The Tacoma times. [volume] (Tacoma, Wash.) 1903-1949, 1909-08-27
Two WAYS Of Handling Boys

Probably all boys with red blood In their veins
like to read stories of adventure They don t care
a continental about philosophical essays and it's
mighty difficult to interest them in political econ
omy Utopian schemes of social salvation.
In every generation somebody makes money
by publishing hairraisng detective stories OF the
Nick Carter stripe and peddling them out to mag
NATIVE boys.
Most fathers when they want to keep this kind
of trash out Of the heads of their boys take what
they think is the shortest cut and order the
boys to read more of it, And in most cases this
results in the boys sneaking off to the barn or
somewhere else to infame their youthful magma
ton on the sly.
It's the old way of raising boys by making
them mind"
But there's another way. father found out
that his boys all wrapped up in the Nick Car
ter detective stores that they were spending their
spare nickels for these stories and staying up
nights reading them when Ito rest of the family
were asleep
This father didn't issue any orders. He took
one of the stories and carefully read it through.
Then one Sunday afternoon he got the boys togeth-
and talked with them about it. He made Nick
Carter look cheap by telling the boys how real
fesh-and-blood detectives went about their work;
and told them how ridiculous it for detective
to attempt to fool smart criminals by wearing false
whiskers and otherwise Disgusting themselves.
After getting them to laughing at some of the
absurdities of the nickel library fake detectives,
"A Study in Scarlet" taking pains to explain to
them in plain boy language the theory of deduction
and analysis.
He compared the scientific methods of Sherlock
Holmes with the arrant nonsense of Nick Carter,
and showed them how they could use their own
powers of observation.
The boys became tremendously interested.
Next the father read them "The Red Headed
League" and read it at night, keeping them up
til IL o'clock though they had been playing hard
all day long. It was to see how real their interest
was.
Then he awaited developments. He didn't tell
them not to read Nick Carter. He gave no orders
at ALL He content to make them Disguised
with the fake detective hero. We. 9HaA
Next he heard that the boys were trying to
sell their Nick Carter stories to other boys at 2
had stumbled from his pedestal. The eyes of the
boys had been opened Their imagination had
found more palatable and wholesome food
Of course, there other books that might be
much more desirable than the stories of Sherlock
Holmes But Holmes was a good starter, and
offered the path Of least resistance away from Nick
Carter. They gave the boys what they wanted
action, life, adventure.
And the boys were led, not driven There's
whole lot in that. For boys are like men-not like
oxen
Probably the main point in this is that the
father took time. It would have taken but minute
to scold and give orders. It took hours to do it
right. But the father He appealed to rea-
son and imagination at the same time And he had
sense enough to know it worth while.
This isn't much of heavy editorial It's just
little story about father and his sons-a father
who thought his boys were worth the time it took
to get them off the wrong track. Anyhow, it may
help other fathers to think bit. And boys are
worth thinking about. The boys who reading
today will be running this country in few years