The Rock Island Argus and daily union. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923, 1920-07-02

The Boys Summer.

New York, June 30. - A good
many thousand boys this summer.
instead Of staying In cities to carry
on their ancient feud with the
policemen, or going to summer re-
sort hotels where restrictions
against noise In the halls, bare feet
and bean shooters tend to make
life meaningless, Will Journey into
the wilderness and spend two to-
three months In camps organised
for their special benefit and amuse-
ment And nearly Is many girls as
boys will enjoy similar advantages
in camps specially designed for
them.
The summer camp 10 an effort
TO solve the problem Of environ
ment for the growing boy, which
has developed 90 rapidly and
seems 50 successful that 1t deserves
more attention from parents than
it is receiving. Fifteen years ago
such camps were q novelty. Now
there are about four hundred pri-
vate camps for boys and girls in
New England alone. while others
are springing up in all sections Of
the country which are suitable as
summer resorts. The Rocky noun
tain section has = few such camps
where boys learn to ride and rope
and take long pack trips in the
wild country, and in the Great lakes
section there are others. Every
where the camps are growing both
in size and in numbers.
So Tar most Of the camps are
small, the great majority taking
less than q hundred boys. many
only q dozen or 30, while few Of the
private camps take more than two
hundred. The camps organized by
the Y. NJ. C. A., the Boy Scouts and
other such organizations are
larger. To enter one Of the pri-
vate camps costs from $3.50 to $500
for the season, and the best of
these camps provide the most elab-
crate care. The larger organiza-
ton camps offer the boys less in
dividual attention, but furnish an
opportunity for those Of smaller
means.
The conducting Of camps for boys
is one activity in which large scale
corporate enterprise has not yet
entered. II the demand for them
continues to grow We will no doubt
in time see enormous camps, organ
, lied on strict business principles,
and these will probably grow into
chains Of camps. But SO far little
business" is supreme in this field
and the field is probably better of
for that fact. Most Of the camps
are conducted by men who follow
other occupations in the winter
One of them, for example. is con-
Quoted by a high school professor
and another by a New York bus
mess man who regards his camE
as his hobby, and all Of his DO,
customers as personal friends. Ht
adopts an extremely Independent
attitude toward interfering parents
The Boys Problem.
\ The problem Of life for a boy o
IA or whereabouts is a difficult one
as anyone must realize who ha.
been a boy and can remember thai
far back, or who has such q DO,
under sympathetic observation. Full
of expanding energies and curios
tiles, plastic as piece Of wet clay
the boy is receiving every day i'm
, pressions and influences. menta
and physical. that become an in
delible part of him. Some parent
are chiefly impressed with the i'm
portanse of home influence" for ;
boy at this age, and they are doubt
less right But the thing can b
overdone. An overdose of home in
, fiuence at this age produces tn
type Of boy who is afraid Of snakes
gets along with women better thai
with men and boys, and believe
that mortal man is doomed II b
y goes abroad on a damp day with
: out rubbers and q raincoat
Mother is apt to stand out TO
the home influence theory, Will
father is apt to think that now littl
Jimmy should be thrown upon lif
and allowed to mix with his fel
lows and learn how to get alon
with them. II this paternal theor
prevails, Jimmy probably spend
all his time in various boardin
schools, where he learns how t
get along independently all RICH
but Is very apt also to become
past master in all the petty vice
that beset boys Of his age, and som
( of which undoubtedly have an ad
e verse effect on health and charat
3 ter. The problem is to hit a happ
: medium between protection frol
: outside influences and ruthless e,
r posure to them. This problem
: difficult enough when it comes |
t choosing q school for the white