The Boy and the Sunday School Part 19

BIBLIOGRAPHY ON s.e.x

Alexander, Editor.--Sunday School and the Teens. (Chapter 14.) This is the official utterance of the Commission on Adolescence, authorized by the International Sunday School a.s.sociation in convention at San Francisco, and contains a complete, cla.s.sified bibliography. ($1.00.)

_American Youth_ (April, 1913. This entire magazine number deals with s.e.x Education) (.20).

XVI

THE TEEN BOY AND MISSIONS

No more difficult subject faces the Sunday school today than that of really vitally interesting the teen age boy in the missionary enterprises of the church. Missionary enthusiasts, here and there, have doubtless had success in interesting numbers of boys, but, in spite of this, the average, red-blooded, everyday, wide-awake fellow that inhabits our homes, fills our streets, and honors our Sunday schools, has little or no conception of missions, or even cares enough to make any effort to discover what missions really signify. To the average boy missions spell heathen and a collection and little more. There is no real life interest, or even contact enough to develop an interest in the subject. This is a Hunt, harsh a.n.a.lysis of the situation, but it is both honest and true.

Giving money is not a genuine criterion of interest. I have known lots of boys who contributed two cents a week to help the other fellow, not because it was a conviction, but because it was a necessary thing to keep in good standing on the posted bulletin, and thus to maintain the regard and esteem of leader and comrades.

Business men and social leaders have been known to hesitate in subscribing to funds until the subscription list had been perused by them, when the list of names already secured has caused them to make generous additions to the fund. The Sunday school offering is a poor index of Sunday school enthusiasm. Giving money--even more than one can afford to give--is not always real self-sacrifice. Sometimes it is self-saving. At any rate, it is not the reliable guide of a boy's interest.

Maybe we shall never get boys to understand the word Missions. Perhaps it is hopelessly confused with heathen--a poor, unfortunate, know-nothing, worth-little crowd of black or yellow people--who can never amount to anything, unless money be given to put grit enough into them to get them to try to live right--a pretty doubtful investment, after all. Yes, this is the logic of the average boy, due to the information of the non-christian's degradation, lack of initiative, low ideals, and poor morals, as set forth by the returned missionary. Even the fact that one or two folks, by reason of the missionary's work, have been raised to better things, affords no promise of rejoicing on the part of the boy. The American teen age boy shuns "kids," "dagoes,"

"hunkies," and everything that seems to him to be inferior. He may occasionally give them a little pity, but he a.s.sociates himself in thought and interest and conduct only with his peers. His gang is as exclusive as the traditions of Sons of the Revolution. The non-christians of other lands, like the non-christians of North America, somehow or other, have got to get as good as he is--not in morals, but in genuine worth-whileness. If they can "pull off a couple of stunts"

that are beyond him, watch his real admiration and interest grow. Maybe, after a while, we will drop the word Missions and subst.i.tute another word--Extension. Perhaps! Then the fellow whom he teaches to "throw a curve" in the vacant lot, or the foreign-speaking boy, who can "shoot a basket," to whom he gives a half-hour lesson in English, or the Hindoo lad, who easily swims the Ganges, and who is being sent to school by his gang, will all command his interest, because they are partners with him in the common things of his everyday life. The boy grows by ever-widening circles of interest; first, the self, then the gang, then the school life, then his city, then the state, then the nation, and so on--out to humanity. And all of it must be on a par with his highest ideals. That which falls below meets his contempt. Interest, then, in non-christian folks in foreign lands, will become the boy's interest only when it reaches his admiration and the level of the worth-while.

The pity and love that burns to help another is a mature pa.s.sion, and is only in germ in boyhood. It is capable, however, of great development.

The interest of the early adolescent is primarily physical. Most of his life centers in his play and games. Wise educators are using the play instinct as a medium for his education. Manual training is increasing, the formal work of the cla.s.s-room is taking on the nature of compet.i.tion and music, even music with its old-time monotony and routine of running scales in the practice period under parental persuasion, has ceased to be a thing of dread, and has become a delightful thing of play--a building of houses, a planting of seeds, etc.

The heart of missions is a genuine regard for the highest welfare of the non-christian, a real interest in the lives of others. Now interest is the act of being caught and held by something. It is also temporary, as well as permanent. This depends wholly on how much one is caught and held. This fact is as true in boyhood as in manhood. Further, interests are matters of a.s.sociation--one interest is the path to another.

Perhaps, then, the boy's play may widen to embrace China.

A group of boys, some time ago, were playing games in a church bas.e.m.e.nt, and the time began to lag just a little. A young man, who happened to be present, was appealed to for a new game, and he taught them to "skin the snake." It "caught on" immediately, and the group of boys grew hilarious in their enjoyment. After a while, however, they stopped to rest, and one of the boys turned to the man who had taught the game, and said, "Where did you get that dandy stunt?" The reply was, "Oh, that's one of the games that the fellows play over in China." There was silence for a moment or two, and then one of the older fellows said, "Gee, do the c.h.i.n.ks over there know enough to play a game like that?" Questions followed thick and fast for a little while about the boys of China, and the admiration of the boys increased with their knowledge. The boys of China are a little closer, too, to the American boys of this particular group whenever "skin the snake" is played. It is altogether too bad that the play-life of the adolescent in non-christian lands is so meager, for here in physical prowess is a real contact for the American boy. The bigness of life is the sum of its contacts.

A boy between sixteen and twenty years is essentially social in his interests. It is then that the call of the community, business life, vocation, etc., to say nothing of the s.e.x and the home voice--make their big appeal. It is his own personal relation to these that makes them real, and the closer his relation the deeper is his interest. The social appeal stirs his thought and leads him to investigation. The similarity of problems at home and abroad gives him contact with other lands, and makes for him "all the world akin." The best approach to China's need is the need of the homeland. Good government here is a link of Manchuria and Mongolia. The underpaid woman in the shop, store and factory of America is the introduction to the limitations of the womanhood of India and the Orient. The problem of Africa is real only through the economic, social and moral demands of Pennsylvania, Illinois, or California. The value of all of these in his thought is the relation which he holds individually to any one. The circle of his interests grows by the widening of his knowledge. The law of his being is to accept nothing on hearsay. He must prove all things and cleave only to that which he finds true. This, however, is the path to missionary and all other interests.

How, then, shall all this be worked out in Bible cla.s.s and through-the-week activity? The missionary lesson must not be just fact, but related fact. The through-the-week meeting that contemplates the deepening of interest in other lands must be recreational and social.

The contacts must be real, vital, and individual--expressed in the concrete interests of the now. This is the principle. The method must be the work of the lesson writer and the missionary expert, and, until this is achieved, missions must still be but two uninteresting facts for the teen age boy--Heathen and Collection.

BIBLIOGRAPHY ON THE TEEN BOY AND MISSIONS

Fahs.--Uganda's White Man of Work (.50).

Hall.--Children at Play in Many Lands (.75).

Johnston.--Famine and the Bread ($1.00).

Matthews.--Livingstone, the Pathfinder (.50).

Speer.--Servants of the King (.50).

Steiner.--On the Trail of the Immigrant ($1.50).

XVII

TEMPERANCE AND THE TEEN AGE

Temperance embraces the abstaining from everything that challenges self-control. The two deadliest foes of young life today are admittedly alcoholic drinks and the cigarette, and any crusade against these for the conservation of the boy in his teens should be welcomed. It is well, however, to keep in mind that profane language, the suggestive story, undue s.e.x familiarity, athletic overindulgence, excessive attendance at the moving picture shows, or entertainment places, the public dance, and other things of like ilk in the community, exert a doubtful influence on boy life.

Liquor is the greatest plague in a community, and does more to curse the community than any other one thing. It breaks up homes, causes divorces, deprives children of their legitimate sustenance, ruins the life of the drinker, increases taxation, lowers the tone and morals of the community, and is a detriment to our American life. Cigarette smoking is bad for anybody. It harms the growing tissue, dulls the conscience, stunts the growth, and steals the brainpower of growing boys. In dealing with these facts in the Sunday school let us recognize then, that they exist, that they are true; and then let us cease merely to rehea.r.s.e them from time to time.

The day of exhortation is past. Temperance education today consists in the presentation of absolute, scientific fact. Sentimentality and the multiplication of words no longer mean anything. In dealing with the teen age boy, spare your words, but pile up the scientific, concrete, "seeing-is-believing" data. By proved experiment let him discover through the investigation of himself and others--through books, pictures, slides, etc.--that everything we take for granted is scientific truth. You do not need today to prove to a boy that liquor is bad. Physiology in the public school and the everyday occurrences about him have already furnished him with that knowledge. Furnish him now with the actual facts of the effects of alcohol on the heart centers, lung centers, locomotion centers, knowledge centers, and inhibitory or control centers. Make no statement that is not absolutely scientific. You cannot afford to lie, even to keep the boy from the drink habit. Show concretely--better yet through the investigation of the boy himself--the economic and moral waste of the liquor habit, but, in everything, let the hard, cold facts speak for themselves. Let the boy discover for himself that liquor not only would rob him of his best development, if he should become a victim of the habit, but is lowering the tone of his community and country now.

In the matter of pledge-signing be sure the boy knows what he is doing.

A written pledge may mean a different thing to you than to the boy. It is better to discuss the subject minutely with the boy, then let him write his promise in his own language, without any written guide. Do not let the boy be anything but true to himself. Be scientific and educational in all your methods.

When you approach tobacco and cigarettes, do not a.s.sume that the boy regards these as bad. He will readily admit that liquor is harmful, but will likely to refuse to recognize that the pipe, cigar, or cigarette are immoral. Your education along this line must be absolutely scientific. The appeal must be to the self and self-interest. They are not good for an athlete; the best scholarship is threatened by them; growing tissue is harmed by indulgence. The appeal must be accurate and must apply now. Do not quote what will happen forty years hence. Boys do not fear old age and its frailties. Present enjoyment is too keen. Do not say that the habit is filthy, etc. Lay the emphasis on health, physical fitness, the joy of present living. The appeal must be one of best development. Economic opportunity also may play a part. If business opportunity is lessened by the habit, prove it. Do not, however, say anything that cannot be supported with incontrovertible evidence. Stick to the scientific facts and the appeal to self-interest.

One thing more! Little good comes from denouncing tobacco in general. A lot of good men, influential men, strong Christian men, use it. If you have facts concerning the bad effects of smoking on mature men that are reliable, make use of them, but be sure you are right about it.

Ignorance multiplied by forty or one hundred does not mean wisdom. It is still ignorance. Keep yourself out of the crank army. Do not be so intemperate yourself in thought, speech, and action as to lessen your influence. Temporizing will not do the work, but let us be wise in our approach to the subject before boys, whose viewpoint cannot be expected to be that of adults.

Liquor and the cigarette are national perils, and both of them, for the sake of the teen age boy, must be banished from the land.

BIBLIOGRAPHY ON TEMPERANCE AND THE TEEN AGE

Chappel.--Evils of Alcohol (.60).

Horsely.--Alcohol and the Human Body ($1.00).

Jewett.--Control of Body and Mind (Concerning Cigarettes) (.60).

_Scientific Temperance Journal_ (Monthly) (.60 per year).

Towns.--Injury of Tobacco (Pamphlet, $1.50 per hundred).

XVIII

BUILDING UP THE BOY'S SPIRITUAL LIFE

The business of the Sunday school is the letting loose of moral and religious impulses for life--the raising of the life, by information, inspiration and opportunity, to its highest possible attainment. The very highest reach that any boy's life can attain is the ideal of life that Jesus has set forth. Nothing less than this can be the aim of the Sunday school. a.n.a.lyzing this ideal, we find that this means that the boy must physically, socially, mentally, and religiously find the best, build it into his life, and attain unto the "measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ." Anything that does not contribute to this end, in the principle or method of the Sunday school, is wrong. Likewise, anything, tradition or prejudice, that keeps the school from reaching the boy for the Christ-ideal is a positive affront to the Lord of the Church. The Sunday school deals with a living, breathing boy--not a theory, but a real combination of flesh, bone, muscle, nerve and blood.

It must minister to the needs of this combination in a generous way, with physical, through-the-week activities, not to induce it to attend Sunday school for worship and Bible study, but because the highest good of the combination demands these things. The school also should see that this living, breathing boy, who, by G.o.d's law of life, thinks and moves by his thought, should receive the best opportunity to develop his mind by supporting the state inst.i.tutions in the community for that purpose, and also in providing culture, recreation-education within the confines of its own particular sphere. In addition to this, recognizing that the boy belongs to the social life of the community, and "that no man liveth unto himself or dieth unto himself," the Sunday school must recognize its obligation to the community, as well as to the boy, and furnish him an opportunity for the best social adjustment. The Kingdom of G.o.d is a saved community of saved lives. It is best represented in the Scriptures as a city, a golden city, without death, crying, or sorrow, all of them intensely social things, as are their opposites, also. Every lesson the school gives the boy socially, every chance it affords him to learn by contact with his fellows of either s.e.x, means just one more effort for the Kingdom. Moreover, the Kingdom is a community of saved bodies, saved minds, saved social relations and saved spirits, or a place or group where the best dominates--the will of G.o.d rules over all lesser things, changing and making them over into the best. Thus the Kingdom is where life appreciates, enjoys, respects, and honors all of G.o.d's gifts, whether it be body, mind, social relations, or material or spiritual things. The task of the Sunday school, then, is to reach out unswervingly, enthusiastically after these ends for the adolescent boy.