The Birmingham age-herald., 1922-01-29

that enlist boys best self in ac- tive cooperation with his fellows. If nothing better offers, he will take to the streets and find his place in a gang of kindred spirits, tearing down or building up his neighbor's prop erty and his own character at one and the same time. The real world of the public schoolboy, the world in which things of vital importance happen as Kipling puts it, is the world outside the classroom-the world of the home or of the street, of the church or of the saloon. of the library or the pool room, of the club or the gang, of the world of brooks and trees and Gods out-of- doors, or the world of alleys and backyards and hell's kitchen.
 A Great Educational Movement
 Tt is for this reason that declare the Boy Scout movement to be the most significant educational contri- button of our time. The naturalist may praise it for it's success in put
 ting the boy close to natures heart; the moralist, for it's splendid code of ethics; the hygienist, for it's methods of physical training; the parent, for
 its ability to keep his boy out of mis-
 chief; but from the standpoint of the
 educator, 1t has marvellous potency for
 converting the restless. Irresponsible,
 self -centered boy into the straight
 forward, dependable, helpful young
 citizen. To the boy who will give himself to it, there is plenty of work that looks like play, standards of excellence which he can appre clate,
 rules of conduct which he must obey. 1 positions of responsibility which he t. ,,1t ftax. himself-in a word. a program that
 appeals to boys instincts, and d
 method adapted to a boys nature
 Every task in scouting Is mans 1 job cut down to a boys size. The ap- l peal to a boys interests Is not pri-
 marily because he is boy, but par
 ticularly because he wants to be a man. It is the man In the boy that is emphasized and the type of manhood idealized is that which strives to stand for the right against | the wrong. for truth against false- hood, to help the weak and oppressed
 and to love and seek the best things | of life
 1 But the most significant contribu-
 tion of the Boy Scout movement to
 education Is It's pedagogical methods. | As a teacher. I take my hat off t.
 
 ell, who in little more than decade l has done Irore to vitalize the methods | of character training than all tn. school men tn this country have done | since the Pilgrims landed on the New England coast We have preached | the virtues of government of tho l people, by the people and for the peo- | pie. and have sought for the best means of perpetuating a nation con | ceived in liberty and dedicated to tho proposition that all men are created! | equal. There have been times when we doubted whether a nation so con- l ceived and so dedicated can long en- dure. We know full well that the ex. 1 pertinent must eventually fail if our citizens grow up accustomed to the
 evils of selfishness and greed and indifferent to the 'ravages of privi- | lege and plumber. And failure is just
 as certain, even if little longer de- | ferred, if our citizens are not trained
 to participate actively and construct
 lively in upholding the virtues on which both personal character and good citizenship are based"
 Nearly eight years ago, when the | Boy Scouts were but babies, we urged 1 the mothers of boys to let them be- come scouts. Now that the scouts are entering their teens we again point to them as force for right eousness and clean living.
 WILLIAM FREDERICK BIGELOW.