Promote musical and dramatic entertainments in settlements and orphanages.

Visit sick boys in hospital.

Arrange outings for needy mothers, and children, crippled and unfortunate boys.

Automobile party for above.

Play Santa Claus to poor families.

Lead in keeping school and shop morally clean.

Stand for clean thoughts, clean speech, clean sport.

Seek leadership in public school clubs.

Get interested in the boy life of the community.

Help boys to find employment.

Help enforce minor laws.

Take an interest in the delinquent boy.

Mental Service.—

Secure speakers for practical talks.

Secure speakers for life-work talks.

Lead in some mental activity.

Promote an educational trip.

Teach elementary arts and crafts.

Conduct discussion of practical citizenship.

Lead discussion of current topics.

Lead younger boys as suggested under class activities—Mental.

Teach English to foreign-speaking boys.

Help wage-earning boys in elementary subjects, arithmetic, geography, etc.

Encourage grade boys to stay at school by coaching them in studies.

Organize civic nights.

Organize debates.

Organize camera trips and photo study.

Organize Around-the-Fire and story nights.

Lend books and guide the reading of boys.

Edit class or school paper.

Be foreman in printing room of above paper.

Lead observation trips.

Spiritual Service.—

Lead a Boys' Bible Class.

Take part in Boys' Conferences.

Lead Boys' Meetings.

Teach in extension Sunday school.

Serve on Sunday school Committees.

Serve on Church Committees.

Take an interest in every church organization.

Promote systematic giving among boys.

Lead a Mission Biography group.

Lead an inner circle for prayer and Bible study.

Promote a census of non-church boys.

Visit homes to invite fellows to church services.

Join a training class.

Lead campaign to increase Sunday school membership.

Promote inter-class relationships.

Lead prayer groups or circles.

Help in Home Department.

Serve on Reception Committee at Church or Sunday school.

Visit teen age Shut-ins.

Visit prisoners in jails.

Do chores for sick folks.

Help the aged to and from church services.

Support a bed in a hospital.

The Organized Class, its officers, teacher and committees ought to find enough to do in the above long list. The service activities have been listed without any idea of order or grading. They are also for individuals and the class as a whole. They are merely suggestive. The class and the teacher should do things as a real part of the class life.



ORGANIZED CLASS ACTIVITIES

BOYS' BIBLE CLASSES

JOHN L. ALEXANDER,

Secondary Division Superintendent, International Sunday School Association.

BIBLIOGRAPHY ON THROUGH-THE-WEEK ACTIVITIES

Adams.—Harper's Outdoor Book for Boys ($1.75).

Alexander.—Opportunity for Extension of Boys' Work to a Summer Camp Headquarters (American Youth, June, 1911), (.20).

—Using Nature's Equipment—God's Out-of-Doors (American Youth, August, 1911). Single copies out of print, but bound volume for 1911 may be obtained for $1.50.

Baker.—Indoor Games and Socials for Boys (.75).

Bond.—Scientific American Boy at School ($2.00).

Boys' Handbook. (Boy Scouts of America) (.30).

Brunner.—Tracks and Tracking (.70).

Burr.—Around the Fire (.75).

Camp.—Fishing Kits and Equipment ($1.00).

Chesley.—Social Activities for Men and Boys ($1.00).

Clarke.—Astronomy from a Dipper (.60).

Corsan.—At Home in the Water (.75).

Cullens.—Reaching Boys in Small Groups Without Equipment. (American Youth, February, 1911.) (.20).

Dana.—How to Know the Wild Flowers ($2.00).

Ditmars.—The Reptile Book ($4.00).

Fowler.—Starting in Life ($1.50).

Gibson.—Camping for Boys ($1.00).

Hasluck.—Bent Iron Work (.50).

—Clay Modeling (.50).

—Photography (.50).

—Taxidermy (.50).

Job.—How to Study Birds ($1.50).

Kenealy.—Boat Sailing ($1.00).

Lynch.—American Red Cross First Aid ($1.00).

Parsons.—How to Know the Ferns ($1.50).

Pyle.—Story of King Arthur and His Knights ($2.00).

Reed.—Bird Guide. In 2 volumes. (Vol I, $1.00, Vol. II,.75).

Reed.—Flower Guide (.50).

Scout Master's Handbook (.60).

Seton.—Book of Woodcraft ($1.75).

——Forester's Manual ($1.00).

Seven Hundred Things a Bright Boy Can Make ($1.00).

Warman.—Physical Training Simplified (.10).

White.—How to Make Baskets ($1.00).



XI

THE BOYS' DEPARTMENT IN THE SUNDAY SCHOOL[6]

The Boys' Department in the Sunday school is the grouping together of organized classes for the sake of unity and team work among the adolescent boys. Investigation proves that boys work together best when separated from men, women and girls. The Boys' Department contemplates a change from the usual organization in the Sunday school, in that the classes of boys between twelve and twenty years of age shall meet as a separate department of the school and have their own closing and opening services, and the natural activities that would spring from a separate departmental life. The underlying idea of the Boys' Department is to make the boys feel that they are a real part of the Sunday school, with a real purpose and actual activities. Where it has been tried, not only has the attendance been increased, but the enrollment in the department has been doubled and trebled. The department also presents an opportunity of interesting boys in all forms of church life through the committee work which the department inaugurates. The criticism that the Boys' Department may become a junior church is not borne out by the experience of the men who have tried it. On the other hand, the testimony is that the Boys' Department has increased the attendance at the morning and evening services of the church, and has created a general interest and enthusiasm for the entire church life. The Boys' Department is not urged on any basis of sex segregation, although a good many educators are urging the segregation of the sexes in public education. The underlying idea of the Department is to group the boys together for team work and cooperation, with a clear understanding of the gang principle which clamors for a club or organization that satisfies the social and fraternal need. In fact, it is the neglect of the latter by the Sunday school that has brought the countless boys' organizations into existence, and the well-conducted Boys' Department, composed of well-organized, self-governing Bible classes, will mean much to the general church life, as well as to the simplifying of the present complicated scheme of work with boys. Nearly all of these auxiliary boy organizations have had their birth in the Sunday school, through the attempt to meet the boy need, which the Sunday school hitherto has not seen its way clear to do.

When departmental organization, however, is mentioned, the genius of the individual leader and teacher must come into play. The form of organization that may be successful with one leader may be a failure with another. This chance does not lie or inhere in the organization, but in the leader; for the gifts, talents, equipment and adaptability of leaders vary just as much in Sunday school organization as in the so-called secular forms of activity. The best form of organization, then, as well as the most successful form for the local school, is the "kind that works."

Three Proved Forms of Departmental Organization

Successful organization is the result of experiment. None but the result of experiment has a right to be exploited. Sunday school teen age workers have tried, proved and found satisfactory to their own liking, by its results, the following three kinds of teen age organization for the local school:

Intermediate and Senior Departments

The first of these is known as the Intermediate and Senior Departmental organization. Its characteristic is the dividing of the teen age into two groups—Intermediate, 13 to 16 years, and Senior, 17 to 20 years. In some schools these departments meet separately for Sunday school work. Wherever this is done there should be at least a superintendent and secretary for each. While the general principles of the work are the same, the problems and details of the classes are sometimes different. The department superintendent should have special charge of his department and be responsible for building it up; also for department teachers' meetings, and should be personally acquainted with every scholar. The department secretary should keep an alphabetical and birthday card index of scholars; send welcome letters to new scholars; provide the superintendent with a list of new scholars, that they may be properly presented to the department; send lists of absentees to teachers; keep a record of correlated work accomplished by scholars, quarterly lesson examinations, etc.

Teen Age Department

In some schools the custom is to combine the Intermediate and Senior Departments into one and to regard the years, 13 to 20, as a series of eight grades. Several large schools are enthusiastic about this plan, and as the worship requirements are much the same in the teen years the Opening and Closing Services are acceptable to all grades. This arrangement also is adaptable to limited equipment, and affords a certain amount of hero-worship to the younger boy on account of the older boy being present. It also offers the older boy a field of service through helpfulness to the younger members of the department. In some schools this adaptation is known as the High School Department.

Boys' Departments

During the last few years separate Boys' Departments have come into favor with some Sunday school workers. These departments should not be attempted, however, until every class is organized (see chapter on The Organized Sunday school Bible Class), and there is efficient leadership to guide them. A premature start may be ineffective and prejudice parents and boys.

The Departmental Committees

Executive Committee

The Executive Committee has direct oversight of the general affairs of the department and acts officially between sessions on matters needing prompt attention. It is made up of the officers, general superintendent of the school, the pastor of the church, and the president and teacher of each class.

Inter-Class Committee

The Inter-Class Committee has the direction and supervision, through sub-committees, of all the activities of the department, such as:

Athletics Outings Camping Socials Entertainments Lectures Library Vocational Talks Practical Talks Congress or Senate Debates Current Topics Practical Citizenship Service Councils Degrees and Initiations Employment Bureau Home Cooperation School Cooperation

Committee on Sunday school Life

This Committee has a twofold function, the planning of the department program for general school festivals and matters of general school business. The diagram shows the activities of this committee.

COMMITTEE ON SUNDAY SCHOOL LIFE

FEAST DAYS GENERAL BUSINESS

Children's Day Sunday School Board Meetings[7] Christmas Teachers' Meetings New Year's School Elections Easter Membership Campaigns for Entire School Rally Day School Needs Anniversary Picnics Specials, Etc. Socials, Etc.

Committee on Church Life

The Church Life Committee also has a double task. Its activities along the lines of church life are as follows:

Committee on Church Life

WORSHIP MEMBERSHIP AND BENEVOLENCES

Morning Preaching Service Evening Preaching Service Mid-week Prayer Service Special Services Invitation Current Expenses Extension Support Social Life Auxiliary Organizations

Committee on Inter-Church Life

The Inter-church Life Committee, through its representatives on the Inter-Sunday school Councils and Committees, cares for its part of the common teen age Sunday school life of the community. In this way the Sunday school is made to loom large as the teen age organization in the town or city. Some of its activities would be:

Inter-Church Council Normal Institute Training Classes Athletic League Church Census Boys' Conferences Girls' Conferences Publicity Special Cooperation.

SUNDAY SCHOOL SECONDARY DIVISION

THE TEEN AGE BOYS' DEPARTMENT (Every class organized) ORGANIZATION - OFFICERS COMMITTEES Church Board [a] Sunday School Board [a] Sunday School Superintendent[a] Executive Sunday School Life Church Life Inter-Class Inter-Church Life Superintendent [b] Assistant Superintendent[b] - - Treasurer [b] Advisory Superintendent[c] Feast General Worship General Days Interest Church Life DEPARTMENT ACTIVITY SUNDAY SESSIONS MASS WEEK MEETINGS (Occasional when there is a motive) Opening Service Class Hour Department Affairs Closing Services

[a] Supervisory [b] Older Boy [c] Adult

Prepared by John L. Alexander, Superintendent Secondary Division International Sunday School Association



POINTS OF CAUTION!

The promoters of a Boys' Department in the Sunday school should not be too hasty in pushing the organization. There are certain facts to be kept in mind in effecting a workable, durable department.

1. The Boys' Department is merely one of the departments of the school, and nothing must be done that will cripple or weaken the remainder of the school. Where possible it is best to promote separate departments for teen age boys and girls at the same time. This will reduce opposition and achieve efficiency.

2. There is no use in trying to organize a Boys' Department, where there is no adequate meeting place. The value of a Boys' Department lies almost entirely in the unity produced by the worship of the opening and closing services and the discussion of departmental common affairs.

3. The Department cannot take the place of the Organized Class. Where it does, it is temporary, hurrah-in-character, inefficient and harmful. The Sunday school is educational in purpose. The Boys' Department must be likewise.

4. Nothing should be advocated or promoted in the Boys' Department that is not in accord with the Sunday school and Denominational policy. The Boys' Department is part of the Church.

Class Organization

The classes of the teen years should all be organized before any scheme for department organization is put in use. The Organized Class is based on the so-called "gang instinct," and is the unit of all organization.

Departmental Progressive Steps

The steps in organizing a Teen Age Boys' or Secondary Division Department should be:

1. Appointment of Teen Age Superintendent.

2. Every class organized according to Denominational and International Standard.

3. Two-session-a-week classes—Sunday and week-day.

4. Trained teachers.

5. Departmental organization.

Departmental Equipment

Separate Rooms

There should be separate assembly rooms or divisions for these departments where they meet apart from each other. There should also be separate rooms or screened-off places for the classes to meet.

Equipment

The outfit for the department and classes should include Bibles, tables, blackboards, charts, pictures, maps—including maps for mission study, also relief maps, mission curios, etc.

Promotions

Much should be made of promotions to and from the grades within the department. A certificate or diploma recognizing regular work should be granted on Promotion Day. Special work done is recognized by placing a seal upon the certificate. Promotion exercises should include some statement of the work accomplished.

Sunday School Spirit

In order to maintain a genuine spirit of Sunday school unity it is desirable to have the whole school meet together from time to time for the common tie and uplift of worship in the mass. The exercises of festival occasions also help to bring this about, and the common gatherings, regular or special, of the school, tend to magnify the united leadership of officers and teachers. These should never interfere with the work of instruction, the main objective of the school, but should supplement it. Departments should be made to feel their partnership in the Sunday school enterprise, and this may be brought about by the reading of the departmental and school minutes in each department. Continued emphasis should be placed on the oneness of the school—"All one body, we." Thus we may hope for Christian comradeship and loyalty.

BIBLIOGRAPHY ON BOYS' DEPARTMENT

Boys' Work Message.—(Men and Religion Movement) ($1.00).

Cope.—Efficiency in the Sunday School ($1.00).

Huse.—Boys' Department in Springvale, Maine (American Youth, February, 1911) (.20).

Stanley.—The Boys' Department in the Sunday School (American Youth, April, 1911) (.20).

Waite.—Boys' Department of the Sunday School (Free leaflet).



XII

INTER-SUNDAY SCHOOL EFFORT FOR BOYS

This volume so far has discussed nothing save the work among teen age boys in the local Sunday school, in Organized Class or Boys' Department. This is as it should be, "beginning at Jerusalem" and taking care first of the local school. To magnify the church and church school, however, in the eye of the boy and to make it his central interest or the center of his interests, it is necessary to view Sunday school effort in a larger way than the work of the local school. The Sunday school must become city-wide in its scope and effort. Common town-wide activity, such as outings, athletics, camps, entertainments, lectures, campaigns, etc., must be promoted jointly. Not only this, but the Christian boys of the community must be taught the democracy of Christianity and be led to work together in Christian service for each other and with each other for all the boys of the city. Something of this has been attempted in some places, but always under adult rule. Adult supervision—not rule—is always necessary. Thus city camps and Sunday school athletic leagues have flourished as adult effort for boys. That which is contemplated in the following two chapters is distinctly work by boys for boys in the Sunday school field. The need of adult help to organize and set things going is recognized as necessary, good and the proper thing. The value of the work will consist in the enlistment of the boys themselves and the participation in and direction of the proposed work by the boys. Boys are not as exclusive, limited or provincial as adults. Their interests are wider than the local church. The task is to couple those interests with the local church as the center of greater community-wide activity, and to direct them to effective service.

BIBLIOGRAPHY ON INTER-SUNDAY SCHOOL OR CHURCH WORK

Barbour (Editor).—Making Religion Efficient (Boys' Work Chapter) ($1.00). This volume also contains the Men and Religion Charts.

Boys' Work Message (Men and Religion Movement) ($1.00).



XIII

THE OLDER BOYS' CONFERENCE OR CONGRESS[8]

This is one of the best forms of Inter-Sunday school work for boys. If it is rightly handled, it will add much to the Christian enthusiasm of the older boys of the Sunday schools.

It is to be noticed, however, that it is an Older Boys' Conference. This means that the ages are to be confined to the stretch between fifteen and twenty years. Do not spoil your effort by "running in" boys under fifteen. Of course the younger boy is important, but the type of work accomplished in these conferences is beyond him and his presence will nearly neutralize your effort.

The aim of the conference should be, not merely to put new Christian enthusiasm into the older fellow, but to get him to talk over the problems of the Sunday school from his own point of view. Hundreds of these conferences have been held throughout the Continent, and scores of boys have been led into Christian service thereby. The discussion at these conferences is also most intelligent, being often above the grade of adult groups. The boy gets to know the Sunday school by talking about it, sees its problems, his own needs and the way to meet them. He likewise gets a new idea of his obligations.

It is to be noticed again that it is an Older Boys' Conference. This means that the boys themselves should direct the work of the Conference as much as possible, and that the Conference should be officered by boys. I have no sympathy with the men who cannot trust boys to do this work. It is largely due to a fear that the boy will grow conceited because of his new-found opportunity. It is due more, however, to the fear that the boy will act unwisely from an adult viewpoint. Both of these fears come from adult conceit and the inability to trust the boy. Such men should leave boys and boys' work severely alone.

It is to be noticed for the third time that it is an Older Boys' Conference. This means that the large part of the program and all the discussion should be by the boys themselves. No man should take part in the discussion save the man who leads it, and the future may also provide a boy for the leadership of the discussion. The writer in over a hundred conferences would allow no man to take part, as the aim of the conference was to make it a boys' conference. If men may dominate and intimidate the boy, better settle the matter in an adult group.

The officers of the Older Boys' Conference should be President, Vice-President (who in most cases should be Toast-Master at the Conference Banquet) and Secretary. There should also be a committee of three boys appointed by the President (who may be helped to this end) to report at the banquet session on the papers and discussions. In this way the summary of the conference is as the boy sees it. This is the aim of the conference.

Two ways are open for the election of the officers: by a Nominating Committee and in open conference from the floor. If a Nominating Committee is the method, no man should be present to suggest or dictate. The committee should, however, have the right to consult whomever they please, in order to get the information they may wish. The writer prefers the Open Conference Nominations from the floor. In over two hundred conferences he has never yet been disappointed in the choice of the boys.

The program should be distinctly a Sunday school one. The conference is in the interests of the Sunday school. Keep it to the purpose intended. Hundreds of good causes might be discussed, but the objective of the conference would be missed. Below are three different length programs used at different places. They may prove suggestive to those intending to conduct such meetings.

A. Afternoon and Evening Conference (One Day).

PROGRAM

TORONTO

BOYS' WORK CONFERENCE

December 31, 1912

Conference Theme:—Training and Service

St. James' Square Presbyterian Church, Gerrard St., between Yonge and Church Sts.

2:00 P.M. Registration of Delegates. 2:30 Music, in charge of Mr. W.R. Young, Choirmaster of St. John's Presbyterian Church. Devotional—Rev. E.W. Halpenny, B.D., General Secretary, Ontario Sunday School Association. 3:00 The Message of the Galt Conference, N.W. Henderson, Robert Walker, Gordon Galloway. 3:20 Address—"Organized Sunday School Work," by John L. Alexander, Chicago, Ill., Superintendent Secondary Division, International Sunday School Association. 4:15 Group Conferences, led by Taylor Statten, Preston G. Orwig and A.W. Forgie.

5:45 Recreation, Seymour Collings, Physical Director, Toronto Central Young Men's Christian Association. 7:00 Banquet to Delegates, on floor of Association Hall, Central Young Men's Christian Association Building, corner Yonge and McGill Streets. Chairman—John Gilchrist, President Toronto Sunday School Association. (a) Music. (b) Toasts—The King,—The Chairman "Our Country." (c) Address—"The Crusade"—John L. Alexander.

St. James' Square Presbyterian Church

9:00 Devotional—Rev. E.W. Halpenny. 9:15 Group Conferences. 10:00 Address, "In Training," John L. Alexander, Chicago, Ill. 10:45 Report of Group Conference Committees. 11:15 Address, "The Challenge of the New Year," Charles W. Bishop, Canadian National Secretary, Young Men's Christian Association. 12:15 Adjournment.

B. Saturday and Sunday Conferences (One and a Half Days).

PROGRAM

WICHITA OLDER BOYS' CONFERENCE

MEN AND RELIGION FORWARD MOVEMENT

Saturday, February 10

9:30 A.M. Song Service. 9:35 A.M. Election of Officers. 10:00 A.M. Address, "Second Brand Cartridges," by Dr. David Russell, of South Africa. 10:30 A.M. Papers, read by boys, followed by discussion, led by John L. Alexander. "How Can We Help Increase the Number of Boys Attending Sunday School?" "Why Don't the Older Boys Attend Church Services? Should They Be There?" "Should an Older Boy Teach a Younger Boys' Sunday School Class?" 11:45 A.M. Address, "Motive," Dr. C. Barbour, Rochester, N.Y. 1:30 P.M. Recreation. 6:30 P.M. Address—Chairman Committee of 100. Address—Local Chairman Boys' Work Committee. Report of Committees on Conference Papers.

6:30 P.M. Address, "The Set of a Life," William A. Brown, of Chicago. Address, "Go to It," John L. Alexander, Chicago, Ill.

Sunday

3:00 P.M. Mass Meeting for Older Boys, Addressed by John L. Alexander, Chicago, Ill.

C. Three Day (Part) Conference.

PROGRAM

Conference Theme, "Training and Service."

Friday, December 13

Beginning at 8:30 A.M. Addresses in seven High Schools, by John L. Alexander. 6:15 P.M. Supper for Delegates. 7:00 P.M. Address by Hans Feldmann, Chairman of Conference. Address by Rev. R.S. Donaldson. Remarks by Rev. F.H. Brigham and John L. Alexander. Close at 8:30 P.M.

Saturday

9:00 A.M. Songs and Devotional, led by W.H. Wones. 9:30 A.M. Organization, to be led by John L. Alexander. 9:45 A.M. Papers by Delegates. Discussion led by John L. Alexander. 11:30 A.M. Address by Rev. F.H. Brigham. 12:00 to 2:00 P.M. Delegates home to lunch. 2:00 P.M. Concert by the Y.M.C.A. Boys' Glee Club. 2:15 P.M. Discussion by subjects in groups, led by John L. Alexander, F.H. Brigham, W.H. Wones, and F.C. Coggeshall. 4:00 P.M. Recreation period in Y.M.C.A. Building. 6:15 P.M. Banquet for delegates and men leaders at boys' invitation. Music by the Boys' Busy Life Club Boys' Orchestra. Toasts by three delegates. Report of the Committee on Inter-Church Program. Addresses by John L. Alexander and F.H. Brigham.

Sunday

3:00 P.M. Gospel Meeting for Older Boys, at Grand Avenue M.E. Church. Speaker, John L. Alexander.

The following announcements were on the backs of these programs:

ANNOUNCEMENTS

CONFERENCE HEADQUARTERS—The Session of St. James' Square Presbyterian Church has kindly granted the Conference the use of the church and school rooms. With the exception of the Banquet and Addresses which follow, all sessions of the Main and Group Conferences will be held in this Church.

REGISTRATION—Admission to the sessions of the Conference will be granted only to those wearing the Souvenir Conference Badge, which will be given to each delegate presenting a credential signed by the Conference Secretary at the Conference Office, in St. James' Square Church, any time after 1:30 P.M., Tuesday, December 31.

DISCUSSION—Come prepared to take part in the discussion, and to ask questions regarding the particular needs of your school. An opportunity will be afforded in the Group Conferences for this phase of the work.

NOTES—Take careful notes. They will help you make a good report to your Sunday school after the Conference.

REMEMBER—You are responsible to those you represent for getting the most out of every session. Be on hand promptly at the hour mentioned; it will help.

BOOK EXHIBIT—Copies of all the latest books on Sunday school and Boys' Work will be on exhibit in one of the Conference rooms. Teachers and leaders should not miss this opportunity to look over some of the splendid literature that has come recently from the press.

NOTE—Boys under 15 years of age will not be admitted.

Basis Of Representation

The delegates are to be boys between the ages of 15 and 20 years, appointed by the officials of their Sunday school, on the basis of two delegates for each boys' class (of the teen ages) and each boys' club, and, additional to these, two delegates at large from each church. Men leaders of clubs will also be registered as delegates.

Registration Fee

The Registration Fee is to be 50 cents, including the cost of the banquet Saturday evening.

Preliminary Arrangements For Older Boys' Conference

I. Conference Committee:

1. Committee supervises, plans and is responsible for the conference.

2. Committee should consist of at least five adult members, and profitably more, selected from the various Sunday schools.

3. Committee may appoint special sub-committees to take care of details and close supervision.

II. Sub-Committees:

1. Publicity, Delegate and Registration.

2. Meeting Place and Decoration.

3. Program and Badge.

4. Entertainment and Recreation.

5. Banquet.

6. Sunday Meeting (if held).

III. Sub-Committee Duties:

1. Publicity Committee: This committee is responsible for press, pulpit and Sunday school notices. It also has the duty of discovering the leader of each Sunday school and of getting the delegates pledged and registered. For this purpose three letters at least should be sent out (see IV). A Registration Card also should be filled out by each delegate and signed by Secretary of Publicity Committee before the conference.



TORONTO BOYS' WORK CONFERENCE

December 31st, 1912

This certifies that

Address

has been accepted as a Delegate to the above Conference, having made application and paid the Registration Fee in due time. Upon presentation of this card at the Conference Office, St. James' Square Presbyterian Church, he is entitled to the Souvenir Conference Badge, Program, and Banquet Ticket.

_________ Registration Secretary.

The limit of accommodation for the main banquet on the floor of Association Hall will be 600. Extra provision will be made elsewhere for the balance if registration exceeds that number.

Provision has been made for { Main Banquet } you at the {Auxiliary Supper}

This committee is also responsible for the Registration Table during the conference.

2. Meeting Place and Decoration Committee: The duties of this committee are obvious. Among them, however, are the following: Five chairs and two small tables should be on the platform, and a blackboard with eraser and abundant supply of chalk in each meeting room.

3. Program and Badge Committee: This committee should be responsible for the preparation, printing and distribution of programs. An ample supply should be on hand during the conference sessions. A badge (delegate's) is a good thing for the conference spirit.

4. Entertainment and Recreation Committee: Where delegates attend from out-of-town, this committee arranges for their entertainment at the homes of friends. At a local conference this committee is steadily on the lookout for the purpose of making the conference and delegates comfortable. Fresh air, telephone service, messages, etc., all of these are highly important. This committee also should be responsible for adequate plans for the conference recreation.

5. Banquet Committee: The details for the conference banquet, the seating of the delegates and the serving of the food, all come under this committee. If a special banquet menu and program are used, this also is the duty of the committee. An orchestra to play through the eating period is a splendid feature.

6. Sunday Meeting Committee: This committee should give careful attention to the following details:

(a) That any boy over fifteen years and under twenty-one years be admitted to the meeting. One leader to each group of boys may attend, but these must sit by themselves in the rear of the room.

To secure these arrangements it will be necessary to put a force of determined adult watchers at every door.

(b) Be sure to have a live organist, pianist or orchestra to lead the music. A director to lead the singing, with ginger, will help.

(c) Have four ushers to each double or central aisle, and have two to each single or side aisle.

(d) Everyone present at the meeting should have a song book or sheet.

(e) Be sure to have a plain white card, 3x5, and a small sharpened pencil for each one present. This is absolutely necessary for the Forward Step part of the meeting.

IV. Letters to be sent out (Publicity Committee):

1. To Pastor, Superintendent or Teacher:

(a) Announcing the conference, its nature, purpose, etc.

(b) That it is confined to older boys—15 to 20 years—and one adult leader from each school.

(c) From three to five delegates (Christian boys).

(d) Ask for name of adult leader.

(e) Enclose Postal Card.

2. To Sunday School Adult Leader:

(a) Send plan of conference and details.

(b) Enclose Tentative Program.

(c) Ask for names of boy (Christian) delegates, setting time limit and enclosing credentials.

(d) Suggest that leader have a meeting of the delegates before the conference to consider what the conference may mean to their own local Sunday school.

3. To Each Delegate:

(a) Send a brief letter with program.

(b) Emphasize the Christian nature of the conference; that it is for training and leadership, and that he has been chosen from his school for this purpose.

(c) Suggest daily prayer as preparation.

V. Leaders' Meeting:

If possible, arrange for a luncheon or dinner conference for the Sunday school adult leaders who are at the conference. Talk over the plans, programs and hopes of the conference.

VI. Follow-Up After Conference:

1. A Second Leaders' Meeting. (Details at Conference)

2. Local Delegates' Meeting. (Details at Conference)

BIBLIOGRAPHY ON OLDER BOYS' CONFERENCE

Dunn.—What the State Boys' Conference Means to the Churches (American Youth, April, 1911) (.20).

Hinckley.—The Unique Value of Conferences of Older Boys (American Youth, April, 1912) (.20).

Scott.—Boys' Conference in Community and County (American Youth, April, 1911) (.20).

Smith.—The Maine Boys' Conference (American Youth, April, 1911) (.20).



XIV

THE SECONDARY DIVISION OR TEEN AGE BOYS' CRUSADE[9]

The Older Boys' City-wide Conference is outlined in the previous chapter. It is a good, but intermittent, form of Inter-Sunday school activity for boys. The Secondary Division or Teen Age Boys' Crusade is a permanent form for such activity, and may be launched at the Older Boys' Conference.

The idea of the Crusade germinated in the minds of the members of the Toronto Secondary Division Committee in connection with a Sunday school Older Boys' Conference in December, 1912. The objectives around which the idea grew were a campaign for Organized Classes in every school, an effort to reach Toronto's 10,000 non-Sunday school, teen age boys and a training class for adolescent leadership. At the evening banquet, at which the Crusade was presented, 55 Sunday schools registered for the campaign and 187 older boys signed up for training and the effort to reach the boys not in Sunday school. At a later meeting a plan of action was decided upon.

The Objective

The aims to be kept in mind are fourfold: (1) To magnify the Christian life and the preeminence of Jesus Christ as Saviour and Lord; (2) to organize the teen Christian boys of the Sunday school for organized service; (3) to reach the teen non-Sunday school boys for Sunday school attendance; (4) to train the teen boy for Christian leadership.

The Crusade Outlined

Campaign of Bible Class Organization

1. It is proposed that every class in the teen age or Secondary division of every Sunday school be organized according to the International Standard, and that the boys of the schools be given the task. (See International Secondary Division Leaflet No. 2.)

Campaign of Enlistment

2. Coincident with the campaign of organization there should be a systematic effort to reach every boy of the teen age for membership in the Sunday school. This may be accomplished through two methods:

(a) Census and Survey. The city should be divided into districts and mapped out by squares. Then the teen age campaigners should go two and two for the purpose of a census-taking. The two-by-two system will result in more thorough work, and it gives the opportunity of helping the more timid boys by linking them with the bolder ones. An entire square should be worked by the partners, both making the same call, and every teen age boy in the town, whether a Sunday school attendant or not, can be located this way. For this purpose an ordinary filing card may be used, printed as follows:

Date

Name

Address

Religion (Catholic, Jew, Protestant)?

Attend Sunday school (yes or no)?

If yes, where?

Information gathered by



NOTE.—Once this information is gathered it can be kept up-to-date by arrangement with the moving companies and the water, gas and electric light companies. A monthly report from these companies, or a stock of post-cards kept with them, will do the work. Another method is an annual checking up with the city directory.

(b) Home Visitation for Enlistment. This is best accomplished by personal invitation, letter, attractive advertising, etc. Assign to teen age worker.

Training Classes

3. A training class or training classes, central or by districts, should be arranged to specialize for teen age leadership.

(a) Adolescent Leadership Course (50 lessons) according to International Standard.

(b) Demonstration Course in physical, social, mental and outdoor activities.

Service Programs

4. Practical programs should be prepared and offered to schools and organized classes to stimulate the membership of the Crusade.

"For none of us liveth to himself." "For unto every one which hath shall be given, and from him that hath not, even that which he hath shall be taken away from him." "Service" is the magic word around which real life swings. By giving, one gets. The investment of service, as individuals, and as a class, will bring big dividends in the development of one's personal life.

Missions Program

Promote (a) a course of study of "live" home and foreign mission material; (b) systematic giving to missions; (c) the study of the foreign population of your city, particularly of your own neighborhood; (d) teaching non-English speaking men and boys to read and write; (e) the investigation, and, when possible, the handling of needy cases in your community. Anything going out from the class to the other fellow comes under this head.

Temperance Program

Get information along the lines of: (a) bodily self-control; (b) the injury of tobacco on the growing tissue; (c) the inroads of alcohol on the growing and mature body; and (d) the economic, material and moral waste of intemperance of every kind.

Purity Program

Hit hard for (a) clean speech, clean thoughts, clean sports; (b) for a single sex standard; (c) chivalry and cleanliness among the sexes; and (d) adequate education on sex matters.

Programs along these three lines will be furnished on application to the State and Provincial Sunday School Association offices.

Preliminary Plans For Crusade

To get things in motion, two lines of action are suggested: First, plan for a conference of older boys and workers with boys for the community which you desire to cover. The program should aim to lay before the conference the plan of the Organized Secondary Division Class; methods of work should be discussed at group conferences; the Crusade Challenge presented at the banquet; and the session should close with a rousing inspirational address. Second, formation of an Inter-Sunday School Council, the purpose of which is to plan and promote work for Secondary Division Classes in the city.

Promotion of Conference

The Secondary Division Committee, headed by the Secondary Division Superintendent of the city, township or county, in which the conference is planned, should head the work, and representative men and older boys should be chosen to form a Conference Committee.

First Steps. Call a meeting of the General Conference Committee. State clearly the objective of the Conference and Crusade, then appoint the following sub-committees: Program, Printing and Advertising, Banquet, Registration, Recreation and Promotion.

Duties Of Committees

Program.—Plan program, secure speakers, organist and leader for singing.

Printing and Advertising.—To have charge of all printing, such as Advance Notices of Conference, Registration Cards, Banquet Tickets, Tentative Program, Completed Program, Crusade Folder, Newspaper Articles, Conference Badges or Buttons.

Banquet.—To arrange all the details of the banquet, the place where it will be held, securing dishes and silverware, arrangement of tables, decorations, etc.

Registration.—To arrange a simple system of registration, have charge of distribution of programs and badges, tabulate record of registration for report to convention, etc.

Recreation.—To plan for a period of organized recreation between the afternoon and evening sessions.

Promotion (perhaps the most important of all committees). The responsibility of securing "picked" members of teen age classes and workers to attend the Conference rests on the shoulders of this committee. All members of the General Committee should share with them this responsibility. The Committee should arrange for a meeting of Sunday school Superintendents and every effort be made to have every school represented, by either the Superintendent or a substitute appointed by him. At this meeting outline carefully the plan of the Conference and Crusade, enlist their cooperation, secure from each man present a promise to see that delegates are sent from his school; supply these men with literature and registration cards. Be sure to have a record of the name and address of all in attendance at this meeting. This is important. Make a special drive on this meeting, the object being to line up a man in every last school who will make himself responsible for that school being represented in the Conference. The Superintendents not present at this meeting should be seen and written to at once, urging upon them the importance of the work, apprising them of the results of the Superintendents' Conference and showing them the necessity of their schools being included in this city-wide campaign for the adolescent boy. Other plans of promotion may be adopted by the Committee, as warranted by local conditions.

Meetings of General Committee.—The General Conference Committee should arrange to meet at least once a week, for a month prior to the Conference, and all plans of the sub-committees should be submitted to this Committee for their approval before being put into operation.

The Conference Program

Conference Theme—Training and Service.

Temporary Chairman—President or Vice-President of Sunday School Association, or acceptable substitute.

2:00 Registration of Delegates. 2:30 Devotional and Music. 3:00 Address, "The Biggest Thing in the World." 3:20 Secondary Division Organization—The Bible Class. 4:15 Group Conferences (City divided into districts). 5:45 Recreation. 7:00 Banquet to Delegates. (a) Music—Orchestra. (b) Toasts—Two Older Boys. (1) Our Country. (2) Our City. (c) Address, "The Crusade." 8:45 Devotional 9:00 Question Box and Conference. 9:20 Address, "In Training" (Inspirational). 10:00 Adjournment.

The Banquet Seating Plan

The delegates from each Sunday school should sit together, and when practicable be also grouped by denominations. At the close of the address on the Crusade the Inter-Sunday School Council should be formed.

This shall consist of two older boys and one man from each participating Sunday school. The Council is subject to the call of the Chairman of the Secondary Division Committee.

Method of Enrollment

1. After the presentation of the Crusade, pass a colored card to each delegation, asking them to confer and to write on the card the names and addresses of the two older boys they may choose to represent their school, the name of school, also the names and addresses of the teachers of the chosen delegates.

The Adult representative from each school should be selected later by the committee in charge of the Crusade Conference.

2. Pass white cards, as soon as the colored ones have been properly filled; or, better yet, place a white card in each banqueter's program and challenge to service and training.

3. Write to each chosen representative before the first called meeting, enclosing credential card to be signed by the superintendent of the school, the pastor of the church, and write to each of these men enclosing the plan of the Crusade.

First Meeting of Council

Do not allow more than two weeks to pass until the Council meets to lay its plans. Strike, and keep on striking while the iron is hot.

The Follow-Up.—Call at once a meeting of the older-boy representatives on the Inter-Sunday School Council. Do not call in the men until later. This is an Older Boy Movement, and you are going to get the Older Fellows in the Sunday school to go after the Older Fellows out of the Sunday school. Impress upon the Council that this is their job and whatever success is achieved will be due to their efforts. Let a clean-cut spiritual atmosphere prevail at these meetings. You will find that the boys are there for business.

It is suggested that the meetings be held Saturday evening, beginning at 5:30 with supper, to cost not more than fifteen cents per plate.

First Meeting.—Don't rush things. You will gain much by making the fellows feel that you are all working this problem out together and that the prayerful cooperation of every member is necessary. Don't stampede the meeting with a lot of elaborate plans. If you have any plans, turn them over to the Council by way of suggestion, and let that body use its own judgment. Everything that is done by the Council should emanate from its members. It is suggested that the purpose and program of this meeting should be somewhat as follows:

(a) Statement of purpose of Council.

(b) Trace connection of Council to International work (i.e., Council, City Secondary Division Committee, City Secondary Division Superintendent, County Secondary Division Superintendent, State or Provincial Secondary Division Committee, State or Provincial Secondary Division Superintendent, International Secondary Division Committee, International Secondary Division Superintendent, etc.—this to show them that they are officially related to a world-wide movement).

(c) Fellowship and "Get Together."

Be sure to have Adult members at this meeting.

Second Meeting (two weeks after first).—

At this meeting discuss:

(a) Importance of class organization—each member urged to get to work at once in his local school.

(b) Age limit of classes now in the organization.

(c) Outline possibilities of Council for promotion and all-round physical, mental, social and spiritual activities of teen age fellows of the Sunday schools of the city.

(d) Discuss the idea of the census survey.

These two meetings will pave the way for the third and following meetings. Don't meet simply for the sake of holding a meeting. Let your fellows feel that when a call to meeting is received it is important.

Third and Subsequent Meetings

1. Lay your plans carefully for the census-taking, then complete the job quickly.

2. Analyze the cards and distribute to the organized classes. Their work then begins. Encourage regular reports on the work of the classes at each meeting of the Council, the school representatives reporting.

3. Plan for the execution of the Missionary, Purity and Temperance Programs.

4. Extend the Council's field until it covers the common physical, social, mental and spiritual activities of the community teen age boys.

5. Plan for regular Conference or Banquet Programs.

6. Ultimately the entire common Sunday school athletic and social life of the community would center in the Inter-Sunday School Council.

Meeting of Superintendents

It is suggested that at this juncture a meeting of Sunday school Superintendents be called for the purpose of thoroughly acquainting them with the plans of the Council. This will secure the cooperation of the Superintendents, which is most essential. The effort to get the Superintendents behind the work will be more successful if the city be divided into sections and a Superintendents' meeting be held in each section. These meetings can be made very helpful.

BIBLIOGRAPHY ON BOYS' CRUSADE

High School Student Christian Movement Series:

Bulletin No. 1. The Local Organization (.05).

Bulletin No. 2. Typical Constitution (.05).

Bulletin No. 3. The Inner Circle (.05).

International Secondary Division Leaflet, No. 5 (Free).



XV

SEX EDUCATION FOR BOYS AND THE SUNDAY SCHOOL[10]

There can be no adequate comprehension of the physical side of boyhood if the sex element be left out. In fact, we have discovered for ourselves that this is the very element that constitutes the real problem of boyhood; for until the idea of sex enters into the boy's consciousness we are only dealing with an infant. It is the gift and power of self-reproduction that changes the selfish, individual existence into the larger, altruistic life. It is this that compels gangs and team-work and the instinctive desire to negate self in service for others. It is this that forms the basis for the tribal or community desire; and on it, understood or not, is built all further achievement. The real value of a brave to his tribe begins with the support of his squaw, and the modern boy gets his importance among us, when, because of bodily function, he awakens to the consciousness of the meaning of the home. This comes gradually at puberty or adolescence with the knowledge of the sex purpose. And it is the quality of this knowledge, its purity and fear and regard, that makes the lad a worthy member of the larger whole, or a peril.

Knowing this as we do, is it not a matter of some wonder that we have never really made any systematic effort to instruct the boy concerning his wonderful power? Very few fathers give their sons any guidance along this line, although they do so quite freely on every other subject. Of course, it is a sacred, delicate subject from which we naturally shrink, but it is overmodesty to allow a lad to fall into the abuse of his manhood, either alone or in twos, when a wise word, spoken in time, would save the smirch on two lives or more. In fact, we are beginning really to understand that it is just as imperative for us to teach a boy how to live his life with the utmost happiness as to show him how to procure the wherewithal to feed his body. For this reason it is being advocated today that the boy should be given explicit instruction as to the care of the organs of reproduction and detailed information as to the functions of these organs, and many are doing this.

Our boys today are eating freely of "the knowledge of good and evil," and they are not as innocent as we could wish them to be. They are not ignorant of the processes of life because we have said nothing concerning them, but their knowledge is partial and faulty and clouded with misinformation.

A few years ago a body of men were discussing this very thing in New York City, and one of them suggested that every one present write on a piece of paper the age at which he had his first sex knowledge and pass it to the head of the table. The average age named by this group of interested men was six and a half years. Not one of these men, either, had ever had a single word spoken to him on this all-important subject by any adult. Their knowledge was of the street. Is it any wonder, then, that boys stray, mar their own lives, betray confidences and innocence and become moral lepers, feeding like parasites on the fairest of our communities?

Instruction in the processes of the function of reproduction would help many a boy to a clean participation in and a happy understanding of the home. The divorce evil and the necessity of a large number of surgical operations among women, to say nothing of the so-called social evil, would be greatly lessened by such instruction. The father, of course, is the proper person to deal with this question.

Parents and the Sex Problem

When parents understand sex influence they will more than half meet the problems of the teen age. To rightly instruct along sex lines and so prepare boys and girls to meet the teen period is almost completely to meet the teen problem.

Social and economic changes have moved this generation a full hundred years ahead of our fathers. The change, however, has a moral menace in it, for the slow but sure ways of the old-fashioned home with its genuinely moral atmosphere have nearly slipped us. Today boys and girls are herded together by the compulsion of the times and moral ideas are in danger of being warped and twisted. Everything about us today is more complex than formerly, and the more complex things become the more we herd together. Mass life is common and growing—in education, in the schools and in play life, in the big public playgrounds. Religious activity, in spite of the group tendency toward the small group, is still in the mass—Christian Endeavor, Sunday school groupings, etc. With the growing assumption of week-day activities on the part of the church, the moral peril increases.

To offset this increasing social danger sex instruction is an insistent necessity. Boys and girls must be taught to see themselves as members of society with all that that implies. To do so means a knowledge of self and sex and their functions and responsibilities. The sources and processes of life must be intelligently understood and thus respected. Ignorance of life does not beget purity, respect and honor. A boy's regard for a girl cannot proceed from lack of knowledge, although this lack may be termed innocence. A girl's love for the best for self and others is impossible unless she has knowledge tinged with the awe of God's purposes. Too often have our boys and girls been merely innocent, such innocence causing their fall. The tree of knowledge sometimes demands a high price for its fruit. To safeguard lives unblighted, the purity and processes of life's mystery must be imparted through instruction to our growing youth.

This can best be done by the parents—father or mother—for since children (boys or girls) ripen and come to puberty, individually and independently, the parent is God's choice for this task. To group boys and girls together for this instruction is terribly wrong, as the group must contain those whose need for information varies. To talk on these matters in mixed groups of boys and girls is to incite wrong impulses and is criminal. The parent is God's instructor in these things—a father to the son and a mother to the daughter. Anything else is second or third best and only to be done under great necessity. Under unusual conditions a Christian physician may instruct small groups of like physiological age, but the parental way is best, because it is both natural and permanent and we seek both.

Sunday School and Sex

Parents must be trained for this high duty. To this end Fathers' and Mothers' Meetings should be promoted separately by the Sunday school. Not one merely but a series, so that every father and mother may be able to attend. It would be well to promote these in small groups by invitation and acceptance until every father and mother was reached. A regular course of education might be arranged, viz.:

First Lecture—How to meet the questions of children.

Second Lecture—How to prepare the boy and girl for the understanding of puberty.

Third Lecture—Adolescence: The Physiology and Anatomy of the Sex Organs and Methods of Sex Instruction.

Fourth Lecture—Hygiene: Personal, Public, Home, School and Church.

These might be preceded by an address on the conditions that today make the above necessary; such might be a Sunday evening sermon or week-night address by the pastor of the church.

The lectures should be delivered and instruction given by a Christian Physician.

Meetings should be held for fathers by themselves and for mothers likewise; however, in either or both meetings the whole field—boys and girls—should be discussed.

The whole campaign should be carried out quietly without fuss, feathers or publicity. Shun the spectacular and remember it is the morality of the boy and girl that is in question. Keep away from muck-raking, be constructive and pure and business-like in the whole matter.

The need is great, for the sources of our life must be kept clean if we desire social health among our boys and girls. The land is full of the plague, of open moral sewers and unholy cesspools. The street reeks with the smut and filth of wrong sex knowledge, and our boys and girls are getting experience in the laboratory of the immoral. The Sunday school can help our common, public health by helping the parent. It should major on parental instruction and keep it up until the parents have been helped to the adequate fulfillment of their task.

Sex Instruction for Boys

Great care should be exercised in the giving of sex instruction to boys of any age. In the first place, no one without expert knowledge has a right to approach the boy on the subject. Even a father should make it his business to master the problem by extensive and wise reading before he becomes his boy's teacher. In the second place, books or pamphlets on the subject are poor mediums for instruction on the sex functions. Nearly every one that I have seen so far is either too technical or too sentimental. There are a great many books on the market which had been better left unpublished as far as their helpful influence is concerned. The treatment of this problem should be oral instead of in written form, and should be a straight, business-like talk, such as a father would have with his son about his studies or work. The gush of sentiment plays havoc with the emotions of the boy and lures him to the edge of the precipice, just to look over. First, there should be the spoken word concerning the function of the sex organs; and then, if the need is urgent, a choice book to guide him a little farther on the way. The less a boy thinks about these things the better. The instruction should be for the purpose of teaching him the knowledge of himself in order that he may see these things in their proper light and live purely, and not for the purpose of giving him expert advice.

Another thing is necessary for good sex instruction. Up till a little while ago it was the custom of workers with boys to caution the lads against self-abuse. They used all kinds of colored slides and fearful examples to impress on the boy the horror of the act, and very often inflamed the boy to exactly the thing they were shooing him from. But today we are learning the fact that the positive is of more force than the negative, and that the "thou shalt" is better than the "thou shalt not." There is a real reason why the later adolescent boy should give no attention to the "thou shalt not," and so fall into the snare of the negative; for it is the law of his being to "prove all things." It is far better to lay emphasis on the legitimate purposes of the boy's sex life, the glory it gives him and the beauty of the self-sacrifice it begets, than to say a single word on the other side.

I have found it a good thing to refer to the practice of self-abuse of any kind as a sure sign of weak mentality, and this has produced a greater impression than anything else that I have formerly said. Boys, it should be remembered, have brains and are really able to think. When they act wrongly it is so often from lack of knowledge or because of wrong knowledge. If I were to teach a boy my business I should tell him everything that would make the business better, and say nothing of how to put it "to the bad." Now what would we all do if our business was to help boys to live clean lives, speak truth, bless the community with unimpaired manhood and honor God with their united physical powers?

Methods of Instruction

It is necessary to keep in mind the stage of development of the boy. It certainly would be foolish to tell a lad of eight years the facts that should be given to a sixteen-year-old. Great tact and intelligence, coupled with a knowledge of the stages of physical growth that a boy is passing through, are necessary.

A boy of under twelve years should be approached biologically: the sex element in nature study should be gradually disclosed to him. In this period, when the spirit of curiosity is strong in the boy and he is continually asking questions on the mystery of life—for instance, how the stork or the doctor can bring the little brother or sister—it is the best thing to answer the question with just enough truthful information to satisfy. Great harm may be done by piling the mind of the child with facts that cannot but be misunderstood. In the enthusiasm for doing things right, there must be a guard against going too far.

The second stage of a boy's physical development, the early adolescent stage—twelve to fifteen years—is the physiological. Puberty marks its advent, although the exact sign of its arrival is hard to determine. It has been easy to discover it in a girl's life, but it still remains a matter of some guessing in a boy. A recent work of Dr. Crompton states that the kinking of the hair upon the pubic bone is a sure sign of the beginning of the period. Some physical directors have found this a satisfactory sign, and have made this the basis of a graded work with boys. It is in this period, then, that the boy should learn something of the anatomy and physiology of the male sexual organs.

The third stage of sex instruction for boys is during the later adolescent period—at least over fifteen years—and this should be pathological. A free discussion of the so-called social evil and the forms of venereal disease would certainly educate the boys to a proper conception of the entire subject. All questions should be discussed in ordinary language and business-like style.

Sources of Knowledge for Sex Instruction

1. THE BIOLOGICAL PERIOD (UNDER TWELVE YEARS).

—A Frank Talk with Boys and Girls About Their Birth (Free).

—A Straight Talk with Boys About Their Birth and Early Boyhood (Free).

Chapman.—How Shall I Tell My Child? (.25).

Muncie.—Four Epochs of Life (Chapters 7-12) ($1.50).

Thresher.—Story of Life for Little Children (Free).

—When and How to Tell Children. (Oregon State Board of Health.)

2. THE PHYSIOLOGICAL PERIOD (TWELVE TO FIFTEEN YEARS).

Hall.—From Youth Into Manhood (.50).

How My Uncle, the Doctor, Instructed Me in Matters of Sex (.10).

Lowry.—Truths (.50).

—The Secret of Strength (Social Hygiene Society of Portland, Oregon) (Free).

—Virility and Physical Development (Social Hygiene Society of Portland, Oregon) (Free).

—Address the Secretary of the Social Hygiene Society, 311 Young Men's Christian Association Building, Portland, Oregon.

3. THE PATHOLOGICAL PERIOD (OVER FIFTEEN YEARS).

Educational Pamphlets, Nos. 1 and 6 (American Society of Sanitary and Moral Prophylaxis) (.10 each).

—Four Sex Lies (Oregon State Board of Health) (Free).

Hall.—From Youth Into Manhood (Chapter on Sexual Hygiene) (.50).

Health and the Hygiene of Sex (.10).

The Young Man's Problem (.10).

A Word of Caution

Let it be repeated that sex instruction should be undertaken with great tact and thoughtfulness. The one who gives the instruction—whether parent or teacher—should post himself thoroughly and he should be practical, go slow, not forcing the lad's development by unnecessary knowledge, avoiding gush and sentiment. He should not seek confession or allow the boy to confess to him, for confession will raise a barrier between the two later on; he should help the boy without invading the lad's innermost life, his soul; he should learn that there are recesses in the boy's self that are his own and that bear no invasion, and he should respect this right of privacy.

BIBLIOGRAPHY ON SEX

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 Association in convention at San Francisco, and contains a complete, classified bibliography. ($1.00.)

American Youth (April, 1913. This entire magazine number deals with Sex 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 analysis 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 associates 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 substitute 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 passion, 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 class-room is taking on the nature of competition 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 association—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 basement, 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 Chinks 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 sex 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 class 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 sex 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 rehearse 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 assume 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. Analyzing 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 God's law of life, thinks and moves by his thought, should receive the best opportunity to develop his mind by supporting the state institutions 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 God 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 sex, 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 God 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 God'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. Like the commandments, he that transgresseth in one fails in all, in the largest, truest sense.

The work of the Sunday school, summed up briefly, is to round out the boy by all good things that he may see and know and acknowledge Jesus Christ, the Master of Men, as the Master and Lord of his life, too. Any step less than the joyous acceptance of the Son of God as Saviour of his life is to miss the mark entirely. This is the end of all Sunday school principle and method.

Further, Jesus Christ, as Saviour of Life, is not an idea, a theory, a belief, but a practical, everyday, every-minute influence. "For me to live is Christ." From this time forth everything in life is done in the Christ-spirit. The boy does not cease to be a boy in the acceptance. He is now a Christian boy, not a mature, Christian man. He still loves play, but play is not marred now by the tricks that minister to self. Play ministers now both to self and others. It does not nor cannot leave out self, however. It saves self. So, with all things else in life, real life that is lived seven days in the week, twenty-four hours in the day among his fellows—and one week following without break the other. Saviour of Life means saviour of body, of mind, of social contacts, of spirit. It means more than formal religion, the attendance of services, the saying of prayers, the observance of customs—these are all excellent and necessary, but to be saved by the Saviour of Men means new life, or life with a new, saved meaning: "I come that they might have life and that they might have it more abundantly" (overflowingly). This is the great objective of the Sunday school.

As soon as a life knows Jesus as Saviour, it asks the question, "What wilt thou have me to do, Lord?" Notice, it is not, what shall I believe, or what shall I cast out of my life? Doing regulates both of these, and the "expulsive power of a new affection" settles nearly every problem by displacement. This, after all, is Christianity—to be "In Christ." "Not to be ministered unto, but to minister." "He that would be greatest, let him be the servant of all." The quality of Christianity is Service. The task of the Sunday school is the raising of the life by information, inspiration and opportunity to its highest possible attainment. Christian service is both the highest and the best. To the acknowledgment of Jesus as Saviour and Lord, then, must be added the free, voluntary, loving service for others in His name. This is the Upbuilding of the Spiritual Life of the Boy.

What shall be used, then, for this purpose? Everything that will minister to the result—Organization, Leadership, Bible Study, Through-the-Week Activity, Material Equipment, Teaching, Song, Prayer, Reproof, Inspiration, Guidance, and all else that the Sunday school may know or discover. Two factors in it all are preeminent: Christ and the Boy. All else are but means. The boy a loving, serving follower of his Lord! This is the endless end.

What should the Sunday school do to achieve this? Reach to the utmost, strive to the uttermost, use every resource, redeem every opportunity, create, discover and harness every method, hold the boy to his best, patiently see him develop, give him the material and spiritual elements for his growth, afford him opportunity to find himself, help him to crystalize his thought for life and lovingly aid him to meet, know and acknowledge his Lord.

Thus the boy will be "built up in our most holy faith"—the faith that loves and serves in healthy life for the joy of living.

BIBLIOGRAPHY ON THE BOY'S SPIRITUAL LIFE

Alexander (Editor).—Boy Training (Chapter on "The Goal of Adolescence") (.75).

Sunday School and the Teens (Chapter on "The Church's Provision for Adolescent Spiritual Life") ($1.00).

Boys' Work Message, Men and Religion Movement (Chapters on "The Boy's Religious Needs" and "The Message of Christianity to Boyhood") ($1.00).



XIX

THE TEEN AGE TEACHER[11]

The greatest problem that faces the Sunday school and Church as it seeks to meet the needs of the boys and girls of the teen age is leadership. The organized men's and women's Bible classes may meet that need. In fact, the success and ultimate value of these classes lie in their response and ability to face and supply this growing need.

God works best through incarnation. When he wanted to tell men who he was, what he was, and how he wanted men to live, he spoke through prophets, priests, patriarchs, and kings, and the Old Testament writings came to us this way. However, men did not seem to understand the message, and for nearly four hundred years he ceased to speak. Then, "in the fullness of time," he came himself in the person of his own Son—born in the womb after the fashion of a human baby, passed through boyhood in the likeness of a boy and on into manhood as a man—to teach us who he was, what he was, and how he wanted us to live; and Jesus is just God spelling himself out in human history in the language that men understand. This is incarnation, and as he was compelled to pour himself out into man to reveal himself to men, so men and women who have seen him must literally pour themselves out—incarnate themselves—into the lives of growing boys and girls if these boys and girls of the teen age are to know him.

Leadership has always been the cry of the world and the Church, and the history of both is written in biography. The Pharaoh, the Caesar, Charlemagne, Peter the Great, William the Silent, Henry of Navarre, Queen Elizabeth, Ferdinand and Isabella, Columbus, the Pilgrim Fathers, Washington, Lincoln, and the names of the great on the world's scroll of fame tell the world's story. The Christ, Peter, John, Paul, Augustine, Savonarola, Huss, Wycliffe, Luther, Zwingli, Knox, Roger, Williams, Wesley, Finney, Moody, Booth; and "what shall I more say? for the time would fail me to tell of 'those' of whom the world was not worthy," and whose splendid achievements fill out the glorious history of the Church—these, all of these, in their life and effort constitute the story of the Kingdom.

The story is not yet complete. Still the world writes its progress in the names of its great ones. And yet, as always, the Church must look for its progress to its Christ-kissed men and women. While teen age boys and girls escape us at the rate of one hundred thousand a year, the need for leadership is among us.

There is no boy problem. There is no girl problem. Boys and girls are the same yesterday, today and forever. The processes of their developing life are as the laws of the Medes and Persians, without change, eternal as the hills. Like the poor, they are always with us. There is neither boy nor girl problem; it is a problem of the man and a problem of the woman. Leadership is the key that unlocks the door of the teen age for the Church.

The need of the Sunday school in the teen age today is leadership. The organized classes for men and women can solve the problem of the Church among the teen age boys and girls. The number of teachers an organized adult class produces is the measure of its ultimate usefulness in the Kingdom.

The problem of the Sunday school, then, can be solved by men teachers for boys' classes. The more masculine the Sunday school becomes the deeper will be the boy's interest. A virile, active Christianity will challenge the boy; and all other things being equal, the man teacher can present such a Christianity. In some places this will not be possible because of the dearth of men due to the lack of any sense of Christian obligation on the part of the males of the community to the growing boy. Where real men are missing, we will be forced of necessity to fall back on the big-hearted women that have so long stood in the breach. It may be well, also, to add that merely being a male does not constitute a man or manhood. Some men will need to strengthen themselves to do their duty as the leaders and teachers of boys in the Sunday school.

None but the strongest teachers should be selected. A boy of high school age quickly detects weakness in a teacher. Selection of just "any one" to teach a class is sure failure. The most important element in organization is leadership. The teacher should aim to become more of a leader than teacher. Boys' classes should be taught by men, and women should teach classes of girls. It is impossible for a man to lead girls, and just as impossible for girls to be led by a man.

With the period of adolescence come problems which can be understood and solved only by those who have passed through the same experience. Manly Christian leadership will help boys to grow naturally into Christian manhood, while only the kind, sympathetic touch of the conscientious Christian woman leader can help the girl in developing normally into honored and respected Christian womanhood.