The mirror. (Stillwater, Minn.) 1894-1925, 1914-06-11

tHcE Ol COOdy WAS DOy, OF Tie mOCu-
er girl, and with the change has
come temptations of which they know
nothing; temptations they never rhad
to fight, but which the boy and girl
of today must meet unprepared.
The parents of today are on one
hand. So busy chasing the almighty
dollar, and on the other the right to
vote, that they have not time to
stop and see how the foundation Of
their children's character is pro-
crossing.
How to Train Them
In the building you first have to
excavate for the foundations. In
the foundation of the childs charac-
ter you do not have to do so: God
has done it for you. His brain
is open and receptive, it is up to the
parents to fill it so full of the good
and beautiful that there will be no
room for anything else. Then there
should be discipline; moral and 9TH
erwise. The child should be taught
that some things that look, or seem
most desirable, are among the things
to be the most avoided; and this fact
should be impressed upon their
memory by examples such as the
poison ivy which, while pleasing to
the sight, poisons all who touch it.
The reading of good books should
be encouraged when old enough, and
the harm of filling the brain with
bad ones explained; for well read
mind is most desirable.
The boy of fifteen or sixteen who
spends all of his time in the streets
is pretty sure to get with other boys
of the same age. They form gang
and it is but step from gangland"
to prison. Among the gang is al
ways one little more daring than
the others, and in order to prove
worthy of his friendship they make
him their leader and follow where
he leads; and do as he does. With
the gang the boy soon learns that it
is very easy to commit petty thefts
and so, instead OF building on the
sure foundation of honesty and So
briefly, they learn to steal and lie.
With the gang the boy learns to
smoke cigarettes, hop and sniff
cocaine and he soon becomes abnor-
NAL both mentally and morally.
Cirps Temptations
With girls the process is bit diff
ferent. but the result is the same.
The cheap dance halls are the great
est recruiting grounds for cadets of
vice. They are the feeding grounds
for the vultures of society. At dane
ing casinos and amusement resorts
many girls have taken the first step
on the road that leads to the street
where the lights glow red.
How are parents to keep their
boys and girls away from these
snares and temptations? Simply by
making the home so attractive and
interesting and by being such good
chums to their children that they
will not even think of looking else
where for amusement and compan-
ionships.
There is just one other phase of
the subject that / wish to touch on,
and that is the country boys side OF
the question. The children of the
country do not have to keep away
from gangs and questionable places
of amusements. The reason they go
wrong is evidently the fault of the
parents. Take the case of Willie
Brown. At heart Willie was not a
bad or vicious boy, he was only mis-
understood When Willie was
fourteen years old his father said it
was time for him to stop playing
and start working, so Willie got up
at 4 o'clock every morning and went
after the COWS, and from that time
until 8 or 9 O'Clock at night, Willie
was busy. If he did his task well
nothing was said about it, but if he
made mistake. father and Willie
would go into executive session in
the wood shed; so that Willie soon
began to brood and become morose
and ugly; then to plan ways and
means whereby he could escape
what seemed to him intolerable con-
ditions.
Willie received no wages. and the
very clothes and food he wore and
ate were paid for grudgingly. Will
lie thought this an injustice. while
on the other hand, Wiilie's father
thought that he was only doing his
duty and so, instead of mutual love
and understanding, there grew up
between them hate and distrust; with
the result that one day Willie was
missing and the army Of "drifters'
had gained another recruit.