Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1915-05-26
VIRGINIBUS PUERISQUE

TNHAT boys will be boys has been recog-
i nized as one of the fundamentals of life
for some centuries. In the last two genera
tions the scope of this old adage has been
extended but In such gradual and in
sidious way that its official form has re-
mained unchanged. In Its amended form,
the adage should read:
Boys will be boys, and girls will be girls.
Teaching girls to read and write was the
entering wedge. Then came grammar and
history, and geometry and athletics and
summer camps for girls. until now girls
grow up to have their own latch keys and
their own pay envelopes, and the only pre-
negatives left to man are the morning shave
and the occasional haircut. And the girls
are content to let him keep those
Another old adage which has been so
much altered as to be almost reversed is
the one about children being seen but not
heard. Today they are conspicuously to be
heard and the magazines pay them re-
spectful attention. In addition to their own
magazines they have their departments in
all the women's magazines, and boy stories
such as Booth Tarkngton's which
very popular in current fiction, must be as
amusing to the youngsters as to their
elders.
The summer camp movement, which has
and girls, in the last dozen years, is written
up in several magazines this month. Mary
Northend, writing in the outlook % dis
cusses the practical considerations in choos-
ing a camp:
The size OF the camps varies: some accommo-
date 20. others so or more. The camp is headed
by director. In addition there are the coun-
cilors generally one to every three or FIVE
campers, many of whom are college under
graduates who need relaxation much
their charges
The first thing to be considered in conducting
a summer camp is the location, and mothers
should ascertain whether the camp is situated
high or low land, what the sanitary condi-
tons are and what kind of sleeping quarters
are provided. The sanitation cannot be too
carefully planned. and mothers should give
especial thought to this point when choosing
camp. Another important item is proper
food There is nothing that will come moro
proper food. and complaints of this kind should
be promptly investigated. healthy appetite
engendered by outdoor living is not apt to
notice Insignificant defects in the diet In
dulRent parents should not send candy in
discriminatory to their children.
The formation OF girls camps was a much
harder problem TO deal with than that of the
boys. for mothers had to become accustomed
to allowing their daughters the freedom of
life away from home. Fortunately the out
door movement OF today, which has spread
throughout the country, has made the daughter
OF the goth century associate in outdoor sports
with her brother. The wise mother has come
to realize the importance of encouraging these
instincts. so that her daughter may grow into
a strong. healthy woman and her boy into a
manly fellow. able to take his place successfully
in the world.
A short separation does both the child and
his parents good The camp movement has so
grown that parents all over the country realize
that It is not an experiment but a we'll estab.
llshed factor, which has brought about a great
amount OF good to every member OF the family
When a Feller Needs Friend
There is a certain youthful sense of iso-
laton when things go wrong and everybody
seems to misunderstood for which Frances
Garside. writing In the American Magazine
(2) offers philosophical consultations;
Every boy should have a dog, so that when
his father seolds him for getting up late in
the morning, and his mother crltiolses the con-
dition Of his finger nails. he can feel that he
has at least one friend in this great big world
to whom he Is entirely satisfactory.
About all a boy Is good for till he 10 l2 fs
to run on errands and eat the last piece OF pie
II wonder" every boy thinks when get
ting up from lunch, III mother has anything
IN the house for dinner"
The bond of sympathy between father and
son is cemented before the latter has donned
his first trousers,
Mary Ware bennett. the writer and suf-
fragist. who was for some years secretary
OF the National Womans Suffrage Associa-
tion. writes In the Century (O on ''The
Right Of Child to Two PARENTS;
Children are mostly brought up by their
mothers, an arrangement which the world has
accepted for centuries without question. But
now, owing 10 the social ferment. which,
whether we like II or not. Is disturbing wom-
ans traditional sphere, we md ourselves ask
ing II that scheme Of chlld-rearing i5 really
tine best for the children, for the mothers. and
nnaIly, for the fathers. Are not the children
as Charlotte P. Gilman brilliantly puts Il, too
much the victims OF thsir ineessant mothers
and their infrequent fathers'2
Some one has said that "the greatest effort
Of civilization up to date has been attaching
man 20 the family" Very likely, but Ia many
ways the attachment has been bad for him
and bad for the family The fundamental tTou-
bic Il probably tWofold-not enough leisure