The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1903-10-25
MANAGING THE BAD BOY
A LITTLE TALK ON PROBLEM
THAT TROUBLES PARENTS.
Superintendent Shearer, of the Eliza
beth. n. -. schools, Speaks From
Practical Experience.

answers from many loving parents. is he
really bad? Ii is very much to be doubted.
Years of experience with many thousands
of boys and girls convnces the writer that
ninety-five out of every hundred who are
said to be bad should not be condemned
by the use of any such word.
Very often a boy is condemned because
he is blessed with too much life and energy.
1t boils over and produces 1.-THE noisest boy
you ever saw" Too many parents do not
understand the truth of the statement that
Boys insult be boys, with their racket and
noise'
Many times a boy is criticized because
he is mischievous. This is no crime. Why
should he be condemned for this? How
many can point to a successful man who, as
a boy, was not often in mischief?
Some are condemned because they are not
| respectful, because they. at times, are
| impudent. This is a great fault; it should
be corrected. II is frequently the result
of improper training, for which the parent
is responsible. 1t is important that the
parents find some way to train them away
from the habits already formed. 1t is
also hoped that they will be fair and not
blame ii all on the boy.
Others are said to be bad because they
do not tell the truth. Others because they
sometimes take what does not belong to
| them. Others because they tease. Others
because they are forgetful. Others because
| they sometimes get into a fight. For these
and other reasons we are only too ready to
| condemn boys and decide that they are bad.
Is it not just possible that we are ex-
pecting too much of boys. They are not
saints. None of them show any indications
of budding wings. They are probably not
even so nearly good as are their parents.
May be they are not much worse than some
| of their parents were at the same age. For
getful of our own shortcomings of the pres
ent and past, we are too apt to look for
the development of higher sense than
we have any right to expect. These boys
must pass through all the stages through
which the race has passed. First, the saw
age, then the half-civilized, and after that
the civilized and enlightened stages. All
pass more rapidly through these stages than
did the race; yet you have no right to ex-
pect any great amount of goodness from
any child. The germs are there, but it
! takes time for the development.
NO BOYS ARE DEPRAvED.
Though they seem to be, few, if any,
boys are naturally depraved. Careful ex
animation will convince all that what seems
to be natural, has, in reality, been acquired
| through imitation. There would probably
be no hoodlums among the boys if there
were none to be found among the men.
Even the very bad boy Is vicious only upon
| the surface. His toughness is only skin
deep. The utter disregard for the rights of
others, the insolence, the profanity, are
| mere limitations of the actions. the man.
ners. the language and the vice of some
staggering bully who. for the time being,
| is the boys ideal. Be assured that the boy
| is not saturated with the poison, as in the
| case of the men. The boy is simply inocu-
lated. With him, as with the growing body,
it is easily possible to throw off the poison,
| If only the proper steps are taken to secure
| this much-desired end.
| Let it be acknowledged, then, that while
most of those said to be depraved are not
really 80, yet some do show most vicious
tendencies. What shall be done with them?
! Though very hard question to answer, it
may be a solution can be found. 1t is, in
deed a difficult problem. Especially difficult
| because, what will apply to one case may
| not be of special value in another. Each
| boy must be studied carefully, and the gen.
| eral principles applied in the light of the
| information gained by most careful study
| of the particular boys peculiarities. See
| to 1t that you understand the nature. char
acter and temperament. Locate his par
| ticular weakness. Strive to find their
causes, and, if possible, remove them.
| A change of environment, of companions,
| and of methods of management, will often
4 a in aC
| to astonish those most interested in him.
In many cases, it will result in retaining
those who have already been given up as
hopeless cases.
| If his ideals are low, strive to raise them
| Some ideals he will have. See to it that
they are the best possible. This may be
done by talks and by placing the right
| kind of books i'm his hands.
| Study closely his likes and dislikes; also
his companions and his reading, than which
| nothing is more important. See TO it that
| he is in good company at all times but es-
| pecially after dark. To-day met a young
| clerk in a lawyers office. Less than one
| year ago his mother plead with me for the
| third time to help her have him sent TO a
| reform school 1 refused. and said: "You
| can save c. If you will keep him off the
1 SdettS tt night one uiu 80, anu the boy
| was saved. The parent who permits boy
| or girl 20 run the streets after dark should
be dealt with by the law.
| NO BOY UTTERLY BAD.
F! From what has been said, it is hored
the reader will agree that no boy is a.to-
! gether bad. No matter how sure one may
be that such is the case, il is probably a
| mistake. Somewhere in each boys nature
| there is a hidden germ of manhood. Find
| it, Having found it. stimulate it into
healthy growth. and you will have saved
| your boy from life of shame and your
| soul from endless anguish
| The sympathetic soul that can discover
| and develop what is best in one of these
| boys has high mission i'm life. 1T may
| take much patience. love. knowledge and
| wisdom, but he can be saved.
| Every parent knows of striking examples
| of the accepted truth. that vicious training
will destroy every vestige of the divine. 1t
is an oppressive thought that upon some
one rests the terrible responsibility of train
ing wisely each child: that over so many
hangs one of the most dreadful curses ever
/ pronounced against man by the Almighty:
Whose causeth one of these little ones to
offend, IL were better for him that a mill