Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1918-07-18
THE BOY AND HIS R

~Se FsuS . . q lrlpune Office with yellow
paint about,s o'clock the other morning, and the mother
OF one Of thesboyss rsn,onstrated vigorously against this
publicity: This moved the editor to write 4 dissertation
on some boys In particular, and boys in general. The ed
ltor deplores the fact that boys are allowed to run around
loose In the early hours OF the morning. and declares that
II was not 50 when he was q boy. Then, we are told, boys
mad a better conception Of their duties. and II their un-
Outstanding on these matters was deficient, it was sharp
ened very effectively by parental. discipline.
At a recent meeting a speaker deplored the fact that
boys were to be found on the streets at night; declared that
boys of the present time didn't work because they didn't
know how, and placed the blame for this condition on the
public schools which. he said, teach the children nothing
at all. Another speaker took UP the cudgels for the boys.
and, incidentally. for the schools. He denied that the
boys of today are the worthless, idle lot that had been
described, and declared that where cases of delinquency
existed. the fault was usually with the parents rather than
with the schools. In this The Herald agrees with the lat
ter speaker. There is a tendency altogether too marked
to expect the school. the church and the government to
do for us that which can be done only by ourselves. 1t is
safe to say that In ninety-nine cases out Of a hundred,
when a boy goes wrong he does SO because his own par
ents have failed in their duty.
But how about the difference between the boys Of 70.
day and those of yester-year? Were those of US who now
take it upon ourselves to. comment on the dennquencies
of the boys Of today such models Of perfection as we
sometimes describe ourselves to have been. We worked
most OF us-pretty much as most OF the boys Of today
work, and Tor the same reason, namely, because our psr-
ents demanded some evidence of industry. just as most of
us have been accustomed to make similar demands ON
our own offspring in these later days. We worked, we
played. Under stress OF great temptation sometimes we
substituted play for work, and occasionally the conse-
quences were sorrowful, just as they are often now. There
were in those good old days industrious boys and idle
boys; mischievous boys. and boys who appeared to have
no conception Of mischief: bows Of all sorts and condi.
tons; and the boys of those days are the men Of today,
and they are responsible now for the training of their own
sons ..
1t might be an interesting exercise for the man who
is SO sure that the boys of his own time were vastly SUI
perior to their successors to cast his thoughts back over
the years and check up on the boys whom he can remem-
ber-not the conspicuous ones, but all Of hem-take
them as they run, and see what records they have made.
For instance, there is recalled at this moment a group
Of perhaps 100 children who were crowded into a little
eastern country school house a good many years ago.
They we're fairly typical, and doubtless averaged up
about with other groups in that part Of the country. Half
scented a good many kinds Of temperament and DISPOSE
ton. They worked, and studied, and played, and fought.
and played hockey. and did most Of the other things that
boys do. Some Of them were SO idle. that they never &C.
complished anything, in school or out, while others NOV
ed along in q fairly satisfactory manner. As a rule most
of them were fairly straightforward youths, but 1t is on
record that certain Of them did, on more than one occa-
sion, arise by stealth from the beds to which they had
been condemned in the early hours Of the evening, and.
contrary to all the rules and regulations, engage in the
strenuous sport Of racoon hunting when they knew that
there were potatoes to dig on the following day.
Two Of those boys later served terms in the peniten-
tiary-and richly deserved them. Perhaps three or four
more became habitual loafers, with drinking tendencies.
One received some prominence as a manufacturer. Several
entered commercial life, and made records ranging all the
way from satisfactory success to abject failure. Others
became farmers, and others engaged in professional work
Of various kinds, again with varying measures Of success.
If those boys could be placed side by side with a
similar group Of boys OF today. while changed conditions
have called for changed forms Of activity, while the boy
Of fifty years ago who raced the best horse on the farm
through the village street at breakneck speed now has
a son who tries to drive an automobile at ninety miles an
hour, while due allowance has been made for these
changes in externals. It might be rather difficult to toll
in just what those boys differ.
The boy Of fifty years ago was no saint, nor is his
son or grandson of today at all likely to be a degenerate.