The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1915-03-27
THE PROBLEM or The GIRL

/
TloN-THE sTloN OF
CHAP RoN A GE-PARENTAL
DUTY.
The problem of the girl today is
complex, far reaching and many-sided
writes Elizabeth O'Keefe. It usually
begins with the young daughter in
| high school in the matter of simple
| dress, home study, amusements
school societies and chaperonage; and
| is a most vital problem II the mother
OF today. 1t is passing strange that
the young daughter, who has been
reared tenderly, whose morals have
been carefully directed, companions
wisely chosen, hours for work and
amusement regulated with forethought
and discretion, when she passes from
grades to high school, at once becomes
a problem.
To my mind, the fundamental trou.
BILE is the delusion that Immediately
possesses her that now she is grown
up; and she is too often tolerated and
even encouraged in the thought by
parents and teachers, blind to the re.
suits liable to spring from such an
obession. Her first exaggerated opin-
ion of herself comes when she is Mary
Smith no longer, but Miss Smith, re.
CARELESS of age in high school. Time
was when our girls were dressed sim
ply and ineXpensively; wore shoes
that gave the step elasticity and the
body poise; and allowed them the ex-
ercise and freedom of movement that
is now relegated to the gymnasium
When she enters as a freshman she
finds in the high school a few com
petent class leaders, who dominate
everything. They set the fashions in
using powder, rouge, false hair, high
heels and fashionable frocks made on
the lines of women's apparel.
The set the fashions for the dances,
demanding flowers and carriages.
They set the standard of expense, club
dues, school, class and society pins,
assessments for entertainments which
in addition to pocket money for candy,
sodas, nickel shows, lunches and car
fare, make it impossible for many
parents to keep their children through
the course
If there happens to be a Greek let
ter society in the school, matters are
even worse, for they are the greatest
abomination that ever attacked a high
school, to torture endlessly the I'M
fortunate girl who is not asked to
join. Some high schools, particularly
in our larger cities, have become
forcing houses of snobbery, and in
many instances so extremely offensive
that it is a grave question whether
their high educational effectiveness is
worth the evils which have developed
in them. There is need of reform,
crying need of drastic reform, and
there is work for those who want to
bring about reform-work for the
school boards, for teachers and espe-
cially for parents.
Undue Importance of Style.
The undue Importance attached by
girls of high school age to the style
of their clothes, and the consequent
jealousy and heartache, not to speak
of more serious results from such
dressing, are sometimes nothing short
of tragic. Here again you have the
mother as a solution of the problem.
Girls should be taught by word and
example to dress properly. When
daughters see their mothers gowned
without petticoats, in slit skirts and
diaphanous blouses, made of little
above the waistline, their ideas of
modesty and decency in dress must
become sadly distorted. Especially is
the evening bodice open to severe CEN
sure. Such dressing can not but per-
vert the morals of this generation.
Particularly offensive does it become
in the ballroom. To my mind, the i'm
modest dress is a great factor in max
ing the present dancing vulgar and
subject to criticism. Dancing is a
graceful art, and a wholesome amuse-
ment under proper conditions, and
whether it is the one-step or the two
step, it is all in the way one dances.
There is always a right and a wrong
way, and our young people should be
taught proper ballroom dancing. All
Raging, trotting and the various
forms of tango should be banished as
extremely bad form. AS for condemn
ing dances that are lively, / think
there is more chance for improperly
in dances where the music is slow and
sensuous.
Recreation and Study.
Wholesome amusement should be
provided for the young. They have
just so much superfuous energy that
must be worked off, and there are
many thinking people who hope to
see the day when every school build
ing will have a reading room and a
dancing auditorium.
The question of home study is an
other problem in the school life OF
| the girl. 1t seems to be necessary in
the present arrangement of high
school work. One point in its favor
claimed by some, is that it keeps
boys and girls at home at nights, but
does it? Many well-meaning parents
are harassed in their attempts to en-
| force study at night; SO many attrac
L