Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1920-06-30
The Boys Summer
BY Frederic j. Hsskin

bean-shootors tend to make life meaning
less, will journey into the wilderness and
spend two to three months in camps
organized for their special benefit and
amusement. And nearly rs many girls az
boys will enjoy similar advantages In
camps specially designed for them.
The summer camp is an effort to solve
the problem Of environment for the grow
ing boy, which has developed so rapidly
and seems so successful that it deserves
more attention from parents than IT Is
receiving. Fifteen years ago such campo
were a novelty Now there are about 4OO
private camps for boys and girls in New
| England alone, while others are spring,nR
up in oil sections of the country which are
suitable as summer resorts. The Rocky
Mountain section has few such camps
where boys learn. to ride md rope and
take long pack trips in the wild country,
and in the Great Lakes section there are
| Others Everywhere the camps are grow
ing both in size and in numbers.
So far most of the camps are small, the
great majority taking less than a hundred
boys, many only dozen or 80, while few
of the private camps take more than 200.
| The camps organized by the Y. Nj. Z. A.,
the Boy Scouts and other such organiSh-
tions are larger. To enter one OF the private
camps costs from $3.50 to $4OO Tor the
season, and the best of these camps provide
| the most elaborate care. The larger organ,
| izatlon camps offer the boy, less individuai
attention, but furnish an opportunity ior
| 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 de-
mand for them continues TO grow we Will
no doubt in time see enormous camps,
organized on strict business principles,
and these will probably grow into chains oi
camps. But so far little business is
supreme IN tins field, and the field is
| probably better off for that fact. Most OF
| the camps are conducted by men who
| follow other occupations IN the winter
| One of them, for example, Is conducted by
| a high school professor, and another py
| New York business man who regards DIS
camp as his hobby, and all OF his boy Gus
| TONERS as personal friends. lie adopts an
| extremely independent attitude toward
interfering parents.
THE BOYS PROBLEM.
The problem of life for boy OF Ia or
thereabouts, is difficult one, as anyone
must realize who hes been boy and can
| remember that far back, or who has such
n bov under sympathetic observation.
Full of expanding energies and curlosi-
ties, plastic as a piece of wet clay, the boy
is receiving every day impressions and
| influences, mental and physical, that be-
come an indelible part OF hlm. some
parents are chiefly impressed with the hn-
portance of home influence for boy az
| this age. and they are doubtless right. but
| the thing can be Overdone. An overdose OF
home influence at this age, produces the
, type of boy who is afraid OF snakes, gets
along with women better than with men
| and bovs. and believes that mortal man is
| doomed II he goes abroad on damp day
without rubbers and ralncoat.
, Mother is apt to stand out for the home
influence theory. while father Is apt TO
think that now little jimmy should be
thrown upon life and allowed TO mix with
| his fellows and learn how to get along
with them. If this paternal theory pre-
walls, Jimmy probably spends all ms tifne
| in various boarding schools, where ne
| learns how TO get along with hls fellows all
right. but is very apt also 10 become
past master of all the petty vices that De-
| set bows of his age, and some OF whlch uh-
! dorbtedlv have an adverse effect on
| health and character. The problem is 70
| hit a happy medium between protection
| from outside influences and ruthless ex-
posure to them. This problem Is dlfhcuit
| enough when IL comes 10 choosing q schooi
! for the winter, but in summer IT Is more
| difficult still. Until the rise OF the summer
| camp In its various forms, there was prac
| ticallv no organized effort TO take care OF
| the bovs during this period of heat and
/ idleness. And meantime the growing
cities have offered steadily less and less TO
the boy. The natural tendency OF boys at
| this age is to band together like savages,
| choose a leader, more or less definitely
recognized. and go forth In search OF ad-
venture. This quest in a city usually leads
TO the breaking of windows, to swlms IN
| forbidden waters, to raids on the lee-cfeaIn
freezers of garden parties and picnics, and
TO inevitable conflict with police and
parental authority, impresslng upon the
boy the idea that the enjoyment OF lite Is
essentially a problem IN breaking OF rules
| and laws.
SUMMER RESORT No TLACE FOR HIM.
Around the summer resort hotel, where
Jimmy goes with mother, if he does not
stay at home in the city, his lot is even
less happy Resort hotels are organized
almost without exception for the enter
tainment of adult Few OF them welcome
children with enthusiasm, and some bar
them Nearly all request that they be Kept
quiet. Jimmy takes no interest whatever
IN sitting on the front porch and gossipIng,
in tanning himself with a palm leaf, IN
dressing for dinner. He probably does not
play golf. He may flirt, the other great
summer sport of America but 1t Is Just as
well, not to say better, if he postpones his
inevitable conflict with the fair sex Tor
few years. At summer resort jimmy is
pretty much up against 1t, and pretty sure
TO come in conflict with organized society
In his efforts to get some. fun out OF life.
LIFE IN CAMP.
The summer camp, which is his one
other chance, endeavors to take his
natural tendencies toward tribal organiza-
ton and physical adventure and turn them
into channels which will not iniure either
himself or others. A typical summer camp
contains about rs boys. These are organ
lied into groups of six or seven each, with a
councillor" at its head. The councillor is
a college trained man Of 81 or more. He is
the responsible leader of these boys. Boys
at this age submit naturally to leadership,
and if the councillor knows his business, he
becomes simply the natural leader of the
gang rather than a schoolmaster or
disciplinarian. These seven boys and
their councillor occupy one tent and act as
a unit in everything. There are certain
necessities and Irregularities about their
life. Each boy must keep himself clean,
must brush his teeth and wash his ears
He must do his share toward keeping the
tent in order He must rise at certain
time and go to bed at a certain time. But
tho I,,,llr of b,c lau ia davoJaI IN .,t,rs,,,t,