The conscientious Christian leader will keep in mind his obligation to the individual members of the class. By reading and study he will become acquainted with the characteristics of the teen age life, with a view to planning such activities, for both the Sunday and the mid-week session, as will eventually result in the development of stalwart Christian manhood.

The successful teacher of the teen age class—

(a) Always sees and plans things from the viewpoint of the pupil.

(b) Teaches the scholar and not the lesson.

(c) Knows personally every member of the class—the home, school, business, play, social and religious life of every member. This is often accomplished through an invitation to dinner, a walk, a car ride, or some other plan, which will bring the scholar and teacher together naturally. With this knowledge in hand, the teacher can prepare the lesson to fit the individual needs of the pupil.

(d) Visits the parents.

(e) Is always on hand, unless unavoidably prevented, in which case the president of the class is notified.

(f) Has a capable substitute teacher to supply in the event of such absence.

(g) Realizes that the function of his office is that of friend and counselor.

(h) Follows up an absentee (1) through the other members of the class; (2) Membership Committee; (3) telephone; (4) postcard or letter; (5) personal call.

(i) Does not play favorites, nor neglect the less aggressive scholar.

(j) Has a plan and an objective, with special emphasis on the training of older boys for leadership of groups of younger boys.

(k) Always keeps in mind that the supreme task and privilege of the teacher are to win the boy to Christ for service in His church.

The Teacher and the Home

The Teacher can do his best work when working in conjunction with the home. It is a good plan to visit the father and mother of the boy. It is also a pretty good thing to occasionally drop in to see the father and mother personally, telling them how the boy is getting along. An invitation extended to the parents through the boy himself to attend a week-night meeting of the class will also afford a valuable means of contact with the home and parents.

The Teacher should by no means try to become a father to the boy. The responsibility and duties of parents must not for one moment devolve upon him. The following editorial from a New York evening newspaper puts this idea in a very clear manner, and it should be given careful consideration by every teacher:

"It takes time to point a boy right. The great merchant can touch a desk bell to give orders for a steamship or a draft of a million dollars. But the merchant's young son, age fourteen, cannot be touched off in that way. The lad has just begun to move out among other boys. They do a world of talking, these young chaps. The father must watch that talk, and he can, if he will take the time.

"The older man has every advantage, for he is looked up to and beloved. It is not so much the 'don'ts' as the 'do's' that constitute his power. He can inspire with high resolve. He can narrate his own victories over sore trials and fiery tests of his integrity. He can draw the sting of poisonous suggestions, moral disheartenings and malice which his child has been cherishing in his young heart. But this means time, and time may be money. Yet no money can buy this sort of instruction, nor put a price on it. The coin is struck in the soul. It is the costliest barter, the very exchange of the soul.

"Boys who go right have invariably had a world of time spent on them in this way. Boys go wrong because the father would not take the time from the market. In after years the same parent will take vastly more time to try, in tears of sorrow, to straighten out that boy."

The Teacher and the School

The Teacher must keep in mind that it is his business to work in cooperation with all of the forces that are trying to help the boy to live rightly in his community. The work of the public school must continue to go on without a break if the ideals of our American citizenship are to be maintained, and it is the business of the Teacher to give his support, encouragement and cooperation for the carrying out of the idea for which the school stands. The public school seeks to give the boy the necessary education toward his earning a livelihood, and the business of the Sunday school Teacher is to give him the right impulses for his moral and religious life—to inspire him to seek the best in everything. The Sunday school Teacher is in partnership with the public school teacher in the education of the boy.

Several well-defined and exceedingly clear principles of action underlie the successful handling of groups of boys:

First, there must be a clear plan well thought out, progressive in its stages with an aim for each stage. In other words, no man need try to work with a group of boys unless he knows what he wants to do, not only in outline but in detail. He must have these details in mind and so well worked out in his thought, knowing exactly what comes next and just what is to be added to that which he has already accomplished, as to be master of the situation at all times and to be the recognized leader. Not only this, but the boys must feel that he really knows what he is driving at in everything that he attempts.

Secondly, before the leader of a group of boys tries to do anything with the group, if he is to be successful, it is necessary for him to make a frankly outlined statement of his plan. That is to say, he should tell the boys what the game is and how it is to be played, getting their approval, and agreement to get in on the deal. He can explain this to all of the boys at one time or singly to each boy. There is no question but that he will succeed best if he will go over the matter first with each individual boy personally, finding out his individual impressions and opinions, and also having discussion before the group. This being done the boys know the plan, the leader knows what he is working toward, and the leader and the boys are partners in the work. Too often groups of boys are brought together and the aim is so hazy in the leader's mind that all the boys can possibly see in the scheme is a "good time."

Thirdly, the best way to have boys accomplish things is to allow them to do the things. Many a leader of boys thinks out a plan, gives it to a group of boys and then thinks that the boys are themselves doing it, whereas he is only trying to use the boys as his instrument. The most effectual way of getting boys to do things themselves is to let them do as much as they can and will do under adequate supervision. Lead by suggestion, so that unconsciously the boys follow your advice and dictation, giving them the benefit of their decisions and impulses. Pure self-government in which the boys are entirely the dictators of their policies and activities cannot be thought of, because such a course is so generally fatal to successful development. But self-government fostered and dealt with through suggestion by the adult mind is just what is needed, and should always be encouraged.

Fourth, in letting the boys run their own affairs in this way the Teacher must become a real leader. A real leader never stalks in front, nor gives orders openly. The generals of today fight their battles and win them twenty-five miles in the rear of the firing line. So it is with the Teacher. He must be the power behind the throne, rather than the throne itself. He must be as a conscience—to hold the boys back just a little when they go too fast and to push just a little when they are going too slow. The Teacher must recognize himself to be the impetus, not the goal. The solution of each problem that comes before the class should not only be considered by the whole group, but should be solved by the boys. The important thing for the Teacher to remember in these matters is that the method of practical American citizenship is the majority rule. But this boy majority rule should, of course, be tempered by governing leadership. Thus the Teacher will not do anything that the boy can do himself, and he will be continually placing responsibility on the lad. Responsibility is the great maker of men.

Fifth, there will be of course noticeable differences among the boys of any class. The most serious differences arise even among men. The boys will "scrap" at times, and there will sometimes be a tension and rigidity about their discussions that will approach the breaking point. Through it all it will be difficult for the Teacher to keep himself patiently aloof and allow the thing to work out its own way. Sometimes an appeal will be made to him to settle the dispute, and he will be tempted to do so, but often such action will imperil the object for which he is working. It is best to allow the boys to discuss, and try out all of their logic before he begins to make suggestions and, if he can get the boys to settle the matter themselves, it is to his interest to do so. If a deadlock threatens to exist, then by wise counsel and judicious suggestions he may be able to lead the boys out of a quandary in such a way that it will look as if the boys had gotten out of the difficulty themselves. This will certainly add strength to their organization, and they will settle their own quarrels with peace and dignity. Sometimes the break between the boys will be so bitter as to cause the formation of intensely hostile factions, and then the best thing the Teacher can do is not to try any new patching or drawing together of the opposing forces. There is no use trying to make boys who are bitterly antagonistic agreeable to each other. Let them make new alignments if necessary and in combinations of their own choosing, even if the result should be the formation of new classes.

Sixth, the boys should make their own rules for their own government, and they should also deal as a group with the infringement of their rules. This will solve the discipline problem of the Teacher. Responsibility should be the keynote of government, and the awakening of such a feeling in the boys should be the goal.

The Adolescent Change

Until about the age of twelve the boy is distinctly individualistic and selfish. At about twelve years of age his whole nature begins to change because of the change in his bodily functions. This change occurs anywhere from the twelfth to the sixteenth year and is really determined by his physical development rather than by his chronological age. The change of bodily functions gives him a new outlook upon life. He begins to see and understand that he is a part of the community in which he is living and begins to understand that the community life is made possible by a disposition on the part of his neighbors to help each other. He also begins to understand the institutional life about him and the family and sex tie on which it is based. He sees also the need of the school, the church and other public institutions. He also begins to appreciate the wider range of things. Nature has greater appeal to him now than ever. The woods and streams and outdoor life get a new significance, and the question of livelihood, whether rural and agricultural, or in the line of the various industries, takes a firm hold upon his imagination, and gives him a life-compelling purpose. He begins to feel the mating call and at its first impression is attracted to the other sex, with the result that by and by he also becomes a husband and father and a full-fledged citizen among his fellows. Up to the age of adolescence, however, none of these emotions stir the boy.

GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE ADOLESCENT AGE

The interests of the adolescent boy are general and not specialized between the twelfth and eighteenth years. The boy gets his impressions of the community objectively, in addition to increasing his knowledge of the external world through his acquaintanceship with its phenomena. The Universe and the Community are extensive and many sided. The step also between twelve and eighteen years is short. The boy's contact with these, then, must be rapid and general.

CHARACTERISTICS OF THE EARLY ADOLESCENT AGE

The early adolescent age from twelve to fifteen years is characterized by a rapid and uneven growth during which vitality and energy alternate with languorousness, and the boy is awkward and lazy, with bones greatly outgrowing muscle. The boy also begins to take a new interest in sex and sex relations, his features and voice change, and the inherited tendencies begin to assert themselves. His health is usually at its best, and during his active moments he is boisterous and vigorously energetic. He is selfish, but shows signs of altruism; his regard for law increases; the spirit of gang leadership begins to show itself; his longing for friendship is noticeable; his sense of secretiveness is apparent; and his self-assertiveness first begins to be manifested. He is creative in imagination, shows marvelous powers of inference, becomes strongly intellectual, begins to manifest analytic reasoning, imitates the ideal, is uncertain in making decisions, is influenced by suggestion, and possesses generally a strong but not a logical memory. He develops natural religious notions, has strong impulses to do big things, has definite convictions as to his belief in God and Heaven and the understanding of traditional religious terms, shows a noticeable lack of interest in the forms of worship, but a keen appreciation of the spiritual, and is passing through a period when great resolves are most often made.

CHARACTERISTICS OF LATER ADOLESCENCE

During the period of later adolescence from fifteen to eighteen years of age, the body nearly attains its maximum growth, the mind begins to show its dominance over the body, and all the bodily impulses grow stronger and more vigorous. Altruism steadily increases; the consciousness of society grows; an appreciation of individual worth and thought develops; the call of sex and the love emotion grows in strength; sentiment is inclined to become strong; boundless enthusiasm manifests itself; and organization and cooperation begin to appeal and be appreciated more and more. There is a growth in logic, independent thought, alertness in thinking, and quickness of receptive powers. The boy at this age is in the period of highest resolves and greatest endeavor, is apt to show religious skepticism, and reason often takes the place of his faith.

Classes of Boys or Boy Types

In talking about boys either in the aggregate or as individuals it is best to consider them as representative of certain definite types. Boy life can be more easily considered in this way by making special study of particular boy types. In the first place there are the psychological types—the choleric, the sanguine, the phlegmatic, and the hybrid. There are also the types of real life with which we are most familiar—the masterful, the weak, the mischievous, the backward, the shy, the bully, the joker, the "smartie," the echo or shadow, the quiet or reticent, the girl-struck, the self-conscious, the unconscious, and the forgetful. Lastly, we should also consider the different types of the unfortunate boys, including the deficient, the delinquent, the criminal, the dependent, the neglected, the foreign born, the wage-earner, the poverty-stricken, boys of very wealthy parents, overambitious boys who have overambitious parents, and street boys who are either loafers or engaged in street trades, or are compelled to use the street as a playground.

THE CHOLERIC BOY

The choleric fellow who is always off at "half-cock," running his head into danger whenever he can, and who is extremely hectic in his make-up, is always a problem. He needs a strong hand. Sometimes he will need even physical repression, but he always demands great care and patience. The Teacher should deal with each class of boys largely by suggestion, but in the case of the choleric fellow he will often need to use orders and demonstrate that he himself is in the saddle.

THE SANGUINE BOY

The sanguine fellow is the normal boy who, having a good digestion, a good home and no cause for worry, sees things as they are and is apt to take them as they come. He will be the easiest kind of a boy to get along with, and the only thing that the Teacher will have to do may be to provide for stimulation of his interest and ambition.

THE PHLEGMATIC TYPE

The phlegmatic chap requires patience more than anything else; generally slow of body, he is usually slow of speech and thought. If the Teacher is not careful he will be apt to call him "dense," and speak to him sharply and at times rather crossly. He cannot do this if he expects to win the fellow. Temperamentally, nature has made him what he is, and the Teacher will have to work harder, make things more concrete that he wants to teach, and hold his impatience in check. Phlegmatic though he is, he will prove solid in everything he does, and he will be either a rock of strength or of weakness to the Teacher. If he likes the Teacher nothing will shake his love, but if he has a dislike for him, then the Teacher is at the end of his endeavor as far as he is concerned.

THE HYBRID BOY IS A PROBLEM

The hybrid boy always furnishes a guessing contest—impulsive today, he has to be repressed; phlegmatic tomorrow, he has to be stimulated; and he may be sanguine the next day. There never was a pleasanter boy to work with, but like the chameleon you are never sure of his color.

"Breath of balm and snow, June and March together, In an hour or so."

Just because he is so changeable the Teacher should show him his best thought and work. It is just such fellows who are inclined to be shiftless and who are generally crowded out in the fight for life. Somewhere in the boy's nature, if the Teacher is patient, he will find the rock bottom upon which to build manhood and citizenship. Such achievement, however, comes only by great patience and hard work.

THE MASTERFUL BOY AND THE WEAK BOY

The masterful and weak boys represent the antipodes of boyhood. The masterful boy will see things quickly, will be the leader of his gang, will instinctively dominate and run the class unless the Teacher is on his job. The weak boy will follow anywhere, be the cause good or bad, and become either a devil or a saint. The masterful boy may be handled by appealing to his sense of leadership. Responsibility should be placed upon him. The Teacher should make him feel that he is leaning heavily on him. The weak boy on the other hand should be tied up to some steady phlegmatic fellow, the phlegmatic fellow being given the vision of how he can be an older brother to the boy not as strong as himself. The result will be that the weak boy will catch some of the spirit of the phlegmatic chap, and gradually get some depth for himself.

THE MISCHIEVOUS BOY

Of all the boy types, the mischievous boy furnishes the real pleasure for the worker with boys. The fellow whose eyes can twinkle and who will play a practical trick on the friend he most respects is always a delight. It is he that keeps the crowd in good humor, who is generally deepest and most abiding in his affection, and who at the drop of the hat would fight to the last ditch for his friend. To handle him rightly does not require a six-foot rod, or a half-inch rule. But the Teacher must keep him so busy doing the things that he likes that he will have no dull moments in which to vent his inborn sense of humor.

THE BACKWARD BOY

The backward boy will need to be led out of himself. Give him things to do which will make him forget himself and, by careful utilization of his time, gradually he will develop into a normal boy.

THE SHY BOY

The shy boy has merely become shy because of lack of association. Usually he has been brought up with his mother and sisters and merely lacks the touch of a man and a man's viewpoint. After he comes in contact with other boys, this will wear away. The problem of the Teacher is to get the other boys in his class to pilot the boy into the deeper waters.

"SMARTIE" AND JOKER TYPES

The "smartie" and the joker types are thorns in the flesh. Just as thorns when pressed in too deeply require a surgical operation to remove them, so it may be necessary for the Teacher to "sit on" both the "smartie" and the joker. If the other boys of the class make up their minds to unite in the task, both the "smartie" and joker will become normal boys in less than one season's activities, and the Teacher will show his generalship to be of the real sort by enlisting the other boys to do the job.

THE ECHO OR SHADOW TYPE

The echo or shadow type is a serious problem. He it is who generally hinders the good things in life and helps the bad. He can swear by the ward boss in party politics, or he can prove himself an obstacle in the way of civic and national righteousness. The Teacher's task in his case is to somehow or other strike the cord of independence, teach him to do things by himself, think for himself and stand on his own feet. Along the coasts of the North Sea, they teach boys to swim by throwing them out beyond their depth. It may be necessary to awaken manhood and independence in the echo by swamping him when he is alone.

THE BULLY

The bully will be the worst type for the Teacher until the right boy comes along; there is no use in the Teacher worrying himself until he does, because of the bully's bluster and bluff. Usually the normal boy will accept him at his face value, and it is only when a lad with self-assertion comes along that the sparks will fly. Then the bully will have to back down or take his medicine. A fight between boys is usually not a good thing, but when it comes to putting the bully in his place it is one of the greatest institutions that the savage man has invented. Once a bully has lost his place, he may bluster, but his bluff is over.

THE QUIET OR RETICENT BOY

The quiet or reticent fellow is like the mighty sweeping river. He has depths which have been unsounded, and his life has promise of great possibilities. Just the opposite of the bully, he never blusters but thinks out everything as it comes to him. Every impression is stored away and out of the countless impressions which are made upon him there emerges a man of real and wide interests. The task of the Teacher in his case will be to discover his interests and help him to discover himself.

THE GIRL-STRUCK BOY

The girl-struck fellow somewhat discourages the worker with boys, and yet it is natural that the boy should look with favorable eyes upon the girl, just as the robin hears and answers to the call of his mate. Let no Teacher or any worker with boys of any organization that has ever been founded dream for one moment that either he or his institutions can ever block out the lure of the girl. The girl-struck boy will have numerous cases of puppy love, and it will be the task of the Teacher to lead the boy into the kind of social relations that will enable him to be a real value to those of the opposite sex whom he may meet. The boy will prove a much better husband and father because of his experience.

THE SELF-CONSCIOUS AND THE UNCONSCIOUS BOY

The self-conscious and the unconscious boys are merely victims of their surroundings. The self-conscious fellow has no confidence in himself. He is continuously measuring himself by others and is possibly the victim of parental teaching. The constant injunction to act like "Little Willie" next door may have gotten on the boy's nerves, and if the lad has a chance without undue embarrassment he will soon reach the normal stage, and be always a little more courteous and respectful and thoughtful than the fellow without this experience. The unconscious fellow on the other hand will plug along doing all sorts of absurd things, because of his lack of knowledge of the fitness of things. He is generally the boy who grows up without any sense of consistency, and who has had very much his own way of doing things. He will need to be helped to adjust himself to his environment and to the way that other fellows live. He also will develop as a good man if the Teacher is a good worker.

THE FORGETFUL BOY

The same may be said about the forgetful boy and, in fact, about all boys. The forgetful boy has merely not been interested enough to give his attention to the things that the Teacher wants him to do. Once a boy has his interest aroused, the Teacher will have no need of complaint of forgetfulness or of any lack of interest in the boy.

THE UNFORTUNATE BOYS

The types which have been discussed will generally work out all right and find their places in the various social strata in the community in which they live. The unfortunate boys, however, are handicapped tremendously by their environment and surroundings, and it will often become a part of the Teacher's work to help secure a change in these environments. Boys of very wealthy parents and boys from homes of poverty are usually sinned against by their parents. The parents of both are either so busy making money and spending it in the social whirl, or so pushed by the pangs of hunger and the fight for life, that the children who are brought into the world are left either very much to themselves or to underlings who have very little interest in the boy's welfare. It is these neglected boys that oftenest produce our great criminals. All boys of this type somehow or other are tied together. The neglected boy generally becomes the delinquent and the delinquent boy the criminal, so that what might be said about one might also be said about all. This class constitutes our national deficit when we come to consider our assets in manhood, and the Teacher can do a tremendous thing here by helping to form the undeveloped wills of these unfortunate fellows.

THE DEFICIENT AND THE DEPENDENT

The deficient boy and the dependent are really out of the scope of the Teacher. The dependent class will have to be taken care of by the charitable institutions of the State, and the deficient boy because of his lack of mental development will always be a ward of the community.

THE WAGE-EARNER AND THE OVERAMBITIOUS BOYS

The wage-earning boys and the boys of overambitious parents or those who are overambitious themselves need all the help and sympathy that they can get from a Teacher. The father who is pushing his boy because of his own ambition will very often need to be talked to by the Teacher or his friends, and given an understanding of the crime he is committing against his own child. The overambitious fellow who is pushing everything aside for a definite thing in life will often have to be talked to in the plainest language by the Teacher to get him to see his other responsibilities and duties in life. The wage-earning boy who works from early in the morning until late at night to keep bread in his mouth and breath in his body will compel the Teacher, if he is really thoughtful, to give up some of the things which he has already held dearest and possibly lead his wage-earning boy into outdoor activities, even on the half holidays which he would naturally spend in the circle of his own family.

THE STREET, FOREIGN-BORN AND NEGRO BOYS

The street, foreign-born and negro boys will furnish very much the same kind of problem; because of a general rule, they may be all grouped under the wage-earning class. Some may be more shiftless than others and may need more attention, while others may be merely awaiting the touch of sympathy and the helping hand to make strong men out of them. A goodly percentage of our greatest Americans have been foreign-born boys, and, if there is any class that the Teacher should be more patient with than others, it is the immigrant and the son of the immigrant.

Grouping Standards

The Teacher will find it greatly to his advantage to group his boys according to some standard. Unfortunately, all standards, so far, are more or less artificial, but approximate success may be secured by using the experience of boy workers in various parts of the country. The standard which is most generally used is that of age. It is also the most unsatisfactory. Boys mature physically rather than chronologically. This makes the age standard a poor guess, because a boy may be physically fourteen when he is chronologically eleven, and vice versa. If the age standard be used, it would be preferable to group all the boys of twelve years together, then the thirteen-year-old boys in another group, and the same with the fourteen, the fifteen, the sixteen, and the seventeen-year-old boys. This would be rather hard to do in small places, although perfectly feasible in a larger town or city. Because of its impossibility, as far as the rural districts are concerned, it might be well to divide the years from twelve to eighteen into three standards—twelve to fourteen, fourteen to sixteen, and sixteen to eighteen. The age grouping, however, will never be reliable in achieving results, as the individual physical development varies so much.

The height and weight standard is more scientifically correct than the age standard, although it has not been tested out enough to warrant any authoritative declaration in its favor. If this method is used for grouping, the standards for athletic competition among the boys might be used; that is, all the boys of ninety pounds and under might be put together, the same being true for those under one hundred and ten, one hundred and twenty-five, and one hundred and forty pounds. If height is used, boys of fifty-six and a half inches in height and classifying under ninety pounds in weight might be grouped together. Also boys of sixty-three inches in height and coming within the one hundred and ten pound weight. This standard will doubtless become the real basis of all groupings in the future, but as yet it needs more demonstration in order that the various classifications may be made accurately.

A simple and rather satisfactory way of grouping is by the school boy or wage-earning boy standard. If the boy happens to be in the grammar school he may be grouped with boys of his own educational advancement; so with the boys who are in the secondary or high schools, and the same may be said of working boys who are forced to earn their own livelihood.

Possibly the best and most satisfactory way of grouping boys is by their interest. Some boys will be mutually interested in collecting stamps, riding a bicycle, forming a mounted patrol, working with wireless, in music and orchestra work, etc., and boys grouping together according to such kindred interests as they manifest has proven most satisfactory in general boys' work.

Problems of Boy-handling Simplified by Natural Standard Grouping

Grouping the boys according to natural standards makes the problem of handling them much simpler. Boys between twelve and fourteen are in the age of authority, and the word of the Teacher will settle most difficulties that arise. Boys between fourteen and sixteen are in the age of experience, and an opportunity must be given them to check up what they are told by what they are experiencing. Between twelve and fourteen authority may be rigid. Between fourteen and sixteen it must be giving way to reason. Authority will still continue to settle the boys' disputes, but it will be the authority that gives reasons for its action. Boys between the ages of sixteen and eighteen years can only be handled on the basis of cooperation. They have passed from the stage of blindly following what they are told. They have experience enough to know that they are able to do things themselves, and they have discovered enough things to give them a basis of doing things on their own account. The way to handle boys rightly in this group will be by tactful suggestion and cooperation on the part of the teacher. There will be very little difficulty with the groupings if the Sunday school superintendent or teacher respects the natural, group "ganging" of the boys. The boys themselves group, not according to mental efficiency tests, but according to physiological development. Thus we find boys of various chronological ages in the same gang. A little common sense will prevent many blunders.

Securing Teen Age Teachers

As soon as Sunday school teaching becomes a dignified, worth-while job, men will be attracted to the task and privilege. The unemployed male members of the church will then be led to see that there is something real to be achieved. The vision of a symmetrically developed boy is all that is needed to get most men. Of course, they demand a plan, and the organized Sunday school class with through-the-week activities will supply that.

Sometimes it is a good thing to send the boys themselves after the teachers. This has been found to be of great profit in several places. The request coming from the boys means a lot more than coming from the superintendent. The following extracts from two letters of a teen age superintendent give point to this idea.

"On Sunday a bunch of the younger boys came to Mr. Ball, and said, 'We have no teacher; will you get one for us?' Mr. Ball looked at them, and said, 'Who do you want, fellows?' They looked at each other—this was something new. 'Who do we want?' and the leader turned around and said to the fellows, 'Say, fellows, who do we want?' A hurried consultation revealed the fact that they wanted, of course, one of the prominent men of the church. Mr. Ball said, 'All right; get hold of my coat-tail'; and the crew got hold, and formed a snake line, and out of the school they went, upstairs to one of the class-rooms, in search of Mr. B. They found that he had left for home, and the boys looked at Mr. Ball and said, 'Now, what shall we do?' Mr. Ball said, 'Well, fellows, you know where he lives. I can't go with you, but you fellows go to his home and camp there until he says yes.' Off they started. Several men were telling me this story, and one is a neighbor of Mr. B's. He said that when he got home from Sunday school last Sunday—a bitter cold day—he went out into his back yard, and, glancing over the fences, he saw a bunch of twelve boys lined up on Mr. B's back porch, stamping their feet. He called across to them, 'Say, fellows, what's the matter?' 'We're looking for a Sunday school teacher,' they yelled back. He said he thought he'd drop.

"The next morning Mr. Ball met Mr. B. in the street car, and he grinned across at him and said, 'Did a group of boys call on you yesterday, Mr. B.?' 'They certainly did,' he replied, with a broad grin. 'Well, did they get you?' 'Did they get me? Yes, they sure got me, and from now on I'm going to teach their class; there was nothing else for me to do.'"

The story of another teacher acquired in this way reads as follows:

"Before the boys got to his house the man was getting ready for bed. He had fixed the furnace, and had his bath robe on when the door-bell rang. He had just said to his wife that he did not think any one would call that night, and it was then about nine-thirty. When the bell rang his wife snickered,' as he put it. He went down stairs, turned the gas on low, and opened the door. Three older fellows stood on the porch. He looked at them and they at him and then he asked them in. They filed in—fellows 17 and 18 years of age. He led the way into the library, like a monk in flowing robes, and the three fellows followed. Seating themselves solemnly they stated the cause of their visit, and he started to remonstrate, etc. They settled themselves comfortably in their chairs, and said they had come to camp there until he 'saw it.' This is the man's own story. He said that when he saw they were in earnest he told them he would like to teach a class of fellows such as they, and that he would take the class if they would get on the job."

The Teen Age Older Boy as Teacher

Increasing attention is being given in some places to the training of older boys for the teaching of younger groups in the Sunday school. On "Decision Day" volunteers are being asked to enter a Training Class, and choice Christian boys are in this way being interested in the teaching work of the school. In other places older boys are being put in charge of younger boys' classes, and are meeting, either on Sunday or on a week-night, for training. This latter plan affords real laboratory work, without which teacher-training courses are pure theory. We learn by doing.

The teen age boy as teacher will ultimately solve the problem of the teen age teaching force. As Japan, Corea, India and China must eventually be Christianized by native Christian forces, so the teen age in the Sunday school will, of necessity, in principle and practice, be led by the teen age. The duty of the missionary in non-christian lands is to train the native forces for the task of Christianizing these lands; likewise, the men of this Sunday school generation must lead and train the older adolescent in the Secondary Division of the school for the leading of the teen age into the service of the church.

PREPARATION FOR TEACHING

The really great task of the Christian adult and older boy in the Sunday school is a real training for service. Stopping the leak from the teen age in the Sunday school will never be accomplished until workers are willing to prepare and equip themselves to a point where their wisdom, ability and consecration will attract the active minds of the teen boys. Every teacher should be an International Standard Teacher Training graduate. Information concerning this course can be obtained from any Sunday School Association.

PATIENCE NECESSARY IN THE TEACHER

Things cannot happen in a day. Christianity itself is a growing, developing thing. "First the seed, then the blade, then the ear, then the full corn in the ear." Have patience! Maybe you will have to win the boys yourself first, before you can win them for Him. Read this letter from a man who has the vision, the plan and a lot of common-sense patience, and think it over:

"Very recently I came across your card, and it brought to mind the promise I made to report progress with my class of boys.

"You see so many people in the course of a week, to say nothing of a couple of months, that it may be well to remind you that I am the chap who came to your room in ——, and afterward stuck to you all the way to —— when you were leaving town.

"When I saw you I was having an average attendance of three, if one is allowed to stretch a fraction of a boy into a whole one, and a membership in the class of four. These boys had lost all interest in the Sunday school, and it was only that 'Dad said you must' that any of them came at all to the service.

"Today I have done as well as the faithful servants, and behold my four talents have gained other four. There is no longer a membership and average attendance, for they all come when they are not sick or out of town; and one thing which is a wonder to me is that a good many of the boys from other schools come to us whenever there is no service in their own churches.

"I have not said 'now boys' to this class once, but we have gone hunting caves and are going again next Thursday, and we are all going camping if we can arrange a time during the summer.

"These boys, who used to come to the church with a lurching walk and underlip stuck out, now come in like men. They have covered the class room walls with pictures from magazines, have brought rocking chairs from home and use their room as the place to plan the fun for the following week. They have, after some pretty violent pushing from the teacher, petitioned the powers to give the basement of the church over to them and the other classes of intermediate grade for the purpose of having a social evening once each week. The petition has been granted and we will probably open up about May 16th.

"None of my class show any violent signs of getting converted yet, but when one considers that this is a class who could not keep a teacher over three or four Sundays; who used to start a rough-house on all proper and improper occasions, and who had been known to throw books or any other handy article when they got sick of hearing any more Bible, I think I can report progress.

"The most of my boys were arrested a couple of months ago for breaking into summer camps and looking around. Today three of them came to my office with one of their friends who had cut his foot and told me all about their trouble, owning up to the whole business and ending by saying that if I would take their Boy Scout society they would cut all that kind of business out. I wish to God I had the time to take up this Boy Scout job, but I have not; but I will do the next best thing by taking them hiking on Thursday, which is my day of rest.

"One can't teach boys like these the beauties of religion any more than he can teach Greek to a puppy. They are not up to this kind of thing, so I am trying to teach them to be men, and when we get that lesson we will try the higher one. Of course, I give them the moral side of every lesson and point out how God has worked through some mighty mean material.

"We still have a fight once in a while during class hours, and I call time when they get too near the stove, but this is to be expected in a class which is entirely self-governing. I never have said one word about anything they have done in the class, except to impress upon them that they should be men and the lesson is working slowly.

"Now, my good sir, don't try to reply to this letter. I know you get a good many just like it, and I am writing just to give you my experience in the hope that it may help some one else; also because I promised to let you know what progress the class was making.

"If you will drop into —— in a year from now I hope to be able to point to a much larger class than the first six months has shown and to show you the majority in the church.

"Thanking you for reading this far and with kindest wishes, I am "Very truly yours."

The Boy the Main Issue

The idea that must continually be kept in mind is the boy's good and the boy. A lot of our teachers in the public schools are trying to teach the subject-matter of the book when they ought to be teaching the boy. They employ static methods. You can get up a goal for attainment and the boy will reach the goal. Generally, however, he will go no higher than you point. Your teaching should be dynamic rather than static.

Aim to secure balanced, symmetrical activities for your class. Remember your boy is four-sided, that he is physical, mental, social and religious in his nature. Do not neglect any one side of him, but get the proper agencies to cooperate with you for these ends. Let the boys do whatever they can. Merely insist on adequate adult supervision. Above all be patient, practical and business-like and remember that old heads never grow on young shoulders. The Sunday school Teacher should take his place in the community by the side of the teacher of secular instruction. He is an educator, and is dealing with the most plastic and most valuable asset in the community—boyhood. Let him take his task seriously, look upon his privilege with a desire to accomplish great things, and always remember that the good of the boy is his ultimate aim.

BIBLIOGRAPHY ON THE TEEN AGE TEACHER

Brumbaugh.—The Making of a Teacher ($1.00).

Foster.—Starting to Teach (.40).

James.—Talks to Teachers ($1.50).

Kirkpatrick.—Individual in the Making ($1.25).

McElfresh.—Training of Sunday-school Teachers (in preparation).

Schauffler.—Lamoreaux-Brumbaugh-Lawrance. Training the Teacher ($1.00).



XX

DANGER POINTS

A real danger lies in boys' groups which are seemingly organized, yet which really have no organization. A few Bible classes have officers, such as president, secretary, and treasurer, and a few standing committees, all of whom take no real part in the class life, the teacher doing everything himself and attempting to deceive the boys by giving them a show of organization. Such classes are detrimental to the spirit of boys' work, and should not be tolerated.

The teacher who cannot retire his leadership to the rear of the class, instead of posing at the front, is another serious damper to organized work with boys in the Sunday school. A leader should have a strong Christian character, have the quality of commanding the respect of boys, have the ability to direct boys in doing things, be keen in his sympathy, have patience and persistence, and be absolutely natural in his bearing. He encourages freedom of thought on the part of the boys, believes that a boy has brains enough of his own to think on any point that may be discussed, is open and above-board in his teaching, has a strong grip upon the practical truths of life, and tries to lead his boys out of doubt and difficulty by the path of service.

If dangers such as these be eliminated from boys' work in connection with the Sunday school, and if the spirit of sincerity and earnestness pervades the work of the leaders, there should be little difficulty in raising the boy through the physical, social and mental to the larger spiritual expression for which the church stands. Every week hundreds of boys of the adolescent years are lining up for Christian service all over our land, and if the ideas and directions given these boys are of the right sort, within one generation there will be no boy problem, for the boy problem of this generation is not the problem of the boys, but the problem of the men who are leading boys.

BIBLIOGRAPHY ON DANGER POINTS

The Older Boy Sunday School Superintendent (American Youth, October, 1912). (.20).

Robinson.—The Adolescent Boy in the Sunday School (American Youth, April, 1911). Single copies out of print but bound volume for 1911 may be obtained for $1.50.

Statten.—Danger Lines in Using Boys (American Youth, June, 1912) (.20).



XXI

THE RURAL SUNDAY SCHOOL

The problem of the rural Sunday school is its size and equipment. The average number in the school is around eighty, and the building is nearly always a single room. Some very small villages, near great cities, and even some struggling mission Sunday schools in these cities have to contend with the same problem. Some of this volume will apply to the rural Sunday school, and some will not. It is the province of this chapter to point out the parts that apply.

Everything that has to deal with the Organized Class or group is applicable. The Organized Class is the unit and beginning of all organization. The boy gang, or group, is common to both city and rural district. There is no problem in either place, if there is no group of boys. The Departmental groupings may not be feasible. Usually they are not. There may not be enough groups of boys to form a club or Boy Scout Troop or a chapter of a boy order. Generally this is true. And, after all, it is a distinct gain to the Sunday school, as the grouping that is made by force of compulsion is the Organized Class or group. The chapter on the Organized Sunday School Bible Class will apply itself to the rural school, wherever there is a half dozen boys and it is given a chance.

The chapter on Bible Study will likewise fit into the rural situation. No matter whether the boys be urban or rural, they demand Bible Study that will fit into their religious, developing needs. Perhaps Bible Study courses with rural application need to be arranged, and I am led to believe that the illustrative material should be vastly different from that used for city boys, and of a rural character. However, there has been too much written and spoken of the difference between rural and urban boys. The differences discovered by the writer seem to be all in favor of the country boy—more wholesome surroundings, more quiet and less nerve-destroying interests, and more time, because of fewer commercial amusements to really discover things for themselves. The average rural boy has read more and knows more about current events than the city-bred lad. The country boy should not be provincialized by his Bible Study, or anything else. He should be given as large a touch with the world of men and letters as any one else. The illustrations used in Lesson Helps, etc., should have some bearing on the life he leads, that the application of the study may germinate in his daily life, else the study will have little meaning, but he needs no separate, distinct courses. It is not a different selection of material, but a different treatment that is needed. The Denominational Leaders will sooner or later be forced to heed this cry from the largest section of the Sunday school field. Until they do Graded Lessons will not gain materially in the open country.

On the other hand, where there is only one group of adolescent boys in the Sunday school, Graded Lessons are practicable, as well as necessary to the best religious development of boyhood. The grading is cut down to a minimum, and it merely means fewer classes studying the same lesson. It would mean just the one group, with a new course each year. The difficulty is not with the lessons, but with the school officials and the teacher.

The chapter on Through-the-Week Activities is very applicable. The gang will get together some time, on Saturday night, if not at another time. The Young Men's Christian Association County Work Secretaries are getting the boys of the open country together for week-night meetings without trouble. "Get something doing" and see how quickly the rural boys will get together. These activities again will differ greatly from those of city boys. There will be great emphasis on the Social and Mental as against the Out-of-Door doings of the urban adolescents. The principle already laid down, to let the boys themselves decide the activity, will settle this difficulty at the start.

So as to the chapter on the Teen Age Teacher! Boys and men are the same pretty much, wherever they live. They may be more deliberate, less showy, and steadier in some places than others, but we cannot admit inferiority or lack of interest on the part of the splendid rural boy. He is filling the big jobs in our cities today, and will as long as the cities last. The teen age teacher in the rural school needs to master himself for his task. He is doing a bigger piece of work than his brother of the city school. He is preparing men for urban leadership.

To make a long story short, the parts of this book that deal with the small group are applicable to the rural Sunday school. The teen age teacher in the rural school should begin with these, and maybe after a while he will see opportunities for larger groupings. The Young Men's Christian Association County Work Secretary certainly is. Inter-Sunday school work is possible by the Sunday school forces themselves.

A fitting close to this chapter is the challenge to the teen age teachers of the rural schools, which Mr. Preston G. Orwig has hurled at North America:

"Every rural school has its quota of workers who are, perhaps unconsciously, limiting their own usefulness, as well as retarding the progress of the school, by meeting every new plan of work proposed with the statement that, 'That plan is all right for the city, but it won't work here because we have so few members and our people live so far apart.' With the exception of the man who constantly reminds us that 'we did not do it this way thirty years ago,' and who, in some cases, is really a menace to the work, there is no greater obstacle confronting workers in rural schools.

"In a recent conference of Secondary Division workers in rural Sunday schools, a speaker was advocating the necessity of recognizing the fourfold—physical, mental, social and spiritual—life of the scholars, in planning for the work of the class. The tremendous opportunity of teachers for reaching adolescent boys for Jesus Christ, through their physical and social instincts, was emphasized. Luke 2:52 was quoted to clinch the argument. In the discussion that followed everybody seemed satisfied that a broader policy of work should be pursued. At this juncture a man in the audience arose, and, in a most uncompromising manner, attempted to show that it was useless to promote such methods for rural schools, as the scattered population and limited membership made it impossible to develop the work along the lines proposed.

"Later in the day, two of the members in this man's own class were interviewed, and, in answer to direct questions concerning the above two points, stated that during the winter months older boys and girls, many of whom attended that very school, went as often as three nights a week to a small pond in the community to skate, some of them traveling from three to four miles to get there. Other sports were indulged in, according to the season, and, according to these boys, they seldom experienced great difficulty in getting 'a crowd' together. Frequently their games wound up in a grand free-for-all fight.

"Now, had this teacher recognized the educative value of supervised play and planned to meet his fellows on the ice, as a class, he would have formed contacts there which he could never hope to form by simply meeting them in the Sunday afternoon session. In addition to that he would have an opportunity to help the class to apply practically the truths of the Sunday lesson in the activities of everyday life.

"It would be well for such workers to remember that in some of our larger cities one must oftentimes travel from one to two hours on crowded trolley cars, in distance, perhaps, eight or ten miles, in order to meet with his class. Again, in some sections of the city, populated mostly by foreigners, the Sunday schools are often smaller, in point of membership, than many of the rural schools.

"It matters not whether the boy or girl lives in the city or country, the needs are the same. What is needed is 'Visioned Leadership.'

"It is, in a sense, pathetic, to note that these objections are always of adult origin and are not the verdict of the boys. They, however, must suffer in a handicapped development, through the shortsightedness of their leaders. Where there's a will, there's a way."

BIBLIOGRAPHY ON THE RURAL SUNDAY SCHOOL

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

Fiske.—The Challenge of the Country (.75).

The Rural Church Message—Men and Religion Movement ($1.00).



XXII

THE RELATION OF THE SUNDAY SCHOOL TO COMMUNITY ORGANIZATIONS

The church school is not, by any means, the only force in the community, as far as the boy is concerned, but it is destined to be the biggest force. The church, itself, is the most permanent institution of the community, and will always be so, as long as humanity remains religious. In the church are all the conserving elements of the community—slow to change, it stands for the best. Having adopted anything after approved worth commends it, it tenaciously holds it in trust. Communities may have homes and schools, but, without the church, they are not good places in which to live. The church, then, because it is most permanent, should tie the loyalty of the boy to herself. This she best does through her school—the Sunday school.

There are, however, other church forces in the community—organizations fostered and supported by the material and moral enthusiasm of the members of the church. Some of these organizations have been frankly formed for the purpose of assisting the church in some special field of religious education. This is essentially true of such boy organizations as the Knights of King Arthur, Knights of St. Paul, Knights of the Holy Grail, and the Boys' Brigade. It is essentially true, also, of the Young Men's Christian Association. The first of these—the boy organizations—constitutes a method which is at the disposal of the church. The second—the Christian Association—has grown to be a mighty operating force, with hundreds of employed officers and millions of dollars of property. Save for the fact that church members compose the directorates, it is independent of the church. With this and other organizations what can the church's relationship be? The seeming answer would be cooperation—a glad working together for the general betterment of the community itself by tried and approved plans. However, a new condition has arisen, which offers more than general cooperation between the Church and these organizations for the teen age boy. Until recently the church school had no clear-cut method for working with the teen age lad, while the boy organizations referred to had such a method, and the Young Men's Christian Association, after years of work, has a force of more or less experienced experts in boy life in its employ. The methods of these boy organizations and the boy experts of the Young Men's Christian Association must have a field of operation, and the best field, of course, is that of the church school, where boys should be found. The Young Men's Christian Association, in its own building, touches but a minute fraction of the boy life of the city in which it operates, and, to touch the city boy life, must get out of its building. It then has a choice of fields, Public Playground, Public School, or Community Betterment. If, however, it is true to the principle of its founding—to be an arm of the Church among young men—that which it attempts to do should be tied up to the Church, or, in the case of teen age boys, to the church school. To accomplish the latter, what shall the procedure be? Shall the Young Men's Christian Association win the boy, and then deliver him, saved for service, to the Church, or shall the Young Men's Christian Association work with the Church as part of the Church inside the church school? Common sense would say both ways, and all other ways possible, just so the boy stands saved and in the Church for service. And this is as it should be, and the employed experts of the Young Men's Christian Association should render service to the Church, both within and without the Church—and this service may be through method, or organization, or both. At all times the weakness of the Church should be the Association's opportunity to help the Church realize herself, and this can best be accomplished by the constructive suggestion that works its way out on the inside of the organization. Little help comes from battering a wall on the outside. At least it does not help the house inside any. Cooperation, then, must be understood as the internal assistance given the Church herself to realize the need and the plan to meet it.

In this regard every organization must clearly understand the church it seeks to aid. Most organizations have singular aims and motives. The Church is a complex organization, with many needs. The church school has many divisions and departments, has two sexes to minister to, embraces all ages, from the cradle to the grave, and usually has no paid officers. Through it all proportion has to be maintained—balance of organization, fair opportunity for all, young or old, male and female. A plan for the education of the teen age boy will no more solve the problem of the Sunday school than it would the educational, physical employment, or social difficulties of the Young Men's Christian Association. In proper relationship to the other factors of the problem in church school, or Young Men's Christian Association, it would help the whole organization. It surely takes more than plaster to make a house, important as is plaster.

The Sunday school has its own problems of organization, sexes, ages, equipment, equality, fair-play, opportunity, leadership, etc. No organization can help these problems from the outside, or by emphasis on any one phase. Gain in one department may be loss in another. The Sunday school needs proportionate gain.

The Sunday school, therefore, should welcome any organization or method that bids fair to help in the solution of its problems. It should eagerly avail itself, especially, of the aid that the Boy Life Expert of the Young Men's Christian Association can give, thus reducing religious, economic duplication, and achieving united conservation of boy life. On the other hand, the Boy Life Expert of the Young Men's Christian Association should thoroughly acquaint himself with the genius of the Sunday school, the plan of its organization, and the pith of all its problems of sex and age, leadership and training, aims and objectives. He should also know thoroughly the policies of denominational and interdenominational Sunday school bodies, and, where there are denominations in plural quantity, this may mean a task worth while. Sometimes it is a slow process. Surely, so! The Kingdom, with all the wisdom of Heaven, has been twenty centuries in the building, and it has been wrought out in the Church. The contribution that each man or woman makes must be small, but likewise great in its possibilities, if wisely, patiently given.

An organization cannot be permanently helped by introducing into its life the methods of another without the process of assimilation; neither can strength be given merely a part of the body to cure the whole. Organic tone is needed. Intelligent, Sunday school-wide cooperation! This is the invitation of the church school to all existing organizations. The conditions of the challenge are not easy, but the task is interesting and worth while, and the promise of increased efficiency is great indeed.

BIBLIOGRAPHY ON SUNDAY SCHOOL AND COMMUNITY ORGANIZATIONS

Lawrance.—The Cooperation Sunday Schools Desire (American Youth, April, 1911) (.20).

Flood.—A Federation of Sunday School Clubs (American Youth, April, 1911) (.20).

Alexander.—Sunday School Use of Association Equipment (American Youth, April, 1911) (.20).



FOOTNOTES:

[1: Makes provisions for sick and shut-ins but essentially meant for adults.]

[2: A large part of this chapter is taken from Secondary Division Leaflet Number 2, International Sunday School Association.]

[3: Older Boy]

[4: Adult]

[5: Much of this Chapter has been drawn from Secondary Division Leaflet Number 4, International Sunday School Association.]

[6: Much of this Chapter has been drawn from Secondary Division Leaflet Number 1, International Sunday School Association.]

[7: The Executive Committee of the Department should have membership on the Sunday School Board.]

[8: These conference may also be state wide in their scope.]

[9: This Chapter is largely drawn from International Sunday School Association, Second Division Leaflet Number 5.]

[10: This Chapter is a compilation of articles written by the author in the Westminster Teacher and Illinois Trumpet Call.]

[11: This Chapter is a blending of articles written for the Boy Scout Master's Handbook, the Adult Magazine and hitherto unpublished material.]

THE END