- tered by their wage-earning, leads them to risk moral exposure with a recklessness that they would other- wise not have known. The freedom to which woman has exposed herself by entering into industrial compe- tition with man becomes license in the dance hall, the place of cheap amusement, the recreation park, the cheap excursion, or whatever other poorly regulated place of amusement she may choose. 4. The housewife is also often to blame. The 274 The Svmday School and the Teens friends of her cook and housemaid are not welcome to the home, and there is no interest taken either in their amusement or where their leisure time is spent. As no provision in the way of real home life is made for them by their mistresses, they are compelled to meet their friends upon the street or in the parks and must seek their recreations wherever their own judg- ment or inclination may lead them. As they are often both ignorant and. unsophisticated, a large percentage of them in the cities soon come under the influence of those who lead them into the more questionable places of amusement. These are but a few of the contributing causes which turn girls who have to earn their living in the direction of depraved and commercialized amusement. Nor must the girl, under such conditions, be held so fully responsible for her downfall as she has been held in the past. Society must revise its code of justice in this respect. Someone has ventured the statement that these women of the underworld are but one-eighth responsible for their condition and that the contribut- ing factors in their social death have been seven times as reprehensible. And when it is remembered that it is usually one weak, overworked, underpaid, and often young, vain, and ignorant girl, as against strongly in- trenched economic, political, and social forces, one can sympathize with this statement. This is especially true in view of the fact that the girl gets no safeguard- ing and sympathetic help from the great human sister- hood by whom she is so fully cast off. These wrong conditions must not be permitted to continue. Society must free itself from diseased con- Dance Halls 275 ditions and develop the strength and vigor that will place it on higher planes of possibilities. To do this, several lines of activity must be fostered and indeed are already, in places, well under way. These move- ments must be made general and receive the impetus of well-coordinated plans and efiforts. Desirable Conditions, i. Natural counteracting influences must be used. Efforts to deny or suppress the love of amusement must be abandoned; wrong amusements must be supplanted by right amusements. This is the only effective way in every moral effort where natural inclinations and desires are involved. With young people the love of amusement is stronger than the love of vice and can always be relied upon to check it. Vice is usually merely the love of pleasure gone wrong. On this subject, Jane Addams of Hull House, Chicago, says : " Vice is the illicit expression of what might have been not only normal and recrea- tive pleasure, but an instrument in the advance of a higher social morality." Hence there is also no doubt as to the need and value of stimulating the imagination and the desire for recreation. This is especially true in the case of girls who have lost the spirit of play through grave responsibilities in the home. There is for young people nothing that quite so effectively counteracts the vulgarities of the street and of the home as legitimate amusement, and nothing that does more to add physical, mental, and social interest and impetus to their life. Commercial interests have been quick to seize upon the natural desire for amuse- ment and to turn it to account for themselves. But in most cases their efforts have not expended beyond 276 The Sunday School and the Teens the question of what will yield the largest money re- turn. Questions of moral and physical welfare and safety have not been a part of their problem. This commercializing of pleasure is a serious men- ace to society. It has been estimated that in the city of Chicago alone the money gain from social vice is upwards of fifteen millions of dollars per year. For this condition the church and the school, which have been so slow to see the naturalness and value of the desire for recreation, are partly to blame. Both need to work wisely and energetically to establish centers of right influence to counteract the work of the centers of wrong influence. The Civic Club of New York, in a careful study of a district one-third of a mile square located in the "Lower East Side," found 315 saloons, pool-rooms, soda water shops and stands, moving picture shows, theaters and other meeting places of possibly evil in- fluence as against 31 centers of recognized power for good. On the question of dancing, Dr. Davis found that, of our 1200 New York school children between the ages of 11 and 14, over 80 per cent were fond of dancing, and that 56 per cent of these boys and 31 per cent of the girls had already learned to dance either in dancing academies or at " affairs." What is even more significant is the fact that less than 10 per cent of these children restricted their dancing to their own homes. And these percentages would, of course, be tremendously increased if the in- quiry were directed to young people between the ages of 14 and 18. When it is remembered that the 100 dancing academies of New York each year teach Dance Halls 277 approximately 100,000 young people to dance, and that 45 per cent of this number are under 16 and 90 per cent under 21, the great social significance of the dance problem cafl be appreciated. The use of schools as social centers must be extended to include their use as recreational centers. There is every good reason to believe that the school can pro- vide both instruction and the opportunity for exercise in a safer and more helpful way than can be done in places where such things are far more loosely super- vised. That the school is also more apt to be inter- ested in the more expressive and elevating forms of recreation, is also to be expected. As one of the most important agencies for social uplift, any expense involved by the school in the way of money, time, or effort for such purposes will be fully justified by the rich returns in safety and welfare made to the community authorizing such a use of the school building. Every large modern school building should be so constructed as to provide for the after- noon and evening needs of its community, as well as for the regulation day school needs. The modern church may well consider whether it does not also have a duty as well as an opportunity in these same directions. Although the specific func- tion of the church is to promote the higher spiritual life, and in its local efforts along any other line, it will always be accused of proselyting, this does not free it as a great social organization or from certain well-defined responsibilities. It is undoubtedly the business of the church to see that the amusements of its people are clean and well 278 The Sunday School and the Teens regulated, and there seems to be every good reason why it should also actively assist in providing proper amusements for the people. If it cannot do this di- rectly, it can, at least, manifest an active sympathy toward all such movements. It may not itself pro- vide amusement but it can furnish help, counsel, and inspiration to those who do provide it. The school has the advantage of being undenomina- tional, in having in most cases an equipment at hand, and of being directly responsible to the people of the community. The church, as its elder brother, may find that its best help in the matter can be rendered by assisting the school. There is also now good rea- son to believe that the church and the school may find the opportunities suggested by folk dances, folk music, and the more elevating forms of historical dances, a natural and potential force in our better social trends. These counteracting influences may well include not only indoor places of amusement but also the opening for recreation of the school grounds after school hours; but it must be under careful supervision that this is done. The opening and maintaining of out-of-door places of recreation, such as playgrounds, parks, etc., must be included. These should always be under careful oversight and, where possible, should be provided with competent instructors and supervisors of play. The folk-games, folk-festivals, pageants, out-of-door dramas, etc., that are possible in these places, can be made effective instruments for interesting instruction as well as for safe recreation. Much would be accomplished in the way of prevent- Dance Hallt 279 ing a taste for objectionable forms and places of amusement if the period and opportunity for school life could be extended. In Germany and Switzerland, boys and girls may secure employment after they are 14 years of age, but their employers must see to it that they attend school for a certain number of hours each week until the age of 16 or 18 is reached. And these hours of release to the school must be during the day and not in the evening after the day's labor has left little inclination or energy for study. Educators realize that a very large percentage of pupils leave long before the school has had satisfac- tory opportunity to give them a truly helpful training. It is a sad fact that the great majority of girls recruited for immoral purposes are pitifully young, have little or no training for life, and are left without guidance at the period of life when help and guidance are most needed. Any form of opportunity or appeal that will con- tinue the work of the school or that will build up interest in right things, will prove the most effective preventive or antidote for the exciting attractions of the degraded dance halls. Some of the developments brought about by Edward C. Ward in Rochester, N. Y., have clearly demonstrated how such efforts may be made effective in supplanting both the dance hall and the " boys' gang." Parental responsibility must be greatly emphasized. Both the church and the school can do effective work here by their efforts to enlighten, warn, and stimulate ignorant and indifferent parents. Many young girls are ignorant of the serious temptations involved in late 28o The Sunday School and the Teens hours, suggestive surroundings and the mad whirl and dose embrace in some of the things that we have known as dancing. When to these are added the dan- gers of the all too convenient saloon of the dance hall, no parent worthy the name but could be led to see the downward trend of permitting such a course. Ignorance is probably, after all, one of the main sources of degradation, and whatever can be done to open the blind or indifferent eyes of parents is well worth while. But, as it is hard to struggle against adverse econo- mic forces, a careful study should be made of working conditions and wages, as well as of the cost of living. This should be done for the various large economic groups, with a view to determining what is a living wage for each group. In spite of all efforts to help and to save them, many girls will find themselves un- able to resist temptation when the margin between their earnings and their necessary expenses permits of none of the comforts and satisfactions of life. The number of hotels, apartments and boarding- houses where homeless girls may find both comfort and assured safety must be greatly increased. If the " home " of the girl merely contributes to the attraction of the street, the cheap theater, and the dance hall, her chances for moral safety are greatly decreased. Social and philanthropic effort can find no richer moral satisfaction than in the providing of adequate homes at a cost that is within the means of the average working girl. And, above all, laws and regulations pertaining to the moral safety of our youth must be fearlessly and Dance HaUs 281 conscientiously enforced. Some existing laws need revision; some additional laws are needed; but the most important thing is that we see to it that there is no evasion or neglect of law and regulation. The will of the people is supreme only when it is actively, energetically, fearlessly and persistently expressing itself in right action. And this is true whether their will is expressed through themselves or through their representatives. The dance hall is therefore but one phase of a many- sided problem, and he who would approach this prob- lem with the honest purpose of solving it, needs to see its relation to this many-sided problem. While in some cities the control of these places of amusement is as bad as the places themselves, even where the control is good the problem is not solved. This fact should be clearly seen in order that the more fundamental things may be approached and solved. That their solution will require intelligent, honest, and united effort on the part of all the forces for good is evident. That the returns for such effort are beyond all price is also evident. Chapter XVIII THEATERS, NICKELODEONS AND AMUSE- MENTS While investigating the subject of amusements as indulged in by the young people of our community, it has been emphasized that amusement hold^ a notice- ably large place in the life of all young people com- pared with such forms of recreation as require the doing of something rather than the mere listening to or looking at something which is done by others. Many of the amusements of the young people of to- day form a broad and straight road leading directly to dissipation, because the powers which must be brought into play in wholesome recreation become atrophied through disuse. So far as our investigations have gone, the churches of to-day are not touching the social life of the young people and are allowing the members of their Sunday schools to find their amusement and entertainment and recreation outside of the influence of the church. This we deem to be a most unfortunate condition. In the days of half a century ago the chief recreations of the young people were both of necessity and choice those which required some exercise of mental power and resulted in a corresponding development. Sing- ing societies, debating societies, spelling bees, pro- nunciation matches, and literary societies were found Theaters, Nickelodeons and Amusements 283 in every town of any size and even in the smaller hamlets. Many of these were conducted by the churches. Some churches condemn card playing, dancing and theater going, but provide absolutely nothing to take the place of these things. There is a wide iield here for endeavor which if entered into with intelligence and vigor would greatly increase the spiritual power of the church. There is an opportunity to show the young people that the most enjoyable forms of recrea- tions are not those in which they are passive, but those in which they take an active part; and further that those which give the most lasting pleasure and which rarely pall are those in which the mental powers are exercised. The social conditions, especially in our cities, make impossible the kind of sociability among families that is found to-day in some of the rural districts and was the general rule some years ago. The young people in many of our churches cannot entertain their friends in their own homes, and the result is that they are in a measure driven out into the street and into the pub- lic places of amusement when they wish to gratify their natural social instincts. One great difficulty which stands in the way of any definite social work on the part of individual churches is a lack of funds. Such work must have supervision. It must be carried on during all the week-days if it is to meet the social needs of the diflferent ages of the boys and girls. Probably the best way to overcome this difficulty is for three or four churches to unite to sustain a community house in which all the social 284 The Svmday School and the Teens features required by this group of churches could be conducted. By sharing the expenses this could usually be done without great difficulty. One church in a Connecticut town, a Congregational church; main- tains what is called a Community House, and the other churches of the town as well as some societies outside of the churches share the expenses and the benefits of the enterprise. It is certain that unless the church goes into this line of work outside organizations will do so. Already the Young Men's Christian Associa- tion and Young Women's Christian Association, the Boy Scout Movement and the Camp Fire Girls are doing many things that the church should have done, and are reaping the benefits in the affection and inter- est of the young people which should be centered upon the church itself. Concerning moving pictures, it is the opinion of this committee that these pictures for the mass of the people are the greatest educational and refining influ- ence that has arisen in this century. Wise censorship of the films, not in spite of, but in response to the re- quests of the manufacturers, has resulted in giving a very high grade of entertainment. People from the slums who have never seen the inside of a refined and beautiful home, and have never had an opportunity to know anything about the courtesy which a gentleman always shows to women, are shown these things in a most attractive way, and are inevitably influenced by what they see. The scenes in foreign lands, which are very popular, are highly educational, as are the various processes of manufacture, and the pictures of current events the world over. Edison has recently Theaters, Nickelodeons cmd Airmsements 285 announced his plans for an eight-year educational course in public schools, using the moving pictures to teach the alphabet and courses in natural history, bac- teriology, geography, history and horticulture. In all these ways and in a hundred others that might be men- tioned, the moving picture is a tremendous educa- tional force, and it is within the reach of the poor people. Of course there are some bad films, especially the French ones which occasionally are brought into the country and exhibited, but the tendency is forward, the character of the show is generally good, and a most encouraging fact is that many of the moving picture proprietors say that the reason they show the better class of films is because the people themselves demand it. The church has unique opportunities for stimu- lating this wholesome tendency of public taste. The rise of the moving picture has rung the death knell of some of the cheaper theaters, and this is highly desirable, for the cheap theaters and vaude- ville are always evil, not because what is done and said and sung is always bad, but because when it is not openly vicious it is so hopelessly common as per- manently to vitiate the taste of such as learn to like that sort of thing. In fact one of the worst things about moving picture shows is that in the beginning when the films were very shaky and the effect upon the eyes correspondingly bad, a law was passed re- quiring the management to have an interval of at least five minutes between films. Of course something had to be provided by way of entertainment to fill the five minutes, and so vaudeville features or alleged illus- trated songs were introduced. These are gradually 286 The Sunday School and the Teens being eliminated since the pictures have been so im- proved. The proportion of cheap theaters to moving picture places is now about i to 15, and even the vaudeville theaters introduce two or three moving pictures in each performance. There are more than eight times as many moving picture places as there are high priced theaters in the communities investigated. In most of our cities bill posters are so censored as to remove many of the objectionable pictures which a few years ago were common. The Nickelodeons or penny arcades need careful supervision by the moral forces of the community. In a New England city it was discovered that the pictures exhibited in these affairs were of the worst character, and yet they were patronized by over 90 per cent of the high school boys and girls of the city. A representation of the facts to the mayor resulted in the prompt closing of these places. Many churches seem to be taking up the plan of providing lecture courses and concerts at popular prices, but while this is a step in the right direction it is not having very wide influence over the young people for whom recreation and entertainment are most needed, as they desire a greater social oppor- tunity than such entertainments provide. The public libraries generally provide children's rooms, and these rooms have such intelligent super- vision that the children are personally guided in their reading, besides having the help that comes through the selection of the books which are found in the chil- dren's libraries. The libraries seem to be perfectly Theaters, Nkkelodeont cmd Amusements 287 willing and glad to work with Sunday schools and churches when asked to do so. They always work closely with the public schools and if the churches could get in as close touch with them it would be of great benefit to the boys and girls. Chapter XIX PARKS AND PLAYGROUNDS The cooperation of the Sunday school and home with the parks and playgrounds and the value of such cooperation is best unfolded by the replies to the fol- lowing letter: "Dear Mr. : " I have been asked to prepare for the International Sun- day School Association a report on 'How may the Church and the Sunday school relate themselves to parks and play- grounds in a cooperative way for young people of adolescent age?' " In order that you may know just what the Sunday School Association has in mind, let me quote a sentence from the letter asking me to prepare this particular report : ' The Church and Sunday school should recognize the problem of the young people in the cotnmunity and should set itself toward a thorough cooperation with these community plans so that the largest and best use shall be made of them in winning and holding young people to better things.' " William Burdick, M.D., Director, Public Athletic League of Baltimore, Md., sends the following state- ment: " The adolescent boy needs the Sunday school, and will be glad to express his loyalty to his teacher and classmates, if there is a sympathetic attempt to con- nect the interests of his boy life to the studies and plans of the Sunday school. Practical attempts are already being successful in many cities. Considera- tion of the subject for three years has led to the con- clusion that one of the best ways, at present, of. Parks and Playgrounds 289 getting the boy to show his allegiance to the Sunday school, is to have a definite policy in regard to ath- letics, interpreted in its new meaning of the ' vigor- ous, social, fighting plays of youth.' " This policy generally can best be formulated by the local Sunday School Association, if it exists, or by the representatives of all of the Sunday schools in the community. They should take the initiative and ask the cooperation of those who are most expert in conducting the physical activities in the place. " There are two ways of doing this that have been successful. In a number of places where the play- grounds are not large enough for team games, and the Young Men's Christian Associations are doing exten- sion work, it is best to get the physical director to as- sist in the organization of the physical interests of the Sunday school boys. There would be a close relation between the Association and each school, for prefer- ably, a member of the leaders' corps would be assigned to a school and all would be united to the Association by reports and common activities. This is not the better plan, for larger play areas are necessary than the Association usually supervises, except when it directs the play activities of the city during the sum- mer. Therefore the directors of adolescent play in a city, should be invited to meet the officers of the local Sunday School Association. " Two fundamental principles must be agreed upon ; firstly, both organizations must assume a joint re- sponsibility for the success of the plan ; secondly, each body must do the special things for which each is the most efficient. The best plan so far tried is to form 39© The Sunday ScJiool and the Teens a Sunday School Athletic League in which each school has equal power. The Sunday School Associa- tion, and later the Sunday schools themselves, pro- mote the growth of the League. They also finance the proposition. In two cities, an annual fee of $5.00 has proven sufficient for this purpose. It is best, too, for the schools as a whole to determine what shall be the basis upon which a boy may represent a school. " An organization like the Public Athletic League of Baltimore ought to furnish its experience in athletics, arrange the games, and conduct all such details. It should be the court of appeal, for, as a rule, the Sun- day school boy has not had much experience, and tends to be a partisan. The League can well do this, for it has no interest in any group, being a disinterested third party. This is the most essential phase of ath- letics, for boys under 16 have not yet learned that a competitor is not necessarily, nor usually, an enemy. " Some scheme of registration is necessary in or- der that we may insist on allegiance. ' Tramp athletes ' are possible even in Sunday school athletics. Every boy ought to be examined by a physician, con- nected, if possible, with the church, so as to increase the interest of the elders in the boys in every way as well as to protect them from possible harm. Everyone — boys and girls, men and women, teachers and superintendent — ought to be interested in the success of the team. " The team representing the Sunday school, whether in track athletics, baseball, or what, is the object of their interests. Loyalty to one another is the result. Consequently, there is no need of individual prizes Park* and Playgrov/nds a^l for the winners. The prize or prizes are cups or ban- ners, or what you will, to be given to the winning team. This is no unattainable ideal, for in both Phil- adelphia and Baltimore there is as keen competition and as big entry lists as when prizes $5.00 a set are offered. " When the Sunday school cooperates with the recreation directors in such a scheme, athletics will be- come a social force in the community and the lessons of the Sunday school will have an interest they never had before. " No longer do we read, ' So run that you may ob- tain,' but ' So run that you may attain/ the new note of present-day athletics." H. R. Hadcock, Director of Playgrounds and Phys- ical Director of the Young Men's Christian Associa- tion, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, writes as follows: " My general impression of the function of the Church is this : It is responsible for the spiritual life of the community, and that we are not called upon to directly administrate the parks or playgrounds any more than the playgrounds and parks are called upon to -administrate the Church, but, I believe, that the conception and ethics of a Christian man, which are largely based on the message and ideas that he gets in his Church, will govern and carry the Christian ideals into all walks of life. I think the members of the Church should feel their personal responsi- bility as Christians while they sit on Councils, on Park Boards, on School Boards, or any other places. Too many men think if it is going to be Christian it must be promoted by the Church, and they lose their re- 292 TTie Sunday School and the Teens sponsibility and identity as Christian men the moment they leave the shadow of the Church. The Church and Sunday school have promoted duplicate organiza- tions using baseball, football, athletics and so forth, with the same men that are used by the other organi- zations, and often with much less efficiency. How- ever, I am getting farther into this than I origi- nally intended to. To reiterate, I simply mean this — churches should not control and foster the activities in the city directly, but the church members should carry their Christian ideas and ethics into these organi- zations as members of the organizations." George E. Johnson, Superintendent of the Pitts- burgh Playground Association, replies as follows: " Replying to your letter of October i8th, I will say that I think the Church and Sunday school can cooperate with the recreation parks and playgrounds in two ways : " I. In a general way, by supporting any movement towards providing adequate recreation facilities in the community. The Church and the community as a whole will bear an additional and unnecessary burden in ' winning and holding young people to better things ' so long as adequate opportunities for whole- some play and recreation are not provided. The need of recreation centers must be met by the cooperative endeavor of all agencies which believe that the com- munity has a great responsibility in the social and physical welfare of its young people. " 2. In a specific way, by cooperative efforts for the establishing of right standards of amateur athletics. These standards ought to be uniform for all athletics Parks and Playgrounds 293 and games of the community and should be determined by a federation of the agencies interested in such ac- tivities of the young. Various leagues, such as Church or Sunday school leagues, playground leagues, school leagues, could be formed and conducted through the seasons, leading finally to inter-league games. Or, if the community is small, all these agencies could unite in one league from the first." A fourth playground expert made the following statement to the writer personally: " I. That there should be no direct organized con- tact between the Church and the playground. " 2. That the relationship between the Church and the playground should be the same as now exists be- tween the Church and the public schools. " 3. That any cooperation between the Church and playground should be indirect, i. e., through other or- ganizations such as Amateur Athletic Federations, Boy Scouts, and through extension work." By extension work he meant that members of Churches and Sunday schools could organize and direct groups of young people in their neighborhood who would have the right to use the playground the same as other members of the community. Chapter XX WIDER USE OF SCHOOL PLANTS One of the most encouraging aspects of recent edu- cational and socia] progress has been the development of the use of public school buildings as social centers. This movement originated a few years ago in Roches- ter, New York, and has spread to other eastern cities, notably New York City, and to several cities in the middle west, notably Chicago. So widespread has the interest in it become, and so strong is the sense of its importance among those who have been in touch with it, that a National Conference on Civic and So- cial Center Development was called to hold its first meeting at Madison, Wisconsin, in October, 191 1. This Conference brought together men and women prominent in the professional, business and social work of the country. The program included features covering a wide range of interests, from the use of the country schoolhouse as a center from which the life of the rural community should receive increased inspiration, to the congested city neighborhood where legitimate moral needs center the attention of the people on the school building as an agency for protec- tion against the evils which grow out of a patronage of public amusement halls of questionable moral tone. The ideas underlying this Conference have already aw Wider Use of School Plants 295 been set forth in a book entitled " Wider Use of the Public Schools," by Perry. The experience of the last two years in Chicago has abundantly demonstrated the value of such use of the public schools as recreational and social centers. Dur- ing the year 1910-11 nine schools were opened for two evenings a week and the average attendance per evening at each school was 239. During the year 1911-12, with the aid of an increased appropriation by the Board of Education, sixteen schools were opened for two evenings a week and the average attendance was 249. Various activities were engaged in, ranging from open reading-rooms, public lectures, and educational moving picture exhibitions to game and play-rooms, gymnastic and competitive athletics, singing and or- chestral classes, dramatic productions, and folk and social dancing. The work of each school has been under the direction of a principal and assistants chosen from among the teachers of that school. Their report has uniformly been that the work has proven of great value in its influence, not only on individuals, but also on the life and atmosphere of the community. It is evident that the public school, belonging as it: does to the whole community without racial class or religious distinctions, is the natural center for such recreational and social activities as this. In our com- plex American population many will come to the schoolhouse for such purposes who would never darken the doors of a church, even for objects not distinctly religious. It therefore seems clear that the policy of churches desirous of promoting such recrea- 296 The Sunday School and the Teens tion in their own neighborhoods should be to encour- age and develop such recreational and social use of the public schools. This does not, however, by any means preclude a wider use of the church and Sunday school buildings themselves for the same purpose. One of the great secrets of the success of institutional church work has been the closeness of touch and mutual confidence between the church and the people of the neighbor- hood, which has been built up by the many-sided in- terests which the church has taken in the life of the community, and the various opportunities for recrea^ tional, social and educational activities, which it has offered. Wherever churches have made definite attempts to identify themselves more closely with the actual life and interests of the people in their own community, especially the less favored, the result has been a marked increase in their influence and prestige. This is particularly true among boys and girls in their teens. It is striking and most suggestive to see how even a slight interest and effort shown on behalf of the recrea- tional and social life of boys and girls calls forth an answering response wholly disproportionate to the original effort. The church and the Sunday school particularly have here a great opportunity to enlarge the field and strengthen the hold of their influence on boys and girls in their teens. How this can best be done will always remain a question for local adjustment in each com- munity. In some cases where other gymnastic and athletic facilities are not available, it will doubtless be Wider Use of School Plants 297 highly desirable for the church to provide such; in case such facilities are already offered by the public schools or the Young Men's Christian Association, this would simply be duplication and expensive effort. The same consideration holds for such other recrea- tional interests as educational, musical and social ac- tivities. In practically every community, however, the influence of the church over young people can be greatly increased by the wider use of its equipment during the week for social and other purposes. \ It is hard to see why the equipment which the aver- age church possesses should be used only on Sundays and stand idle for the six days following. In many cases it will be possible to arrange and equip smaller rooms as club-rooms for groups of boys and girls, and possibly arrange to have these open as often during the week as may be advisable under local conditions. The guiding principle in all such efforts should be a sincere interest in the natural and normal recreational and social desires of young people, and an attempt to provide for them satisfactorily under the best and highest auspices and influences. We would therefore recommend: First, that wherever the public schools have been opened already as social centers, the church and the Sunday school should support them in every possible fashion, and particularly by provision of intelligent and devoted workers and leaders. Second, that where this has not yet come about, the church and Sunday school endeavor to educate and lead public opinion on the importance of proper recrea- tional and social opportunities for young people of the 298 The Sunday School and the Teens community, looking toward the provision of such possi- bilities in connection with the public school. Third, that each local church and Sunday school study carefully social and recreational conditions in its own neighborhood, discover just what needs among its own young people are not being met, and adopt an intelligent and adequate program for the meet- ing of those conditions under the highest and best auspices. Chapter XXI THE CRIMINAL AND DELINQUENT Statistics show a marked increase of crime be- tween the ages of 12 and 14, indicating that adoles- cence is distinctively the criminal age. The majority of first commitments occur in these ages. Corre gives the following table, as quoted by Hall in his " Adoles- cence," of the age distribution of 7,475 cases of delin- quents. Ages Boys Girls Total Before 8 14 6 20 8-10 159 37 196 11-12 42s 117 S42 12-14 1214 269 1483 14-16 1739 409 2148 16-18 1765 38s 2150 18-20 714 209 923 Over 20 3 8 11 Summarizing the statistics from several sources, 45 per cent of convicted thieves are under 21. Out of 856 convictions, 37^^ per cent were between 16 and 21, and 3oJ^ per cent between 12 and 16. Crimes against property are more frequent between the ages of 16 and 20. Crimes against persons are more frequent between the ages of 21 and 25. A study of the ages at which certain crimes predominate shows the following facts: 299 3CX3 The Sunday School and the Teens Age Predominant Crimes 14 Mischief and trespassing: IS Petty Larceny 16. ; Larceny " Sears reports, in percentages, statistics of the pun- ishments received by a thousand children for the fol- lowing offenses in schools : Disorder, 171^ ; disobedi- ence, 16; carelessness, 13V3; running away, 12%; quarreling, 10; tardiness, 6%; rudeness, 6; fighting, 5%; lying, 4; stealing, i; miscellaneous, 7%."' A study of five children's courts shows the follow- ing tables: Showing the Number of Children Convicted Boys Girls Total Number of children convicted of juve- nile delinquency and complaints sus- tained in special proceedings 9253 1538 10791 Showing the Nature of Offenses Boys Girls Total Arson 4 4 Assault (Felony) 80 80 Assault (Misdemeanor) 175 7 182 Burglary 658 658 Carrying Burglars' Tools 2 2 Cruelty to Animals i I Corporation Ordinances 10 10 Carrying Dangerous Weapons 43 43 Disorderly Conduct 2740 12 2752 Discharging Firearms 26 26 Forgery i i False Alarm of Fire 5 5 Intoxication 4 4 Indecent Assault 3 3 Larceny (Misdemeanor) 726 52 778 Larceny (Felony) 206 9 215 Labor Law 40 i 41 Malicious Mischief (Misdemeanor) ... 46 46 1 Home and School Punishments. Pedagogical Seminary, March, 1899, vol. 41, pp. 159-187. The Criminal and Delinquent 301 Boys Girls Total Peddling 234 9 243 Robbery 95 95 Railroad Law 92 92 Sodomy i I Unlawful Entry 76 76 Unlawful Driving I I Violating Park Ordinance 7 7 Unclassified 85 2 87 S361 92 S4S3 Showing the Ages of Children Arraigned Ages Boys Girls Total Between the ages of i and 7 years.... 589 445 1034 Between the ages of 7 and 12 years 3284 575 3859 Between the ages of 12 and 14 years 3941 439 4380 Between the ages of 14 and 16 years. . 4635 690 5325 12449 2149 14598 A study of 3,068 commitments in various penal in- stitutions shows the following table: Age (Time of Arrest) Race Sex Reli^on 20 and under 381 21 to 30 1317 31 and over 1370 American White 1962 American Negro 350 European (with few ex- ceptions) 1061 Japanese , i Indian i Male 2867 Female 201 Protestant 1305 Roman Catholic 1600 Hebrew 264 None 192 Pagan 3 Of these the Sunday school attendance was tabu- lated for 732. 302 The Sunday School and the Teens Left prior to 15 149 ATTENDED TO AGE OF 15 64 16 62 17 40 18-20 99 21-25 48 26-30 IS 31-35 5 After 36 3 Now 132 Never 115 Crimes against property are connected with the ra- cial instincts for self-preservation. Crimes against persons are inspired by the struggle toward self-real- ization. Juvenile crime throughout shows the diffi- culties and the perils which adolescents find in self-adjustment to the social order. Chapter XXTI SAFEGUARDING ADOLESCENTS AGAINST COMMUNITY MORAL PERILS Never was there so much study of adolescence as in this new century. Appropriately coincident with its beginning appeared several epoch-making books on adolescent boys, of which "The Boy Problem," by William Byron Forbush was one of the first and best. Other helpful books, based on original investigations by Coe and Starbuck and President Stanley Hall ap- peared about the same time. The Young Men's Christian Association responded quickly to this new light, multiplying its Boys' Secre- •taries by fifteen in six years. Then came the startling " white slave traffic " disclosures which showed that our girls are quite as much in peril, and Congress re- sponding to the bitter cry of parents, enacted the White Slave Law for the more vigorous enforcement of which Attorney-General Wickersham has set apart one of the strong men, Hon. Stanley B. Finch, Fidelity Building, Baltimore, of the Department of Justice. Meantime the Men and Religion Movement, in which the men of many churches joined their forces to bring back to religion the men and boys who had dropped out of the churches, scheduled " Work for Boys " and " Boys' Work " as church work. About the same time the International Sunday Z03 304 The Simday School and the Teens School Association appointed a Commission for the study of the life of the Adolescent. One of the phases of this study is " Safeguarding Adolescent Youth Against Community Moral Perils," and its findings are embodied in this chapter. Churches Should Lead in Social Betterment. The discussion of this subject itself places special emphasis on the fact that it is a legitimate and essential part of " church work " to make a better community, and that this is the most effective way of " safeguarding " the boys and girls. The farmer does not merely ad- vise the good seed to grow. He kills the weeds and builds fences. In spiritual husbandry also environ- ment affects conversion before and after. The churches, through influence on civil action, must make it " easier to do right and harder to do wrong." At present the opposite condition exists through lack of proper laws and proper enforcement. With nearly one-third of the population on the church books, al- most one-half of the adults, the churches have the ability, and so the responsibility to change all this. Especially so since twentieth century victories along several lines in Los Angeles, Seattle, Omaha, Minne- apolis, Cincinnati and Philadelphia have shown that the mightiest of bosses and the most entrenched abuses can be overthrown. The churches should lead in moral safeguarding, for that is one of their chief functions. We must " save society if only to make a safe place for saved souls." The family altar and family pew and Sunday school are efificient, but they are not sufficient. Only two- fifths of American children of school age attend Sun- Safeguarding Adolescent* 305 day school, and of this number very few go to church. Manifestly to safeguard the boys and girls of the land against moral perils the churches must go out from their buildings and fight the moral wolves. Neither a church nor an official branch of it, as such, should undertake partisan politics or law and order prosecutions, unless under most extraordinary circumstances. Every church should, however, keep in the apostolic succession by speaking to government through petitions, deputations and otherwise, as prophets and apostles spoke to kings of righteousness, temperance and a judgment to come. It is therefore not only the right but the duty of the churches to safeguard youth against moral perils in their com- munity. Churches Should Have a Moral and Social Coun- cil. Each church should have a committee to lead in this specific work, which may well be a men's class where there is a live one. Such committees should federate in a union committee or " Moral and Social Council." In Canada there are such councils in many towns, with larger councils for the provinces, and a Supreme Council for the whole Dominion. These councils in the name of the churches themselves often conduct " no-license " campaigns. Thfey had sole charge of victorious national crusades against opium and " white slavery," and are now fighting race gam- bling in the whole Dominion. These church councils should not stop with the mere removal of an evil. We must give attention not only to weeding but also to sunshine, which means playgrounds and censored moving pictures, safe picnic grounds and whatever 3o6 The Sunday School and the Teens else will promote health and happiness constructively. Questionnaire on Perils of Youth. To obtain facts as to perils of youth aiid how to deal with them, a carefully prepared series of questions was sent out, chiefly to pastors, but also to a shorter list of Sunday school superintendents, teachers and Young Men's Christian Association Boys' Secretaries throughout the United States and Canada. One hundred and eighty-nine in all, came back with replies in time for tabulation. Extent and Forms of Moral Perils, i. How early have you known a boy or girl to go astray in matters of sex, either in solitary vice or in social evil? In answer to this question five name i6 years, twelve 15, fourteen 14, eighteen 13, twenty 12, five 11, twenty- eight 10, twelve 9, twenty-one 8, four 7, eleven 6, eight 5, seven 4, three 3, one 2, two i. Another says, " Be- low the kindergarten age." It would naturally be sup- posed that all below the teen age were cases of soli- tary vice, but the social vice is specifically named as having occurred in four cases of boys and girls as young as five and six, two of these cases involving brothers and sisters. Several cases are given of so- cial vice among children of seven years, yet more of eight, nine and ten. A boy of last named age is de- scribed as a " sex degenerate." A girl of eleven is declared to have conveyed a venereal disease to half a dozen boys from nine to twelve years of age. A girl of thirteen in a mill family was encouraged by her mother to enter an evil life. A female servant cor- rupted a boy of six. On account of such facts some urge that sex teaching should begin as early as four, Safeguarding Adolescents 307 with nature lessons from flowers and chickens and kittens, or even earlier when a child first asks where the baby came from. 2. How far is this wrong-doing due to ignorance, and how far is it wilful sin in the face of knowledge? The answers of 107 attribute juvenile vice primarily to ignorance, 15 give first place to wilful sin, 24 attrib- ute it to both causes, 16 think it begins in ignorance and is continued wilfully or through weakness, 4 at- tribute it to mere animal instinct. An eminent doctor answers: "Very generally due in part to ignorance of physical right living." A preacher says : " Igno- rance of consequences " ; another, " almost always from lack of parental information " ; another, " Lack of proper training " ; another notes that some boys have been led to believe erroneously that exercise of sex functions is essential to their development. It is generally assumed that early errors are due, not to complete ignorance of the subject, but rather to failure to get the whole truth in a clean way from the right source. Knowledge by itself without conver- sion, it is noted by one, is not a power unto salvation. Crowded tenements, inherited propensities, bad com- panionship, lack of parental watchfulness, lack of sanitary care with girls, and of needed circumcision with boys are mentioned as sharing with ignorance and wilfulness in promoting early development of vice. 3. There are numerous statements as to wrong sexual relations among high school pupils. Have you actual knowledge of any such cases? Seventy-nine answer this question in the affirma- o' 08 The Sunday School and the Teens tive; 98 say they have no positive facts, though they have in many cases heard rumors ; and 10 make no an- swer. Many declare that there is less social vice among high school students than among equal numbers of young people in other associations, e. g., in shops or among those employed. Several say that out of a large acquaintance with high school pupils they have known only a few to go wrong. But stories are given of high schools where half a dozen girls in a year become pregnant; of another school in which there were ten students of both sexes found in a barn with a keg of beer; of another where pupils had a code of signs for assignations; of another in which half the school had fallen into the social evil, compelling an investi- gation which involved so many leading families that the report was suppressed; of three other schools in which there were boys who had been seen in brothels. The testimony, while not proving high school pu- pils more liable or even as liable as others in the teen age to go wrong, does warrant increased vigilance and discipline, since one vicious boy or girl allowed in such an association corrupts many more. Several mention high school dances as promoting social vice. As in every high school there are boys and girls of Christian families who are opposed to dancing and some opposed on their own convictions, a proper sense of courtesy would exclude dancing from school functions. Pupils should also know that any fre- quenting of evil resorts will be found out and the guillly one promptly expelled. Dr. Elizabeth Hamil- ton Muncie, in " Four Epochs of Life," a helpful book on sex, urges employment of two medical advisers for Safeguarding Adolescents 309 public schools, one a man, the other a woman, to safe- guard both health and morals. 4. Have you known of any sexual wrongs effectu- ally prompted by theatrical exhibitions? Thjrty-five say " Yes "; 154 have no facts to report. One very exact teacher thinks the words " effectually prompted " too strong a term, and in her affirmative reply to this and several questions following, wishes to be understood as meaning to say that the things named " suggest " impurity and other sins. But facts following given by one who has studied moral influ- ence of theaters indicate that " effectually prompted " is not too strong. He reports that the Chief of Po- lice told him that harlots regularly wait at the doors of theaters for " their prepared meat " ; also that in another city the police selected one hour after the close of the theaters as the appropriate time to raid the brothels, and found in them many sons of rich church members ; also that in another city gayety girls who had played to thousands of college students did not get back to their hotel rooms until 3.30 a. m. These " chorus girls " were getting $15.00 per week, of which $14.00 went for board and room. It was sur- prising how well they dressed on $1.00 per week. The same informant tells of the manager of a large traveling troupe of girls, who, when someone im- pugned their morals, replied, " They are not all bad " ; to which the accuser swiftly replied, " You have ad- mitted some of them are." A Young Men's Chris- tian Association secretary in one of the richest suburbs of New York City, said of a certain vaudeville troupe that for a dozen years went the rounds of American 3IO The Sunday School and the Teens cities : " That is one of the troupes that leaves a trail of venereal diseases behind it." In view of these facts parents and teachers and pas- tors in each city should make resistless appeal to the mayors to exercise the full power of censorship which every American mayor and burgess possesses to rule out at the very least all plays that picture prostitu- tion and seduction, all that represent white slaves in Chinese opium dens, runaway girls, nudity, semi- nudity, abdomen dances and other representations of either vice or crime in alluring forms. 5. Have you known sexual wrongs effectually prompted by dances? Eighty-seven answer " Yes," and 192 have no facts. Pastors and others who send these replies know of many more cases of moral downfall due to dances than they can ascribe to the theaters. The police are quoted as saying that rooms for rent with no questions asked near public dance halls fill up with couples after the dance is over. The management of the Iowa State Home for Wayward Girls is quoted as making it a condition of parole when girls are released that they shall not go to dances. We have already noted the protest against high school dances. A good many people also protest against the vain effort of play- ground associations to make round dances harmless by supervision. One thinks that the true tendency of the dance as a sex stimulant is being confessed in the new dances of high society, borrowed from the vice market of San Francisco, which are appropriately named after barnyard fowls and wild beasts. Safeguarding Adolescent t 311 6. Have you known sexual wrongs effectually prompted by street roving at night? One hundred and seventeen reply affirmatively, 38 have no facts and 33 make no reply. One teacher expresses sympathy with young people who are em- ployed all day and whose only chance for outdoor life is at night. But surely no boy or girl in the perilous years of adolescence or in childhood should rove at night beyond the watchful oversight of parents and guardians. To prevent this, parents act together in some towns through the " curfew " whose meaning, " cover fire," suggests the perilous fires of passion that flame most dangerously at night unless " covered." A case is cited where police had to spend much of their time at night in keeping roaming couples from using horse sheds, bushes and dark corners for vicious pur- poses. 7. Have you known sexual wrongs effectually prompted by suggestive pictures or reading? Eighty-six reply in the affirmative, 103 have no facts. Several girls confessed that their downfall be- gan in looking at indecent pictures with boys. In this connection books on physiology are mentioned as improperly used in some cases. In one college library, scientific books on sex hygiene were so worn with much use by students that it became necessary to put them in the private office of a professor to be given out discriminatingly. 8. Have you known sexual wrongs effectually prompted by postals and bill posters? Forty-two answer in the affirmative, 147 have no facts. In one city a mayor wisely called on all dealers 312 The Sunday School and the Teens in post cards to submit samples of all post cards to him to avoid trouble. He condemned hundreds of them and sent them to Anthony Comstock for conclu- sive judgment. One reply names steamboat excur- sions as an additional occasion of moral downfall be- sides those cited. p. Have you any facts showing effects of cigarettes on physical, mental and moral condition of youth? Eighty-eight reply in the affirmative, loi have no facts. The cases cited show nervous, mental and moral breakdown due chiefly to cigarettes. Teachers testify that cigarette smokers often fail in examina- tions. A minister says he finds it next to impossible to help morally one who is addicted to cigarettes. 10. Have you any facts as to the influence upon youth of petty gambling, such as slot machines? Fifty-eight reply in the affirmative, 131 have no facts. A Young Men's Christian Association Boys' Secretary writes : " Petty gambling lowers a boy's estimate of importance of earning his own money hon- estly and tends to make him view life too lightly and carelessly. Little children of 7 and 8 years are said to be fascinated with slot gambling and in some cases steal to get money to play the game. One boy mur- dered his mother because she refused to give him money to play the gambling slot machine. These ma- chines are usually as illegal as burglars' tools, to which they are akin, and the chief of police or mayor or judge should be asked to charge police or constables to seize them and bring them to court to be destroyed on order of the judge. //. Have you any facts as to the effect upon boys of Safeguarding AdoUtctntt 313 Sunday hall games, Sunday moving pictures and other Sunday shows? Eighty-six answer affirmatively, 103 have no facts. The replies show that Sunday games and shows keep many, especially boys, from Sunday school and church services, with consequent loss of moral culture. Whole classes have been lost from Sunday schools through Sunday ball games and other Sunday sports. Most men of thought and observation recognize that the church is the chief of police, the largest crime- preventing agency. The city council and chamber of commerce look to the churches to produce good moral conditions. They are bound, therefore, to give the churches a fair chance by forbidding not only work for gain but pleasures for gain that draw youth away from needed moral training. Nations being made what they are by their institutions, it is not good sense to exchange this American institution for the Con- tinental holiday Sunday. There is great need of door- to-door distribution of literature that shows why Sunday traffic and labor should be prohibited. Safeguards. 12. Have you seen the successful application of religious influence to childhood in family worship or church services adapted to help children? One hundred and forty-five reply in the affirmative, 20 in the negative, 34 made no reply. One says (re- ferring no doubt to the perfunctory mumbling of family worship in many homes) " Very little that was practical and helpful." Another speaks of a church in which family worship is dead and the church itself as consequently in about the same state. But those who reply to this question are mostly those who have 314 The Sunday School and the Teem 2. «heering story to tell of family worship as a glad memory of their own childhood and a helpful feature of their own homes. Nova Scotia is declared to be enriched by the daily family worship that is still common in its families. An American father who moved from country to city and carried his family altar along attributes to that fact that all his children withstood the temptations of the city. The children in another family who were trained to take part in family worship grew up to be the foremost spiritual stalwarts of the church. A pastor who served large churches in Chicago, Brook- lyn and New York reports that he multiplied family worship in his families ten times by giving every family a book-mark, quarterly, containing for use in all homes daily readings on which he promised to preach often in advance of the assignments. He also prepared a lesson on prayer to help beginners. Family worship was made so interesting in one home by use of Bible stories that lively boys almost cried for " more plagues " or "more about Joseph." One lady thankfully reports that on an Ohio farm of seventy-two acres seven of her brothers were reared to fill honorable positions, and this result she attributes in large part to the daily home worship enjoyed by all the family including farm hands. Every child was converted in youth and every grandchild also. There are forty-five in the three generations. One of the farm hands said gratefully in after years : " I was somewhat timorous but I shall never forget those de- votions. It was so simple and natural, with such trust and confidence in God. It was one of my earliest re- Safeguarding Adolesctntt 315 ligious impressions and it has stayed by me all these years." As to church going of children, in one place the or- ganization of a "Church-going Band" has helped. Others speak of monthly sermons to children, and others of weekly five-minute sermons. But the most effective plan reported, and the only one that has brought practically all of a great Sunday school regu- larly to church, is one where the Sunday school met from 9.30 to 10.45 ^J^^ then marched in a body to the church galleries, save those members who dropped out to join their parents in family pews as they passed the church doors. There was no separate children's sermon, but the main sermon was made so plain that children could understand much of it and they always got some special story which interested the older people no less. At least one of the hymns also was selected with special reference to the children. That plan brought an average of almost four hundred regu- larly to morning church, the largest regular attend- ance of which we have record. Half the teen loss is where the Sunday school and church ought to be securely coupled by such a plan. 13. Have you seen anywhere definite effects of an enforced curfew law? Sixty-eight answer in the affirmative, 121 have noth- ing to report. A few years ago it was reported that curfew ordinances existed in American towns and cities, some of them as large as Omaha. At first the effects reported by mayors and police and judges were most favorable — a reduction of three- fourths of ju- venile crime and vice. But the breakdown of family 3i6 Tht Sunday School and the Teem and city government alike is seen in the present gen- eral non-enforcement of this law. Families acting cooperatively in modern fashion through their city gov- ernment had a bell rung for them all at an hour gen- erally agreed upon, usually 8 p. M. in winter and 9 p. M. in summer, calling unattended children under sixteen into the home. It would be well if churches and civic clubs could so rearrange city customs, with a view to recovering our shattered home life, that fa- thers and mothers, as well as children, might respond at 9 p. M. to a curfew chime of " Home, sweet Home." 14. Have you seen anywhere the definite results of censorship of shows? Fifty-eight answer affirmatively, 131 have nothing to report. The affirmative answers recognize the Na- tional Board of Censorship of moving pictures in New York, censorship by State law in Massachusetts, and local censorship in Chicago and San Francisco — the last the best of all so far as moving pictures are con- cerned. By city ordinance not only immodest pictures but films of prize fights, hold-ups, murders and sui- cides are forbidden. The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, the Board of Education, the police, the mayor and the picture men each name a censor. The International Reform Bureau will sup- ply a copy of this law to all who apply with stamp. 15. Do you know of any successful plan for guiding the reading of youth: negatively, by purging news rooms; positively, by plans of reading, etc? Seventy-eight answer in the affirmative, and loS have no facts to report. One says it is difficult to guide youth in reading while daily papers and maga- Safeguarding Adolescents ^ly zines print such stories as they do. Another sug- gests that the state superintendent of education should send all public school teachers copies of laws intended to protect the young from bad reading. Another notes that a Sunday school may help by selecting its library with due care. One teacher gathers a class weekly to read and discuss some worthy book. One pastor has a reading class with whom he advises weekly as to books to be taken from the public library. One preacher prints in his church calendar occasionally lists of popular books that are also pure. Another reports the publication of good lists in local papers. One librarian stimulates interest in wholesome books by impromptu plays based upon them. Lectures by librarians to mothers' clubs and other societies are sug- gested, also censorship of local libraries and better library boards. In one city a boy took from the li- brary a book by an infamous female anarchist that ad- vocates not only destruction of all government but free love. j6. Have you seen the working of any children's playground association and can you suggest improve- mentsf Sixty-three answer affirmatively, 122 have nothing to report. One says, that " one improvement greatly needed in playgrounds is more opportunity for girls." Many suggest " closer supervision " and one, that par- ents should be represented in the supervision, espe- cially in the evenings. Another deprecates the intro- duction of dancing in public playgrounds. It is urged that playgrounds should be open all the year, also that there should be less boisterous plays. Abolition of 3l8 The Sunday School and the Teens high swings is proposed, and " teeters for girls." One suggests that principles of religion might be taught through plays. 17. Have you any direct knowledge of the effect of any children's court, as in New York, with "Big Brothers" and "Big Sisters" to look after arrested boys and girls, and with probationary supervision by paid officials, as in Denver, Washington and Chicago f Fifty answer in the afifirmative, 139 have no direct knowledge. Juvenile court work is generally com- mended by those who have seen it or studied its record. Judge Ben Lindsey's work in Denver is especially com- mended. It is said that young men under thirty years of age have proved best " Big Brothers " for wayward boys on probation. In many cases a men's class in Sunday school agrees to furnish " Big Brothers " at the call of the judge of a juvenile court. The whole class becomes guardian of its boy charges. In Brook- lyn the judge directs paroled juvenile offenders to attend some Sunday school regularly. 18. Have you observed any practical effects of self- governing colonies of boys, such as the George Junior Republic? Twenty-five only answer in affirmative, suggesting how rarely this self-government plan for boys has been applied. Some complain that self-government causes conceit in boys, and one cites a case where seven boys so trained did not, in after years, pay their rent. But the verdict in regard to George Junior Republic is in its favor. The writer investigated the Republic in its early years and found the boys who had been several seasons under its influence, though from homes defi- Safeguarding Adolescents 319 cient in heredity and training and sent there to check criminal propensities, were more interested than aver- age church boys of their age in patriotic, moral and re- ligious matters, and apparently of genuine Christian character. /p. Have you observed definite effects of organiz- ing the "gang spirit" in boys in the Boy Scouts or similar orga/nizations? Ninety-three answer in affirmative. Some regard the gang spirit as a dangerous fad, but nearly all who claim to speak from knowledge declare that the Boy Scouts, the Knights of King Arthur and boys' clubs generally are doing good work. Some object to mili- tary drills and wish there were more of spirituality in these things. It is remarked by several that the use- fulness of such organizations depends chiefly on " competent leadership." One pastor brought many boys into the Christian life by the " point of contact " which he established with boys in his Sunday school from 9 to 16 years of age by joining them in a Mon- day afternoon hour of " association football." In one city bad " gangs " were broken up by organizing them into rival baseball teams with " key boys " as leaders. The Sunday School Athletic League operates in some cities for clean sport with Sunday games cut out. 20. Have you observed in your own, or other boys, the effect of the work of the Boys' Depwrtment of the Young Men's Christian Association, or the effects of the Boys' Work of the Men and Religion Forward Movement? Ninety-one answer in the affirmative. The Young Men's Christian Association Boys' Department is gen- 320 The Sunday School and the Teens erally commended, so far as it is mentioned, but it is as yet developed only in a few places, mostly large cities, and as it is quite new even in most of these, is as yet in an experimental stage. Some think there is not enough spirituality, others question the associa- tion of good and bad boys which can with difficulty be avoided. Several regret that their towns have no Young Men's Christian Association. Complaint is made of games for which extra charges are made, as making too great a cost when added to the large mem- bership fees. Branches with lower fees, where work- ingmen will feel free to drop in for bowling and a cup of cocoa and a look at the magazines seem to be needed. This is especially so in towns where saloons have been driven out, making a demand for new social centers where a nickel or dime can be turned into a half hour of good fellowship and forgetfulness. Very few mention the Men and Religion Movement. Some lament that it has as yet so few definite results to show. Others commend it chiefly for the wise, broad pro- gram it has set before the churches, from the re- sponsibility of which they realize they cannot escape. 21. Should pledge-signing by boys and girls, once common in this country and still common in Europe, be revived? If so, how can it be revived? Is it a good device to promote wearing of buttons, e. g., of Lincoln Legion, Blue Button Army and Anti-Cigarette League? Should the indisposition to sign any pledge be overcome? One hundred and eleven answer the first question in the affirmative, but very few of them report that they have efficiently applied their belief. Twenty-seven Safeguarding Adoletetnti 32 1 oppose pledging and 27 others express themselves as uncertain, as are also the 22, no doubt, who make no answer. A still larger number, 89, have no suggestion to make as to means of reviving pledge-signing. One hundred and nine answer affirmatively as to wearing pledge buttons, some of them remarking doubtfully that it " can do no harm and may do some good." Thirty-two others express themselves as doubtful, and 32 more who do not answer may be counted as in the same category. Sixteen oppose the buttons outright. One of the foremost leaders of temperance work in the Sunday school writes : " It seems to me we are wearing so many buttons that they have almost lost their meaning." But a majority favor the buttons be- cause " they appeal to boys and advertise their princi- ples." Several advise wearing some one button or pin, such as that of Young Men's Christian Associa- tion, Christian Endeavor, Blue Button Army or any others that will proclaim one a Christian and introduce him to Christians when away from home. Care is urged in " overcoming the indisposition to sign any pledge." It must be done " by logic if at all." " By mild and sympathetic discussion, not bluffing or rush- ing." The " logic " suggested by several is a reminder that the most important things in the lives of the best and wisest people are pledges; marriage vows, notes, contracts, oaths, including that of the president, and those made in joining a church or society. In the Declaration of Independence the signers pledged their lives, their fortunes and their sacred honor, reminding us that a pledge against alcohol, cigarettes or profanity is a brave declaration of independence of harmful and 322 The Simday School and the Teem foolish customs. Hannibal's oath to his father in childhood to eternal hatred of Rome is also cited. " Pledge-signing can best be revived," says one, " by having a temperance lecture followed by pledge-sign- ing, those who have previously signed doing so again by way of example." Better than having one pledge on a table at the front in the old way, which involves more waiting around than our busy age would grant, is to have a pledge-card for each one or two pews with a pencil attached. So in Sunday schools, to which the majority replying look for the revival of pledge-sign- ing, there should be a pledge-card for each class or a pledge page in the class book, to be used every quar- terly Temperance Sunday at the close of the lesson, unpledged members of the class being invited, but not constrained to sign. The Home Department of the Sunday school should provide a beautiful " Family Pledge " to be kept in the Bible or on the wall of every home. Some advise that pledges for minors be made for their minority only, in the belief that few who ab- stain till 21 will then care to jeopardize health and business and character. For little children below eight, the legal age of responsibility, some advise the wearing of a blue bow as a sign of purpose, without the formal signing of a pledge. On the other hand, some urge that as a child or youth may rightly promise to obey the Ten Commandments for life, he may in- telligently promise to avoid what he has already seen to be the cause of violations of all the Commandments. In any case the caution of one teacher is timely that pledge-signing should be carefully supervised, and Safeguarding Adolesc "ntt 323 pledged boys especially should be followed up and " coached " in keeping their pledge. Someone notes, as the chief defect in the pledge-signing of American Sunday schools, that the " gang spirit " is not invoked by the organizing of pledged boys and girls to help each other keep the pledge and induce others to do so. Four millions are so organized in Great Britain in Bands of Hope and Juvenile Templars, besides the thousands of Boy Scouts who are also abstain- ers. 22. At how early an age, under good home training, have you known of a distinct, religious choice to serve God and a determination to live in conformity with His will? Two name 14 years, two 11, one 10, one 9, thirty- two 8, twenty-three 7, nineteen 6, thirteen 5, six 4, two 3, fifteen say " Very early" and fifteen of those sending replies make no answer to this question. Several began so early they cannot remember when they made their definite choice of a Christian life. A child of eight is recognized before the law as capable of being a criminal, and these replies show conclusively that a child of eight can be a true Christian. It is before the perilous teen age of adolescence that a child needs to be fortified by a Christian habit of life. 23. How early is it desirable to encourage children to become church members? One names 21, one 15, ten 14, nine 13, thirty-two 12, four II, twenty-six 10, seven 9, fifteen 8, three 7, five 6, and three 5. One who thinks a child of five may be^ come a Christian does not favor making children church members before 12, the age at which Jesus and 3^4 The Sunday School and the Teent other Jewish children assumed the responsibilities of full church membership. One pastor would allow children to join the church as early as they show a desire to do so if in helpful homes, otherwise not until they seem able to stand against unsympathetic sur- roundings. A distinguished physician objects to a young child being asked to give intellectual assent to a long metaphysical creed. This objection would not apply to churches where persons are received into mem- bership on experience. Some churches provide for children by " membership or probation," or " Con- firmation classes " and one church is reported that has a special " child membership " and another a " Junior Church." 24. Does Church membership fortify a child with respect to moral livingf One hundred and sixty-nine answer in the affirma- tive, six answer no, and 9 do not answer. And of those who answer affirmatively many recognize the force and value of the question by such thoughtful replies as the following : " Somewhat, but not with- out proper safeguards, cautionings and admonitions." " Yes, where parent, teacher or friend assists the child or youth in daily life, especially in Bible reading and prayer." " Not necessarily directly, but tendency of church membership is toward morality." " Theoretic- ally yes, but practically it depends upon the degree of faithfulness with which the church nourishes, nurtures and employs its members." " Yes, if classes for in- struction are continued, or there are special sermons to the young in sermon-making." Whittier's saying is in order : " By the time you are as old as I am you Safeguarding Adolescents 325 will realize it is a mighty sight easier for people to be pious than it is for them to be good." 2^-27. What assistance is your church rendering in abating the moral perils of the community f How far have the churches in your city, by a survey or other- wise, recognized the perils of youth as a concern of the churches, and how far have they, through the Men and Religion Forward Movement, or otherwise, sought to counteract these perils? What are you doing in promoting healthful, social and recreational conditions in your community f This last is usually treated, not as a personal ques- tion but a further inquiry as to social work by the church with which the respondent is connected. Sixty-nine report that local churches are doing something to investigate and remedy bad social con- ditions, 91 report their churches as doing little or nothing, and this is no doubt the meaning of 22 blanks. As to church work for the creation of a better moral environment in the community, one says : " The Men and Religion Forward Movement has opened our eyes and given impulse in the right direction." A few thorough surveys of cities and towns are reported, but in only a few cases this diagnosis of the body politic was followed by efiforts to effect a cure. Among the things mentioned as developed by churches to give the boys and girls a better chance to escape the moral perils about them are, Boy Scouts, Knights of King Arthur, Knights of Methodism, gymnasiums, play- grounds, libraries, reading-rooms, sex hygiene associa- tions and abolition of red light districts in a few cases of law enforcement. 326 Tlie Sunday School and the Teens But there is a general confession that the work that the churches need to do unitedly has not yet been done to any considerable degree. Churches have as yet only glimpsed their duty to save the whole man and the whole community. Recommendations. We therefore recommend: I. The appointment of a Union National Committee on Sex Teaching, on which shall be represented par- ents, teachers, pastors, physicians, and physiologists, with directions to prepare or select : First, a booklet on sex suitable for a father, mother, teacher or pastor to read and talk over with a boy or girl six years of age or younger. Second, another suitable for boys from seven to twelve to read or hear ; third, another suitable for girls from seven to twelve to read or hear ; fourth, a booklet suitable for adolescent boys in their teens to read, or for use in teaching them ; fifth, a booklet for adolescent girls; sixth, a booklet for parents ; seventh, a set of short purity leaflets suit- able for free circulation from door to door and in churches, schools, factories, etc. II. Pending the preparation of this union series of purity booklets and leaflets, let every Sunday school, through a council of parents and teachers select and use the best available purity literature in the most practicable way. III. In all these studies let the scientific and poetic and spiritual aspects of sex be blended ; beginning with the loves of the flowers, rising to the romance of the mating birds, then to the faithful monogamy of the highest animals, and then to the holy of holies, God- ordained marriage. Safeguarding Adolescents 327 IV. In defense of the Sabbath, Sunday School As- sociations, local, state, international and world should circulate convincing literature from door to door, should appeal by petitions and deputations for Sunday laws and demand law enforcement. V. Sunday schools might well organize their pledged members for mutual encouragement and propaganda, either as a temperance society or good citizenship league. This league might be given charge of quar- terly temperance Sundays to supplement the teaching of the lesson with such programs as will enlist the active interest of the boys and girls. These exercises should include consideration of all aspects of good citizenship as recommended by the International Sun* day School Convention at Denver. VI. To bring together locally all those interested in creating a better moral environment for boys and girls, let a social center be established for frequent council, preferably a " Noon Welfare Club " to meet at lunch, weekly or monthly. VII. For the sake of giving the homes and schools a better chance to rear the young for good citizenship, let it be urged upon the strongest fathers in the churches as a patriotic and Christian duty to take their turns in filling public offices, local, state and national. These offices are now occupied in many cases by graft- ers because the better men who should have held them were too busy making money to do their part in poli- tics. Chapter XXIII THE SUNDAY SCHOOL AND THE TEEN WAGE EARNER Every year thousands of boys and girls leave school at fourteen years of age to go to work, and it is noted that, with but few exceptions, they leave the Sunday school at the same time. The recognition of this sim- ple fact has presented to Sunday school workers a great problem with two factors, namely: (i) the em- ployed boy and girl in the teen years need more than at any other time the safeguarding and the guidance and help of the Sunday school; (2) the Church and Sunday school need the energy, influence and helpful- ness of this great army of employed girls and boys. The solution is how to bring them together in mutual helpfulness, which is the secret of growth both for an individual and an institution. A New and Important Field of Work. Here is a great new field of work for the Sunday school, not in a far-off country, but right in the midst of every community life, and as we look at the needs, the opportunities, the necessities and privileges it presents we wonder why we have so long been blind to them and have allowed a loss of 75 per cent in the Master's business. The Need. The girl and boy in the employment world, facing all the greatest temptations of life at a 328 The Sunday School and Teen Wage Earner 329 time when will power is weak and judgment just be- ginning to develop, when ideals and plans for life are forming, when imitation is active, when first decisions are being made, need as never before or later in life the understanding, sympathy and help of the Sunday school teacher. The teacher in turn, in order to give that help must understand the thought life and heart life of these boys and girls as well as their physical life ; must understand all the conditions of the employ- ment world, its restrictions, its laws, its dangers, its advantages. Then can he reach out through seven days in the week to these lives in the making and place Christ in their midst. After the careful study of the work of other or- ganizations, such as the Juvenile Court, Playground Associations, Emigrant Protective League, Juvenile Protective League, School of Civics and Philanthropy, Schools of Vocational Training, Trade Unions, Na- tional Federation of Settlements and others, we believe it best to present some of the important facts relative to and underlying the subject of the adolescent wage- earner — the facts which every pastor, Sunday school superintendent and teacher in the Secondary Division should know, study carefully and apply to their work, if they are really to meet the needs of the employed boys and girls in their Sunday school. Also from these to gather a few practical suggestions for Sunday school activity among these wage-earning boys and girls. The Compulsory Education Law. Educators of the adolescent period should know the requirements of the Compulsory Education Law, under which the child 330 The Sunday School and the Teens at a certain age, usually fourteen, may demand a cer- tificate and go to work. Our first concern for the child is that he must thus lose the advantages of an education and assume so early in life the responsibility of earning a living, but to most of these children leav- ing school means much more than a loss of opportu- nity. It means being placed in the way of great and varied temptations while the will is weak and the mind not yet intelligent. Work which offers even a small amount of training, or wakens an ambition for better things, is hopelessly scarce. Many employments are injurious to children. The service of the messenger boy for instance, is most injurious from the point of morals. These boys are sent to places where more fortunate children never go. They handle money which offers a big temptation to a poor boy. They may overcharge, making thieves of themselves, but to their thinking it is making money and a matter of business. Messenger and telegraph delivery service ranks among the boy destroying occupations, especially where they are allowed to work at night. Men carry our letters, why not telegrams and special delivery, which are not any more important or valuable ? The test of the work should be not whether boys and girls can do it, but what it does to boys and girls. The Teacher's Opportunity. Because of the dan- gers of the employment world and the weaknesses of the child, the Sunday school teacher has the marvelous opportunity of turning those dangers into advantages, the weaknesses into strength and thus saving a life. Often, very often, the Sunday school teacher is the The Sunday School and Teen Wage Earner 331 only one who could do it. That first " job " which the school boy and girl are so incapable of choosing may make or mar the whole after-life and character. Someone must be interested enough to consider its adaptation to the boy's or girl's strength and ability, its future advantages and moral influences. At present the child faces this problem quite alone and unaided, with only the thought of making money, and in the great majority of cases is ignorant of the loss of op- portunity and the dangers of the work. So great is the desire and sometimes need of the dollar that all else is ignored and it is the Sunday school teacher who can help the parents to understand and save the child. The foreign parents in any of our big cities look forward to the time when the school law will release their children and allow them to go to work. Such a mother says, " I give my girl ten cents, she go down town, she find a job," little realizing in what danger she is placing the child physically, mentally and morally for the sake of a dollar which may buy some bread to-day, but many, many heartaches to-morrow. Employment Bureau or Committee in Every Sun- day School. Every large, alive Sunday school, working seven days in the week, should have an em- plo)mient bureau, open for at least a short time each day, directed by one capable of giving advice to boys and girls seeking employment and cooperating with those employers who offer right conditions and wages for Christian young men and women. It will pay the Sunday school to take care of her teen boys and girls in this way, and the boys and girls have a right to ex- pect real help such as this from their Sunday school. 332 TTie Sunday School and the Teen* Even in small schools there may be an emplojmieiit eommittee who might study conditions and render as much help as they could. This committee can do much in advising vocational training, having a printed list of schools where boys and girls may get such training and be equipped for life. At a banquet once a year the boys of the Secon- dary Division and their fathers could discuss this sub- ject, having special speakers from the business world. Debates upon various subjects of employment would draw the interest of fathers as well as sons. In all Sunday schools there should be a high stand- ard of ideals for the employed boy or girl, as to their dress, conduct, attitude towards work, moral bravery, genuine simplicity of living, a new scale of values and an understanding that there is in the business world a growing demand that the boy or girl must avoid liquors, cigarettes and any overindulgence in social pastimes. Last of all give to the young mind a good definition of success. Child Labor Law. What is the Child Labor Law in your State ? Should it not be bettered ? What are the limitations as to hours and kind of work? Is not the maintenance of the vital efficiency of our boys and girls more essential than the care of fish or forests? The new National Child Welfare Bureau is a great step forward in the progress of our country and every teacher and parent of children should be acquainted with the work of this new department of our govern- ment. Literature may be obtained by addressing the department at Washington. Child labor is no longer a matter of local interest, and while in America we The Svmday School and Teen Wage Earner 333 have no Lord Shaftesbury, we have great organiza- tions such as The National Congress of Mothers, Gen- eral Federation of Women's Clubs, National Educa- tion Association, The International Sunday School Association and others who well recognize the need of carefully nurtured childhood for future well developed citizens. Suggestion. The necessity for the child to leave school to help support the family offers a great op- portunity to the Sunday school for service through a club, a missionary committee or an individual to sup- ply the few dollars which the family needs to give the child a chance to save him from our modern tempta- tions and give him a better preparation for life. The Sunday school that can offer night classes to those em- ployed during the day will supplement a meager educa- tion and keep alive an ambition which will find its realization in better things. Changes in Home Conditions as Affecting Em- ployment. The home of a half century ago fur- nished employment for the boys and girls under the supervision of father and mother. They were trained for future usefulness and gained that strength of char- acter which comes through actual work rather than mere knowledge — but it was all under the protection of the home. The accumulated knowledge of the past century has, through invention and labor-saving de- vices, taken from the home the necessary labor per- formed by the children and has forced them out into the world for employment at an early age, unprotected and unguided, doing only as much as is required and paid for. 334 The Sunday School and the Teens The saddest sight on the streets of a great city is the young girl with her dream life and freedom, her lack of self-control and purpose, with all the avenues of sin open to her and she unconscious of any danger. The Sunday school teacher has the opportunity to take her hand, to help her form her dreams and to put a great purpose in her life. One of the great characteristics of the adolescent period is a love for the beautiful. That girl powdered and painted and dressed in that most absurd fashion is not trying to make herself ridiculous. That is her ideal of beauty and back of that expression lies her desire for beauty — her poor, impoverished ideal, manufactured out of what she sees and hears, and ex- pressed in the best way she knows how. If men and women through precept and example could enrich the ideals of the adolescent life, how different the life ex- pressions would be. Many a successful man and woman will testify to the fact that in this critical period of life their Sunday school teacher was to them the personification of and the guide to their greatest ideals. The Home. The type of home which sends its children to work at the earliest possible moment is usually unqualified to warn and guard against dangers of a business life. In fact, the home is the most dis- couraging feature of the problem. Here the informed Sunday school teacher may aid parents and children. Of the 125,000 women working in Chicago nearly half are under twenty-one years of age, and most of these are employed on a non-living wage. The results are : (i) the white slave ranks are recruited from these underpaid girls and from girls out of employment; The Sunday School mid Teen Wage Earner 335 (2) it is impossible for these underpaid girls to live in good boarding houses ofifering opportunity to ob- serve social conventions; (3) these young people held down to monotonous and mechanical drudgery through the day demand more recreation in their leisure. Ac- tion and reaction are equal and opposite, and the lure of the streets, the dance hall, cheap theater, saloon and dive is greater to these boys and girls after, the drudgery of the day. What has the Church and Sun- day school to offer to these boys and girls ? What are we doing to meet their needs ? Girls Employed. Teachers of girls should give much attention to the girl employed in offices. Is she properly respected? Does she dress in a manner to command respect? Does she eat at desirable restau- rants and select nourishing food ? Then the girl in the department store. Is the wage sufficient for her needs ? Are false standards of society instilling false ideals and desires? There must be a great, strong hold upon Christ to direct and guard the life in this troubled sea of temptations. A girl cannot live in a big city away from home for less than $8.00 a week, and yet 20 per cent of the de- partment store girls receive $5.00 or less. The girl in the factory is more protected than the department store girl, who is constantly surrounded with the temp- tations which make the strongest appeal to girls. Keepers of disreputable houses take advantage of this by inviting them to luncheons and dinners, theaters and drives, gifts of jewelry and dress, until the girl who was just hungry for pleasure and beauty is en- tangled in a life of sin. '336 The Sunday School and the Teens Our best department stores have a supervisor, a mother for their girls, and through her helpful advice and timely warning many a girl finds her better self and greater usefulness. The girl employed in our homes should receive our greatest respect. We have degraded that labor and we must elevate it to its right place and help the girl who has chosen this work to see the privilege of serv- ice and the lofty purpose of making a home comfort- able and happy for all who dwell there. Let self- respecting housewives speak of the girl who works with me in the house rather than the girl who works for me. Suggestions. To do our best for the working girls and boys we must know the conditions under which they labor and live. An investigation should determine (i) Sanitary conditions, (2) Moral con- ditions, (3) Those living at home, (4) Those living in boarding houses, (5) Cost of their living, (6) Pro- visions for social life, (7) Reasons for leaving Sunday school, and (8) Difficulties in way of attending Sun- day school. Answers to these questions will furnish working data for the members of a large church, will open the church doors every night and may erect a Christian home for working boys and girls and place a Christian woman there to mother them. If a girl is to appear neat and clean at her work dur- ing the week she must spend her Sundays mending, washing, ironing, etc. How can we help her remove the real difficulties which stand in the way of her at- tending Sunday school? Leisure. " I know what pleasure is for I have The Sunday School and Teen Wage Earner 337 ione good work," said Stevenson. There is a vital relationship between work and leisure. Assured daily leisure is an essential element in contributing to health, intelligence, morality, thrift and Christianity. With- out leisure development is blighted and deformed. Enforced idleness is not leisure. The Church must take her stand in the progress of living conditions, and in establishing the right to leisure she opens a great door of opportunity for herself with adolescent life. Out of this arises two questions : What is the effect on working boys and girls of adults' wrongly used leisure time? What is the moral effect of the half- holiday ? If the Sunday school would claim the leisure time of employed boys and girls evil would have little chance to claim these lives. We are told that 100,000 caddies are regularly kept from Sunday school by golf and that nine-tenths of those who enter prison start blighting character with Sunday sports. Attitude Tovvard Employment. Let the teacher of wage-earning girls and boys endeavor to help them establish the right attitude toward work. It is not drudgery, but education; not duty, but privilege; not punishment, but blessing, and in it lies all the joy one can possess, but each must find it for himself. In the employment world there are many opportu- nities of tremendous value to one's self and others, but opportunities never come with their value stamped upon them, and he who seeks a " soft snap " will never see these opportunities, for they come only to him who puts eagerness and zest into labor, who overcomes 338 The Sunday School and the Teens difficulties, knows the value of concentration and has the power to hang on. To establish the right attitude toward work is to be able to do it in the right spirit, making the hardest task interesting and glad. To fill one's place in the community life, thinking, doing, being one's best is to reach the highest education and enjoyment; anything short of the best reduces one's returns. A self-getting purpose in the business world, as elsewhere, is a losing proposition ; self-giving always draws a big salary of happiness. " Only the heart that is full of its task can the greatest good achieve." Work is the great consoler, purifier and up- lifter. " Labor wide as the earth has its summit in Heaven." Chapter XXIV AUXILIARY TEEN AGE ORGANIZATIONS The task of this chapter is to search out all the or- ganizations outside of the Sunday school which include in their membership boys or girls of the adolescent age, and which are used by the Church to reach the adolescent age. Further, it is to give in a brief way the general purpose, form of organization and methods of work of each. The fact that there are distinct differences in the teens has compelled the following four-fold groupings : boys 12 to 15, girls 12 to 15, boys 16 to 20 and girls 16 to 20. However, it is immediately recognized that there are no fixed laws to definitely place age limits on organizations; therefore there will constantly be an overlapping. This is natural and ought not to cause trouble. At the same time also there are organizations which include both boys and girls. Teen Age Organizations. The correspondence of the writer has elicited a long list of organizations that are now being used in an auxiliary way by the Sunday school. The following named are typical of the entire list : Junior Baraca, Loyal Movement, Boy City, Bible School Oass, Young Men's Athletic League, Mission- ary and Sewing Circle (girls). Messenger Cadets, Cadet Corps, Organized Bible Class, Young Men's Christian Association, Girls' Aid Society, Boys' Qub, 339 340 The Simday School and the Teens Boys' Choir, Girls' Choir, Girls' Club, Choral Choir, Young Men's Club, Young Women's Club, Dorcas Cir- cle, Queen Esther Circle, Guilds, Boys' Band, Young People's Missionary Organization, Finding Out Club, Good Cheer Club, Baseball Club, Philathea Bible Class, Baraca Bible Class, Greek Letter Club, Temperance Legion, Junior Guild, Sabbath School Athletic League, Standard Bearers, Messenger Service, Life Saving Service, Boys' Clan of Bible School Cadets, Knights of Valor, Epworth Court of Arthur, The King's Sons, White Shield Temperance League, Knights and Esquires of the White Shield, Junior Methodist Brotherhood. Out of this very suggestive list, however, the follow- ing may be enumerated as the forms of organization most largely in use : Boy Trust, Boys' Brigade, King's Daughters, Kappa Sigma Pi, Boy Scouts, Knights of King Arthur, Knights of Methodism, Camp Fire Girls, Christian Endeavor, Junior Brotherhood, Girls' Friendly Society, Church Attendance League, Cove- nanter Companies and Miriam Chapters, Knights of the Holy Grail, Queens of Avilion, Brotherhood of David, Knights Crusaders, Lincoln Anti-Cigarette League. A description of the more important of these na- tional movements may prove of value. Characteristics of Auxiliary Organizations Christian Endeavor and Equivalent Denomina- tional Organizations. One of the most general or- ganizations in the Church is the Christian Endeavor which is interdenominational and its equivalent denom- AuxUiary Teen Age OrgamzatUms 341 inational organizations. Christian Endeavor is a graded organization, having a Senior, a Young People's and Intermediate and a Junior Society. While quite a number of boys and girls are in the Young People's Society because no Intermediate Society exists in the local church, the Intermediate Society more naturally meets their needs. In the Intermediate Society there are no age limits. The standard of the organization is embodied in a pledge which holds up daily Bible study and prayer, church attendance, Christian living and loyalty to the society as its cardinal points. Ac- tive membership is based upon signing the pledge. Associate membership requires only that members shall be interested enough in the organization to attend its meetings, respect its services and give such general assistance as is possible. The organization is superin- tended by an adult member but is officered from the active members. The general work carried on is that whiqh pertains to the Christian life of the young peo- ple and their connection with the church under the di- rection of Prayer Meeting, Lx>okout (membership). Missionary, Social and such other committees as may be wisely used. The Society meets once a week for a devotional service; the business meetings are usually held about once a month. The society emphasizes a study of the Church, taking up Bible study, missions, church history, etc. There is nothing in the constitution of the organiza- tion to prevent any single group from taking up any particular line of supplemental work acceptable to the group, so that as suggested by circumstances or en- vironment it may be woodcraft, scouting, or a hundred 342 The Sunday School and the Teens other things. However, these are supplemental and are not embodied in the organization, itself. The United Society of Christian Endeavor, Tremont Temple, Boston, is headquarters for this society. The Brotherhood of St. Andrew. This organiza- tion has a Junior department, modeled after the Senior department, which includes boys and young men of adolescent age. It is a denominational organization in the Protestant Episcopal Church. Its object is very briefly stated in the words: "Its sole object is the spread of Christ's Kingdom among boys." The minimum age of membership is twelve and the maximum twenty. The organization has two rules, the rule of prayer, which is daily prayer for the spread of Christ's Kingdom among boys ; and the rule of service, which is to take some part in the work and worship of the church and to try each week to win other boys to the same standard. The organization does not seek numbers, nor does it include in its organization boys who are not definitely settled as to their church affiliations. Boys of in- fluence, education and leadership are sought and the organization does not aim to be used for the betterment or improvement of boys within the membership as its primary object. Its objects are stated in the two rules and these are closely adhered to. All social features, athletics and recreations of all kinds, are eliminated. The aim of the boys within the organization is not primarily to get other boys within the organization, but to get other boys to the Sunday school, the Bible class and the church. Those who are members of the brotherhood of St. Andrew are not barred from mem- Auxiliary Teen Age Orgamzations 343 bership in other organizations which include athletics, social recreation and all such practical phases of work. In fact, they are urged to be members in order that they may there get in touch with boys whom they desire to win for the church. The Schoolboys' Scripture Union, which calls for daily Bible reading, is an organization within the brotherhood to which a large number of the boys belong. This organization naturally does not include large numbers, but from its standards accomplishes a maxi- mum amount of work for the number within the or- ganization. Headquarters, Broad Exchange Building, Boston, Mass., official organ St. Andrew's Cross. Junior Brotherhood of Andrew and Philip. This organization is very similar to the junior department of the Brotherhood of St. Andrew in its general out- line. It is, however, interdenominational. The or- ganization desires to reach boys of the junior and intermediate age. The constitution states : " Its ob- ject shall be to extend Christ's Kingdom among the youth." The rule of prayer, that is, daily prayer that other boys may be won to the church ; and daily serv- ice, that is, some effort made to win another boy to the church, are emphasized. The requirements for membership are regular at- tendance at church, faithful endeavor to bring friends and companions to church and Sunday school, absti- nence from tobacco, intoxicants and swearing and an insistent endeavor to maintain a body strong, pure and free from evil habits. 344 ^^^ Sunday School and the Teens Each organization has an adult leader. The mem- bers indulge in baseball, football, basketball, general athletics and social diversions as supplemental to the organization. The emblem is a star on a dark background, this button being given to each member upon joining. Headquarters, Hale Building, Chestnut St., Phila- delphia, official organ. The Brotherhood Star. The Knights of King Arthur. This organization is interdenominational and non-sectarian. It is doubt- ful, however, whether it has been accepted generally as non-sectarian, because most of the organizations are found in connection with Protestant churches. Its organization may be very simple. An adult leader gathers about him a group of boys from twelve to fifteen years of age. This group endeavoring to live according to the standards of Christian knight- hood, may call itself the Knights of King Arthur. This plan of organization is not usually followed, the more elaborate suggested form with ritual, ceremonial and costumes being used. These make a very marked impression. The adult leader, and there must be one for every group, is the Merlin. The whole organi- zation centers around the legend of King Arthur and his court. Each individual member assumes the name of a hero and in most cases that of one of the Knights of story and legend. He may assume the name of any modern hero if he desires. There are three degrees in the organization. The first degree is that of page, and the watchwords are watchfulness, obedience and service. One is not ex- pected to remain long in this degree but some never rise Auxiliary Teen Age Orgamzations 345 akoTc it. Each one must be a page at least six month* before taking the second degree which is the degree of esquire. Purity, temperance and reverence are the virtues of the esquire and become the ideal which the boy sets up for himself. The highest attainment is embodied in the degree of knighthood, which in the majority of organizations is conferred only upon those who become church members. Merit and an accept- ance of the standards of the degree are the basis of advance. The whole organization is called a castle. Each meeting is called a conclave. The officers are King Arthur, as president; the Merlin as counselor; the Seneschal as secretary; Master of the Exchequer as treasurer. Three chancellors are the Executive Com- mittee ; seven chamberlains are the Dtegree Form, tak- ing charge of initiations, etc. Each organization has a password, this password not being a secret with- held from parents but it is generally not made public. There should be weekly meetings and weekly dues. The order's lines of influence may be summed up in four phases ; first, personality, and the Merlin here will have his greatest opportunity ; second, the idea of chivalry which appeals during the heroic age; the third calls for labor upon the part of the members and centers in handicraft; the fourth is general out- door recreation such as athletics, hikes, camps, etc. There is no set uniform for the order and no re- galia is necessary but it is considered advisable. A white maltese cross upon a red background is the emblem of the order and different colors usually desig- nate the different degrees, blue for pages, red for ea- 346 The Sunday School and the Teens quires and white for knights. No uniformity in costume is sought for and no set designs are recom- mended. Further regaHa presents itself in that pages are entitled to bear spears, esquires shields and knights swords. International Headquarters: The Knights of King Arthur, 171 Taylor Ave., Detroit. Official Organ: King Arthur's Herald. Kappa Sigma Pi or Knights of Saint Paul. This is an organization which is quite closely akin to the Knights of King Arthur in general form. It is a secret organization, although no secrets are kept from parents, and is fraternal. The organization is for boys ten years old and above. As its name suggests, it centers around St. Paul as the hero. There are three degrees in the order; first, the Order of Jerusalem, boys 10 to 12. They are pledged to lead a right life, avoid bad habits and associations and attend some Sunday school regularly. The second degree is the Order of 'Damascus, boys 13 to 15. Those in the Order of Damascus pledge themselves to confess Christ as Saviour on all reasonable occasions, and be a member of some Young People's Society, Bible class, or Young Men's Christian Association. The third degree is the Order of Rome. This degree calls for evangelical church membership. This or- ganization is therefore interdenominational but sec- tarian. Age as well as merit is considered as regards advance in degrees. The officers are as follows: The adult member is called Chaplain and is an officer ex officio; other officers are Chancellor, equivalent to President; Vice- Auxiliary Teen Age Organizations 347 chancellor, equivalent to Vice-President; Scribe, equivalent to Secretary; Purser, equivalent to Treas- urer ; and Constable and Sentinel. There may further be Chief Musician and the initiatory officers. Tent- makers, Gamaliel and Stephen. Each organization may have committees as it de- sires, such as Athletic, Bible Study, Sunday School Membership, Entertainment, etc. There are rituals for the initiatory service. There are also organization secrets, passwords, calls, whistles, etc. Complete uniforms are recommended. For the Orders of Damascus and Rome different trim- mings designate the different orders. Officers are also designated by certain trimmings on the uniform. The work of the organization especially emphasizes Bible study, Chautauqua boys' work and summer camps. This organization places great emphasis upon the fact that the degrees center in confession of Jesus Christ as Lord and that members must be regular attendants at religious services. Headquarters : Kappa Sigma Pi, 224 Fourth Ave., Cincinnati, Ohio. Knights of the Holy Grail. This organization's object is stated as follows: "The object of the brotherhood is to promote piety, friendship and fra- ternity among the young men, and loyalty to the Church and the Christ." There are five great princi- ples set up for the organization: 1. The Christ, the Son of God, 2. The Bible, the Word of God, 3. Missions, the advance of the army of God, 4. Purity, the character of every child of God, 34^ Tht Sunday Sehool and tht Ttem 5. The Lord's Supper, tke memorial feast of ^« children of God. Each organization has an adult leader called Mer- lin. Within the organization there are the following officers: King Arthur, who presides at ceremonial meetings, initiations, etc.; the Knight Comman- der, or President; the Vice-Commander, or Vice- President; Knight of the Scroll, or Secretary; Knight of the Purse, or Treasurer; Prelate, or Chaplain; Herald, or Doorkeeper. The organization has three ranks; first, the page, including boys nine to twelve years of age. The ritual service used at the time of receiving boys into the rank of page is a simple portrayal of the great teachings of the order. The next degree is that of esquire, includ- ing boys thirteen to sixteen. The ritual for initiation to this rank is in drama form, centering around the loss of the Holy Grail. The member becomes a knight when he becomes of senior age. The ritual used in connection with knighting centers around the recovery, of the Holy Grail, presented in lectures. The organization seeks to foster the development of body, mind and spirit as the essential all-round training for Christian service. The different degrees are acquired not primarily by merits, but one rather grows from one degree to another because of ad- vanced age. .Whatever work is required must be cov- ered but the incentive of being able by merit to ac- quire a degree is completely lost. Supplemental work is offered esquires in the form of the Boy Scouts, arrangement being made for all esquires to be enrolled as Boy Scouts if they so de- Auxiliary Teen Age Orgairdzations 349 sire. Each degree of the organization is separately organized and has separate meetings, pages having afternoon meetings, esquires and knights evening meetings. Heraldry is used as reward of honor. Se- lected readings are suggested for all ranks. Shields, pennants, badges for each rank, passwords, etc., are a part of the organization. Headquarters, Tipton, Indiana; official organ. The Young Knight. The Order of Sir Galahad. This is a department of the Knights of King Arthur, and is arranged for boys and young men especially of the Episcopal Church. The object of the order is to encourage loy- alty to one's better self, home, church and country. It must be definitely kept in mind that loyalty to the church is a requirement throughout the organiza- tion. The order has three degrees, pages, esquires and knights, each member passing from one degree to another, not because of merits won but because of his age. The degree of page includes all boys from 10 to 13 inclusive. The degree of esquire, boys from 14 to 16 inclusive, and the knights, boys from 17 to 22 inclusive. The order demands that those above 17 shall be members of the church, those under 17 in regular attendance at Sunday school or especially recommended as worthy by the directors. There is an adult leader or leaders called counselors. It is possible to have an organization with simply one group, including those of one degree. Where an organization is maintained containing all three groups, there is a special meeting and program for each 35° The Sunday School and the Teens group, the whole organization uniting a few times each year for a general meeting. This makes it pos- sible to meet the distinct needs of the different ages and yet let all feel that they are members of the same organization. The activities of the order cover the whole year, in- cluding camps, athletic meets, lectures, studies and such lines as each organization may count it wise to pursue. Like the organization of which it is a part there are banners and regalia distinct for each de- gree, initiations, pass-words, grips and rituals for the services. Its field of activity does not cover the ac- tivities of the church but aims to supplement them in order to hold the young men to the church and the Sunday school. Knights of Methodism. The object of this organi- zation is " to reach our boys and young men and hold them to the church and all that that implies for Chris- tian manhood. It purposes to bring its members to a personal confession of Christ and to train them to complete Christian character." The organization centers around the life of Daniel as given in the Old Testament. It is a denomina- tional organization, being largely an adaption of existing organizations. Boys are included for mem- bership from 9 years of age to 20. During these years there are three well-defined periods of boy life, there- fore there are three orders of the Knights of Metho- dism; first, the Loyal Princes, ages 9 to 12; second, Victors, ages 13 to 16; third, Lion Hearted, 17 to 20. Each organization has its own officers, its own complete organization and its own special lines of AitxUiary Teen Age Orgcmizations 351 work. This, however, is not absolutely necessary and two orders may be combined. The organization has its insignia, a silver ring, its ritual and its regalia, and supplies, distinct for each order. The officers in the Loyal Princes are, Chief, the President ; Assistant Chief, the Vice-President ; Scribe, the Secretary; Purser, the Treasurer, and a drill mas- ter if accounted necessary. The adult leader is called the Seer. Meetings are held in the afternoons. To become a Lx)yal Prince, one must pass a satisfactory examination before the organization which includes naming ten books of the Bible, the repeating of one verse of some hymn, tests of memory, knot tying, the repeating of the story of the Loyal Princes and sub- scribing to a pledge, " I hereby pledge not to swear, not to use tobacco, not to use intoxicating liquor. I will avoid listening to or repeating improper stories. I will endeavor always to be kind to man and beast. I will read at least one chapter in the Bible every week." Upon joining the camp as the organization is called, the member received a pledge card con- taining the pledge, also a pin bearing the emblem of the order, which is a shield with a royal blue crown on a white background. The order of Victors is officered in the same man- ner as the Loyal Princes, adding three committees on Bible study, social and literary activities, and recrea- tional and athletic activities. These committees are given Hebrew names. At thirteen years of age one may become a Victor by passing a further examination which includes knowledge of the life of Christ, life 352 The Sunday School and the Teens of Wesley, nature study, book review, two Psalms memorized, and by signing the Victor's pledge in ad- dition to the pledge of the Loyal Princes which must be reaffirmed. He pledges reverence to God and re- ligious things and chivalry toward womanhood, at- tendance upon church services, obedience, some helpful practical ministries, and daily prayer. He also re- ceives the Victor's pledge card and the Victor's pin, which is a shield with burning wood on a white back- ground. The organization for the Lion Hearted is identical with that of the Victors except that the committees are given different names. To become a Lion Hearted Knight one must be seventeen years of age, must have either passed through the two former orders or be deemed worthy of membership upon the examination of a special committee and the recommendation of three adults. He must further pass advanced tests, includ- ing Bible, practical first aid, life of Christ, and tell the story of the Lion Hearted. His pledge includes in addition to the pledges of the two younger organiza- tions. Christian service, respect to elders, helpfulness to those in the younger orders and a serious considera- tion of church membership. Upon joining the Lion Hearted, the knight is given a pledge and a pin bearing the emblem which is a shield with a white lion on a red background. Meetings of the Victors and the Lion Hearted are held in the evenings. Each order of the organization includes in its regu- lar order of procedure Bible study, as well as other things naturally included in a boys' organization. AuwUiarjf Teen Age Orgamaxationt 353 Headquarters, Methodist Board of Sunday Schools, 14 W. Washington St., Chicago. The Knights Crusaders. The purpose of this organization as stated in the constitution is, " To help its members to the highest possible mental, moral and spiritual life." Its standard is embodied in the pledge to which each member must subscribe. It is, " I (giving name) do hereby pledge myself to support the Knights Crusaders' constitution and to work in the best interests of the organization." Boys fourteen years of age and over, members of some Bible school or church, are eligible for membership. The officers are Sire King, The President; Sire Prince, Vice-President ; Supreme Recorder, Secretary ; Chancellor of the Exchequer, Treasurer; Keeper of the Castle Gates, the Warden; Lord Commentator. The last named officer holds but for one month, the others for a term of six months. The adult leader is called a Suzerain. The organization includes a Mem- bership and Enthusiasm Committee, a Program Committee, a Hustlers Committee (has charge of ab- sentees and participation in meetings), a House Com- mittee (arrangement of the assembly room and discipline), and Ways and Means Committee (pins, memorial affairs and Sunday school). The organization includes the three regular degrees ; first. Page, which degree a member assumes upon en- tering the organization — the insignia is a red sash — second. Esquire, which degree may be claimed after at least one month's membership — the insignia is a blue sash — third. Knight, upon fitness — the insignia is a white sash. 354 ^^ Sunday School and the Teens There are other degrees such as Baron of Nicea, Earl of Antioch, Duke of Samaria, and Prince of the Temple, each standing for a particular line of service, which may be won by members by securing credits. Thirty credits are necessary for the granting of one of these degrees. Credits are given as follows : For attendance, at five consecutive regular meetings, five credits; for ten regular meetings, ten credits; for faithful committee work on the part of the chairman, three; on the part of each member, two; for taking part in program, two; for special accomplishments, two. Each organization is called a court and there is re- galia for each officer of the court, varying according to the office, with a special emblem for each officer. Crimson and gold are the Knights Crusaders' colors. Each organization is left to arrange its own pro- gram and plan such supplemental work as is fitting for the organization. Court procedure, however, is out- lined by the organization and calls for devotional services, prayer. Scripture Committee reports, initia- tions, etc. The organization has a secret password and ritual for initiations. The United Boys Brigades of America. This is a military organization connected with a religious or- ganization, the object being " The advancement of Christ's Kingdom among the boys and the promotion of habits of obedience, discipline and self-respect and all that tends toward true Christian manliness." " The agencies used to carry out the object are Bible train- ing, study of literature and missions, military drill and such supplementary work along the line of athletics Auxiliary Teen Age Orgamzations 355 and social activities as will appeal to the boy of ado- lescent years. The standard of the organization for each member is set forth in the pledge: "God helping me, I promise and pledge that I will not use tobacco nor intoxicating liquor in any form; that I will not use profane, vulgar or indecent language ; that I will obey faithfully all of the Company rules; and that I will at all times set an example of good conduct to my comrades and other boys." Each local Company must be connected with a church, Sunday school or other Christian organiza- tion, which organization shall look to the religious instruction of the Company. Thus the Military Brigade is a part of the Church and does not in any way tend to set up an organization outside the Church. The Brigade is not a military organization in the sense that it creates unwholesome desires for warlike methods, but on the contrary it aims to show that Christ came as a messenger of peace, and while the boys are thoroughly trained in military discipline and tactics, it only serves to make them more loyal to their country, their flag and their Company and has a tendency to make them true Christian soldiers. Boys under ten years of age are eligible for the junior company of Cadet Corps. Those above ten, measuring five feet, two inches in height are eligible for the Brigade. Each Company is under the control of an adult, who is its supreme officer and commandant. " He shall be a man of profound Christian character, preferably the minister or Sunday school superintend- ent. General oversight and direction of the organiza- 356 TKe Sunday ScTiool cm3 the Teens tion is in his hands." The commissioned oflScers, captain and lieutenants, should be Christian young men and Church members, and mature enough in years to dignify the position of leadership. A special pledge outlining the obligations of each commissioned officer must be signed. Non-commissioned officers are the first sergeant, who shall do the work of secretary, the second sergeant, acting as treasurer, the third sergeant, or quarter- master of the Company, and such other non-commis- sioned officers as are required. Regular drill shall be held once a week, at which time there must be spiritual training as well as the drill. These weekly Bible exercises are arranged so as to carry out a regular course of Bible study, outlines being furnished by national headquarters. Very often it is made a requirement of membership that the mem- bers attend church or Sunday school unless excuse is given. They may attend in uniform if it is desirable. Fines are often imposed for non-attendance at drill and Sunday services. Special honors are given for merit both as regards attendance at drill and at Sun- day services. The Boys' Brigade Scriptural Union enlists those of the Brigade who are willing to read a portion of the Bible each day, which portion is suggested by the Union. Supplementary to both the drills and the Bible study are athletics and such social features as are practical and at the same time wholesome. National Headquarters, 22 East 21st St., New York City. Auxiliary Teen Age Orgcmizatiojis 357 The Boy Scouts of America is an organiza- tion interdenominational and non-sectarian. It prob- ably covers a larger territory and enlists more than any other single organization working in the interests of boys and young men. The first sentence of Chapter I of the Manual is to be carefully considered at the very opening: " The aim of the Boy Scouts is to supplement the various existing educational agencies and to promote the ability in boys to do things for themselves and others." You will see then that this organization does not propose to take care of the whole life of the boy. It leaves to each church, the religious education and development, endeavoring to supplement this and not to take its place. Quoting the Field Scout Commis- sioner, " No fair-minded man can read through the scout requirements, the oath and law, and catch the spirit of it all without feeling that this movement aims to uplift the boy and in the best sense promote his spiritual development." Every scout, and the movement includes boys from twelve years of age and above, must take the scout oath which is : " On my honor I will do my best : First, to do my duty to God and my country and to obey the scout law ; to help other people at all times ; to keep myself physically strong, mentally awake and morally straight." There are twelve scout laws which center around the following twelve points: A scout is trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean, reverent. The twelfth law includes this clause, " He is faithful to his religious duties." 358 The Sunday School and the Teens There are three classes of scouts : First, the tender- foot. The boy must be at least twelve years of age and must pass certain tests to become a tenderfoot. The tests include knowledge of scout law, signs, salute, the history of the national flag, the tying of various knots. The next class is called second-class scout. A boy one month a tenderfoot may come into this class by completing a certain series of tests ; including first aid to the injured work, some of the rudimentary ele- ments of signaling, tracking, camping, etc. The third degree or first-class scout, must show him- self efficient in a still more advanced series of tests. These include ability to swim, knowledge of scouting, advanced aid in case of accident, camp life, knowledge of cooking, together with a rather long list of other achievements. The first-class scout may claim especial merit for achievements along a great many lines, the merits be- ing given after the requirements have been satisfac- torily met. The fields in which merits may be won include agriculture, angling, archery, architecture, art, astronomy, athletics, business, camping, carpentry, civics, etc. There are over fifty lines in which merits may be won. Special badges are given for these merits. The unit of the organization is a patrol, consisting of a Scout Master, the adult leader, the eight scouts, one of the scouts being the patrol leader and another the assistant patrol leader. A troop consists of three or more patrols, in which case the adult may be Scout Master for the whole troop. Equipment is not nee- Auxiliary Teen Age Organizations 359 essary but it is available and the scout may have a complete uniform if desired. The scout badge is a modified form of the sign of the north on a mariner's compass. The tenderfoot, the second-class scout, the first-class scout and the Scout Master each has a different badge. The organization is valuable in that one must pass certain tests in order to be included in the organiza- tion. Further, its work is done as a group, there be- ing value in the team work as a result of organiza- tion and direction from the Scout Master. The con- stant ideal of giving the boys ability to do things in the field of scoutcraft is valuable when we keep in mind the fact that the scout laws are being empha- sized, and that further training along the practical lines of scoutcraft which are interesting to boys and valuable to them are emphasized. Headquarters, The Boy Scouts of America, 200 Fifth Ave., New York City. The Woodcraft Indians or Seton Indians. The aim of the Woodcraft Indians as given in the consti- tution, is the promotion of interest in out-of-door life and woodcraft, the preservation of wild life and land- scape and the promotion of good fellowship among its members. The organization is self-governing, based on the tribal or Indian form of life. The organization is a rather simple one, the outline of which is as follows : A group of boys from ten to fifty in number and one experienced leader constitute the personnel of the or- ganization. The adult leader is called the Medicine Man, each other member of the orgajiization a brave. 360 The Sunday School and the Teens Each organization usually adopts an Indian name. If the ages vary considerably, it is best to have a boy tribe. The young men's tribe should include members not less than eighteen years of age. Each brave is given a scalp (a tuft of black horse- hair) upon entering the organization. This is fastened to the brave's headband which is an essential, the headband serving in the future to hold the feathers won by the brave. Each feather stands for an ex- ploit and there are many possible ways of winning feathers. Aside from this, each brave endeavors to win an Indian name, which is a sort of honorable nickname given in acknowledgment of some exploit or some personal talent; viz: Gray Wolf, an ex- ceptionally good scout ; Deer Foot, a great runner. The officers are a head War Chief, equivalent to President ; a second War Chief, Vice-President ; Third War Chief, second Vice-President; Wampum Chief, Treasurer; Chief of the Painted Robe or Feather Tally, Secretary and Recorder of Honors; Chief of the Council Fire, Fire Maker. The governing body is called the Council and consists of the officers, twelve elected counselors from the tribe, all the Sachems and Sagamores, these latter being those who have won twenty-four feathers. This group meets regularly once a month. Each member of the tribe may win merits which are of two classes called coups and grand coups, the names being taken from the Indian name for honors. Each member remains a brave until in competition he has taken the scalp of another when he becomes a war- rior. Both braves and warriors may win coups and Auxiliary Teen Age Organizations 361' grand coups, the decorations for these honors being feathers for the headband and wampum medals, that is shells, for the coat. Grand coup feathers have a red tuft of horsehair on the tip to distinguish them from ordinary coup feathers. One winning twelve coups becomes a sub-sachem ; those who have twenty- four coups, the complete circle of the headband, are sachems; those with forty-eight coups, a complete headdress together with tail of the headdress, are saga- mores ; those with twenty- four grand coups are grand sachems ; those with forty-eight grand coups are grand sagamores. There are three classes in which honors may be won; class one. Red Honors, deeds of heroism and athletics; class two. White Honors, deeds of camp- craft; class three. Blue Honors, nature study. A sa- chem or sagamore is known as a red, white, or blue sachem or sagamore according to the class in which he has won most merits. Each class contains a long list of possibilities. Working for these honors will take up the time both in summer at camp, on tramps in all seasons of the year, and in the meeting room during the winter months, so there is no time when the brave is with- out something practical that he may do. Manual, "The Birch-Bark Roll," Seton. The headquarters are located at Cos Cob, Connecticut. Sons of Daniel Boone or the Boy Pioneers. The object of this organization is to teach boys to get to- gether in clubs, and enjoy outdoor fun in such ways as are pleasing to boys, physically beneficial and stimu- lating to their manhood, and at the same time to pre- 362 The Sundai/ School and the Teens serve American traditions, also to protect the forests and the game. The officers of the organization are, President, Sec- retary, Treasurer, Librarian or Keeper of the Tally Gun, Painter of Totems, and Forester. Each officer is given a special name. Membership in the club is open to all boys under twenty-one years of age, elected by popular vote of the society. Those above twenty- one may be honorary members without voice in the organization, or acting as advisers. Each member must sign a pledge which includes eight articles, deal- ing largely with one's duty in the matter of manly con- duct, and conservation of the forest and game. It is the aim of the organization that the boys of the club manufacture in large measure all the things needed in their outdoor camping, the woods life, etc. The Manual of The Boy Pioneers is written by D. C. Beard and the headquarters is Flushing, Long Island, N. Y. The Boy Trust. The purpose of this organiza- tion, expressed in three brief clauses, is, " To bring the boy to a clear conception of the privileges and re- sponsibilities of life; to tide him over the danger period of life; and to anchor him safely on the side of Him who is Author and Ptince of life." Membership in the organization seems not to be limited to any particular age. The officers of the or- ganizations include a President, Vice-President, Treasurer, and such committees as conditions sug- gest. An Advisory Board is required to direct the work of the Trust, but no adult leader seems to be required as a part of the organization. AtiaUiary Teen Age Orgarmations 363 There are three degrees or circles in the Boy Trust ; first, the Outer Circle which includes " Any boy of any age or condition who desires to fie a member of the Boy Trust " ; second, the Middle Circle, " Any boy who is a nominal Christian and who will subscribe to the Great Test is accepted " ; third, the Inner Circle, including " Any boy who is a member of any church, and who is an active Christian or who desires to be- come an active Christian." The standards of the organization are expressed in the Great Test of the Boy Trust. To be in the Inner Circle or Middle Circle, one must subscribe to the Great Test. It includes the following items: Ac- knowledgment of God as maker, setting up of a defi- nite desire and purpose not to swear, steal, lie, grieve the Master or injure self or others; to be courteous, speak no evil, be obedient, work cheerfully, help others, love God, be loyal to Christ, attend church and Sunday school, read the Bible and pray every day. The model of the organization is our American Con- gress. Each member of the Trust is a member of Congress, representing some state. If the membership of the organization permits, states may be divided and Senate may be added. All the officers and com- mittees of our National Congress are included. Bills are presented, debated and voted upon. There are to be included studies, lectures, addresses, entertainpients, recreations, outdoor sports and such supplementary matter as may seem advisable. There are no secrets, no regalia and little ritual, and the only emblem is a button or pin with three circles, red, white and blue. The organization is very young, has not spread over 364 The Sunday School and the Teens much territory and has very little printed literature. There is nothing in the organization plan, however, which would prohibit it from being nation wide. Headquarters, 1428 Carrollton Ave., New Orleans, Louisiana. The Covenanters and Miriams, These two or- ganizations are connected with the Presbyterian Church, South. The general facts of the two organi- zations are identical. The aim of the organization is to interest in religious work, to increase love for the Bible, promote the habit of prayer, loyalty to the church, and to train for effective Christian service. Membership is limited to those between eight and sixteen years of age. Those members who are also members of the church are asked to subscribe to a covenant reaffirming their loyalty to Jesus Christ, and pledging their service to the church. The officers of the organization are a President, Vice-President, Secretary, Treasurer, and Color Bearer. The leadership of the organization is vested in an Advisory Board of three people. The work of the organization is summed up in the committee sug- gested for each society. They are Bible Study, Prayer, Christian Culture, Stewardship, Missions, Ex- tension, Sunday School, Social Work, Personal Work, and any other subject which local needs may bring up. Meetings are held once a week at which at least one- half of the time shall be devoted to worship, and con- sidering a previously assigned topic; the other half given to consideration of the work of the organiza- jtion, reports of the committees, etc. AiucUiart/ Teen Age Orgamzations 365 There is a special badge and pin for each organiza- tion. Headquarters; Presbyterian Committee of Publica- tion, Richmond, Va. Official Organ, The Colors. The International Order of King's Daughters and Sons. This organization in a general way covers the period of adolescence without having groups given over definitely to young people. The one exception is the Junior Circles, which may be boys only, girls only, or both. Organizations are usually formed in connec- tion with churches or other religious bodies. It is interdenominational, stating in its constitution, " The object of this society shall be the development of spiritual life and the stimulation of Christian activi- ties." For the Junior Circles the object is the same but the method is changed to meet the need of the boys and girls. The requirements for membership are allegiance to the aims of the international order and loyalty to Christ. The badge of the order is a silver maltese cross, bearing the initials I. H. N., which are the initial letters of " In His Name," the watchword of the order. The work of the order is largely that which the local community presents to each organization. Emphasis is placed particularly . upon benevolent and philan- thropic work. A great deal is done in the interests of hospitals, orphan asylums, nurseries, practical help for the poor, for the sick and for the unfortunate. Em- phasis is laid upon making others happy through deeds of kindness at all times, particularly at the Christmas and Easter seasons. Bible study, mission study and 366 The Sunday School and the Teens other literary work may be taken up by the organiza- tion. The Junior Circles are urged to emphasize service and while it cannot be extensive, the circles do all they can to bring joy and comfort to others. Each Junior Circle is superintended by an adult, and adult circles are self-governing, the officers being a Leader, a Vice-Leader, a Secretary and a Treasurer. Several organizations in one locality usually cooperate through the organization of a Union. Several larger fields are held together by State Unions, all centering in the international organization, with headquarters at 156 Fifth Avenue, New York City. The official or- gan is The Silver Cross. Queens of Avilion. This organization for girls corresponds to the Knights of King Arthur for boys and is under the direction of the same national or- ganization. The Queens of Avilion are not auxiliary to the Knights of King Arthur, but are entirely inde- pendent in their organization. Avilion is to suggest in the idealism of girls what the Holy Grail does in the idealism of boys. The ob- ject of the organization is " To cultivate Christian womanhood among its members and to render Chris- tian service in the world." (Quoted from the consti- tution.) It is open to girls of adolescent years, no fixed age limit being mentioned in the constitution. The adult leader is called a Lady of the Lake and each organization must have this officer. " She shall have entire charge of the court and all activities must meet with her approval before being undertaken." There are three degrees. Upon entering the organ- Auxiliary Teen Age Orgamzations 367 ization one is known as a Pilgrim. The second de- gree is that of Lady. One must serve at least ten weeks faithfully as a Pilgrim and take vows of purity to become a Lady. Later, one may become a Queen by uniting with the church, or if a church member upon joining, by faithfully serving some time as a Lady. Each member upon entering selects, or is as- signed by the Lady of the Lake, the name of some distinguished woman of history or romance whose vir- tues are to be emulated. The whole organization is called a court and over it as officers are a Queen Regent, the presiding officer ; a Scribe Royal or Secretary; a Keeper of the Royal Purse, or Treasurer. Marshall, Chancellor, Standard Bearer and Musician may be included. Rituals are furnished for receiving members and for conferring degrees. The emblem of the order is a white maltese cross on a red background. The Pilgrims may wear a blue sash, the Ladies a red sash with coronets and the Queens a white sash with crowns. More elaborate regalia may be used if desired. There is no uniform fixed by the order. Each court is allowed to use its own initiative, following certain suggestions. The field of work of the organization includes any form. of work that could practically be carried on by a group of girls in a local church, including study of missions, benevolent and philanthropic enterprises, so- cials, musicals, literary entertainments, housewifely tasks and modern kinds of handicraft are especially recommended. The organization offers an oppor- tunity to direct the reading of its members, especially 368 The Sunday School cmd the Teens recommending wholesome history and fiction if there is a tendency upon the part of the members to read light fiction. Further, deportment, looking toward womanly refinement, is emphasized. Service for others is counted very important. Headquarters ; Knights of King Arthur, Taylor and Third Ave., Detroit, Mich. Official organ, King Ar- thur's Herald. The Girls' Friendly Society in America. This organization is confined to the Protestant Episcopal Church. Its general purpose is stated in the three objects of the organization, and in brief includes an organization for associating young women and girls for mutual help, upholding a high moral standard, and placing those going from one city to another under the care of a local organization. The adults in the organization must be communi- cants in the church and are called Associates. Mem- bers of the organization are young women of the age of twelve years and upward, provided they are un- married. Girls from ten to twelve years of age may be connected with the organization as Probationers. Girls from five to ten years of age may be connected under the name of Candidates. The general organization is based upon the organ- ization of the church at large; that is, there are local organizations bounded by the parish, these uniting to make the diocesan organization, etc. The Parish or- ganization, or branch, has at its head a Secretary, and consists of associates or adults in connection with the organization and members. The adults in the or- ganization tie to them the members of the organiza- Auxiliary Teen Age Organizations 369 tion in such a way that they are able to guide and direct them in their social and spiritual life. The working out of this principle does not neces- sarily call for special building or equipment, but in many cases such have been secured that the work might be further advanced than would otherwise be possible. The rules of the organization are very definite and are closely adhered to. The whole movement is akin to the better known Big Brother Movement, connected, however, with one church and carefully organized so that a broad work may be done for the girls and young women of the parish. Headquarters; Church Missions House, 281 Fourth Avenue, New York City. Camp Fire Girls. This organization for girls cor- responds in general to the Boy Scout movement for boys. It is interdenominational and non-sectarian. Each local group is called a camp fire and its object is " To add the beauty of organization and the charm of romance to work, health and play." There is no age limit set by the organization, but the activities are best adapted to girls in their teens. Each local camp fire is expected to choose a name. The size of a single camp fire is unlimited, although it is recommended that where a group is large it be divided into dififerent camp fires, from six to twenty being the best size group. In general the adult leader of each camp fire is a guardian, but a large group may divide into two or three camp fires and have but one guardian. The organization meets regularly once a week. The council fire, which is the ceremonial gathering for re- 370 The Sunday School and the Teens ception of members, awarding of honors and of ranks, is a monthly meeting. There is a rather picturesque ritual outlined for the council fire, which may be held indoors, but is particu- larly well adapted for an outdoor meeting. There are three ranks. When a girl enters the or- ganization she becomes a wood gatherer. To be re- ceived, she must know the general object of the organization and repeat the wood gatherer's desire, which is " To seek beauty, give service, pursue knowl- edge, be trustworthy, hold on to health, glorify work and be happy." On being received she is given a silver ring which has a bundle of fagots (seven) represent- ing the seven points of the law. She may take unto herself a symbolic name, she may wear the wood gatherers' uniform which is an adaption of Indian cos- tume and on the right arni the wood gatherers' em- blem, two logs laid ready to kindle. The second degree is that of fire maker. The mem- ber must have been a wood gatherer at least three months, except under very special conditions and must repeat the fire makers' desire, which is, " As fuel is brought to the fire, so I purpose to bring my strength, my ambition, my heart's desire, my joy and my sor- row to the fire of human kind, for I will tend as my fathers tended and my fathers' fathers since time be- gan, the fire that is called the love of man for man, the love of man for God." Other requirements, include a long list of practical ministry as regards meal preparation and serving, mending, keeping accounts, sleeping in the open, exer- cises, first aid, etc., together with twenty elective hon- Auxiliary Teen Age Organizations 371 ors, which are explained below. As insignia the fire maker may wear the fire makers' bracelet, and add to the arm emblem the blue, green and orange represent- ing the flames rising from the kindled logs. The third degree is that of torch bearer. The mem- ber must have been a fire maker for three months except under special conditions, and must repeat the torch bearers' desire. It is " That light which has been given to me I desire to pass undimmed to others." More than this, she becomes an assistant to the Guard- ian and must be known as trustworthy, happy, un- selfish, a good leader, a good team worker and popu- lar. She must have organized a group within the camp fire and have led them regularly in their activi- ties for three months. She must present fifteen hon- ors in addition to those presented as fire maker. She may wear the torch bearer's pin and add to the in- signia on the right arm the white representing smoke from the flame. The leader of the group is Guardian. She should be a natural leader, one who enjoys outdoors and home and the life and activities of girls. She has such tasks as would naturally be expected of a Superintendent. Honors, which are open to all three ranks, may be won in seven different lines or crafts. An honor won in any craft is conferred upon the winner at the coun- cil fire and is symbolized by a bead, each craft being represented by a different colored bead. The seven crafts with their colors are as follows: healthcraft, bright red; homecraft, orange; nature lore, sky blue; campcraft, wood brown; handicraft, green; business, black and gold ; patriotism, red, white and blue. These "^JZ The Sunday School and the Teens beads as received are strung on leather thongs and become a part of the ceremonial dress. There is a very comprehensive list of possibilities outlined in these seven crafts. The symbol of the whole organization is fire, taken because it cleanses and purifies. The symbol of mem- bership is the standing pine, signifying simplicity and strength. The first two letters of the words, work, health and love combine to make Wohelo the camp fire watchword. The organization while very elaborate can be car- ried on very simply. Regalia is not necessary but adds much to the charm and romance of the organiza- tion. Headquarters, Camp Fire Girls, ii8 East 28th St., New York City. Other Special Organizations. The Loyal Temper- ance Legion is an outgrowth of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union and enlists the adolescent age for temperance. It has a single purpose, therefore bends its energies to that end. The Knights of the Silver Cross are connected with the White Cross Purity Society, 224 Waverly Place, New York City. The Church Attendance League gives itself wholly to securing regular church attendance upon the part of those of adolescent years. There is a pledge, a record card, a button, and a book for recording sermon texts. This organization is used in connection with the Sunday school. There are no officers and it is without definite organization, but centers in the one matter of church attendance, and can be promoted by Auxiliary Teen Age Orgaimzatwns 373 an individual, a Sunday school class, or a Sunday- school department. Its headquarters are the denomi- national Boards of Publication. The Anti-Cigarette League has a very definite aim, that of eliminating the cigarette habit. It is interde- nominational. It is not its purpose to furnish an all- round development for those of adolescent years as is the aim of organizations like the Boys' Brigade, Knights of King Arthur, etc. Its purpose is to stamp out the cigarette evil, and all its plans center in this one great object. Leagues are to be formed under adult leadership, enlisting boys who are willing to take a stand against the cigarette and to pledge themselves not to use it. They are further to pledge themselves to do all pos- sible to stamp out the evil. In the interests of this work, leagues may have public meetings, contests, en- tertainments, an orchestra, choruses, reading-rooms, public lecture courses, etc. They may as organiza- tions join in athletics and have such further social di- versions as meet their needs. National headquarters; Anti-Cigarette League of America, 11 19 Woman's Temple, Chicago, 111. Offi- cial organ. The Boy Magazine. Value of Auxiliary Organization. These organi- zations may be generally classified in two groups — Church and Welfare Societies. The Christian En- deavor and Brotherhood would comprise the first, and all the remainder the second. The men and women who use these adolescent devices are usually pleased with their results. However, a few of the keener ob- servers of the workings of these organizations are 374 1'^^ Sunday School and the Teens doubtful of their ultimate value. Not a few insist thai multiplication of organization is becoming harm- ful as well as wasteful and that a simple, inclusive organization is needed. Some think this should center in the Sunday school itself. Taken on the whole, however, these organizations are in great favor and are undoubtedly doing much to help the Church with the adolescent. Chapter XXV THE EDUCATIONAL FIELD AND ITS RELIGIOUS NEEDS It is well for the leaders in a local Sunday school movement to pause and consider that the boys and girls whose school days are not yet over are a very important class. They are not important primarily because they constitute a large class, but because from them will come a disproportionately large share of the leaders of the next generation. It has been said that we should employ wise strategy in extending the King- dom of God, as much as in waging the wars of earthly kingdoms. It is surely wise strategy to make a special effort to win those who are to occupy the command- ing positions of the future. This unique and strategic importance is particularly true of the students in our secondary schools and colleges. Our Sunday schools must come to regard these students as in many cases having peculiar needs, and therefore demanding spe- cial forms of work on the part of the Sunday school. No country has ever before offered such fine oppor- tunities for free education. While we cannot say that our school system is in every respect the best in the world, we can say that it is one of the best, and that in its democracy, in its high grade training without cost, no other countries can approach our own. In Germany, Great Britain, and France, for example, 375 376 The Sunday School and the Teens they have no such free high school system as we have, for free attendance of boys and girls in the secondary schools is limited — in some cases by financial restric- tions, and in other cases by various social discrimina- tions. In 1909 there were in this country over 24,- 000,000 children of the school age (5 to 18 years) and less than 20,000,000 are enrolled in schools of all grades, public and private. In the same year there were over 12,500,000 boys and girls between the ages of five and eighteen in average daily attend- ance in our public schools. This is a growth of over 2,000,000 school students since the census of 1900. The growth and development of the public high school during this same period was even more remark- able. In 1900 there were 6,005 high schools in the United States, while in 1910 there were 10,213, or an increase of a little over 70 per cent in ten years. Dur- ing this same period the number of students attend- ing high schools increased from about one half mil- lion to 915,061, or more than 76 per cent. No other country spends as much money upon its public school system. During 1909 about $4,000,000 was expended. This is an increase of 86 per cent over the amount spent in 1900. Most of this money goes into the salaries of teachers and the providing of buildings and equipment. There has been a marked development in the number of public school buildings of high architectural worth. A few more statistics from the government reports may be of interest. In 1900, of all the students in public secondary schools, 41 per cent were boys and 59 per cent girls. In 1900, 43 per cent were boys. The Ediicational Field 277 The proportion of the high school students preparing for college has decreased from about lo per cent to about 5 per cent. This means that a larger number of students are making the high school their finishing school rather than that fewer go on to college. In spite of the growth of enrollment and the development of the attractions of our school system, there still seems to be a frightful loss by boys and girls drop- ping out of school. Only 12 per cent of the high school enrollment continue their course to graduation, while about 48 per cent of the high school pupils are freshmen. It is to be regretted that it is not possible to secure similar dependable statistics regarding the enrollment of different classes of school boys and girls in Sunday schools. Many efforts have been made, sectionally and locally, to secure such statistics, but after careful study the returns have been little more than careful guesses. To study the moral arid religious needs of boys and girls in our schools, is an exceedingly difficult thing. In a large number of places the moral tone of the schools is at practically the same level as that of the general community. On the other hand, among boys and girls of the high schools there is often a peculiar moral standard and condition. This, of course, varie's old, holding a good business position, wrote, " I left the Sunday school at sixteen. We had to write out in different communities. Quite frequently cities and towns have been found where the corporate spirit of a high school has expressed itself in peculiar forms of immorality. Such places usually surprise the in- vestigator because it would seem that forms of sin, which in an earlier generation had been known and 378 The Sunday School and the Teens practised only by those of the college age, had in our generation dropped back to the high school period. Such conditions, however, must not be regarded as general. It is also very evident from our investiga- tions that conditions of good and evil go, to a very noticeable degree, in waves which fluctuate not only from year to year, but from city to city. One of the most puzzling circumstances bearing upon the moral and social life of high school boys, is found in the widely advertised fraternity situation. Twenty- five states are taking active measures to banish by their legislative enactments all secret fraternities and soror- ities out of the high schools. One result of all of this has been that we hear much less of the " fra- ternity problem " than we did a few years ago. We discover, however, that this does not necessarily mean that the evils which accompanied the fraternities have been wholly eliminated. To attack and abolish a fra- ternity by legislative or external authority has proved in most cases to mean merely the driving of the fra- ternity to cover. After the fraternity is abolished the " gang " persists ; often doing in clandestine man- ner things less commendable than heretofore. Here is one of the opportunities that the church and Sunday school should seize to make a contribu- tion to school life. We now understand well enough the workings of the adolescent mind to know that one cannot keep boys and girls from going in gangs. Ra- ther than to " attack and abolish " the fraternity, there- fore, would it not seem to ofifer an opportunity for us to substitute for the fraternity some other group with a higher purpose? We would suggest two tests The Educational Field 379 to be applied to every such group. First, it must have capable adult supervision, and second, it must have a dominating altruistic purpose. The condition among school boys and girls which should give us most pause, is not its outbreaking vice. It is that there is a danger that these future leaders shall grow up to lives of softness, pride, and indifference. The time is long past when the only reason for which a boy secured a high education was in order that he might be fitted for spiritual leadership. We must attain to the mind of Christ in our judg- ment of the needs for more aggressive action. In his mind the pride, selfishness and hypocrisy of the Phari- sees was more to be condemned than certain forms of ignorant and outbreaking vice. The position which the Church must ultimately take is that of organizing a scheme of religious education to meet every need of every boy and girl. This can- not be done until the different denominations in every community unite upon a comprehensive plan of action. A survey of the field which would be actually scien- tific would doubtless show that while there is over- lapping in a few places in our religious work there are very many gaps among our youth which are not being filled by any single church. Ultimately such a situation cannot be. " We must have an interna- tional system of schools of religion strictly coordinate with our governmental system of public schools." As Professor Coe has recently said : " The problem is not simply how to bring a child here and there to religious maturity. It is not merely how to maintain a given religious society or even a whole denomination, in 380 The Sunday School and the Teena health. The problem is how to produce a religious civilization." The time has come for the Church to recognize that the school can never do this through its direct activities. Therefore the churches must rise up, and, working hand in hand with interested school authorities and teachers, supplement our present school system. Brief Bibliography Adolescents in Educational Institutions. Religious Freedom in American Education, J. H. Crooker ($1.00). Publications of Religious Education Association. Moral Training in Public Schools. Essays by C. E. Rugh and others ($1.50). The Making of Our Middle Schools, E. E. Brown ($3.00). Chapter XXVI EXTENSION OF RELIGIOUS TRAINING THROUGH THE PUBLIC SCHOOL Present Methods of Religious Instruction. In- struction in religion is excluded from the public schools in nine states; California, Washington, Mon- tana, Minnesota, Nevada, Idaho, Arizona, Wisconsin and Illinois. In these states the use of the Bible is not permitted in the schools. Eleven states make definite provision for the use of the Bible in the schools, usually safe-guarding this by the limitation that no sectarian doctrines shall be taught. These states are Georgia, Nebraska, North Dakota, Indiana, Massachusetts, Texas, Iowa, New Jersey, Kansas, South Dakota and Oklahoma. The other remaining states have no laws nor court decisions upon the use of the Bible, and practice varies in the different communities dependent on local con- ditions, particularly as to sectarian consciousness. It is generally recognized that in the American pub- lic schools there can be no direct instruction in re- ligious doctrines. Literature on this subject may be found in Religious Education for February, 1912. Indirect religious training is given in almost every school ; it comes through the school exercises, through the general assemblies, or in class exercises. Re- ligious values also exist in the materials used in the 381 382 The Sunday School and the Teens curriculum, particularly in history and literature. The public schools contribute indirectly in no small measure to the religious spirit of the people. It is not advisable to urge further direct religious instruction in the public schools on account of the necessary separation between Church and State, the impossibility of agreeing upon any form of religious teaching which would be acceptable to all citizens, and the fact that school teachers are neither trained nor selected for teaching religion. The experience of German schools conclusively shows that to make religion a subject of the state school is to rob it of its vitality and reality to youth. Moral Instruction and Training. A number of states require the teaching of morals in the public schools. For example, Florida, Maine, New Mexico, Kansas, Idaho, South Dakota, Arizona, Washington, North Dakota, Illinois, Texas, Colorado. In several instances the topics for instruction are assigned by the state school authority. The United States Bureau of Education promises in the near future a bulletin showing present practice in Moral Training. Arkansas, Utah, North Carolina, Washington, Georgia and Iowa provide for the exclusion of stu- dents habitually given to immoral practices. Moral instruction, however, is not determined by state legislation alone. School officers frequently recognize the responsibility for this task and the need for specific ethical instruction is met in the curricu- lum of a large number of schools. Occasionally dis- trict teachers are employed to give moral instruction ReUgious Trammg Through Public School 383 either in special short periods or in the course of the work in literature and history. Brookline, Massa- chusetts, has a course in English literature planned to center about moral topics, such as love of home, love of animals, self-control, courage, obedience, service through character. The state of North Dakota uses a textbook "Ethics for Children," by E. L. Cabot. Special methods are described in Religious Education for February, 191 1, April, 191 1, and February, 1912. Certain special organizations exist to promote moral training in the schools, as the Moral Education Board of Baltimore, American Ethical Union of Philadel- phia, and the Moral Education League of London, England. Yet with all that has been done it must be con- fessed that only a small beginning has been made. The public school world is only just awakening to the fact that any kind of instruction, no matter how wide and efficient it may be intellectually, is wholly incom- plete without the training of character. The Re- ligious Education Association has steadily advocated this until there are many evidences of aroused inter- est in public school teachers and workers. Moral Education in the Churches. The church with its many gatherings of young people would seem to afford unusual opportunities for moral training. Undoubtedly there is much of high moral value in the discipline and organizations of the church life though this needs conscious development. Of course there is always large moral value in any teaching of the Bible that looks to its translation into conduct and character. Unfortunately many Sunday school teach- 384 The Sunday School and the Teens ers continue to regard their work as that of instruction in the facts of the Bible instead of using these facts to transform lives. There is need both in the Sunday school and in the church organizations for youth, for courses which would definitely relate religion to every- day conduct. The church curriculum should be planned to prepare a youth for the duties of social liv- ing, to enable him to meet the problems of his own line as a worker, a home maker, a citizen and a servant of a divine and ideal society on earth. We need espe- cially definite courses on Community Life, Industrial Ethics, Home Making and Maintaining, Christian Citizenship and Social Ideals. Suggestions as to the Extension through Public Schools of Moral and Religious Training for the Youth, For high school students much may be accom- plished through formal instruction in morals, but it is absolutely essential to keep this instruction fresh and free from formality. It might be possible to have the boys meet with a man and the girls with a woman for at least a full period every week to engage in an open con- ference on questions of morals and ethics in everyday life. Students should be encouraged to study ethical problems coming under their observation and to dis- cuss the same. Attention is especially called to the plan proposed by Professors Sharp and Neuman in the School Review for April, 1912. Every large city should have a special Director of Ethical Instruction to organize and supervise courses in morals and ethics and to superintend the work of all the schools in general moral training. Teachers especially need explicit directions and personal guid- Religious Trainmg Through Public School 385 ance here. Schools must be encouraged to extend moral training through vocational and manual work. Evening classes offer especially fine opportunities for moral training. The students are youths and adults not in day schools. Extension and continuance schools, giving vocational instruction, have greater freedom in moral instruction. Special courses could well be offered in these schools on such topics as The Conduct of Business, Ethics of Citizenship, Civic Re- lationships. The revival of the " current-topic " period would furnish excellent opportunity for discussion of cur- rent facts with their moral significance in the school. The Use of the School as a Social Center (See "Social Aspects of Education," King). Communities should insist on a larger number of men teachers in the high schools and endeavor to quicken the consciousness of personal responsibility on the part of the teachers for the character welfare of students. It may be possible at some time to establish the principle that no youth should be given a diploma from high -school until he has completed either in his church or in his school, society or other agency, such a course in either religion or in ethics as shall have been provided by the church or society which he shall have selected at the beginning of the course, the course to be acceptable, academically, to the school authorities but not to count on the required number of credits for college entrance.^ 1 Such a course is now being experimented with in the high schools of North Dakota at the solicitation of the State Sunday School Asso- ciation. — Editor. 386 TJie Sunday ScKool arid the Teem It must be remembered that moral and religious training can never be accomplished simply by teaching ethics or by religious doctrines, neither can it be accomplished through the formal work of instruction in any one agency of the community. The greatest need is the awakening of the community consciousness as to the responsibility of growing young life aright. Perhaps the most valuable thing that could be done would be to organize in every community a " Council of Moral and Religious Education " upon which should serve all the school teachers, and officers, members of the board of education, pastors, librarians, Sunday school. Young Women's Christian Association and Young Men's Christian Association workers. This council should make a careful study of community conditions in relation to moral and religious character. It should seek to determine and publish the community program of education embracing all instruction, recreation and amusement, coordinating the different agencies, and directing activity, as in the youth groups, and in play. The council could also see that both pub- lic schools, Sunday schools and libraries are provided with the modern textbooks in morals and religion. The moral and religious training of youth might be extended by a closer direction and better use of the extra school periods. Let the church, school and library through the proposed council agree on a pro- gram for Saturdays and Sundays which should be known to parents and should offer direction during the idle hours to the life of youth. Special classes in the church for high school boys and girls should be organized under advisement with ReUgious Training Through Public School 387 high school principals and teachers. The curricula material should be coordinated to that in the school but determined mainly by the personal, vocational, and life needs of the students. These courses are now often wholly unrelated to other studies. The pro- posed council should have supervision of all such courses, determining their arrangements for the school classes, their character, content and methods of con- duct. Other Proposals for Extension Through Public Schools. Numerous plans have been suggested for the extension of religious instruction either in the public schools or by cooperation with them. The Half Day Adjournment Plan. It has been proposed that the public school adjourn for one half day each week and allow the children to go to their respective churches for religious instruction. This plan was once in vogufe in France and in certain parts of Great Britain but was not a success; it would be less successful in this country. It would split up the social unity of the school into denominational groups. It would deprive the public school of time which con- scientious educators feel they must jealously preserve. Further, a legitimate question is whether any number of churches are now prepared to use such an opportu- nity properly. Very few have the physical equipment for regular school work; scarcely any could furnish a corps of teachers for week-day work. Only a few are prepared with even the crudest curriculum for such an opportunity. Elective Courses. It is proposed that churches offer elective courses in the Bible, etc., for which credit 388 The Sundat/ ScJiool and the Teens should be given in the regular school work. Only in rare instances would it be possible to maintain the academic standards in such work when given in the churches. The result would be that high school stu- dents would present themselves with credits including the church courses which could not be accepted by the standard colleges. This plan, however, could be used in a number of communities where teachers can be found for such work, provided students are willing to take the work without expectation of credit. A notable example of such work is that conducted by the correlation of Bible courses with the regular work at the State Teachers College at Greeley, Colorado. Religious Day Schools. The religious day school is an experiment being tried in a number of places, particularly under the direction of Howard Vaughn, Madison, Wisconsin, where children during the sum- mer period attend daily a school of religion. A small charge is made and hitherto only work for elementary pupils has been done. The vacation Bible school conducted usually in the congested districts gives valuable training in Bible and religion accompanied by recreation activities and manual work. The International Secretary is the Rev. Robert G. Boville, New York City. There are two central and most serious difficulties in the extension of moral and religious instruction for youth through public agencies: First, the present cur- riculum of instruction is so crowded and the present school system makes such serious demands on the time and health of pupils that all persons resent any at- tempt to increase the study periods and the school Religious Training Through Public School 389 work of young people. Growing youths are already too much bound to books. Second, the task of relig- ious education is vastly broader than any mechanics or materials of instruction. Religious education cannot be accomplished merely by learning lessons ; it is a mat- ter of the training, the development of a whole life. This can be accomplished only as all that touches this life in any way is directed and, as far as may be, de- signed for the development of religious character. Our need is, most of all, a consciousness of the whole life process, whether in home or school or street or workshop as a definite, clearly understood pro- gram of religious development. If such a concep- tion of life can be made to prevail it will dominate all school instruction as well as other activities. To this end our present clearest duty is the quickening of par- ents, teachers, pastors and the public generally to a re- cognition and an understanding of the processes of per- sonal character, of every hour as in the school of the religious life and every impression as part of the cur- riculum of character. The most practicable and im- mediately possible step in this direction would be the organization of the local " Council of Religious and Moral Education " as proposed above. Chapter XXVII THE CHURCH'S INFLUENCE IN EDUCA- TIONAL INSTITUTIONS The educational idea of the day school is derived largely if not wholly from the university. The latter drops Greek, let us say, from the requirements for the degree of Bachelor of Arts and immediately Greek is dropped from the curricula in our high schools. Only in the large city high schools can a student study Greek and even there he gets but little encouragement in his efforts. Ultimately this reacts upon the Church in ways which we need not enumerate in this brief space. Suffice it to say that the plea for the " humani- ties " is essentially the Church's plea ; but the Church does not echo the plea very strongly. It comes with greatest force from men within the academic circle — men of vision, who in their capacity as educators are consciously or unconsciously giving expression to an educational ideal which is essentially religious. Not that the study of the " humanities " is to be identified with religious education, but education which is cul- tural as opposed to technical is potentially moral and whatsoever is potentially moral is fundamentally reli- gious. The Church, however, as the chief patron of reli- gious education has, in practice, fostered a conception of the same which is largely technical, if not ecclesias- 390 Church's Influence m Educational Institutions 391 tical, rather than one which is religious in the broadest sense of the word. That is to say, the Church in its function as a teacher of men has failed to emphasize morality as a spiritual foundation, while insisting upon morality as an expression or product of the Christian life. The truth of this assertion is witnessed to by the fact that the Church's chief activity, to say nothing of its chief expenditure, is still concerned with the conversion of adults whose habits and ideals are more or less fixed ; whereas it is only beginning to realize its true function as a teacher in relation to manhood and womanhood in the making. The time to develop moral autonomy in the individual is in the period of adolescence. Here the process is normally an educa- tional process, whereas to set free the adult whose will is already bent, let us say, in wrong directions de- mands a far more difficult and less normal process, however necessary it may be. It is legitimate to inquire therefore whether the Church's present educational method is sufficiently comprehensive. I. In its attempts to influence the so-called secular education as distinct from that which the Church carries on in its own Sunday school or other educa- tional work, there is lacking anything in the nature of a definite program. Perhaps this is the result of a lack of unity, but be that as it may, the Church's attempts to influence secular education have consisted largely of spasmodic efforts to force the Bible into the public schools. Suppose the Church were to ac- complish this, how, then, is the Bible to be taught in the day school? It is manifest that there can be no 392 The Sunday School and the Teens interpreting of the same. And without interpretation what purpose is served? It is safe to affirm that the reading of the Scriptures apart from all interpretation will defeat the very end that is intended. Unless such reading be made optional and put into the hands of those who may not only read but who are qualified also to teach, it will cease to be the living message of the living God and become the dead work of dead men. One has only to contemplate a compulsory reading by the teacher from day to day of Shakespeare or Homer, without interpretation, to appreciate what a similar reading of the Scriptures would be like. But introduce interpretation and the teaching consequent thereupon and one of the fundamental principles of democracy is thereby' violated, namely religious free- dom. The Church is making a tactical mistake in pleading for the introduction of the Scriptures into the "day school. The school ought to stress that upon which all men are agreed, namely morality, without stressing at the same time that upon which men are not all agreed, namely religious faith. The Church thereby fails to make use of a leverage whereby men may most easily be raised from the plane of morality to the higher plane of religion. 2. In its own work of religious education the Church needs a broader conception of what is truly biblical. Granted that the Bible is the Church's reli- gious textbook, the Church must emphasize and teach Missions and Social Service as integral parts of the Gospel of the Kingdom. If the modern missionary is not the spiritual successor of the Apostles, where j;hen shall we find him? Modern missionary activity; CJturch's Influence in Educational Institutions 393 is but the extension in time of the work of the Apostles. It must therefore find a definite place in the Church school's curriculum. And it needs to be put there without apology, not as if it implied a neg- lect of Bible study. What is true of Missions, is equally true of Social Service. Whatever pertains to good citizenship in society and in the state, whatever pertains to social and civic uplift, is necessarily implied in the Gospel of the Kingdom. The Church must not shrink from including, in reasonable proportion, the study of modern social conditions. The preparation of suitable courses of study in these two fields of activity is a work which ought to be undertaken by the Church at the earliest possible mo- ment. The very nature of the work in these two spheres, involving as it does both the heroic and the altruistic and humanitarian, makes such study inter- esting and attractive to pupils of all ages, but espe- cially is it necessary that some systematic study in these two fields be made supplemental at least to the work in the grades of the Secondary Division. Chapter XXVIII RECENT PROGRESS IN EDUCATION AND ITS LESSONS FOR THE SUNDAY SCHOOL Among the recent marks of progress in education which are of significance for the Sunday school may be noted the following: 1. The overhauling and standardization of various high school courses, the enrichment and addition of courses ; 2. The more general introduction of sex instruction, both incidentally in the grades, and particularly in con- nection with the high school course in physiology. 3. The recognition of the importance of vocational training, and provision for it. 4. Better organization making for greater efficiency on the administrative side, notably (a) greater uniformity in the keeping of statistical records. (b) the consolidation of rural districts. (c) the elimination of school positions which have become sinecures and the clearer definition of the scope of various officers' positions. [(d) the publication (and newspaper discus- sion) of the findings of expert investi- gations. 394 Recent Progress in EdiieafUm 395 Besides these more general tendencies ther* tra local features that are worth consideration, for in- stance : 5. The greater use, out of school hours, of the pub- lic school buildings. 6. The worship of " the course " (even in other than the typical college preparatory course) to the extent of overlooking individual needs. 7. Autocratic repression of suggestions emanating from the teaching staff. 8. The growing feeling of the inadvisability of per- mitting fraternities and secret societies in the high school. To take up briefly the detail of the points just pre- sented : I. The gradual introduction into our Sunday schools of the new Graded Lessons gives opportunity for a better understanding of what is involved in teaching history, biography, literature, sociology, doctrine, etc., to adolescents. In teaching Bible, missionary or church history for example, we must train our teach- ers to acquaint themselves not only with the content, but with the present-day methods of history-teaching. Similarly, we should no longer make a lesson from a dozen or so consecutive Bible verses, but seek rather to utilize in the Sunday school methods by which we secure, in the day school, literary appreciation of Shakespeare, Tennyson and Thackeray. We must present the literature of the Bible as such, in a man- ner sufficiently dignified to be worthy of the subject, and sufficiently advanced to hold the interest and self- respect of the older pupils. Short courses in the 396 The Sunday School and the Teens Psalms, in the writings of Paul, in comparison of the four gospels,, in the wisdom literature, in hymnody suggest themselves to the experienced stu- dent. Like remarks apply to the teaching of the other subjects. 2. When a proper control of the sex instinct is so large a factor in our social morality and so far-reach- ing an influence in the individual life, it is a matter of grave reproach that the professed Christian teacher has not been to the fore in advocating and undertak- ing more definite sex instruction. While the public school teacher may instil facts, it becomes the special prerogative of the Christian teacher to give ethical significance to those facts, to emphasize the religious and moral aspects of scientific truth, to lay hold of the vague adolescent yearnings and aspirations and direct them into conscious, dynamic ideals. Besides the in- cidental, individual teaching, some schools have found it possible and profitable to form small classes of boys and girls separately, who meet a special instructor for five or six lessons, such lessons even replacing, for a time, the regular Bible lesson. Where this is imprac- ticable, the regular teachers should take every oppor- tunity to emphasize the matter in the course of the lessons, or meet pupils individually, or three or four in a group, after the ordinary session. Many a boy and girl has grown up to deprecate the prudish silence of the Sunday school teacher, who. must be more con- cerned, surely, with what counts for so much in the efficient righteous life of the pupil than with mere knowledge of Bible stories. 3. Beyond emphasizing the need of the teacher's in- Recent Progress m Education 397 terest in the general welfare of his pupils, this has its lessons for Sunday schools in that — (a) A normal class should be formed in any school numbering 200 or over. (b) Trade, business and professional ethics need coordinating with religious teach- ing. In the older classes present-day problems should be raised and discussed, standards formulated, and closer con- nection urged between the theory and practice of Christian living. '(c) The opportunities for secretaries, doc- tors, nurses, teachers of all kinds, and other trained workers on our mission boards should be more clearly pointed out and constantly urged. We have missed many recruits by failing to in- spire them at the golden moment with loyalty to their religious interests. The requisite detailed information as to training facilities should be accessible to, and familiarized by pastor, superinten- dent and teachers. The Uniformity and Consolidation Suggestion. 4. The main suggestion for uniformity and con- solidation as above is that all schools adopt the more uniform methods of record-keeping suggested by the International Association. It is well remembered how impossible it seemed, at the recent Child Welfare Ex- hibit in New York City, to prepare adequate represen- tations of Sunday school work because of the lack of " business bookkeeping." We ought to be able to 398 The Sunday School and the Teens find out easily and rapidly how many children there are of a given age attending a school, the percentage of increase of promotions, or of those joining the church ; also, by systems of transfer cards, from what other schools new pupils enter, their grade, attain- ments and attendance in such other schools, likewise to trace a pupil who moves to another district. In small towns, would it not be wise to amalgamate several small, understaffed schools into one good graded school, reserving any particular doctrinal teaching till classes of candidates for confirmation or church membership need to be segregated ? Minimum Organization Suggestion. Then our Sunday schools are top heavy with organization, all for 50 to 100 hours per year — an economic waste. Yet the superintendent is rarely found supervising the actual teaching, and frequently in the multiplication and overlapping of offices, important work is left undone. A reduction in the size of the staff of officers and directors and greater and better defined responsibilities for each would lessen these evils. Taken too with 5 as above, a better coordination of the Mission Band, Young People's Societies of different types, week-day classes of all sorts with the Sunday school is to be looked for. Then again, where the Jewish religious school holds session for three or perhaps five hours a week, and Sunday schools in England hold a morning session of one hour and an afternoon session of one-and-a- half hours or more as a matter of course, of which time 60 or 80 per cent is spent in actual teaching, we have in our churches, in contrast, the only too com- Recent Progress m Editcation 399 mon single hour afternoon session, half of it fre- quently taken up with things other than teaching, and much of both halves wasted by poor administration — this also where no Scripture history is taught in the day schools. Why not work toward two sessions, or to a minimum two-hour session with ample time for assembly work, special occasional address, music practice (or better, service) and two lessons ? A child or teacher can stand two or more lessons in succession five days a week, why not on Sunday? Many com- binations such as story and illustrative occupation for the younger ones, history and memory work, literature and geography, missionary and civics, biography and doctrine readily suggest themselves. Further, more adaptation in the Sunday school is yet necessary. We are already awakening to the necessity of providing for individual differences, by age, and we may need to make yet larger provision for elective courses for boys and girls of sixteen years. Chapter XXIX THE SUNDAY SCHOOL, PRESENT AND FUTURE The Present Possibilities of the Sunday School. I. The Sunday school can make its aim more definite. This aim should be nothing less than to develop to the utmost, the religious life of each individual for whom it is responsible. 2. The Sunday school can enlarge this scope. It should undertake to develop not only religious thoughts but religious feelings and convictions and to secure correct conduct. This means that the Sunday school should give as careful and thoughtful attention to its worship and to its plans for training and service as to its lesson courses. All these phases of training will then be brought together into one comprehensive curriculum of instruction. 3. The Sunday school can relate itself more closely to other educational agencies such as the Young People's Society and the Mission Study Class within the local church. Indeed these may well become a part of the educational system of the local church. It may relate itself more closely to the work of the Young Men's and Young Women's Christian As- sociations and other religious but non-denominational agencies in the community. And again it may relate itself more closely to the work of the public school, 400 The Sunday School, Present and Future 401 so that the interests which occupy the attention of the children during the week may not seem to be wholly foreign to the work of the Sunday school. 4. The Sunday school may do its work with greater precision. This means that the instruction given to young people will be closely adapted to the needs of the respective ages. It means also that the teachers will be more carefully trained and that they will be- come in a sense specialists dealing expertly with each age. It means further that tools and equipment shall be provided in sufficient measure to make such pre- cision possible. The Future Sunday School, i. The Sunday school must become a church school. That is, in its organization it must embody all of the educational ac- tivities of the church and unify them. 2. The church school thus organized will undertake to provide appropriate religious instruction for the entire life of the child during every day of the week, always respecting the peculiar province of the home on the one hand, and the day school on the other. 3. The church school will provide suitable sur- roundings and opportunities for physical development so far as these are not already furnished by other agencies in the community. Where they are so fur- nished the church school will relate itself to them in order that the religious development may not become a thing apart from the physical well-being. As one element in its provision for the physical welfare of the child the church school will see that proper instruc- tion is given in regard to sex. 4. The church school will foster such wholesome 402 The Sunday School and the Teens organizations as the Boy Scouts and the Camp Fire Girls, through which a natural personal approach is possible for the teacher. Summer camps and other outdoor agencies will properly come within the scope of its plan. 5. The church school will probably soon seek more time for definite religious instruction. After securing greater precision and economy in the use of the time now set apart for such instruction, it may well be that one afternoon a week will be sought in which the chil- dren will be excused from their ordinary school duties for religious instruction at the church of their choice. 6. The church school will seek to relate itself to factories, shops, stores and other places where the young people are employed and to surround these with all forms of wholesome influence. In other words, it will try to build up constructively all the forces for good within the community and to overcome all such as have an unwholesome influence upon the physical welfare, the morals or the religious life of children and young people. 7. The church school will ally itself closely to the home and will not only acquaint the parents with its own plans for the instruction of their children, but will hold at convenient times and places parents' classes in which parents themselves may be more per- fectly fitted for discharging their part of the responsi- bility for religious education. ChaJpter XXX COLLEGE STUDENTS AND THE SUNDAY SCHOOL In addition to the secondary schools in the various communities, the Sunday school faces a great oppor- tunity in relation to the students in colleges and uni- versities who are temporary residents. The greatness of the opportunity needs only to be mentioned to be realized, for these young people are choice representa- tives of thousands of local committees, they are still at the formative period of their lives, and they are preparing themselves for future leadership. Some of them will give their lives distinctively to Christian work; but many ought to be the voluntary teachers of Sunday school classes and the leaders of Church work in the various communities where they spend their lives. The Sunday school would be unwise to miss the opportunity, not only of helping to train these young people in the way of righteousness, but also of winning them to loyal cooperation in its great work. Present Situation. The following report, taken from the statistics for the college year 1911-12, gath- ered by the Student Young Men's and Young Women's Christian Associations, gives the present situation in private preparatory schools, colleges, and professional schools. 403 404 The Sunday School and the Teens Women Students Students in Church Bible Classes 17.673 Number of Y. W. C. A. Bible Classes 1,418 Students in Y. W. C. A. Bible Classes 20,136 Students in Normal Y. W. C. A. Bible Classes S45 Y. W. C. A. members teaching Bible Classes I,S48 This includes some classes in churches promoted by the Y. W. C. A. in cooperation with the church. Men Students 477 institutions report 166,673 enrolled as students. 472 institutions reporrt 45,726 men in Bible classes under all auspices, independent of church association. 326 institutions report 21,586 men attending student groups in churches. 128 institutions report 7,509 men attending student groups in churches promoted by the Y. M. C. A. 362 institutions report 24,928 men continuing for two months or more in student Bible classes promoted by the Y. M. C. A. 120 institutions report 267 leaders' training classes. 88 institutions report 1,349 average attendance of leaders of such training classes. The Student Department of the Young Men's and Young Women's Christian Associations have given large attention to the development of voluntary Bible study among students, and their policy is to promote Bible study in cooperation with the Sunday schools, just so far as it is practicable. Hovir to Provide for College Students. Accord- ing to the present grading of the Sunday school the vast majority of students in colleges and universities are of the age which would place them in the Second- ary Division of the Sunday school, while a few are older and would belong naturally in the Adult Di- vision. The Sunday school at present is planning in its grading for the studies, classes and leadership adapted to young people of this age. Can college College Students cmd the Sunday School 405 students be provided for in the ordinary classes of the Sunday school and use the same course of study as local young folks of their own age, or ought there to be special classes, teachers and texts? The Student Department of the Young Men's Chris- tian Association has just been conducting an investi- gation of certain problems of student Bible study. While not distinctly on this question, the replies from two hundred students, professors, pastors and general secretaries, representing institutions of all types in different parts of the country would indicate that special classes, courses of study, and teachers ought to be provided for college students. They face dis- tinct moral problems. Students are thrown on their own responsibility for the first time and have to decide, without the help of the sentiment of a local community and without any home influence, their attitude on a number of questions. The whole atmosphere of an educational institution is such, that, instead of religion being a question of authority, as has often been the case in the local com- munity, it takes its place with the other university sub- jects as a matter for personal investigation and de- cision. Further, the very training of the student gives a mental grasp not possible for the person without these opportunities. If the Sunday school is really to help students, it will need to provide specially for them in the communities where educational institu- tions are located. Objectives in College Bible Study. In making this special provision for college students, the Sunday school must remember its distinctive function. There 4o6 The Sunday School and the Teens is danger that the Sunday school class for students will duplicate curriculum work in the Bible. The Sunday school works in the realm of personal character and personal conviction. It seeks to give students an op- portunity to solve for themselves their religious prob- lems and to find the significance to their own lives of the great Bible characters and the timeless Bible truth. It is true that students need opportunity for biblical introduction, for securing a knowledge of the histor- ical background, for facing critical problems, and for securing a comprehensive knowledge of the Bible as a whole; but in the denominational and private in- stitutions the Sunday school has a right to ask the college curriculum to supply this. Even in the state university this introductory work may be supplied by special lectures given interdenominationally within the college or university. While this comprehensive knowledge, secured through curriculum instruction, is of prime impor- tance, it by no means follows that because students know the Bible it will be a power in their lives. The Sunday school must never forget that its prime func- tion is in helping students to gain such a personal un- derstanding and conviction in regard to even a limited but fundamental portion of the Bible as will result in personal character and lead to righteous action. In this realm not of technical knowledge, but of personal belief and life, the Sunday school has its great oppor- tunity to serve students and to help them in finding their relationship to the Kingdom of God. How to Organize a Typical Local College Com- munity. If college students must be specially pro- College Students and the Svmday School 407 vided for in the Sunday school and if the object of college Bible study is thus personal, how can the stu- dents in any local situation be reached ? Organization. Student classes, or better still, where the numbers justify, a Student Department should be organized in the local Sunday school. This may be a separate department of the Sunday school or part of the Adult Department. It ought to have its own officers and carry on, so far as possible, its own activ- ities. In the organization of such a department, and espe- cially in the enrollment of students and in carrying on the work of the department, it will be wise for the Sunday school to cooperate with the students in the college through their voluntary religious organizations which are usually the Student Young Men's and Young Women's Christian Associations. These or- ganizations have a Bible study committee which is trying to see that efficient Bible classes are provided and to relate the students to them, A list of the stu- dents who ought to be in any Sunday school can be secured and a canvass for enrollment can be carried on in conjunction with this Bible study committee; thus unnecessary competition and duplication of effort can be prevented. Since in a college many denomina- tions are represented, an individual Sunday school ought at all times to work in cooperation with the interdenominational agencies. Meeting Place. It is gratifying to note the increas- ing number of church buildings suited to Sunday school work. But unfortunately in most college com- munities it is still a serious problem to find class rooms. 4o8 The Sunday School and the Teens The local Sunday school must be willing to make sac- rifices in order to provide such accommodations for the students. Sometimes it will be found necessary to use adjoining residences or school buildings. At times it is wise to have the Student Department meet by itself or with the Adult Department at another hour or at another place than the Secondary Sunday school. Type of Class. Experience in college voluntary Bible study favors a class small enough so that the students themselves can take part and can have op- portunity to thresh through their own problems rather than simply to be instructed. To place students in a single large lecture class is to duplicate too largely the church service. Personal conviction can better be secured in the Seminary or Conference class. Experience also justifies the separation of men and women students. Leadership. Care must be taken to select leaders who are in sympathy with the personal problems of students and who will be able to conduct such con- ference classes. Members of the faculty, upper class students, or local business or professional men who are closely in touch with the student point of view are all possibilities. Training classes and expert supervision should be provided for the student leaders, and indeed, such a training class would bring greater unity and increased efficiency to any leaders. This training work should be carried on cooperatively by having all leaders who use a given text, whether in churches or outside, meet with one training teacher. Texts. As separate classes are needed for college students so texts different from those for other stu- College Studentt and the Stmday School 409 dents of the same age are necessary. These should provide for systematic voluntary study and make provision for daily Bible reading, meditation and prayer. They must deal with the Bible in a way to help students with their religious problems. The Sun- day School Lesson Committee has not as yet made provision for such texts, but quite a number are avail- able.^ Correlation of Bible Study Forces. A study of the situation shows not only a need of correlation of forces and cooperation in any given local field, but also among the nation-wide organizations seeking to help students in their religious development. In vol- untary work, the Student Young Men's and Young Women's Christian Associations, the various young people's societies, denominational boards of Sunday schools, interdenominational Sunday school organiza- tions, the boards of education of various denomina- tions, etc., are all working on the problem. There is danger of confusion and large duplication of effort unless in some way correlation is effected. It would seem that the first thing necessary is a frank con- ference of the representatives of these different forces, and such a mutual understanding as will enable each to cooperate with the other so that the various factors shall not be competitive, but cooperative in bringing about the largest development of the religious life of the students. Such cooperation is especially needed in the prepara- tion of texts for the use of student classes, in defining ' The Young Women's and Young Men's Christian Associations pub- lish such courses.— £i»*or. 4IO The Swnday School and the Teens the relation of curriculum and voluntary work and in promoting voluntary Bible study so that the inter- denominational organizations within the college may cooperate with the churches surrounding the college in relating students to their respective denominations. Chapter XXXI THE L^DOLESCENT WORKER IN THE SUN- DAY SCHOOL The teen age leader or teacher in the Sunday school, if he or she has read all the pages of this book, will be embarrassed by its wealth of suggestion. The necessary duplication, coming from various writers, the one having no knowledge of what the other was thinking, may also have somewhat wearied the reader. Here and there, too, contrary opinions may have lent somewhat of discouragement to the eager seeker after principles, plans and methods. It could not be other- wise under the conditions. It would be more than a miracle were nearly one hundred thinkers to think and express themselves in the same modes. Each, how- ever, has tried to give his best to the solution of the teen age problem and has written from whatever' view-point he may have had. It may not be amiss, then, in this last chapter, to briefly point a path to safe thinking and acting for the man or the woman who must face, week-in and week-out, the real and practical problem. First then, this book has tried to deal somewhat with the teen age boy and girl, themselves. The treatment of " The Adolescent Girl " is particularly happy and practical. Second, the Sunday school itself has been analyzed. In " Sunday School Teen Age Statistics," based on information gathered from questionnaires, it is shown 411 412 The Sunday School and the Teens that at least in some schools there is no loss during the teen years. The Sunday schools reporting, however, are the best on the continent and therefore the most alive both to the need and effort to meet it. The vast majority of schools are not included. The deductions, then, are to be taken " only as indications." The chapter on Organization also is especially helpful, while those on the Teacher and Courses of Study are worth a second reading. The pith of these articles might be stated thus : 1. To hold the teen age boy and girl in the school, organization must be studied — both class and de- partment, and the relation of these to the school as a whole. Secondary Division leaflets, numbers one, two and four, of the International Sunday School Asso- ciation, present the briefest, practical statement along this line. 2. To hold the teen age boy and girl for religious development demands a graded curricula of graded study, based on the physiological and psychological age of the pupil and built on sound pedagogical usage. The best attempt, to date, is the international Graded Lesson system. These lessons are published with printed helps by the denominational publishing houses. 3. To hold the teen age boy and girl in the school for religious development postulates the right kind of teacher and leadership. The definition of teacher and leader is too complex for the ordinary mortal. Quali- fications may be numbered without end in any discus- sion. Several of the most outstanding, however, are: THe Adolescent Worker 413 (a)' Christian character, (b) Ability to command the respect of the pupil. (c) Knowledge (intimate) of the subject taught and the process of teaching. (d) Being able to direct the pupil with some degree of rightness. This means trained teachers, graduates of courses in the Bible, psychology and pedagogy. Added to this there must be common sense. Some of the biggest failures are the educated ones. Knowl- edge of the contents of a book, sacred or profane, of the principles of the mind and of the standard meth- ods of transmitting facts does not constitute either teaching or leadership. One may know a lot about a thing without knowing it. The safest way, then, in most cases, is to sit down quietly to think out what would have hit the point the nearest, when the thinker was a boy or girl. Memory, intelligent and without bias, is a great stimulator to good teaching. Char- acter, Intimate Contact, Training and Common Sense, then, may help solve the problem. Much also should be said of the adolescent teacher, who is still an adolescent. The problem of American Christianity is different in America from what it is in Corea, Japan or India. At home the task of American Christianity is to Christianize every last vestige of our American civilization. The mission of American Christianity abroad is to set up and train native forces in the spirit of Christ, that these native, national forces may permeate all their national life for Christ. Indigenous Japanese or Corean or Chinese 414 T^^ Sunday School and the Teens Christianity will Christianize Japan, Corea and China. Even so the real permanent and effective leadership of adolescence is the trained adolescent. The obligation of the Church for a fourfold all- around development runs through this volume. The Social and Intellectual Life, the Physical and the Spiritual life — in its reaches' beyond Bible study — are strongly emphasized, and the Church's weakness in meeting the accepted needs is discovered. The salient point of all the writers is, however, an un- challenged belief that the Church can, if it will, edu- cate and develop all the adolescent life. International Secondary Division leaflet, number four, should be studied with this thought in mind. The careful reader will be startled at the large amount of space given to the study of the com- munity in its relationship to adolescent life. A great deal of this is contradictory and will be approved or disapproved by the persistent mode of thought of the reader. To some, not a little of the investigation will be intolerable. Others will regard the matter lightly. All, however, after reading, will be forced to recog- nize that the Church and Sunday school have a mis- sion outside the church's walls. If those walls ever are to ultimately stand, the religious forces must move out into the conditions where the adolescent lives, works and plays — -to make them healthy. A by- product of this particular part of the discussion may be suggestions to adult classes for social service. The message of the book to the Church and Sunday school at large is plain. To enlist, hold and train the adolescent for Christian life and service is a task The Adolescent Worker 415 worthy of all their powers. Also it must be done now. The local Sunday school through these pages may have a guide post towards constructive plans. Were one to dare construct the scheme for the Sunday school from these expert suggestions it might appear like the following: IDEALS FOR THE LOCAL SCHOOL 1. A teen age superintendent. 2. Every class organized according to International Standard. 3. Two-session classes — Sunday and through-the-week ses- sions. 4. Through-the-week activities; physical, social, mental and spiritual. 5. Trained Teachers — (a) Men teachers for boys. (b) Women teachers for girls. (c) Older boys and girls as teachers for younger boys and girls. (d) Teachers, graduates of International Standard Training Courses. 6. Organized Department — (a) Intermediate and Senior. (b) Teen age for both boys and girls. (c) Boys. (d) Girls. 7. Use of Graded Lessons or Instruction. 8. Standard Equipment — (a) Separate rooms. (b) Blackboards, maps, etc. (c) Reference library for teachers. 9. Annual Promotion and Public Recognition. 10. Missionary, Temperance and Purity Instruction. 11. Definite opportunity afforded every pupil to confess Christ and join His Church. 12. Definite opportunity for Christian service for every boy and girl. The future of the Sunday school and this book must be linked together for at least a little while. Denominational and interdenominational leaders have 4l6 The Sunday School and the Teens given of their best in its production. It is now the task of the leaders in the local school to put these plans at work. The adolescent sends forth his chal- lenge to the Church and Sunday school through these pages. Is there leadership to meet it? There is no boy or girl problem and never has been. The boy and the girl are " the same to-day, yesterday and forever." The laws of their development never change. They are like the laws of the Medes and Persians, unalterable as the everlasting hills. There is no boy or girl problem — it is the problem of the man and the woman who work with the boy and the girl. " Oh, be swift, my soul, to answer Him! be jubilant, my feet; Our God is marching on." CONSTRUCTIVE BOOKS FAMILY AND SOCIAL WORK Clotk .60 Prof. E. T. Devine, Dir. N. Y. School of Philanthropy "A skilful interweaving of academic interests with the social ideal, religious motive and practical purpose." — The Survey. SUNDAY SCHOOL AND THE TEENS Cloth $1.00 Edited by John L. Alexander, Int'l S. S. Ass'n The very Illuminating facts and suggestions resulting from a pains- taking study of the various phases of the teen age problem by the members of the Adolescent Commission appointed by the San Francisco Convention. A book that will well repay close study by everyone con- cerned in this difficult work. THE BOY AND THE SUNDAY SCHOOL Clotk $1.00 John L. Alexander, Int'l S. S. Ass'n _ Presenting new methods of effective approach to the boy in his rela- tion to the Sunday school, including chapters on the latest phases of organization tending to develop in the highest degree the efSciancy of the Sunday school. BOY LIFE AND SELF-GOVERNMENT Clotk $1.00 Prof. G. W. Fiske, Oberlin College Professor Fiske's published studies and years of actual experience with boys are crystallized in this book. Some of the problems discussed are boy life in the light of the race life, the boy and his instincts, his struggles for character, the epochs of boyhood and youth, clubs for boys, by-laws of boy leadership, the boy's home and the boy's religion. MEN AND RELIGION MOVEMENT BOYS' WORK MESSAGE Clotk $1.00 One of the most valuable "Messages of the Men and Religion Move- ment," for in the potential citizen is to be found the widest oppor- tunity of the church in moulding new forces for permanent good. SOCIAL SERVICE MESSAGE Ck>tk $1.00 The practical interpretation of individual and co-operative effort for civic and community betterment and the church's need of vital contact with every part of the community in its effort to brin§ about a new social order which shall make no distinctions in its universal applica- tion of Christian brotherhood. PUBLICITY MESSAGE Clotk $1.00 On the relation of the periodical press to religious work from a nation-wide standpoint. The common opportunity and the common ob- ligation of the church and the press and suggested means of adjust- ment which will further the co-operation of these two great factors in the promotion of Christianity. YOUR NEAREST BOOKSELLER WILL SUPPLY YOU ASSOCIATION PRESS New York: 124 East 28tk Street. London: 47Patemoater Row, E.G. APPROVED AS EFFICIENT BOY TRAINING Clotk .75 John L. Alexander, Editor. Int'I S. S. Ass'n This book is written by a group of experts having in mind the subject's all-round development. The problem of boyhood is clearly set forth and the principles of adolescence and physiological grouping are fully discussed. FROM YOUTH INTO MANHOOD Clotk JO Winfield S. Hall The standard book on sexual hygiene, far boys eleven to fifteen years old. Every adolescent boy, his teachers, par- ents and friends need a copy of this book. SEX EDUCATION SERIES LIFE'S BEGINNINGS Boaid* .25 Winfield S. Hall, M.D., Northwestern University Explanations that enable boys from ten to fourteen to strive intelligently for wholesome manhood. DEVELOPING INTO MANHOOD Boards .25 Winfield S. Hall, M.D., Northwestern University This book is designed to answer intelligently and authori- tatively the questions which occur to every boy during the period of adolescence. Teachers will find it especially help- ful in outlining a more extended and detailed course in Eu- genics. SOCIAL EVIL AND METHODS of TREATMENT Boar Ji .25 Orrin G. Cocks, B.D., Sec'y Laity League for Soc'I Service A basis for discussion in groups of laymen. ENGAGEMENT AND MARRIAGE Boards .25 Orrin G. Cocks, B.D., Sec'y Laity League for Soc'I Service The consideration of marriage as definitely related to social and economic conditions. A straightforward discussion of all that it involves. YOVR NEAREST BOOKSELLER WILL SUPPLY YOU ASSOCIATION PRESS New York: 124 East 28tli Street. London: 47 Paternoster Row, E.G. MESSAGES OF THE MEN AND RELIGION MOVEMENT SBVEN VOI,UMES FOUR DOLLARS Carriage Collect Indispensable to Ministers and Laymen 1. Coagiess Addiuses 4. Christian Unitr. IBiuions 2. Social Service 5. Boys' Work 3. Bible Stiid7. ETangelism t. Tlie Rnral Chotch 7. The Church and the Preis "N^ equally compTehensi-re compendium of present day Christian ideals and methods, nor any equally adequate statement of the current religious needs of the country has previously been put forth from any source. Every Christian intelligently concerned for the effective adjustment of the Church to the obligations of the present hour should by all means avail himself of the information and inspiration so compactly crowded into this modest set of books." From The Continent. ••■THB men of the Church will find these books of inestimable value. Not until the Church shall have taken many a heroic stride will they be laid aside as outgrown. Perfectly printed and beautifully bound, as the set is, I am proud of it as well as grateful for it." Ksv. C. C. Albbktson, D. D. Pastor Lafayette Presb. Church, Brooklyn, N. T. ci'T'HQIR production is probably the most important single event in the life of Protestant America during the past decade ■ W. T. Ellis, Swarthmore, Fa. «il TBREia a forceful message to men. A straightforward, honest, earnest appeal to nobility of life. Such books not only win our admiration but our souls." The Baptist Teacher. ••■THBY are a source of inspiration in the task that is set before me of bringing some new visions to the country church. " Claik S. Adaus, Pibld Asst., Presbyterian Board of Home Missions. ASSOCIATION PRESS J24 East 28th Street, New_York BIBLE STUDY COURSES ELEMENTARY— AGES 10 TO 14 Studies in the Character of Jesus. R. R. Perkins. 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AGES IS TO 18 Life and Work* of Jesus According to St. Mark. IT. D. Murray. Cloth, single copies 60 cents postpaid, in quantities 50 cents each, plus carriage. Ab introductory course on the Life of Christ. Men of the Old Testament. L. K. fTillman. Cloth, 75 cents; paper, SO cents. Eighteen studies designed to show the mind and heart of Clod in the shaping of the Hebrew people. Message of the Twelve Prophets. IF. D. Murray. Cloth, 75 cents; paper, 50 cents. An elementary course of twenty-eight lessons, the purpose be- ing to make the minor prophets the subject of devotional study. Studiesin the Life of St. PauL A. G. Leacock. Cloth, single copies 60 cents postpaid, in quantities 50 cents each, plus carriage. Twenty-three studies, with generous comments on the details connected with the great Apostle's life and work. YOUR NEAREST BOOKSELLER WILL SUPPLY YOU ASSOCIATION PRESS New York: 124 East 28th St. London: 47 Paternoiter Row.E.C. BIBLE STUDY COURSES INTRODUCTORY Introduction to Bible Study. J. ff. Coik. Cloth, 25 cents; paper, 15 cents. An elementary course, replacing "Studies in Faith and Con- duct" by the same author. It deals with the authorship of the Bible, its general contents, geography, institutions and funda- mental teachings. Outline Studies in Biblical Facts and History /• N. De Puy and J. B. Travis, Cloth, 35 cents; paper, 20 cents. The four parts treat of: I. Bible Composition and History, four lessons; II. Historical Studies in the Old Testament, thir- teen lessons; III. Historical Studies in the New Testament, seven lessons; IV. Conclusion, two lessons. Progressive Bible Studies. F. S. Goodman. Cloth, 25 cents; paper, IS cents. This course is elementary in character. It contains nine lessons on the Bible and its use, nine on fundamental truths as a preparation for service and seven personal work studies in the Life of Jesus Christ. TRAINING Teaching of Bible Classes. E. F. See. Cloth, 60 cents; paper, 40 cents. A revised arid_ greatly enlarged edition of Mr. See's course on teacher training. The purpose of the book is to make a simple statement of the elementary principles of teaching in so far as they are applicable to Biblical instruction. The dif- ferent parts are devoted to a consideration of the teacher, the student and the lesson. Studies for Personal Workers. H. A. Johnston. Cloth, 66 cents; paper, 45 cents Special abridged edition, paper 25 cents. Studies covering the principal features of personal work and designed to help those engaged in individual effort in winning men. Among the topics are: Man's Need, Man's Responsibility for Man, Equipment for Personal Work, Ways of Working, the Use of the Bible, and three lessons on notable personal workers. Christ Among Men. James McConaughy. Cloth, 40 cents; paper, 25 cents. A series of twenty-five lessons on Christ's interviews with individuals. This course aims to help persons in the work of winning other lives to the service of Christ and for stimulus, guidance and training for personal work. YOUR NEAREST BOOKSELLER WILL SUPPLY YOU ASSOCIATION PRESS New York: 124 East 28th St. London: 47 Paternoster Row.E.C. BIBLE STUDY COURSES ADVANCED Studies in the Life of Jesus Christ. E. 1. Sosviorth. Cloth, single copies 60 cents postpaid, in quantities 50 cents each, plus carriage. Detailed studies in the Gospels of Mark and John, with gen- eral surveys of the Gospels of Matthew and Luke. Studies in the Life of Christ. H. B. Sharman. Based on "A Harmony of the Gospels," by Stevens and Bur- ton, and arranged for daily study. Studies with Harmony in cloth, $1.25. Studies with Harmony in paper, 75 cents. Studies in cloth, 75 cents. Harmony in cloth, $1.00. The books in paper not sold separately. Studies in the Life of Jesus. t^. H. Sallmon. Cloth, 40 cents; paper, 25 cents. Outlines in twenty-five lessons for a historical study of Christ's life with emphasis upon His character as a living reality. New Studies in Acts. E. I. Bosiuorth-CXoth, single copies 60 cents postpaid, in quantities 50 cents each, plus carriage. Nineteen studies replacing Studies in Acts and Epistles, and the Records and Letters. The course has been re-written, and the study of the Epistles largely omitted. Studies in the Life of Paul. ^. H. Sallmon. Cloth, 40 cents; paper, 25 cents. Twenty-four lessons emphasizing the personality of the^ great apostle, dealing with his characteristics as a student, mission- ary, hero, etc. Studies in Old Testament Characters. IV. W. White. Cloth, 90 cents; paper, 60 cents. A revised edition of this standard book, based on the same outline, but requiring less work of the student than the previous edition. Leaders of IsraeL G. L. Rohinson. Clnth, 75 cents; paper, 50 cents. Twenty-five studies portraying the character of Israel's lead- ers and the history of the chosen people from the time of Abraham to Christ. Work and Teachings of the Earlier Prophets. C. F. Kent and R. S. Smith. Cloth, 50 cents, postpaid. These studies _ provide work for thirteen weeks and furnish especially illuminating material upon the character and work of the prophets. Studies in the Teaching of Jesus and His Apostles. E. I. Bosworth. Cloth, 75 cents; paper, SO cents. A stimulating topical course on New Testament teachings. The Truth of the Apostolic Gospel. R. A. Falconer. Cloth, 75 cents; paper, 50 cents. The studies wUl be found very helpful to tlje understanding of and believing in the Gospel messages of the New Testament. Social Teachings of Jesus. J. W. Jenks. Cloth, 75 cents; paper, 50' cents. A twelve-week.-' course of Bible study, considering the Man Jesus' gttitude tnwprd tb^: leading social questions of today. YOUR NEAREST BOOKSELLER WILL SUPPLY YOU ASSOCIATION PRESS New York: 124 East 28th St. London: 47 Paternoster Row.E.C.