Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1884-11-21
A BOY IN HIS TEENS
rs a Very Queer Animal for Any
body to Handle,
And n Father should study Hard so
Learn the Wbims and Tricks
OF His sons Ma
tuTc.
IN. Quad in Detroit Free Press. !

Thus writes n father whose letter Is dated
from town in Indiana. His boy Is probably
no worse than the average lad of that age.
Has the father ever got right down to hanl.
pan to discover whether tho fault lies with
him or with his son, Has he made study
of the boy to learn how he should be
landed! When a man buys n horse he
grants himself IA certain length Of time TO
learn the animals nature, whims and
tricks Isn't it of as much importance t.
study a boy| While no two boys are alike,
nearly all fathers seek to govern ON the
same principles. They boss and ORDER and
imagine that settles the case
Now, to begin with, a boy from 10 to %
years of age, is queer animal TO handle. He
is full Of the most absurd whimS and notions
and false ideas You may partly convince
him OF this by argument, but you can't make
an impression by scolding or pounding. |
believe the better way is to let his mania
wear itself out, like fever. The boy of
forty years ago wasn't as bad ms the boy of
to-day, but it may I've explained that he
hadn't the chance TO lie. Where
women had only one new bonnet a
year at the outside, and men sat
in tho village church in their shirt sleeves
what boy of Is would have dared ask for
collar and necktiei To have wanted better
clothes would have been to exhibit base in.
gratitude. To have refused to wear cowlGde
boots and black thsm with lard and lamp
black would have been to accept the alter
native and go barefoot Clothes were made
at home and after almost any fashion. If
shirts had a collar of the same material it
was something to be proud over. The boys
feelings were not to be consulted in such
cases, and it was rarely that one
lad would critcse what another wore
Pride in a boy would have been de-
nounced almost crime, and tanning
would have certainly followed.
But the years have made great change
We seek to govern our children in different
way, and fashion is consulted in every corner
of the land. We expect more Of our bows
than was expected of us, and we cultivate
pride instead of crushing it, If we have a
son from Is to 20 years of age we realize that
he must be kept on an equal footing with his
boy friends in the matter of personal APP
pearancc or he will feel degraded. Show me
boy of H. in village or city, whose family
have any social standing, who can be coaxed
or brded to wear pair of pants patched at
the knee. He will argue that the whole town
will stop business to gaze at that patch. If
one of his boots is out at the toe, that settles
| the case with him. Ii there's a rip in his
| coat, or a button of, he cant take minutes
| comfort on the street.
The boy of to-day has got all these whims.
| and you must consult them and bear with
| him. No matter what tailor measures him.
| you can expect complaint that his pants
| are too long or too short, too tight or too
| haggy. He didn't want mo such coat and
! the vest doesn't fit him within a mile. His
necktes don't suit; his collars are horrid, and
! the complaint will include even his bootlcgs
\ Pound him if you will, but you will only
| make him hate you. Argument and reason
| will smooth over most of his troubles
| Has the Indiana father tried that
methodt Ii a man doesn't vote our
| ticket or attend our churchill he believes
the world to be fiat instead of round-if
| he drinks too much-if he scouts ut standard
facts in science or natural philosophy do we
| knock him down or argue with himi Don't
we give him three times the show that do
boy whose false notions will disappear
| with ages EgotiSm should be scOrched until
| the blister effects cure, Lut the parent who
| seeks to crush the natural pride in a boy is
| playing a dangerous game. The same natural
| pride that makes him lind much fault with
| his clothes must be depended on to keep him
| out of degrading company and unfit assoca-
tons Pound it into him that anything is
| good enough for him, and he viii find it easy
| to wear old clothes and train with loaferS
| Have you rs man walked the streets
| deadbroke for a single day You felt cheap
and ashamed Of yourself, A boy ight not feel
it quite so keenly but he feels it sufficiently
| to mortify his pride. | don't say that you
| should hand ont dollar after dollar to your
| son and take no heed how he spends it, but
| mingle common sense with the transaction.
| Let him know that you disal prove of smoll-
ing, chewing, beel-driniing, betting, gamb-
ling and billiards, He wants money for "a
score of things which seem foolish to you,
but he is boy. If he has dollar in his
| purse he feels Il certain pride in the knowl-
ledge, and will waste less than if
you doled him out dime at Il
time. When one boy applies the
term stingy to another it means a great deal
more than you realize 1t means boy too
mean to associate with. If he is stingy he is
| supposed to be cheat and Il liar as well.
| Give your boy - cents for the Fourth of
July or to go on an excursion i'll the com
apiece and You can snap your fingers at all
the comfort he takes. He feels sense of in
feriority, not only financially, but in all
other respects, and this degrales him. Has
the Indiana farmer reasoned in this way!
There Is any amount Of weeping and wall
ing over spot boys. If but tentl of
the interest was displayed little sooner,
there would be little use for reform schools.