Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1908-10-13

EVERY HOME INCOMPLETE WITHOUT A
PLACE BOYS CAN CALL THEIR OWN.

Every home In which there are boys
growing up IL incomplete without
place which these boys can call their
own. Most boys care little how plainly
. room Ia furnished II 1t 10 comfortable.
The main thing is-the room, which the
boys can feel themselves to be sole pro-
prietors of. The ordinary boys room In
the dwelling, In which they sleep, and
where they keep their clothes, never
answers the purpose. There they are
on probstion, a. 1t were, because they
shave 10 be put somewhere" and they
are likely to be turned out Of these quar-
tiers at . moments notice, under the
mistaken notion that boys don't care,
and everything is good enough for boy.
The powers that be may not put 1t IN
exactly those words, but the way IN
which q good many boys are treated
means just that.
Now, the fact is, the average boy Is
delighted when he can have place all
to himself, for he feels that sense OF
proprietorship which is 1attering to
human nature when he can invite MS
boy friends to visit him, and knows
that mother isn't worrying over the dis
arrangement of things which quite
naturally results when boys get together
and have a good time. Here he Ia on
his on his own ground, therefore, he
feels free to act out the boy nature In
him without constant dread OF hearing
an inquiry sent up from below as to
what's going on up there?
The place becomes retreat In which
he can spend his time profitably and
much more pleasantly than the boy ever
does who doesn't know just where he
belongs in the household economy, and
who sometimes has serious doubts 1t he
belongs anywhere, as he seems to De
always in the way. The fact Is, that
most boys are brought up to feel that
while they are part Of the household, 1t
| is difficult matter to assign them any
definite place In 1t. They are in the
unclassified list, and therefore it isn't an
easy matter to locate them satisfactorily.
Isn't there an attic that can be given
over to the boys for their own use? II
there is, propose the matter, and see
how they will jump at the chance.
They will speedily convince the skepti.
cal person that boys do like a place OF
their own, and will gladly undertake the
making of it when given chance to do
so.
II there isn't an attic there may be
loft over some building somewhere on
the premises. Location isn't very i'm
portant item to the boy. The dominent
idea is-a place where he can feel the
same sense of ownership that his mother
feels in the kitchen or his father In the
barn.
If the room given over to the boys is
large enough to serve as workshop as
we'll as a general rendezvous, all the bet.
ter. Provide them with good tools and
encourage them to familiarize themselves
with the use of them, and you are Civ
| ing them a practical course in manual
training which will discount that taught
in the schools. If you want your boys
to be handy In the use of plane and saw
aud hammer set them about the doing OF
the thousand and one jobs constantly
cropping up about the country home.
Nothing will please them more than
your recognition of their ability to do
good work along this line.-Outing
Magazine.