Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1910-01-31

Y. NJ. @. A. Secretary Gives Address
Instructive to Parents at Edge
wood Baptist Church.
the boys and girls their rights in edu-
cation, we are in danger, by long hours
in school, not always in the best and
most sanitary surroundings, of depriv-
ing them of their right to health and
strength Parents must realize that a
boy is a good deal of young animal,
and that his instincts for play are
strong. his needs for physical exercise
great. and that they are essential 10
his we!l-being.
Manual Work Helpful.
at is a bother to mothers. many a
time. when the boys want to build
things. Shavings and chips are not
easy to clean up. and the things the
boy makes are not always such as
commend themselves to us. and yet the
boy has right to have tools and to
make things. The manual training
work in the schools in these days is
fine thing in that it recognizes this
element of the nature of boys. and of
men, too. for it is in all OF US We
like the thinks that we make. and We
like to make things. even though we
could buy better ones for far less than
it costs to make them. II is the crea-
tive instinct in US. and the boy has it
in large proportions. If you want 20
make a boy happy and keep him out of
mischief get him some tools and let
him fix up a workshop in the basement
or attic, and see what 4 transfOrma-
ton will take place. A boy has &
right to have tools and to make things
Another one of the boys rights is
the right to play This is popular
thing with the boys. and sometimes it
is not so popular with their parents.
Outdoor play is the boys's gest gym
nasium, next to work. It is a safety
valve for his physical energies, a train
ing school for his perceptions, polish
ing process. whereby he rubs off many
a rough corner of his character by con-
tact with other boys in his games,
and alLaround right to play all the
games of childhood. and as he grows
older. if he is a real boy, he ought 70
enjoy baseball and the other sports cf
men. I am not going to say that he
has a right to play football or to en-
gage in other hazardous occupations.
He may come through such dangers
in safety. but the risk is too great
But, at any rate, leaving aside details,
the boy ought to play, in a hearty,
boyish way. relaxing. recreative. in
MIGRATING, just as his father ought 10
play sometimes in order to keep him
self young.
Lack of Responsibility Dangerous.
But if he has right to play, every
boy has a right also to work This IS
not a popular doctrine with the boys
themselves, but 10 or 20 years from
now the boy whose parents require
him today to be responsible for GER
tain duties will thank them for it. The
failure of parents to teach their boys
to work and to require them to do it
constitutes one of the greatest dangers
our boys are facing today Too much
spare time. too little to do, too little
real responsibility, and too mucn
money to spend will undermine the
character of the best boy in town.
Twenty years ago, wood pile in
the back yard was all the gymnasium
a boy needed. If there were added to
this a horse and half a dozen pigs to
care for, two or three COWS to look
after. coal and water to carry into the
house, and in summer, a good sized
garden to cultivate, the boy had
enough to occupy his mind. But now,
it takes a rich man to provide wood
for the boy to saw and split. The
ntl With ho h ar
faucets in the kitchen whence she
draws water, and the milk comes from
a milk wagon. and the vegetables from
the store. That Is u fiue arrangement
for the housekeeper, but mighty hard
on the boy.
81 remember a boy whom | used to
know whose mother would not let him
carry in coal because she thought it
would make him round shouldered.
His father would come home at night
tired from the days work, and then
would have to carry in the supply of
coal for the house, to save the boys
shoulders. Maybe the boy grew a
straighter pair of shoulders as a re-
suit of the treatment. but know that
he failed to develop a straight char
acter. His chara cter was hopelessIy
hump backed. You need not be afraid,
in the average home of today, that you
will overwork the boy, for the chances
are ten to one that you won't work
him half hard enough.
Taught to Bear HnrdShiDs.
"The boy ought to be taught to
work. because that process teaches
him SO many other valuable things
He learns self-reliance; he learns to
bear responsibility; he learns to be
trusted; he learns how to be unselhsh,