The Sauk Centre herald. (Sauk Centre, Stearns County, Minn.) 1886-current, 1924-04-24

which is more important than the
bringing up of children. But in the
majority of homes I'm afraid this task
is considered for all practical pur-
poses as an incidental of family exist
ence. AS long as this continues to
be the dominant parental attitude we
shall continue to have rich crop of
so-called bad boys simply because
parents themselves are too selfish, too
weak, too immature and i'll poised to
control themselves. The domestic
process commonly known among chill
dren as bawling out is almost invari-
ably an evidence of greater lack and
error on the part of the parent than
of the child under correction. Bawl-
ing out, jawing, scolding and nagging
should be abolished where there is a
child in whose future the parents are
sincerely and affectinately interested.
If reasonable seli-control on the part
of parents should become the rule
rather than the exception there would
be marked falling off in the volume
of sad business which flows so stead
lily into the courts.
And one word more on the score
of supervision. Any parental super
which does not start with the founda-
ton of a fairly definite knowledge of
where the boy or the girl is every
hour of the day. This is the A B c
of supervision. The restraining eff
feet on boy of the knowledge that
he must give an account of himself
and his doings as definitely as grown
man working in a shop or an office is
held to account to his employer for
his presence and his performance on
the job, is invaluable. The boy who
is let to run, as the common express
sion has it, and is not held to account
for his comings and goings, is sub
jected to unfair temptation. There
are few bad boys who are not the
victims of too much freedom from
accountability. l confess that Pm
appalled, daily at the common indiffer-
ence of parents, in comfortable homes
as well as homes of poverty, as to
where their children spend their play
time. One mother, astonished at my
attitude on this subject, explained,
"Gee, Scout Master, do you think 1
can trail that kid all day long? I got
something else to do. 1t would take
a motorcycle cop to keep up with him
and his gang"
Supervision should be constructive.
Every lively boy should be provided
with full program of wholesome and
worthwhile interests and activities.
These should include such things as
Scout Life, manual work about the
home, trips with the father or mother
to ball games, to the better film shows
and other things and places in which
he is interested. Any parent who
has not given the boy OF the home a
regular allowance and helped him to
work out budget for his expendi-
lures has missed fruitful and fas-
cinating means of education.
There are many natural, unpedan-
tic and enforced ways in which to get
it into the system of boy that he
has some responsibilities to himself
and to the other members of the
home. The realization of this is one
of the most necessary and valuable
impressions which can possibly be
made upon him. The extent to which
any effort to make this impression is
lacking even in homes of the better
SORTS rather discouraging. In the
cases which come before me day after
day am not allowed to forget this
regrettable fact. Every boy should
have some useful task which he is re-
quired to do daily-they were called
chores in my boyhood.
D.
The Scout Oath
On my honor 1 will do my best
1. To do my duty to God and my
country, and to obey the Scout law.
2. To help other people at all
times.
8. To keep myself physically
strong, mentally awake, and morally
! straight.
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