-NRLF 
 
 511 
 
THE 
 
 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 
 OF ADOLESCENTS 
 
 NORMAN E. RICHARDSON, S. T. B., PH. D. 
 
 Director of the Department of Religious Education 
 of Boston University 
 
 Including material contained in a pamphlet entitled: The 
 Government of Adolescent Young People, prepared by 
 William Byron Forbush and revised by Mary E. Moxcey, 
 the copyrights of this and other pamphlets published by 
 the American Institute of Child Life of Philadelphia having 
 been purchased for the Department of Religious Education 
 of Boston University. 
 
 THE ABINGDON PRESS 
 
 NEW YORK CINCINNATI 
 
RJT 
 
 COPYRIGHT 1913 
 
 BY THE 
 
 AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF CHILD LIFE 
 
 COPYRIGHT, 1918 
 
 BY 
 NORMAN E. RICHARDSON 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 In selecting and preparing the material for this 
 little volume, the author has intentionally avoided 
 the exclusively academic and scholastic point of 
 view. The needs of parents, teachers and other 
 adult leaders, who are facing practical problems, 
 have been kept in mind. Indeed, many of the H 
 paragraphs were written for the express purpose of 
 answering questions which had been asked by per- 
 sons who were facing perplexing situations in their 
 own homes or schools. 
 
 During the past three years, the author has 
 delivered several short courses of lectures in con- 
 munity schools of religious education and in sum- 
 mer schools on such subjects as : The Psychology 
 of Adolescent Boyhood, The Religious Nurture of 
 Adolescent Young People, The Psychology of 
 Religion, and Principles and Methods of Recrea- 
 tional Leadership. As collateral reading in these 
 courses, one monograph of a series of pamphlets 
 formerly published by the American Institute of 
 Child Life of Philadelphia : The Government of 
 Adolescent Young People, prepared by William ^ 
 Byron Forbush, was used. The demand for it 
 soon exhausted the third edition. 
 
 Numerous requests have been received for these 
 lectures, made available in book form. During 
 
iv INTRODUCTION 
 
 the Summer School of the Canadian Young 
 Men's Christian Associations held at Lake 
 Couchiching in 1918, particularly, the Boys' 
 Work Committee of the National Council to- 
 gether with representatives of several evangelical 
 denominations strongly urged the immediate 
 preparation of such a volume. It was pointed 
 out that the material should be made available 
 for the training of teachers and other workers in 
 tjie Intermediate, Senior and Young Peoples' 
 Departments of the church school as well as for 
 boy workers in the Canadian Y. M. C. A. 
 
 The following chapters are the result of an 
 effort to do three things. First, to gather to- 
 gether material for an introductory study of 
 adolescence that will be helpful to teachers in 
 church and public schools, leaders of recreational 
 groups, parents and social workers. Second, to 
 organize this material so that it will prove to be 
 a serviceable text-book to be used in third year 
 specialization teacher-training classes in commu- 
 nity schools of religious education and in other 
 study groups. Third, to inspire students and 
 others with the conviction that they can per- 
 form a notable service for the Kingdom of God by 
 guiding young people through the tumultuous 
 years of adolescence. 
 
 In several instances the contents of the pam- 
 
INTRODUCTION v 
 
 phlet: The Government of Adolescent Young 
 People, after having been revised and enlarged 
 by Mary E. Moxcey in the interest of adolescent 
 girlhood, have been reorganized and included in 
 the following chapters. The copyrights of the 
 series of pamphlets to which it belonged were 
 purchased for the Department of Religious Edu- 
 cation of Boston University in the year 1917. 
 
 The writer wishes to express his deep conviction 
 that a teacher or other adult leader who is respon- 
 sible for the training of youth in any one of the 
 three eras of adolescent unfolding should not con- 
 fine his study to that particular era alone. In 
 order, to understand the majority of middle ado- 
 lescent young people, it is absolutely necessary to 
 have intelligent insight into the experiences and 
 characteristics of normal later adolescence. 
 Multitudes of boys and girls are socially and in- 
 tellectually so precocious that at thirteen years of 
 age, their interests are those that belong naturally, 
 to middle adolescence. The spiritual life is un- 
 usually fluid during adolescent years. Charts 
 and classifications are ruthlessly violated. A 
 brief survey of the entire period is necessary before 
 one is prepared to face the practical problems of 
 any one era within the period. 
 
 The worker with adolescent young people 
 should frequently remind himself of the fact that 
 
vi INTRODUCTION 
 
 his task is not to hurry them along as rapidly as 
 possible toward maturity. Our whole nation is 
 suffering from the results of the over-stimulation 
 of its youth. A few may need to be stimulated. 
 Multitudes need influences that will retard their 
 unfolding. Help the child to maintain a normal 
 rate of development. He needs, most of all, to 
 live a whole life at each stage of his advancement. 
 It is first the blade, then the ear, and finally the 
 full corn in the ear. Too many boys and girls are 
 growing ears when they should be perfecting blades. 
 
 In order to recognize these instances of precocity 
 and of belated development, the adult leader or 
 teacher must have intelligent familiarity with the 
 normal experiences of the periods preceding and 
 following the one to which his pupils naturally be- 
 long. The first step in the task of self -preparation 
 to render efficient service for early, middle, or 
 later adolescents is the careful study of the entire 
 period of adolescence. 
 
 The author wishes to express his gratitude for 
 the helpful suggestions and criticisms of the Rev. 
 C. A. Myers, Rev. Frank H. Langford, Miss Mary 
 E. Moxcey, Rev. James V. Thompson and Dr. 
 Sidney A. Weston. 
 
 NORMAN E. RICHARDSON. 
 
 Boston University, 
 October 25, 1918. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Chapter I. The Nature and Meaning of Ado- 
 lescence 1 
 
 The period of adolescence. Spiritual versus me- 
 chanical methods of study. Adolescence and self- 
 hood. The three epochs of development, early, 
 middle, and later adolescence. Transition from 
 childhood to youth; from youth to maturity. The 
 fourfold challenge of adolescence. Some practical 
 suggestions. Questions for study. 
 
 Chapter II. Physical Development 18 
 
 The law of rhythm. Sex development. Need of 
 objective interests and activities. Skill. Health 
 habits. Physical growth during early adolescence. 
 Development during middle adolescence. The later 
 adolescent body. Questions for study. 
 
 Chapter III. Mental Development 34 
 
 The parting of the ways, mental pitfalls of ado- 
 lescence. How to control mental development. 
 Keep open the channels of expression. Guard 
 against over-stimulation. Mental benefits of a re- 
 ligious faith. Emotional changes. A multitude of 
 interests. Management of the emotions. The cul- 
 ture of the will. Questions. 
 
 Chapter IV. Social Development 56 
 
 Childhood's Treasure House. Self-corrective ex- 
 periences. Social development within the family. 
 
i CONTENTS 
 
 Social development through school experiences. The 
 play group. Church school loyalty. Community 
 loyalty. Social instincts. The friendship instinct. 
 Moral awakening. Social management, " First 
 loves," Co-operation. Questions. 
 
 Chapter V. Religion as a Mode of Control in 
 
 Adolescent Conduct 76 
 
 Control from without and from within. What 
 is adolescent religion? Early adolescent religion. 
 Middle adolescent religion. Its social aspects. 
 Later adolescent religion. The fusing of patriotism 
 and religion. Rationalizing one's religion. Ques- 
 tions. 
 
 Chapter VI. Ruling Motives 94 
 
 Pride. The heartening influence of appreciation. 
 Dissatisfaction with the commonplace. Hero-wor- 
 ship. The girl's hero versus the boy's hero. Ferti- 
 lizing the imagination. Responsibility. A weekly 
 allowance. The parent's gradual surrender of re- 
 sponsibility. The right to a wailing-post. Group 
 loyalty. Chivalry. A life purpose. Combination 
 of motives. Questions. 
 
 Chapter VII. The Adolescent Prodigal 114 
 
 The prodigal. Juvenile delinquency. Types of 
 offences. The age of delinquents. Their family and 
 home conditions. School records of delinquents. 
 Shall they be put to work? Shall we send him away 
 to school? Shall we let him wander? Influences 
 that will bring him home. Encouraging factors. 
 Some practical suggestions. Results to be hoped for. 
 Questions. 
 
CONTENTS ix 
 
 Chapter VIII. Character Through Play In- 
 terests and Activities ISO 
 
 The educative value of play. Its positive nature. 
 The stupidity of attempted guidance through repres- 
 sion. Group loyalty and team play. Social devel- 
 opment through play. Nature of adolescent play. 
 The ideal play program and organization for early 
 adolescents. For middle adolescents. Play and 
 recreation for later adolescent young people. Prac- 
 tical suggestions. Questions. 
 
 Chapter IX. Principles of Religious Educa- 
 tion for Early Adolescence 149 
 
 The law of the expanding life. The law of transi- 
 tion. The law of responsibility for leisure-time ac- 
 tivities. The law of the reading craze. The law of 
 individual and group service. The law of the moral 
 imagination. The law of conscience. The law of 
 repentance and confession. The law of church 
 membership. The law of the fuller life. Ques- 
 tions. 
 
 Chapter X. Principles of Religious Education 
 for Middle Adolescence 1 64 
 
 The law of the integrating personality. The law of 
 a single loyalty. The law of conversion. The law 
 of adolescent mysticism. The law of ardent, organ- 
 ized endeavor. The law of friendship and romance. 
 The law of culture and restraint. The law of voca- 
 tional specialization. The law of apprenticeship in 
 leadership. The law of the sustained spiritual life. 
 Questions. 
 
x CONTENTS 
 
 Chapter XL Principles of Religious Educa- 
 tion/or Later Adolescence 178 
 
 The law of a completed adolescence. The law of 
 differentiation. The law of worthy motives in life's 
 great decisions. The law of a changed environment. 
 The law of institutional loyalty. The law of leader- 
 ship. The law of heroic service. The law of special- 
 ized training. The law of rational supremacy. The 
 law of a religious creed. Questions. 
 
CHAPTER I 
 
 THE NATURE AND MEANING OF ADO- 
 LESCENCE 
 
 Adolescence is that part of life which lies be- 
 tween childhood and adulthood. The first two 
 dozen years of an individual's life are about equally 
 divided between childhood and youth. Under 
 most favorable conditions, the period of adoles- 
 cence continues from the twelfth to the twenty- 
 fourth years. It includes the very heart of life. 
 Childhood looks forward to it and prepares for it. 
 From it adulthood takes many of its permanent 
 and important characteristics. This is the time 
 when "a little good will go farther for good and a 
 little evil for evil, than any other time in life." 
 
 THE SPIRITUAL VERSUS THE MECHANICAL POINT 
 OF VIEW 
 
 In dealing with actual young people, the teacher 
 or leader should guard against the error of attrib- 
 uting to them, in a wholesale or arbitrary way, 
 the characteristics which their years suggest. 
 The rate of development differs with different 
 individuals. Indeed, within the same individual, 
 belated physical growth may be associated with 1 '" 
 mental precocity. Life is not wooden or mechan- 
 
2 THE RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 
 
 ical. It cannot be reduced to 'charts, tables, or 
 fixed schedules. Each youth lives his own life, 
 in his own way. He may or may not conform to 
 what is considered normal or standard. His self- 
 realization, not his conformity to a common stand- 
 ard or a chart, is the aim of education. 
 
 In the study of adolescence, the first requisite 
 is the ability to think in these more spiritual, fluid 
 terms. In order to put through successfully any 
 system of training or program of instruction, it is 
 necessary to know something besides the contents 
 of the teacher's or leader's manual. Merely to 
 spray young people with ideas regardless of what 
 is going on in their minds or merely to enforce a 
 system of training, no matter what happens to 
 those who are supposed to be trained thereby, is 
 to use the method of ignorance or stupidity. 
 
 It is one thing to teach a Bible lesson, but an- 
 other thing to teach a boy. To operate a certain 
 system of training may or may not result in the 
 training of a particular girl. An intelligent ap- 
 preciation of growing, expanding, developing 
 youth should go hand in hand with a thorough 
 grasp of the lesson or the program. The fact 
 that a teacher has reduced to oral English all of 
 the ideas contained in a given lesson is not a guar- 
 antee that those ideas will become controlling 
 factors in the pupil's conduct. 
 
OF ADOLESCENTS 3 
 
 A careful study of adolescence from this spirit- 
 ual point of view reveals the field wherein failures 
 and successes actually take place. It helps the 
 adult leader or teacher to appreciate the aim of a 
 given system of training or of a series of lessons. 
 It inspires confidence, stimulates originality, and 
 makes independent action possible. It breaks the 
 shackles of those who are slaves to the leader's 
 manual. The one who understands life, as well as 
 lessons, is more apt to proceed with unhesitating 
 insight. He can make adaptations where they 
 should be made. His work brings greater joy. 
 He is able to measure what progress is being made. 
 He catches the spirit of the scientist or adventurer. 
 To one who appreciates it, adolescence is a great - 
 challenge. It is so plastic, so spiritual, so sacred 
 that it is the very stuff, the raw material out of 
 which the Kingdom of Heaven is made. 
 
 ADOLESCENCE AND SELFHOOD 
 
 Adolescence is the period when selfhood unfolds. 
 Youth is self-conscious. Physical changes, height- 
 ened power of sense perception, social sensitive- 
 ness, and rational activity all tend to stimulate 
 self-awareness. Slowly through these years indi- 
 viduality takes on definiteness of form and char- 
 acter. Youth faces the inevitable responsibili-f 
 ties of self-control and self-direction, is forced to 
 
4 THE RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 
 
 take a lively interest in the management of his 
 own conduct. 
 
 Young people live their own lives. Outside 
 interference is apt to be resented if it ignores this 
 newly discovered and highly prized selfhood. 
 The right to originate plans independently of 
 others is cherished. To accept or to reject the 
 judgment of parents and teachers is looked upon 
 as youth's high privilege. Practical questions of 
 membership in social groups, of vocation, of 
 friendship, of public opinion, of individual beliefs, 
 of leadership, of personal appearance, of sex, of 
 ambition, now press for answers. All these 
 emphasize self. For light and guidance, youth 
 looks within to his own conscience as well as with- 
 out to some external voice of authority. Unlike 
 the dependent and receptive child, youth is inde- 
 pendent and creative. His face is set toward his 
 own alluring future. 
 
 EARLY, MIDDLE AND LATER ADOLESCENCE 
 
 There are three distinct periods or epochs of 
 development within this central span of life. 
 They are known as early, middle and later adoles- 
 cence. Under normal conditions, these periods 
 include the years twelve to fourteen, fifteen to 
 seventeen and eighteen to twenty-four, respec- 
 tively. Unfortunately, the rate and the order of un- 
 
OF ADOLESCENTS 5 
 
 folding represented in this grouping of years is 
 usually interfered with by conditions which are 
 beyond the control of the youth himself. Years 
 are not the true measure of life. Poverty, mis- 
 fortune or a great calamity, such as war, is apt to 
 abbreviate, otherwise modify, or even short-cir- 
 cuit entirely any one of these eras of development. 
 Boys and girls generally grow old before their 
 time. The majority of young people do not have 
 a completed adolescence. Unfortunately, the ma- 
 turing process which. should proceed slowly and 
 gradually during these years, is usually brought 
 to an abrupt close. Leaders of middle adoles- 
 cent boys are apt to have later adolescent prob- 
 lems to deal with. Leaders of middle adolescents 
 should understand both early and later adoles- 
 cence. 
 
 These three periods of development might be 
 likened to the building of a ship. In the first 
 stage, the parts are assembled and bound together 
 in various ways. Then comes the trial trip when 
 these parts are "worked in" and the mechanical 
 adjustments necessary to avoid friction and to 
 prevent permanent weakness are made. Finally 
 comes the maiden voyage with its proud record 
 and prophecy of the future. The distinctive 
 marks of any particular ship cannot be known 
 until she has tried herself out. 
 
6 THE RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 
 
 So it is with adolescence. First, the parts are 
 assembled in rather irregular and hasty manner, 
 then the critical period of integration takes place 
 and this is followed by the measuring of one's 
 strength and skill against the real economic and 
 social opportunities of life. Thus, the boy be- 
 comes a man and the girl, a woman. 
 
 During early adolescence physical changes are 
 most conspicuous. Middle adolescence is domi- 
 nantly social. Later adolescence finds the rational 
 faculties supreme. Social development proceeds 
 throughout the three periods. Mental develop- 
 ment culminates respectively in impulses, in sen- 
 timents, and in opinions. The three modes of 
 control are first, public or gang opinion; second, 
 the influence of friends; and third, the reasoned 
 judgments of real leaders. Loyalty, during the 
 years twelve, thirteen and fourteen, is centered 
 upon home, school and Church. The years fif- 
 teen, sixteen and seventeen find these loyalties 
 increasing in strength and to them is added loy- 
 alty to the community. During the immediately 
 following years may come loyalty to a new home 
 together with an increasingly intelligent devotion 
 to religious, civic and possibly educational insti- 
 tutions. 
 
OF ADOLESCENTS 7 
 
 THE TRANSITION FROM CHILDHOOD TO YOUTH 
 
 Writing of the suddenness with which the tran- 
 sition is made from childhood to youth, Margaret 
 Slattery describes a scene wnich took place in a 
 school where she was teaching: 
 
 "She was a beautiful, well-developed girl of 
 thirteen. Her bright, eager face with its changing 
 expression, was a fascination at all times. It 
 seemed unusually earnest and serious that par- 
 ticular morning as she stood waiting the opportun- 
 ity to speak to me. She had asked to wait until 
 the others had gone, and her manner as she hesi- 
 tated even then to speak made me ask, 'Are you 
 in trouble, Edith?' 
 
 ."'No, not exactly trouble I don't know 
 whether we ought to ask you, but all of us girls 
 think well, we wish we could have a mirror in 
 the lockerroom. Couldn't we? It's dreadful to 
 go into school without knowing how your hair 
 looks or anything. ' 
 
 "I couldn't help laughing. Her manner was 
 so tragic that the mirror seemed the most impor- 
 tant thing in the educational system just then. I 
 said I would see what could be done about it, and 
 felt sure that what 'all the girls' wanted could be 
 supplied. She thanked me heartily and when she 
 entered her own room, nodded her head in answer 
 to inquiring glances from the other girls. 
 
8 THE RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 
 
 "As I made a note of the request, I remembered 
 the Edith of a year or more ago. Edith, whose 
 mother found her a great trial; she didn't care 
 how she looked ! It was true. She wore her hat 
 hanging down over her black braids, held on by 
 the elastic band around her neck; she lost her 
 ribbons continually, and never seemed to miss 
 them. She was a good scholar, wide-awake, alert, 
 always ready for the next thing. She loved to 
 recite, and volunteered information generously. 
 In games, she was the leader, and on the play- 
 ground always unanimous choice for the coveted 
 'it' of the game. She was never in the least 
 self-conscious, and, as her mother had said, how 
 she looked never seemed to occur to her. 
 
 "And now, she came asking for a mirror. Her 
 hair ribbons are always present and her hat se- 
 curely fastened by hat-pins of hammered brass. 
 She spends a good deal of time in school 'arrang- 
 ing' her hair. Sometimes spelling suffers, some- 
 times algebra. Before standing to recite, she 
 carefully arranges her belt. Contrary to her 
 previous custom, she rarely volunteers, although 
 her scholarship is very good. If unable to give 
 the correct answer, or when obliged to face the 
 school, she blushes painfully. One day recently, 
 when the class were reading 'As You Like It,' she 
 sat with a dreamy look upon her sweet face, far, 
 
OF ADOLESCENTS 9 
 
 far away from the eighth-grade class-room; could 
 not find her place when called upon to read, and 
 although confused and ashamed, lost it again 
 within ten minutes." (Margaret Slattery, "The 
 Girl in Her Teens," ages 1, 2, 3.) 
 
 The Mother of Phillips Brooks, out of her own 
 deep experience, once wrote: 
 
 "There is an age when it is not well to follow or 
 question your boy too closely. Up to that time, 
 you may carefully instruct and direct him, you are 
 his best friend; he is never happy unless the story 
 of the day has been told; you must hear about his 
 friends, his school; all that interests him must be 
 your interest. Suddenly there, confidences cease; 
 the affectionate son becomes reserved and silent; 
 he seeks the intimate friendship of other lads ; he 
 goes out; he is averse to telling where he is going 
 or how long he will be gone; he comes and goes 
 silently to his roorn. 
 
 "All this is a startling change to the mother, 
 but it is also her opportunity to practice wisdom 
 by loving and praying for and absolutely trusting 
 her son. The faithful instruction and careful 
 training during her early years, the son cannot 
 forget; that is impossible. Therefore, trust not 
 only your Heavenly Father, but your son. The 
 period of which I speak appears to me to be one 
 in which the boy dies and the man is born; his 
 
10 THE RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 
 
 individuality rises up before him and he is dazed 
 and almost overwhelmed by his first consciousness 
 of himself. I have always believed that it was 
 then that the Creator was speaking with my sons, 
 and that it was good for their souls to be left alone 
 with Him while I, their mother, stood trembling, 
 praying and waiting, knowing that when the man 
 was developed from the boy, I should have my 
 sons again and there would be a deeper sympathy 
 tjian ever between us." 
 
 The transition from later adolescence to adult- 
 hood is greatly influenced by environment. The 
 necessity of going to work, early marriage, or loss 
 of parents, may plunge youth suddenly into the 
 burden bearing of maturity. This fact is one of 
 the tragedies of our civilization. Young people 
 should take more time to mature mentally, socially 
 and physically. The period of plasticity should 
 be prolonged as far as possible. It takes time 
 to find one's place in the social and economic 
 world just as it takes time to discover oneself. 
 In an age of high specialization, there is greater 
 need of general preparation. Many a man has 
 spent years regretting the fact that he might have 
 had a better education or a broader outlook upon 
 life. But he was in too great a hurry to take 
 what he thought then was to be his place in the 
 world. 
 
OF ADOLESCENTS 11 
 
 PRESIDENT BUTLER'S SUMMARY 
 
 The most outstanding characteristics of the first 
 and second periods of adolescent life are thus 
 summed up by Nicholas Murray Butler: 
 
 "The marked characteristics of the pupil of 
 secondary-school age are due to the fact that, as 
 Rousseau puts it, we are born twice; the first time 
 into existence, the second time into life; the first 
 time as a member of the race, the second time as 
 a member of the sex in other words, they are due 
 to the phenomena of adolescence. The physical 
 and mental effects of this epoch in human life 
 begin earlier and last longer than is sometimes 
 supposed. They dominate the entire secondary- 
 school period. Rapid growth and increase of 
 nervous mental energy mark these years. Emo- 
 tions, vague and disordered, displace the placidity 
 of earlier likes. Ambitions, yearnings, desires 
 are formulated crudely and for the first time. 
 Introspection begins and a morbid self -conscious- 
 ness is not infrequent. The future, hitherto al- 
 most unthought of, becomes of great interest and 
 importance, , and overshadows the present. Ab- 
 normally intense religious experiences and reflec- 
 tions are common. The old and familiar tasks, 
 occupations and games no longer suffice; the soul 
 seems to overflow, as it were, and demands new 
 and more difficult problems to occupy it and to 
 
12 THE RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 
 
 absorb its activities. The higher thought proc- 
 esses until now, latent, exhibit themselves in a 
 variety of ways, and more formal and elaborate 
 chains of inference supersede the reasoning from 
 one particular instance to another that is so char- 
 acteristic of the little child. " (Nicholas M. But- 
 ler, "The Meaning of Education," page 209-210.) 
 
 THE FOUR-FOLD CHALLENGE OF ADOLESCENCE 
 
 Adolescence presents a four-fold challenge. It 
 is said of Jesus that : " He advanced in wisdom and 
 stature and in favor with God and men." His 
 education proceeded along four lines all combining 
 to produce a symmetrical character. 
 
 Mental powers unfold rapidly during these 
 years. Imagination, memory, attention, skill, 
 reason respond readily to the influences of educa- 
 tion. 
 
 Physically, this is a critical era of development. 
 Permanent health habits are achieved or the op- 
 portunity of realizing permanent health is lost. 
 Team or group play is likewise an achievement 
 that is now possible. Sex organs mature and sex 
 differences are established. 
 
 Religious changes are now made with relative 
 ease and permanency. Religion is a matter of 
 spontaneous interest. Some personal attitude 
 toward God and the Church will be assumed. 
 
OF ADOLESCENTS 13 
 
 Religious beliefs and sentiments are natural and 
 inevitable. Careless indifference and studied 
 hostility or intimate companionship and trustful 
 obedience may become a permanent part of life. 
 The religious preferences that are built up during 
 childhood as a result of the influences of others 
 are either ratified and personally appropriated or 
 rejected as unworthy. The power to discover for 
 oneself the spiritual messages of the Bible and the 
 soul-renewing value of prayer and worship is real- 
 ized during adolescence. Fundamental mistakes 
 of loyalty can be corrected, through conversion, 
 without the losses which similar experiences in 
 later years entail. A philosophy of life which 
 puts Jesus at the center can be formed with as < 
 great clearness and sincerity as one that exalts 
 self to the place of supreme regard. Adoles- 
 cence offers a supreme challenge to the religious 
 educator. 
 
 From the standpoint of moral and social educa- / 
 tion, adolescence is important because conscience, / 
 which has been forming gradually during child- 
 hood, now begins to function; the opinions of 
 one's peers are taken with increasing seriousness; 
 the responsibility of independent moral self -direc- 
 tion is taken up; personal ideals become more and 
 more vivid; there is particular susceptibility to 
 the influence of chums, and heroes, the adoree and 
 
14 THE RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 
 
 the friend. Social relationships are now of con- 
 scious, vital concern. How to act with social ease 
 and strength is the inescapable problem of adoles- 
 cence. The approval or disapproval of others is 
 sure to be taken to heart. One's own ways of 
 acting are compared with those of others who are 
 near at hand. It is painfully annoying to be odd. 
 It is highly satisfying to be popular. Many psy- 
 chological forces are at work that make youth 
 morally plastic. The formation of character is 
 the inevitable result of adolescent experience. 
 The bases of institutional loyalties are now laid. 
 
 SOME PRACTICAL SUGGESTIONS 
 
 The physical changes, the intellectual outreach- 
 ing, the social stress, and the religious crises, alto- 
 gether cause this to be a' most unstable, misunder- 
 stood and yet hopeful period. The youth now 
 needs the sympathy, understanding and respect 
 of adults as never before. The Psalmist said even 
 of God: "Thy gentleness hath made me great." 
 The quiet, comparatively stolid years of child- 
 hood are over and the time for corporal punish- 
 ment, scolding and nagging is past. The adoles- 
 cent is not only ripening but hardening into the 
 character which is to be his for life. The time has 
 come to make the transition from management 
 [ by an adult to that of self-management. 
 
OF ADOLESCENTS 15 
 
 , 
 In this period when the youth is never calm, | 
 
 the one who is leading him must always be calm. ! 
 We can never afford to be disquieted when he is. 
 Especially must we keep hopeful when he is in 
 despair. At this age, when we are perpetually 
 being annoyed by the superlatives, the shallow- 
 ness, the moods, the unrestraint and the secretive- 
 ness of youth, we must try, as Puffer reminds us, 
 not only to remember how we ourselves once 
 acted, but how we once felt. It seems incredible, 
 but it is so, that we once had the same impulses J 
 If we have forgotten, our parents haven't. r>( 
 Now when, as LeBaron Briggs wittily says, 
 "The adolescent wants to behave like a child and 
 . be treated like a gentleman," we have to be prompt 
 with our forgiveness of the sudden fickle tendencies 
 for if we do not forgive him when he is sorry, then 
 he will soon not be sorry and will not care to be 
 forgiven. Next to trust in God, perhaps the 
 chief virtue called for in parents and teachers and 
 leaders, is a sense of humor. Next in commonness 
 to the mistake of supposing that the members of 
 our particular group or class are exceptionally 
 brilliant is that of supposing that they are excep- 
 tionally difficult. The chances are that they are 
 neither. The fact is that all children of parts 
 during this period are at times anti-domestic, 
 "Agin' the Government," forgetful of their duty 
 
16 THE RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 
 
 to their parents, unappreciative of teachers, and 
 sometimes apparently dull in affection. 
 
 It is also the time for renewed hopefulness. 
 They never were as near the water-shed that leads 
 over to manliness and womanliness as now. They 
 are also just about to become most enjoyable, for 
 the first time in their lives becoming capable of 
 being comrades on a level with their parents, 
 teachers and leaders. The child is too busy dis- 
 covering himself to appreciate the sacrifices that 
 others are making in his behalf, but youth gradu- 
 ally becomes appreciative and companionable. 
 If treated with the respect which is his due, he 
 enters readily into the joys and sorrows of his 
 leaders. 
 
 QUESTIONS FOR INDIVIDUAL AND CLASS STUDY 
 
 1. What portion of life is included in the period 
 of adolescence? 
 
 2. What aie the chief general characteristics of 
 this period? 
 
 3. Of what value is it to study the mental, 
 social and religious aspects of adolescence? 
 
 4. Into what three epochs is adolescence 
 divided? 
 
 5. Describe the transition from childhood to 
 youth. 
 
OF ADOLESCENTS 17 
 
 6. Why should the period of adolescence be 
 prolonged as far as possible? 
 
 7. What harm would come to a young man's 
 character if he were compelled to live on a lonely 
 farm, in social isolation during the years twelve to 
 twenty? 
 
 8. How would a similar deprivation affect aj 
 girl? 
 
 9. What is the four-fold challenge of adoles- 
 cence? 
 
 10. Why is adolescence particularly important 
 from the standpoint of moral and religious educa- 
 tion? 
 
 11. Why are young people of this age difficult 
 to manage? 
 
CHAPTER II 
 PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT 
 
 THE LAW OF RHYTHM 
 
 Within the entire span of adolescence there are 
 three distinct types of physical growth. Follow- 
 ing the period of later childhood, which is a time 
 of relatively slow development, there are three or 
 four years of very rapid but uneven growth. 
 When a boy begins to "shoot up," he shows the 
 unmistakable signs of entering physical adoles- 
 cence. The annual rate of increase in height 
 usually is greatest during the fourteenth to the 
 sixteenth years. 
 
 This period of accelerated growth is followed by 
 one in which the parts that have increased in size 
 are adjusted to each other. The rate of develop- 
 ment is now slower and the unity or integrity of 
 the body is being established. 
 
 Then comes the later period of final maturation 
 and "baptism of power." All the different parts 
 have reached their mature size; they have been 
 "worked in" so that they are adjusted to each 
 other, and now comes the "final invoice of energy." 
 
 Physical growth comes on in waves. It is 
 characterized by seasons of pause, when one 
 18 
 
OF ADOLESCENTS 19 
 
 feels a sense of power, alternating with others 
 of acceleration marked by lassitude, often mis- 
 named "laziness." Growth, therefore, is in ac- 
 cordance with the law of rhythm. During the 
 period when pure growth or increase in mere 
 bulk or size is rapid, development or organiza- 
 tion is relatively slow and when development, 
 particularly, is taking place, the rate of increase 
 in size is retarded. Later childhood and middle 
 adolescence are periods of rapid development but 
 relatively slow growth. Early adolescence is a 
 time of very rapid growth as later adolescence 
 is the period of rapidly expanding energy or 
 capacity for exertion. When energy is no longer 
 neeSed for growth, it tends to go out into work 
 and play. 
 
 At twelve years of age, the normal boy weighs 
 about seventy-seven pounds; at fifteen, one hun- 
 dred and seven. During this period and the first 
 half of the next, the acceleration of growth is 
 seen in his increased height as during the years 
 fifteen to seventeen or eighteen, it is seen in a 
 rapid increase in weight. This latter gain is 
 about forty per cent. The girl's acceleration in 
 weight comes one year earlier than in the boy. At 
 twelve, a girl has two-thirds of her weight at 
 twenty years. At fifteen, nine-tenths. A boy's 
 height at twelve is normally fifty-five inches; at 
 
20 THE RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 
 
 fifteen, it is sixty- three inches. A boy gains 
 eleven per cent in height from twelve to fourteen. 
 At twelve he has four-fifths of his adult height; at 
 fifteen, nine-tenths. At twelve the girl is one inch 
 taller than the boy, but during the following four 
 years, the boy will overtake her in height. (Con- 
 sult Tyler's "Growth and Education.") 
 
 SEX DEVELOPMENT 
 
 By far the most profound physical changes are 
 these which take place with the maturing of the 
 sex functions. These changes are not confined to 
 the rapid growth and development of the sex 
 organs. There are internal secretions from newly 
 matured glands that cause chemical changes to 
 take place in every part of the body. Masculine 
 and feminine qualities are imparted to muscles 
 and nervous system. In addition to the increased 
 energy, skill and strength, power to resist disease, 
 and a quickening or sensitizing of all the organs of 
 sense perception, there are subtle qualities that 
 distinguish the sexes, giving to each its individual- 
 ity^and charm. 
 
 / With boys, there is a kind of muscle-intoxica- 
 tion that demands violent forms of exercise. 
 Girls, instinctively are afraid of physical exertion 
 that leads to the point of complete exhaustion. 
 
OF ADOLESCENTS 21 
 
 They are more apt to hoard their strength. They 
 are less aggressive than boys. 
 
 Sex development is due to the rapid multiplica- 
 tion of "reproduction cells" or "germ plasm" 
 which lie dormant in the body until one or two 
 years before puberty, is reached. This sudden 
 multiplication takes place during early adolescence 
 the time of rapid physical growth. With the 
 arrival of puberty, physical middle adolescence is 
 reached and the sex organs function naturally. 
 In all of these changes, girls are about one year in 
 advance of boys of the same age. 
 
 It is the duty of parents to explain to their 
 adolescent boys and girls the meaning of these 
 changes and to point out how vitally they are 
 related to the fluctuations of feelings, the ebb and 
 . flow of physical vitality, and the general restless- 
 ness so characteristic of this period. It is of great 
 value, mentally, to know that these strange feel- 
 ings are not uncommon or unnatural and thatj 
 despair concerning self is unwarranted. 
 
 NEED OF OBJECTIVE INTERESTS AND ACTIVITIES \ 
 
 At this time, when the senses are more keen 
 than ever before in their reaction to color, sound 
 and taste, when the love of beauty in nature allies 
 itself to the love of human beauty, when there is 
 a mental awakening almost every day to some- 
 
22 THE RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 
 
 thing that has always been seen or known but 
 never appreciated, we may use the body as never 
 before to help the soul upon its lonely way. 
 "Much despondency and sense of sin" even, as 
 Irving King reminds us, "is no doubt due to phys- 
 ical causes." And just here his advice is espe- 
 cially good, when he urges that we cure the intro- 
 spection that is due to the new sensitiveness and 
 consciousness of the flesh by giving the youth 
 surroundings that are especially cheerful in tone 
 and that furnish the stimulus to abundant and 
 vigorous physical exercise. It is as true of girls as 
 of boys that "He should have his attention turned 
 outwardly as much as possible, cultivating inter- 
 ests in active, overt enterprises with other people 
 and avoiding the giving of attention to his own 
 physical and mental states. " 
 I Here is where athletics, wisely administered, 
 tome to our rescue. The enthusiasm for personal 
 prowess and for maintaining the glory of the 
 school becomes a passion which, while not worthy 
 of remaining as a life-purpose, nevertheless often 
 lifts youth above gross vices, precludes from mor- 
 bid day-dreaming and tides him over to more 
 serious interests. Many a young person is being 
 kept in high school and college to-day by the 
 r desire to be "on the team," while unconsciously 
 I to himself he is ripening more serious purposes. 
 
OF ADOLESCENTS 23 
 
 The heroic not only in relation to athletics but in 
 relation to nature is helping here. 
 
 This is the time for parents and leaders to en- 
 courage in girls not merely ladylike nature-study 
 but camping, sailing, tramping. Now young per- 
 sons respond to the sturdy zeal of old Ulysses 
 
 "That ever with a frolic welcome took 
 The thunder and the sunshine, and opposed 
 Free hearts, free foreheads . . . 
 One equal temper of heroic hearts, 
 . . . strong in will 
 To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield." 
 
 In these days of bodily irritability, while he 
 takes the most careful watch-care concerning his 
 child's bodily development, the adult leader en- 
 deavors to overlook minor outbreaks and to con- 
 cede gracefully as many of the smaller issues as / 
 possible. Everything that annoys us is not of 
 equal significance, and the wise leader, like a 
 strategist, employs his heavy artillery only in an 
 emergency. In order to keep the confidence of 
 young people, especially of girls, the mother must 
 be flexible. Mrs. Frances M. Ford wisely says: 
 
 " She must give way in some of the little things 
 in order to strengthen her position in the greater 
 matters to be decided, and to turn the argument 
 around, I believe that if she shows her sympathy 
 
24 THE RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 
 
 and affection and understanding, morning, noon, 
 and night, in respect to these little things, she will 
 find herself quite able to cope with the larger 
 ones and she will come out ahead." 
 
 The one who has the immediate charge of ado- 
 lescent young people should guard against the 
 danger of their over-drawing their bank account 
 of physical energy. He should also try to con- 
 tinue a somewhat steady regimen of food, exercise, 
 sleep, for these unsteady spirits in order to estab- 
 lish a good constitution and save them from be- 
 coming physically bankrupt. 
 
 Now is just the time when fond parents dis- 
 cover an unsuspected talent for music o~ art in 
 their daughters and insist upon adding practice 
 onto the already overloaded hours. This, together 
 with parties and the theatre, is pretty nearly the 
 end of some young folks, the drain of energy show- 
 ing itself in a lack of serious attention to matters 
 of vital concern. The old adage, "Nine hours 
 of sleep and a clean conscience, " is not a bad one. 
 
 While too much and too intense social life is 
 fatiguing, we cannot, however, deny the fact that 
 excitement in a moderate degree is expansive to 
 the soul of a youth, somewhat as crying is to the 
 lungs of a baby. Yet we ought to be able to limit 
 the social life of high school young folks chiefly to 
 
 Friday evenings. 
 I**-*"" 
 
OF ADOLESCENTS 2 
 
 Still further, the youth may be taught to take 
 advantage of the high tides to get out on new 
 levels of thought and action; to start desired 
 habits when the energy is at flood. 
 
 SKILL 
 
 By the time adolescence is reached, "the brain 
 has attained practically its full size and weight. 
 The latter additions are mainly in the association 
 areas, where a few more grams of substance, de- 
 veloped just where it is most efficient, may add 
 vastly to the mental power. The sensory and 
 motor areas are fully matured. Improvement is 
 now to be expected, mainly in quickness and pre- 
 cision of movement and in complexity of action 
 of the finer muscles of wrist, hand and fingers." 
 .(Tyler's "Growth and Education," page 180.) 
 
 With larger and smaller muscles now developed 
 and the brain having reached full size and weight, 
 there is an instinctive yearning for those physical 
 activities which require the correlation of muscu- 
 lar movements, that is, skill. Games with their 
 specific rules; campcraft, with its varied and at- 
 tractive list of necessities and achievements; 
 athletics, with their records and standards all 
 make a vigorous appeal to youth. The use of 
 canoe paddle, axe, baseball bat, running shoes, or 
 
26 THE RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 
 
 snowshoes adds greatly to the zest and thrill of 
 physical activity. 
 
 HEALTH HABITS 
 
 The dependence of physical growth and devel- 
 opment upon activity, whether work or play, is 
 absolute. The difference between an athlete and 
 an invalid may be the difference between the 
 results of activity and inactivity. Physical well- 
 being depends directly upon the circulation of 
 the blood, action of the lungs, the ready digestion 
 of food and ability to throw off all waste material. 
 All of these physical processes are stimulated by 
 wholesome physical activities. Health that pri- 
 mary consideration that boon which is of even 
 greater importance than an education, can be 
 built up and sustained only by keeping those 
 vital organs fit to do their work. When they 
 become irregular and unreliable, health is endan- 
 gered. 
 
 Health may become a permanent possession 
 through the building up of habits which stabilize 
 and regulate the actions of the vital physical 
 organs. There are desirable habits of breathing, 
 personal carriage, eating, sleeping, recreation, 
 bathing, excretion, which can be fastened upon 
 life and most easily and securely during adoles- 
 cence. This matter is worthy of the most serious 
 
OF ADOLESCENTS 27 
 
 and painstaking consideration. There is much 
 practical wisdom in the "KYB O" adage, keep 
 your bowels open. 
 
 PHYSICAL GROWTH DURING EARLY ADOLESCENCE 
 
 The years, twelve, thirteen, fourteen and in 
 many cases, fifteen, constitute a period of rapid 
 but uneven growth. This growing power, however, 
 is not distributed evenly throughout the body. 
 Bones may increase in length more rapidly than the 
 muscles attached to them. In the muscles thus 
 stretched, unduly, growing pains are felt. When 
 the muscles become relatively longer than the 
 bones, awkwardness, embarrassment and loose-_ 
 ness of carriage result. The irregular growth of 
 some cities is not unlike ^hat is taking place in 
 the early adolescent body. Rapid expansion 
 takes place, first in one direction and then in 
 another. 
 
 The period of accelerated growth of the heart, 
 digestive organs and lungs begins at about .the 
 fourteenth year. If the other parts of the body 
 have already had one or two years of rapid en- 
 largement, the danger of over-exertion is readily 
 seen. These organs need the stimulation that 
 comes from wholesome exercise in order to carry 
 the excessive burden resulting from this lack of 
 balance. Every period of rapid physical growth 
 
28 THE RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 
 
 is also a time of physical restlessness. But ex- 
 cessive strain must now be carefully avoided, at 
 least until a proper balance is once more estab- 
 Ijsjied. 
 
 The most important physical needs of early 
 adolescence are good health, plenty of nourish- 
 ing food served in appetizing ways; frequent, 
 varied, regular, and pleasurable out-door exercise; 
 as much sleep as nature demands; absolute free- 
 dom from unhygienic conditions; work that is 
 suitable in view of the greater amount of energy 
 and of the danger of excessive strain; protection 
 against abnormal social demands, school require- 
 ments, and precocious vocational specialization. 
 There is no substitute for a home environment 
 I that is permeated with intelligent sympathy and 
 Ithat guards against physical irregularities. 
 
 DEVELOPMENT DURING MIDDLE ADOLESCENCE 
 
 After two or three years of this rapid, uneven 
 growth and lack of balance, a re-adjustment takes 
 place which is accompanied by a new sense of 
 energy and power. A new delight in motion and 
 sensation is awakened. These form the basis of 
 some of the physical conditions that obtain during 
 the middle years of the adolescent period. There 
 is a consciousness of new passions and powers 
 which is sometimes overwhelming. 
 
OF ADOLESCENTS 29 
 
 From the physiological point of view, the years 
 fifteen, sixteen and seventeen are critical. The 
 instability of the preceding period disappears. 
 Now the settling down process is seen. The result 
 is that permanent physical habits and conditions 
 are being determined. The rate of growth is 
 lower than in the preceding years. The parts are 
 now becoming adjusted to each other. The youth 
 is now finding himself, physically. 
 
 Every new machine has a period after its 
 parts have been assembled when it is "tried out " 
 to see if the parts work together smoothly, each 
 one doing its full share of work. Not until the 
 "try out" can it be ascertained just what the y 
 power of the machine will be. Middle adolescence 
 is the time of physiological "try out." It may 
 now be discovered that there is one weak organ. 
 Friction or disturbance will develop at that point. 
 The other organs have to adjust themselves to 
 this condition thus lowering the vitality of the 
 whole body. 
 
 This experience of adaptation and testing, when 
 the physical integrity of the entire body is being 
 determined, may be gradual and prolonged, or it 
 may be of very short duration and quite sudden. 
 It is critical because of the possible permanent 
 injury that comes as a result of the prolongation 
 of a fundamental weakness in the mutual adjust- 
 
30 THE RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 
 
 ment of the parts. An engine may be perma- 
 nently crippled if, during the "try out "one part is 
 allowed to rattle about when it should have been 
 firmly fixed and doing its own work. For a boy 
 or girl to go through the years fifteen, sixteen, and 
 seventeen, carrying the burden of some physical 
 weakness, is serious. It may result in permanent 
 disability or low vitality. The habit of health 
 and one hundred per cent physical efficiency is the 
 most fundamentally important achievement dur- 
 ing middle adolescence. The permanent con- 
 quest of nervousness, irritability, unreliability, 
 instability, depends very largely upon the mode 
 of life during this period of final adjustment. 
 
 During these years, increase in the size and 
 strength of the heart is especially noteworthy. 
 Before and during early puberty, it is relatively 
 small. But during senior high school age, its 
 increase is about sixty per cent. This growth is 
 more rapid in girls than in boys. The arteries, 
 during this period, are relatively slow in expanding, 
 hence, a higher blood pressure. The increase in 
 lung capacity, especially with boys, is very marked. 
 Red corpuscles multiply rapidly and thus contrib- 
 ute greatly to physical health and vigor. There 
 is a general sensitizing of the organs of touch, 
 sight, hearing, smelling and tasting. 
 
 According to some authorities, the physical 
 
OF ADOLESCENTS 31 
 
 vitality of girls does not increase at as high rate 
 during the years fourteen, fifteen, and sixteen, as 
 it does during the previous three years. The 
 average annual rate of increase during early adoles- 
 cence is about nine and three-quarters per cent. 
 While during middle adolescence, it is about five 
 and one-quarter per cent. At sixteen years of 
 age, the annual rate of increase in vital capacity 
 is the highest, namely, nearly sixteen per cent. At 
 seventeen, it is less than twelve per cent and at 
 eighteen, it is only about five per cent. This 
 decrease in the rate of vital capacity should not 
 be confused with decreases in vital capacity. 
 Throughout middle adolescence vital capacity 
 actually increases. 
 
 THE LATER ADOLESCENT BODY 
 
 Under normal conditions, when the eighteenth 
 year is reached, the vitality of the body is no 
 longer used up in growth or in the adaptation of 
 the parts to each other. "Growth fatigue and 
 mental ferment" disappear. A maximum of en- 
 ergy is therefore released and is turned into voca- 
 tional, social, athletic, intellectual and other chan- 
 nels. National and international athletic records 
 are now made. The muscular system is possessed 
 of its full power- and it responds readily and accu- 
 rately to the mind- 
 
32 THE RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 
 
 With many, this is the period of reintegration 
 due to necessary adaptation to some type of voca- 
 tion or permanent responsibility. Great skill 
 along these particular lines is achieved, during a 
 relatively short period of time. There is increased 
 capacity to make adjustments. 
 
 The health habits built up in former years 
 should now be carefully guarded. There are 
 limits of endurance, ^ deprivation, strain, beyond 
 which one cannot go without facing appropriate 
 penalties. Young people should learn to be con- 
 tent, having done the reasonable thing. In these 
 cases where intensely specialized forms of work are 
 taken up, appropriate forms of recreation should 
 be maintained in order to preserve the physical 
 integrity of the body. No mortgage should be 
 placed upon either mind or body during these 
 years. The sense of power, keen delight in com- 
 petition, joy in extraordinary achievements and 
 vigorous altruistic impulses, all occasion a word of 
 serious warning. The Greek philosopher was 
 wise who said, "Avoid extremes." 
 
 QUESTIONS FOR INDIVIDUAL AND GROUP STUDY 
 
 1. Explain the law of rhythm that is seen in 
 the physical growth and development of adoles- 
 cents. 
 
 . Why is it important for early adolescent 
 
OF ADOLESCENTS 33 
 
 young people to understand their own sex devel- 
 opment? 
 
 3. Why should they have interests and activi- 
 ties that take their attention away from them- 
 selves? 
 
 4. Of what value is the emphasis upon skill? 
 
 5. What are some of the health habits that 
 should be built up during these years? 
 
 6. Describe the physical growth of early adoles- 
 cence. 
 
 7. How would you characterize the middle 
 adolescent development? 
 
 8. How does the later adolescent body differ 
 from that of the preceding three years? 
 
 9. Of what special value are group and team 
 games? Campcraft? Handicraft? Woodcraft? 
 
CHAPTER III 
 MENTAL DEVELOPMENT 
 
 THE PARTING OF THE WAYS. 
 
 Adolescence is by far the most critical period in 
 the entire mental life of the individual. For 
 many, it represents the parting of the ways one 
 leading to natural vigor, intensity of applica- 
 tion, normal or continued growth, and keen- 
 ness of interest; the other, to premature de- 
 terioration of the mind's power and discon- 
 tinued growth. The conditions out of which 
 permanent mental soundness or weakness arise 
 have now arrived and usually are such as to yield 
 to the influences which parents, teachers and lead- 
 ers can control. 
 
 It is especially during middle adolescence that 
 the mental power is heavily taxed. Life purposes 
 are not yet stable. Various moods come and go. 
 Excitability is at its height. There is unusually 
 sensitive appreciation of all sensory experiences. 
 Impulses are numerous and vigorous. The future 
 calls loudly and ambitions are stirred. For sup- 
 port in forming judgments or in deciding what is 
 right and wrong, the mind no longer leans on par- 
 ents as it once did. Persons, especially friends, 
 34 
 
OF ADOLESCENTS 35 
 
 who differ in opinion, cannot be treated with in- 
 difference. The wear and tear of opinionativeness 
 and intolerance upon the mind is great. That 
 superb moral achievement self-control has not 
 yet been fully realized. In the midst of greatly 
 varied and even antagonistic influences, every day 
 is a hard day when the mind is passing through the 
 experience of middle adolescence. (See Stedrnan, 
 "Mental Pitfalls of Adolescence," page 9.) 
 
 Not infrequently the profound physical changes 
 and these excessive mental burdens that take 
 place during early and middle adolescence consti- 
 tute too great a strain upon the mind. It begins 
 to act like an oyer-worked engine. From this 
 point onward it may tend to lose rather than gain 
 power. The symptoms of this early loss of mental 
 vitality vary greatly but they should be under- 
 stood by all those adult leaders having adolescent 
 boys and girls in charge. 
 
 It is when these symptoms first appear that it 
 is easiest to remove the causes and prevent serious 
 consequences. In the more mild cases, a general 
 apathy or indifference is seen. The days are spent 
 in indolence. Interests that ought to make a 
 strong appeal fail to awaken a sense of value or 
 the usual response. Social sensitiveness is so 
 great that one shrinks from accepting invitations 
 or appearing in society. Life becomes aimless. 
 
36 THE RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 
 
 Capacity for effort is lacking. Under injudicious 
 or harmful treatment, such individuals drift to- 
 ward delinquency such as is seen in the tramp, 
 the crank, the mild criminal or the prostitute. 
 "The 'hobo' class is largely recruited from these 
 mental derelicts." (Stedman, "Mental Pitfalls 
 of Adolescence," page 5.) 
 
 Premature deterioration of mental power is 
 found especially among adolescents who have 
 what might be called the "shut-in" temperament. 
 Physicians say that many instances have been 
 found among those who have had "no natural 
 tendency to be open and to get into contact with 
 people and things about them, who were reticent 
 and exclusive and could not adapt themselves to 
 situations, who were hard to influence and often 
 sensitive and stubborn, but the latter more in a 
 passive than an active way. They showed little 
 interest in what went on and frequently did not 
 participate in the pleasures, cares and pursuits of 
 those about them; although often sensitive they 
 did not let others know what their mental conflicts 
 were; did not unburden their minds, were shy and 
 had a tendency to live in a world of fancies. " 
 
 As soon as such a young person is conscious of 
 his social weakness, or feels that he is losing his 
 former self-confidence or self-reliance, the nervous 
 strain is greatly increased. Shame, sorrow, dis- 
 
OF ADOLESCENTS 37 
 
 couragement may become an almost permanent 
 mental state. Only now and then is the spell 
 broken. The sense of being odd because of per- 
 sonal inferiority is very hard to bear. Any one 
 thus afflicted is already on the road that leads 
 finally to chronic sleeplessness, abnormal irrita- 
 bility or permanent dementia. 
 
 How TO CONTROL MENTAL DEVELOPMENT 
 
 In order to prevent such disastrous consequences 
 and to turn the mind, during the critical years, in 
 the direction of gradually increasing power, the 
 first concern is with physical conditions. Sir 
 Thomas Clouston, the famous Scotch psychiatrist, 
 offers the following advice : " Build up the bone and 
 fat and muscle by means known to us during the 
 period of growth and development. Make fresh 
 air the breath of life of the young. Develop lower 
 centers rather than higher where there is a bad he- 
 redity. Do not cultivate, rather restrain, the im- 
 aginative and artistic faculties and sensitiveness 
 and the idealisms generally in cases where such tend 
 to appear too early and too keenly. They will be 
 rooted in a better brain and body basis if they come 
 later. Cultivate and insist upon an orderliness 
 and method in all things. The weakly neurotic 
 is always disorderly, unbusiness-likeand unsystem- 
 atic. Fatness, self-control, and orderliness are 
 
38 THE RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 
 
 the three most important qualities for them to 
 aim at. " 
 
 To build up " a reserve fund of bodily nutrition" 
 which is a fundamental principle of mental 
 management involves regular, wholesome physi- 
 cal exercise. Sedentary habits do not yield" husky' ' 
 appetites. Good eating habits should be main- 
 tained at any cost. It is careless indifference to 
 the nutrition of the body that has caused many 
 young people to become irritable, anaemic, easily 
 fatigued, and to crave stimulants. "Hastily 
 snatched breakfasts and lunches of sweets and 
 pastry," and meals wholly neglected have a direct 
 bearing upon mental condition. 
 
 KEEP OPEN THE CHANNELS OF EXPRESSION 
 
 A second principle of management may be 
 summed up in the words: Keep open the channels 
 f of expression and communication. Adolescence 
 is a time of increased social sensitiveness. Among 
 certain types of individuals this natural sensitive- 
 ness becomes excessive and leads to shyness, diffi- 
 dence, painful self-awareness, morbid fear, a 
 shrinking from social contacts, exaggerated notions 
 of the importance of trifling faults or mistakes, 
 embarrassment on occasions that call for self- 
 confidence, or timidity in the presence of social 
 opportunities. The result is that gradually the 
 
OF ADOLESCENTS 39 
 
 power of communication or of self-expression is 
 lost. The mind closes in upon itself. Its win- 
 dows become darkened. It feeds upon itself in- 
 stead of upon the thoughts of others. Incidents 
 that should be forgotten, constantly torment and 
 annoy. A mental condition results which causes 
 them to be misunderstood. This leads to still 
 further embarrassment and hesitation in meet- 
 ing others. 
 
 Before these conditions reach an advanced stage 
 membership in a social group, participation in 
 social activities, the discovery of friends or com- 
 panions, and the establishment of intimate per- 
 sonal relations with a hero or adoree are of inestim- 
 able value. Sympathy and encouragement, to- 
 gether with sincere appreciation go a long way 
 toward lifting the adolescent mind out of this pit- 
 fall. Approachability, conversational power and 
 social ease may be difficult lessons for this type 
 of individual to learn, but they are learned through 
 objective interests and self-expression supported* 
 by a social motive and in a proper social en- 
 vironment. 
 
 The value of active interest in woodcraft, the 
 making of collections of various kinds, exercises 
 that develop the power of observation and appre- 
 ciation, handicraft, art and industrial crafts can 
 hardly be over-estimated. To achieve power 
 
40 THE RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 
 
 of expression through practice in the use of oral 
 English is one of the most wholesome and stimu- 
 lating means of mental development during these 
 years. 
 
 GUARD AGAINST OVER-STIMULATING 
 
 A third principle is: avoid the over-stimulation 
 of those who are mentally precocious. The minds 
 that are naturally most gifted are apt to be most 
 sensitive to influences that quicken activity. 
 "Over-study, of itself rarely productive of mental 
 disorder, causes many a delicate girl or lad of the 
 'shut-in' type to succumb to mental disease, 
 when poor circumstances increase the struggle for 
 education" (Stedman, "Mental Pitfalls of Adoles- 
 cence," page 13) . Under the strain of competition 
 or fear of public humiliation, or desire to please 
 a particular friend, or abnormal interest of any 
 kind, such young people are apt to over-exert 
 themselves. The results are serious. This mind 
 is not yet seasoned to such hardships. The foun- 
 dations for prolonged, intense application 
 especially in an atmosphere of anxiety have not 
 yet been laid. Therefore, protection from over- 
 stimulation becomes imperative. 
 
 MENTAL BENEFITS OF RELIGIOUS FAITH 
 
 A fourth principle is well expressed in that 
 favorite hymn of adolescents: "What a friend we 
 
OF ADOLESCENTS 41 
 
 / 
 
 have in Jesus." The one who does not have a 
 vital, personal faith in God carries burdens of 
 pain, of grief, of a sense of guilt or of weakness 
 which at times may seem almost unbearable. 
 Often the mental annoyer is such that it is impos- 
 sible to share it with any human friend. To know 
 that He understands and really cares brings relief. 
 When the adolescent sings "What a fellowship, 
 what a joy divine! Leaning on the everlasting 
 arms," he is describing what actually takes place. 
 
 This vital, personal religion has saved multf^ 
 tudes of adolescent minds from yielding to de- 
 spondency and fear. Prayer is intensely social. It 
 keeps open the channels of expression. It helps 
 the mind to turn away from self. To realize that 
 Jesus carried burdens and sorrows heavier and 
 more poignant than ones own helps one to place 
 a true value upon what, in reality, are relatively 
 meager hardships. To believe that the universe, 
 at heart, is kindly disposed, that the heart of the 
 Eternal is wonderfully kind awakens confidence 
 and trust. Faith in God helps one to overcome 
 the world. 
 
 The most dangerous and often damaging form 
 of religion to which the adolescent young people 
 of America have ever been exposed is that which 
 teaches them to ignore or to deny the reality of 
 what actually does exist. An irritating memory'or 
 
42 THE RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 
 
 a permanent source of melancholia or other mental 
 or physical weakness may become buried and con- 
 tinue to injure the mind and body because its 
 reality was not acknowledged and its power an- 
 nihilated through confession and faith. 
 
 EMOTIONAL CHANGES 
 
 The emotional life now undergoes great and sud- 
 den changes. Instead of the apparent stolidity of 
 childhood, the mental energies, especially when 
 physical growth and vitality are near their flood- 
 tide, are most lively. The young person craves 
 the intensifying of personal life even to the point 
 of intoxication. He wants to be out nights and to 
 be entertained constantly. He desires to live in a 
 larger world than that which he sees around him. 
 His parents seem to him, as Tyler says, to know 
 " very little of the glories of life and of this exceed- 
 ingly good world." 
 
 The result is that the ideals and activities of 
 the home often appear insignificant and hum- 
 drum, and he desires to break away from parental 
 authority. He is self-assertive because, for the 
 first time, he is consciously becoming an individual 
 in the fuller sense. While on this quest for him- 
 self, he often feels a joyous defiance and engages 
 in wild larks, injurious habits and reckless dis- 
 regard of law, such conduct often gets him into 
 
OF ADOLESCENTS 43 
 
 trouble. Because of his insistence upon individ- 
 uality he seems to us to be absolutely selfish. 
 
 To the adult, this restlessness often appears to 
 be simply contrariness. The youth likes at this * 
 time to have all his doings taken for granted. He 
 hates to be questioned. Sometimes he seems to 
 enjoy giving the impression of having done some- 
 thing contrary to law or propriety by the roman- 
 tic care he takes to cover up some trifling adven- 
 ture. And if the youth be not bumptious, then 
 morbidness (among girls) or shyness or shame and 
 the inability to express one's self (among both boys 
 and girls) in turn causes him to be misunderstood. 
 
 The characteristic emotion of this period is am77 
 bition. The youth is making building-plans for hisJ 
 whole life. He has an unlimited sense of power; 
 nothing seems impossible. It is at times surprising 
 to him that everyone else does not recognize 
 his ability or agree with his judgments. There is 
 a notable difference between the ambitions of this 
 period and those of the preceding one. The young 
 child was ambitious for the immediate present, for 
 something he wants to do at the moment; the, 
 adolescent begins to be ambitious for the future^] 
 for what he is to be. 
 
 In these early years, there is a paradoxical mix- 
 ing of perspective in these ambitions. The future 
 for which plans are made is but a little distant 
 
44 THE RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 
 
 "when I am a man," or a woman, will be here in 
 five or six years. But there is little allowance for 
 progress after that estate is reached. Not yet can 
 the boy and girl see the years that lie beyond 
 twenty-five or thirty except as that indistinct and 
 mercifully fore-shortened state of "old age!" But 
 as the middle teens are entered, comes experience 
 of what it costs to carry out plans, and while the 
 young child was fully self -sufficient, the adolescent, 
 at time, begins to doubt his sufficiency. 
 
 So even the feeling of ambition has its setbacks. 
 The eager young spirit enjoys day dreams, from 
 the unfounded ecstasy of which he often awakens 
 to bitter disillusions. His lack of judgment and 
 self-control leads him into many costly experi- 
 ments. Never were his self-expressions so enthu- 
 siastic or so clumsy. His lack of adjustment 
 with his social circle sometimes humiliates him and 
 causes him to feel hostile. He is also sometimes 
 haunted by fears due to ignorance of his physical 
 nature or to misinformation which has come to 
 him from surreptitious sources. 
 
 Not only is the youth distressed by his mistakes 
 and misunderstandings, but sometimes he be- 
 comes discouraged. During some one of the lulls 
 in his growth referred to above, he suddenly feels 
 a lack of physical or mental energy. At times, too, 
 his old childish self seems to return. 
 
OF ADOLESCENTS 45 
 
 A certain adolescent boy confided to his father 
 his purpose to commit suicide. The wise parent 
 listened to the confession calmly and asked for . 
 the reason. This youth had just come to a sud- 
 den and full realization of the competitive basis 
 of society and felt his inability to make his way 
 with the whole world against him. 
 
 But underneath all this apparent fickleness, 
 there is what Dr. G. Stanley Hall calls "the pro- 
 founder drift of his will," referring to the fact that 
 underneath the surface billows or changing in- 
 terests there is being felt the deep swell of a tidal 
 life-purpose. 
 
 The adolescent girl may or may not be so ob- 
 viously in a state of revolution as the boy, but her 
 sense of being too great for her straightened and 
 unsympathetic environment is as intense. She 
 begins earlier to pay attention to the other sex. 
 For most girls of fourteen to seventeen it is a 
 necessity of a life to be paid attention to. 
 
 For this reason she takes much thought as to 
 what she shall put on. There are great individual 
 differences as to the preferred source of attention. 
 Some specialize in preventing the teacher's life 
 from becoming monotonous, some prefer the 
 approval of adults for their dazzling scholastic 
 achievements, and some have no other desire than 
 to be surrounded by boys and be the envy of 
 
46 THE RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 
 
 other girls. Concealment of the larger, adven- 
 turous life has advantages over open conflict, and 
 the concealment itself adds a glamor to adven- 
 ture. So she is now in the period of escapades and 
 the watchful mother should be doubly vigilant. 
 Now is the time, as the almanac says, to look out 
 for "dates" at the post office or library, "picking 
 up" attractive male acquaintances, church flirta- 
 tions, etc. So much for the background. 
 
 A MULTITUDE OF INTERESTS 
 
 This is also the time of an unlimited number of 
 interests. There is almost no subject in which it 
 is impossible to interest an adolescent eagerly. 
 His sense of potency is accompanied by the keen- 
 est and broadest intellectual curiosity. Yet such 
 is the fear of being either ridiculed or patronized, 
 that both in and out of school, the youth's reserve 
 often causes him to seem absolutely indifferent to 
 topics toward which he feels the most intense curi- 
 osity. This strange reserve often creates an es- 
 trangement between himself and his parents and 
 teachers. The resulting estrangement in turn may 
 be intensified by the fact that one interest suc- 
 ceeds another rapidly, and entirely displaces it. 
 Naturally, the parent feels that the child is fickle 
 and has no continuity of purpose. 
 
 Because of his inability to see the practical re- 
 
OF ADOLESCENTS 47 
 
 lations of new intellectual subjects to his future 
 and partly because of the poor adjustment of the 
 school curriculum to his interests and needs, many 
 a high-school pupil now loses enthusiasm for his 
 text-books, becomes inattentive, fails in applica- 
 tion to his studies, hates school. Let us parents 
 and leaders not think of ourselves more highly 
 than we ought to think, however, and be blaming 
 the school teachers too much. 
 
 "It will probably never be an easy task for the 
 school," says a sensible educator, "with its hours 
 of impersonal mental application, to compete with 
 the sex interests, the sporting interests', and the 
 great complex of other social interests which make 
 such an appeal to the adolescent. What a natu- 
 ral pull there is away from the humdrum! How 
 can a boy who is feeling all the raptures and pangs 
 of a first love hold himself down to the bromidic 
 charms of Sir Roger de Coverley or to figure out 
 on paper the velocity of falling bodies when he is 
 all in a quiver to catch a three-bagger in the south 
 field." 
 
 Many now want to go to work, partly, to escape 
 school and partly to earn money for their pleasures. 
 Stealing, when it occurs now, is usually for this 
 latter reason. With boys, especially, a spirit of 
 wanderlust is awakened. 
 
48 THE RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 
 
 MANAGEMENT OF THE EMOTIONS 
 
 In the emotional realm the problem is how to 
 help the youth to organize and interpret his chang- 
 ing experiences and to meet his doubts frankly and 
 cheerfully, being patient with his sudden aversions 
 and equally sudden fancies, using praise much 
 more generously than blame. While there is never 
 a time when he prizes good advice so little as during 
 this period, he is so subservient to public opinion 
 that he is grateful for all information concerning 
 social usages, and usually responds. It must be 
 remembered that a very important preliminary to 
 doing righ't is to know what is right, and we, 
 perhaps, expect too much in this direction. Skilful 
 indeed is that adult leader who can avoid "the 
 high pulpit method" and succeed once in a while 
 in slipping some counsel over the unsuspecting 
 youth. 
 
 L Especially is this true of girls. "A boy," says 
 G. Stanley Hall, "has some self -knowledge,, a girl 
 understands very little of herself or of the motives 
 of her conduct, for her life is more ruled by deep 
 unconscious instincts. Her self-consciousness is 
 reflected knowledge others have of her." And so 
 he is deeply right when he adds: "Perhaps she 
 needs just now a mother-confessor." 
 
 But she needs also plenty of vigorous muscular 
 
OF ADOLESCENTS 49 , 
 
 activity. A sufficient amount of automatic emo- 
 tion is furnished by the changes going on within 
 the body during this period of rapid growth. The 
 only way to keep these feelings from "blocking 
 up" and causing involuntary disturbances of the 
 heart, stomach, intestines, and other vital organs 
 is to direct them toward the voluntary muscles. 
 Formation of 1 vigorous and well-organized asso- 
 ciations between "feelings" and the purposeful 
 direction of energy during the earlier years of 
 adolescence is of the greatest importance. Serious 
 emotional difficulties are thus avoided. The prob- 
 lems of wholesome later development into woman- 
 hood are thus greatly reduced. In this way, girls 
 learn how, with a quiet and efficient mind, to 
 approach practical tasks and carry them through 
 to completion. 
 
 We need to learn to bear with much seeming 
 impertinence, which is ignorant or unintentional. 
 A very successful teacher of boys states that the 
 recipe by means of which she got along with them 
 was this maxim given her by an older friend: "A 
 boy can't insult a woman (and he doesn't want to) . 
 Never let yourself doubt it." 
 
 We have said that the youth during early and 
 middle adolescence, is never so clumsy in his ex- 
 pression or appreciation of affection as now when 
 he needs and desires it most. Remembering this, 
 
50 THE RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 
 
 the home should redouble its affectionate mani- 
 festations but carefully avoid a patronizing atti- 
 tude. The welcome which awaited the child when 
 he came into the world should await him every 
 time he comes home. There are, as Kirtley tells 
 us, "certain luminous hours the home-coming 
 hour, the meal hour, the play hour. On those 
 hours life's high lights must gleam." 
 
 Young persons seem especially sensitive now to 
 certain regularities in the home festivals and re- 
 unions, assuming a fresh interest in the ritual of 
 stocking-hanging and the tree at Christmas, in- 
 sisting upon birthdays and other anniversaries and 
 reminiscing with evident enjoyment about early 
 homes and their joys. This interest is precious, 
 and holds much content of family loyalty and 
 pride. 
 
 Remember also, that the development which 
 is going on now is in its very essence the 
 growth of the parental, in instinct and attitude. 
 They can now "Rejoice (they) are allied to That 
 which doth provide and not partake, effect and 
 not receive!" When the older children are taken 
 into the happy comraderie of the parents in plan- 
 ning these home celebrations, parents and children 
 will both hold them as most tender memories, and 
 will always wish afterward that there had been 
 more of them. 
 
OF ADOLESCENTS 51 
 
 Of course, the seeming impertinence and the 
 clumsiness in the expression of affectionate emo- 
 tions and also much of the "contrariness" are 
 largely due to the fact that the young people are 
 often nervously "on edge." "I feel all right if you 
 don't ask me," the hysterical girl's reply to an 
 inquiry as to her health, is quite typical of the 
 emotional situation during much of this period. 
 
 Next to the welcome at the home-coming hour, 
 there is sincere and spontaneous appreciation of 
 the cheerfully announced arrival in the midst of a 
 social group outside of the family circle. Member- 
 ship in suitable organizations within the church or 
 the school and, later, in the community, goes a 
 long way toward stabilizing the emotional life. 
 In helping the other fellow who is discouraged, a 
 boy goes a long way toward fortifying himself 
 against the danger of surrender to discouragement. 
 There is less of extreme emotional fluctuation in a 
 group of boys or of girls than in an individual 
 youth. If the ideals of the group are consistent 
 with those which satisfy the most fundamental 
 desires of its individual members, rapid progress 
 will be made by them in the direction of emotional 
 control. 
 
 WILL 
 
 Fundamentally what all this adolescent turmoil 
 and change indicates is this: the conscious func- 
 
52 THE RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 
 
 tioning of the will. We dare not slash at it ruth- 
 lessly lest we destroy its vigor; we cannot let it 
 grow wild lest it becomes dangerous. We believe 
 with President Stanley Hall that the will is really 
 a compound of our interests and we crave that our 
 boys and girls shall carry the fresh enthusiasms of 
 youth on into the sober days of maturity. The 
 will can be conscious of itself only through its 
 choices, and choice is limited to actions or to ideas 
 which are primarily impressions remembered be- 
 cause they have once been acted upon. A sense 
 of value is awakened when choices have led to 
 pleasant experiences. 
 
 "The whole pedagogy of adolescence," says Dr. 
 E. G. Lancaster, "is to inspire enthusiastic activ- 
 ity." We, therefore, quietly drop the word " don't" 
 from our vocabulary. We endeavor to keep the 
 adolescent active; give him something to do, but 
 always, within carefully guarded social relation- 
 ships. We give him his religion even, especially 
 during early and middle adolescence, in affairs of 
 doing rather than of believing. These affairs, how- 
 ever, must be carried on within social groups and 
 with the desire to do good to others. 
 
 Every youth should do what he wishes part of 
 the time, but should be definitely directed part of 
 the time and should always have something be- 
 sides himself to occupy his attention. "Something 
 
OF ADOLESCENTS 53 
 
 in which he is interested," says Kirkpatrick, "that 
 stimulates him to achieve, even though not valua- 
 ble in itself, is absolutely necessary. All sorts of 
 stunts and fads may thus temporarily serve a use- 
 ful purpose." 
 
 Do we realize what a wholesome part physical 
 training and athletics may have as time-fillers and 
 outlets for otherwise aimless and unregulated 
 energy? In the athletics of a well-conducted high 
 school, which are not only accepted but actually 
 regulated by the school faculty, we have a direct 
 antidote for the soft sensuality of the age, a direct 
 stimulus to school loyalty, a corrective to idle day 
 dreaming, a stimulus for scholarship, and a broad- 
 ening influence by the travel, the business experi- 
 ences, and the sportsmanlikeness which are exer- 
 cised in different ways through inter-scholastic 
 competition. 
 
 Even better is some form of work or some little 
 enterprise of business, because it is productive. A 
 boy who has learned the value of a dollar by earn- 
 ing it is not as likely to get into moral difficulties 
 as one who regards his father as a depository. / 
 The wisdom of the requirement that a boy earn a 
 certain amount of money and deposit it in aJ 
 Savings Bank in his own name is here seen. When 
 a boy begins to appreciate money in terms of 
 patient, consistent effort or service rendered to 
 
54 THE RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 
 
 / 
 
 another, its true value is brought home to him. 
 He' should learn the lesson of saving as well as 
 earning. 
 
 There is sound pedagogy in the various Govern- 
 ment Clubs that combine patriotism and personal 
 achievement in productive enterprises. The rais- 
 ing of hogs and chickens, growing of vegetables, 
 canning and other methods of preserving, if 
 properly directed, awaken keen adolescent in- 
 terest. 
 
 We must realize that we are now dealing with a 
 creature who is beginning to get up speed under 
 his own motive power. Energy that is new in 
 both quantity and quality is being generated. 
 Selfdiscovery and understanding on the part of 
 the youth must have its complement in a new 
 and suitable attitude on the part of the parent 
 or leader. 
 
 QUESTIONS FOR INDIVIDUAL AND CLASS STUDY 
 
 1. How do you account for the fickleness or 
 seeming instability of youth? 
 
 2. Why is it so often difficult for parents and 
 teachers to understand adolescent young people? 
 
 3. Why should adolescent boys and girls gain 
 the habit of turning their attention outwardly? 
 
 4. What are the specific mental values of ath- 
 letics? Campcraft? Handicraft? 
 
OF ADOLESCENTS 55 
 
 5. What conditions tend to produce premature 
 mental weakness? 
 
 6. Why should adolescent young people keep 
 open the channels of expression? 
 
 7. What are the values and the dangers of 
 adolescent ambitions? 
 
 8. How would you characterize the interests of 
 adolescent young people? 
 
 9. In what ways can adult leaders help these 
 young people to throw off feelings that are self- 
 depressing? 
 
CHAPTER IV 
 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT 
 
 CHILDHOOD'S TREASURE HOUSE 
 
 The task of the adult leader of adolescent young 
 people is to guide rather than to govern. His 
 perilous but important privilege is that of the 
 progressive transference of authority from himself 
 to them. This transfer is less dangerous in those 
 homes and churches where intelligent provision 
 has been made for it. There is the necessity of 
 filling the treasure house during the years of full- 
 ness for the years of famine that are to follow. 
 The child should by this time be in possession of a 
 treasure house of good habits, of family traditions, 
 of group loyalties, of high ideals that have been 
 crystallized by books and the lives of great men 
 and by the inspiration of living and dead heroes. 
 Out of this, his own treasure house, his life should 
 [ be fed as he starts on his pilgrimage into maturity. 
 
 It would seem that, in a well regulated family, 
 while it is not desirable that one's life should be 
 directed in all things by rule, yet some things by the 
 end of this first dozen years, should have come to 
 be pretty definitely fixed. Transition into adoles- 
 cence does not involve any fundamental changes 
 56 
 
OF ADOLESCENTS 57 
 
 with regard to the daily program and the kind of 
 behavior that shall be permitted under various 
 circumstances. 
 
 But in following out these old habits, a new 
 spirit begins to be discernible. The social outlook 
 is enlarged. The girl consults her mother less 
 about the details of her toilet and the boy shuns 
 the old-established, sympathetic intercourse. 
 Even in the realms of habit, there is manifested 
 a growing individuality that makes the t youth 
 feel that he must now take charge of his own 
 life. "If," says a wise adviser, "the mother 
 can only be wise enough to let go of the arbitrary 
 hand of parental authority and grasp, with the 
 gentle hand of kindly sympathy, she will find the 
 grasp firmer, surer and stronger with the passing 
 years. " 
 
 SELF-CORRECTIVE EXPERIENCES 
 
 The guiding principles of action during these I 
 years should be not so much the judgment of the 
 adult leader as the rights of others. So long as the 
 young person is not making himself a nuisance to 
 the rest of the family or group, a good many acts 
 may be permitted which cannot possibly do any 
 harm except to himself, and which, perhaps, will 
 hardly do that so long as they teach him the wiser ] 
 way. 
 
58 THE RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 
 
 Under this head, perhaps, comes the matter of 
 clothing. Many a mother is distracted between a 
 son who wants to go out in all weathers meagerly 
 clad and a daughter who wants to dress unsuitably 
 for a young maiden. She feels that she may take 
 some risks with the boy, whose warmer tempera- 
 ture and greater resisting power will probably 
 defend him from physical harm, but she prays for 
 the day when the daughter may have sense and 
 perception enough to see that the best charm of a 
 maiden is not that she be gaudily conspicuous, 
 but that she looks like a child as long as possible. 
 For this latter case no wiser word can be said than 
 that of President Stanley Hall: "Broaden by 
 retarding. " 
 
 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT WITHIN THE FAMILY 
 
 One effective method of establishing happiness 
 in a home, by mutual limitation of annoyance to 
 others, is to call all the members together and form 
 a partnership, with father and mother as the senior 
 members of the firm; each child being apportioned 
 some particular work which contributes directly 
 or indirectly to the comfort of all the others. 
 One contract, which was drawn up in an actual 
 home is quoted by Mrs. Birney: 
 
 "We, the undersigned, love each other with all 
 our hearts, and we want to do all we can to make 
 
OF ADOLESCENTS 59 
 
 our home the happiest place in the world. We will 
 try always to be patient, kind and thoughtful, 
 and to do cheerfully, and to the best of our ability, 
 whatever our part of the household work may be. 
 We will try to close the doors after us in winter, 
 and not to bang the screen doors in summer, to 
 remember to use the doormat in muddy weather, 
 to keep our things in order, to put the hammer 
 back in place," etc., etc. 
 
 "On occasions, children are delighted with a 
 certain amount of form and ceremony, and 
 pleasure will invariably be derived from the draw- 
 ing up of the contract, its impressive reading by 
 father or mother, the discussion of it with further 
 suggestions from the children, its final adoption 
 by a unanimous vote, and lastly, the affixing of 
 signatures, even the four-year-old having his 
 hand guided, his name appearing in big, scrawly 
 letters which differentiate it for practical reasons 
 from the other signatures. 
 
 "Once a week the contract should be read aloud 
 to the assembled family; no one should ever pub- 
 licly be accused of having failed to live up to its 
 spirit, but it should be tacitly understood on such 
 occasions that acknowledgment and apology 
 should be made for specific shortcomings during 
 the week past; that is, such shortcomings as af- 
 
60 THE RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 
 
 fected the entire or even greater part of the fam- 
 
 iiy." 
 
 Another mother, of whom Mrs. Kate TJpson 
 Clark tells, appointed each morning one of her 
 children "captain of the day." "The captain of 
 the day was helped always first at table, the next 
 younger was helped next, and so on, until the 
 circle was completed. " This captain took charge 
 of the discipline during the day. "The idea of his 
 responsibility is so fully impressed upon him that 
 it is rarely necessary to interfere with the captain's 
 discipline. " 
 
 Still another, who found that hours of confiden- 
 tial conversation with her children always paid, 
 had a way of giving talismans, which were secrets 
 between herself and her children, to help them 
 remember and to defend themselves from certain 
 acknowledged faults or vices. 
 
 Some of the most successful workers with boys 
 have used this same idea with great success. 
 When the ethical code of the group is being care- 
 lessly violated or moral ideals are endangered, a 
 timely suggestion, such as "W. S.'' (Watch your 
 step) brings the deeper meaning of the unfortu- 
 nate situation vividly before the boy's mind. 
 Boys of early adolescent years, particularly, prefer 
 this secret form of suggestion to a literal, direct 
 reprimand. 
 
OF ADOLESCENTS 61 
 
 With an adolescent boy or girl this partnership 
 of sympathy may wisely extend progressively to 
 confidences regarding the family or group concerns 
 and anxieties. "Watch the youth of fourteen," 
 someone says, "when his judgment is asked rela- 
 tive to some home arrangement; and if it is possible 
 for you to agree with his suggestion, isn't it worth 
 your tact and patience as you notice the glow of 
 ambition and pride written all over the boy, as he 
 realizes that he has actually formed one of the 
 advisory board?" 
 
 One of the greatest values of all these plans to~j 
 make participation in self-government and family 
 government a conscious and purposive thing, is 
 that it is practice in democracy. The home is the 
 primary social unit because it is a group of persons 
 with the widest possible disparity of age, experi- 
 ence, ability and wisdom, united by an equality 
 of affection, a conviction of each other's supreme 
 worth. The problems of mutual relations surely 
 have a motive for their solution here if anywhere; 
 and if they are really solved, the experience will 
 carry over into the larger social groups. Such 
 "government" through adolescence will go a long 
 way toward producing young men and women 
 capable of meeting the demands of world-democ^J 
 racy. 
 
62 THE RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 
 
 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT THROUGH SCHOOL EX- 
 PERIENCES 
 
 The social experiences that are grouped around 
 one's school, bring a wealth of ideas of social 
 conduct which greatly enrich those gleaned from 
 the home. The standards and practices of many 
 homes are reflected in behavior of class-mates and 
 school-mates. The groupings do not reflect the 
 disparity with respect to age which is found in 
 one's family. Mass movements are readily 
 started. Notions of equality and of slight 
 superiority grow out of the grading system and 
 voluntary organizations or activities. Leader- 
 ship based upon superior knowledge or wider 
 practical experience is recognized. A broader and 
 more intelligent sympathy with those who differ 
 in matters of religious belief and social standing is 
 inculcated. Social development through contacts 
 that are established in school are second in im- 
 portance only to those in the home. 
 
 THE PLAY GROUP 
 
 The social group which, next to the family and 
 the school, is apt to make the largest contribution 
 toward the social-mindedness of adolescent young 
 people is the one in which the leisure-time or play 
 activities have their setting. When the boys and 
 girls move out beyond the family circle, they move 
 
OF ADOLESCENTS 63 
 
 into a play group. Those organizations that 
 provide practical, concrete ideas of right behavior 
 in the form of a code of conduct recognized by all 
 the members of the group, are of inestimable value. 
 They supplement the work of the parent or teacher 
 just at the time when the voice of authority must 
 originate in a social group, rather than in a 
 superior individual. When a group of boys 
 achieve self-government under the powerful sug- 
 gestions of a simple, practical code of ethics, they 
 take long strides in the direction of social efficiency 
 and moral integrity. While at play young people 
 can have practice in applying moral principles to 
 particular problems. They learn to face new 
 situations in a way that is consistent with the 
 moral habits built up during childhood. 
 
 Character has been defined as the sum of our 
 choices. The young person who has not only 
 done the right because he has been obliged 
 to, but also for some years, has consistently chosen 
 to do the right in different types of social en- 
 vironment, is in a position not to be overwhelmed 
 by the new consciousness and powers that are now 
 his. 
 
 CHURCH SCHOOL LOYALTY 
 
 An unfortunate situation occurs when a boy's 
 loyalty to home, public school, or play group in- 
 
64 THE RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 
 
 terferes with the development of his loyalty to his 
 Sunday school class or to the school as a whole. 
 The adult supervisor of play or director of leisure- 
 time activities who is not in hearty sympathy with 
 the program of the church school possesses power 
 to injure the social development of adolescent 
 young people in direct proportion to his popularity. 
 Enthusiastic loyalty to a social group within a 
 church easily develops into personal appreciation 
 of the religion for which it stands. No local 
 church that does not provide for the social develop- 
 ment of its pupils in the Intermediate, Senior, and 
 Young Peoples' departments need expect them 
 to take seriously the formal religious instruction 
 which it provides. Every organized class should 
 be a vigorous social entity. Loyalty to it should 
 not have to be compromised when, between 
 Sundays, play considerations are uppermost. It 
 is the duty of every teacher and supervisor of 
 leisure-time activities to help develop a splendid 
 esprit de corps in the church school and to guard, 
 carefully, the adolescent's appreciation of member- 
 ship therein. 
 
 COMMUNITY LOYALTY 
 
 Before middle adolescence is reached, commu- 
 nity consciousness is revealed in the interests and 
 conduct of boys and girls. The fact that they 
 
OF ADOLESCENTS 65 
 
 know the community first of all as the place 
 where home, school, play group, and church are 
 located helps to make an awakening community 
 loyalty intelligent. Familiarity with community 
 civics and the practical problems of community 
 welfare give proper direction to social develop- 
 ment during these years. The instructive im- 
 pulse to be of service now finds natural expression 
 in those activities that prepare the youth for the 
 civic and political responsibilities which will be 
 his when he becomes of age. He shares the honor V 
 or disgrace of the reputation of his home city, the 
 streets, houses, parks and play grounds, public 
 buildings, health, fire protection, and industrial 
 foundation, all awaken individual interest. 
 
 SOCIAL INSTINCTS 
 
 Both self-assertiveness and rebellion would be 
 impossible to the ordinary youth if he had to do it 
 alone. "The one way," says Munroe, "in which 
 he can bolster up his courage is to lean upon other 
 boys like himself." Hence the arising of the 
 " gang " and the strengthening through this mutual 
 support of whatever good and also whatever evil 
 tendencies each of the individuals may have. His 
 blind following of the gang is re-enforced because 
 of his eager hero-worship, and the leader of the 
 gang is frequently his hero. 
 
66 THE RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 
 
 It is a peculiarity of this period that the youth 
 when planning an action thinks not only of some- 
 thing to be done, but also of another person as 
 witnessing the achievement. His pleasure is not 
 only in the act itself but also in the thought of 
 how it will be viewed by others or by one particu- 
 lar person. This immensely limits the field of 
 "things that the fellers do" and at the same time 
 gives an unnatural glamour to efforts in particular 
 directions. 
 
 Perhaps another reason for the clandestine 
 escapades of some girls is the girl's tendency to be 
 dominated by the approval of one person at a 
 time, rather than by a larger circle. The escape 
 from the window is achieved by the help of the 
 chum or the boy, though she may later join "the 
 crowd." Her social heritage tends to make her 
 interpret loyalty as clinging to one against the 
 whole world. Here is where the right sort of woman 
 can have so immeasurable an influence as her 
 heroine or "adoree." 
 
 THE FRIENDSHIP INSTINCT 
 
 In the middle and later adolescent years, 
 especially, the social instinct, let us call it the 
 friendship instinct, takes the special form of in- 
 terest in the other sex. As girls mature physically 
 a little earlier than boys, they manifest this in- 
 
OF ADOLESCENTS 67 
 
 stinct sooner and with a frankness that is some- 
 times alarming to their parents. Prepared as they 
 may be by reminiscence for the fact that this in- 
 stinct is sure to come, they have forgotten that 
 with some girls as young as thirteen, the subject 
 of boys is the all-absorbing topic of conver- 
 sation and even of thought. The interest is 
 innocent and ignorant and is often as much a 
 form of early feminine jealousy of the other girls 
 as it is of genuine interest in any individual lad. 
 The maladies of silliness and of "giggles" develop 
 from a combination of sex-interest, unstable nerv- 
 ous equilibrium, and a self-consciousness fostered 
 by the foolish and jesting attitude of adults. 
 
 It is for this reason that adult leaders, whether of | 
 adolescent boys or girls must be familiar with the ! 
 whole problem of adolescence. A play program 
 that is founded upon complete sex segregation is 
 false in theory and positively harmful in practice. 
 As one homely philosopher put it: "The Lord 
 probably knew what He was about when He per- 
 mitted both boys and girls to belong to the same 
 family. " During early adolescence, sex conscious- 
 ness is permeated with group loyalty. Therefore, 
 groups of boys should play with groups of girls. 
 Both boys and girls put their whole selves into 
 play. At such times they are wholesomely self- 
 expressive. Knowledge of the opposite sex gained 
 
68 THE RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 
 
 on these occasions is the best and most natural step 
 toward the friendships of later years. 
 
 MORAL AWAKENING 
 
 The keenness of interest which the youth shows 
 in physical and mental achievements is also seen 
 in his relation to moral standards. The moral life 
 of an adolescent is at first largely one of habit, 
 impulse, and feeling. Later it is one in which 
 thoughtfulness becomes dominant. Normally both 
 feeling and reason should become related to 
 each other and to the whole of the growing ex- 
 perience through activity. 
 
 It is especially during the era of middle 
 adolescent feeling that the growing boy or girl 
 rises to heights of moral ecstasy. These, too, 
 come on in rhythms, with lulls between. These 
 " between " seasons are the opportunity for doing, 
 and for working moral insight into moral fiber 
 through the medium of reality. It is due to the 
 neglect of providing means of expression that 
 the later adolescent thoughtfulness struggles so 
 often with a sense of unreality, and finds it so 
 difficult to bridge the gaps between the earlier 
 forms of belief and the new data of maturity. 
 Moral awakening has its best setting in the 
 period of the most rapid social development. 
 
OF ADOLESCENTS 69 
 
 SOCIAL MANAGEMENT 
 
 In the social life of the youth, we meet a varied 
 and complex problem. At one moment we find it 
 feasible to make use of emulation and stimulate 
 him to imitate his hero. Again we crave the op- 
 portunity for him to be by himself so that he may 
 learn* to stand upon his own feet and think out his 
 own thoughts. We often find it necessary to get 
 the gang on our side and to chaperon its activities 
 so that they may be harmless. Having won its 
 confidence, the gang is potentially one of the best 
 friends of parents and teachers in the training of 
 early and middle adolescent boys. It is the part of 
 wisdom to work with the gang and not against it. 
 The youth may be allowed an almost uninter- 
 rupted relationship with his group if the leading 
 spirit of the group is morally sound and if that 
 relationship is conducted under wholesome condi- 
 tions. 
 
 This fact especially emphasizes the necessity of 
 the young person's having a room of his own. 
 "He needs it," says Kirtley, "in his business of 
 being a boy. If he does not get it at home he 
 always wants to establish headquarters somewhere 
 else on the street corner, or a vacant lot, or in 
 another boy's home. This always lessens his 
 attachment for his own home. His self-respect 
 
70 THE RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 
 
 and social standing require that he have a place 
 where he can bring his friends; if he brings them to 
 his own home, they will be in a respectable place 
 and not be as apt to get into trouble. He will be 
 proud to have his parents become honorary or 
 sustaining members of the club. Such a relation- 
 ship gives those parents a chance to take the sting 
 out of all mischief and renew the joys of long ago. 
 His room is a social center, training him for life. " 
 
 We believe there is scarcely a home where this is 
 not possible. Since so many of the gang's activi- 
 ties are naturally in the evening, a basement may 
 be used, where there is no attic, and there are 
 fascinating possibilities in sheds and "shacks" 
 in backyards. 
 
 A free center of hospitality is just as essential for 
 the girl. While she may not set up such a center 
 in a vacant lot, like her brother, if deprived of a 
 headquarters, she will miss from her development 
 an element that should enter now when the in- 
 stinct is at its keenest. Besides, a room alone 
 gives opportunity for the expression of many 
 artistic and decorative phases without such violent 
 re-adjustment of the rest of the house furnishing, 
 or such evident lack of appreciation on the part of 
 the family. Many a parent would be surprised at 
 the strength and tenacity of the feeling of resent- 
 ment or disappointment in the heart of a docile 
 
OF ADOLESCENTS 71 
 
 daughter, because her friends and her ideas were 
 so seldom "convenient." 
 
 Parents are sometimes concerned because their 
 children at this period become completely fasci- 
 nated with some other person, frequently of the 
 same sex, so that the acts, thoughts and feelings 
 of the admired individual are of more interest than 
 anything else in the world. But, as Kirkpatrick 
 reminds us, this is at least better than extreme self- 
 absorption. If the person be strong and well- 
 rounded, nothing but good can result. And if the 
 parent has reason to believe that the person is not 
 strong and good, the case is by no means hopeless. 
 A good general rule is that the parent should crave 
 to know personally and in the home, though un- 
 obstrusively, everyone whom his children like. 
 In the home-circle the unwholesome acquaintance 
 loses much of his glamor; brought into competition 
 there with unusually fine young persons, invitedA 
 there for the purpose, he may lose it all. 
 
 "FIRST LOVES" 
 
 The proper attitude to take toward first loves 
 is that of complete candor. Nothing could be 
 more foolish than to joke a child about his fancy, 
 because that is the surest way to make him secre- 
 tive and to encourage him to continue his passion 
 away from home. Invite the loved one to your 
 
72 THE RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 
 
 own home, not of course in any other guise than 
 that of a school-room friend, and observe her well 
 but kindly. Keep the acquaintance open and 
 above-board. Try to know her folks, and get 
 them to work with you in a mutual program. 
 
 So with the young girl in her first boy -craze. 
 Just as naturally as you would ask the girl friends, 
 invite the boy to stay to supper for some special 
 treat, suggest that he bring his fish for a "shore 
 dinner" in the back yard, or plan a candy-pull. 
 
 Precocious ideas grow by attention, whether in 
 antagonism or in jesting. The best way to mini- 
 mize over-consciousness of sex interests is by 
 magnifying common human interests. As the girl 
 grows older and wishes to entertain in a more 
 formal and grown-up way, she will usually enter 
 eagerly into plans for practicing how to be a gra- 
 cious and pleasing hostess to many different kinds 
 of young men. Friendships thus guarded may 
 prove of life-long worth, or they may die a nat- 
 ural but innocent death. They cannot be hurtful 
 "If we try our best to make the best of it, we take 
 the worst out of the very worst of it. " 
 
 With boys, first love is chivalrous and unselfish 
 but equally blinding to any other object. Such 
 pre-occupation constitutes one of the most diffi- 
 cult problems of the middle and later adolescent 
 period. It is no doubt the fascinations of the 
 
OF ADOLESCENTS 73 
 
 gang and the delight of first love that partly ex- 
 plain the disregard of the home-folks that so many 
 young people manifest. 
 
 CO-OPERATION 
 
 Now, more than ever before, parents must share 
 the guidance of their children with others. Young 
 people at this time are profoundly influenced by 
 the spirit of the gang. The influence of a particu- 
 lar chum may be even more powerful than that of a 
 parent. It is necessary also to consider the in- 
 fluence of the different ideas of parental control 
 and personal privilege shared by the other homes 
 of the neighborhood, and also the general senti- 
 ment of the community as to what is proper for 
 young people to do. Says Mrs. Ford, "If all the 
 mothers of a certain set of society were agreed on 
 certain standards, it would be easier for the individ- 
 ual mother to hold strongly to the ideal of conduct 
 or attitude, whatever it may be. Why can't you 
 strengthen the backbone of the mothers of the 
 community? Thoughtless mothers make things 
 hard for the rest, and I believe that the thoughtful 
 mother who gives herself to the work of a good 
 sensible mothers' club is thereby saving time and 
 work and perplexity for herself. " 
 
 Co-operation among parents is no more impor- 
 tant than is co-operation between parents and those 
 
74 THE RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 
 
 adult leaders who outside of the family are direct- 
 ing the intellectual, religious, physical and social 
 development of these young people. In multi- 
 tude of instances, these volunteer workers are tak- 
 ing up this important task just at the time when 
 the parent is unable to carry it forward. The 
 same standards should obtain within the homes, 
 the church and the school, so that young people of 
 given community will be impressed with the 
 consistency of the moral law. All of the plans for 
 .eisure-time occupations being worked out in these 
 three institutions should be tested by the require- 
 ments of citizenship in a Christian democracy. 
 
 QUESTIONS FOR INDIVIDUAL AND CLASS STUDY 
 
 1 . At what age will a child naturally have secrets 
 that are kept back from his parents, though shared 
 with others? 
 
 2. How can the home provide young people with 
 practice in self-government? 
 
 3. Of what value to young people are friend- 
 ships? 
 
 4. What is gained through membership in a 
 gang? 
 
 5. Is an adolescent young person ever justified 
 in going contrary to the expressed judgment and 
 wish of parents? Give reasons for your answer. 
 
OF ADOLESCENTS 75 
 
 6. Why should every program of training adoles- 
 cents morally, emphasize activity? 
 
 7. Why should loyalty to home, school and 
 church precede loyalty to community ? 
 
 8. Of what value is school loyalty? Loyalty to 
 one's community? 
 
 9. How are the social instincts expressed during 
 middle and latter adolescence? 
 
 10. Why should adolescent young people have 
 their own social headquarters? 
 
 11. What attitude should be taken toward first 
 loves? 
 
 12. What forms of co-operation among adult 
 leaders are possible in the interest of the social 
 development of adolescents? 
 
CHAPTER V 
 
 RELIGION AS A MODE OF CONTROL IN 
 ADOLESCENT CONDUCT 
 
 RELIGION AS A "COMPLEX" 
 
 (See note at end of this chapter) 
 
 Why do so many young people, thirteen, four- 
 teen and fifteen years old, leave off going to Sun- 
 day school? At this age they are naturally more 
 interested in religion than during the three preced- 
 ing years. Religion is, or should be a matter of 
 spontaneous and vital concern during the entire 
 adolescent period. 
 
 The first answer to this question is found in the 
 fact that adolescent young people are interested, 
 primarily, in using religion rather than in studying 
 it. If they study it, the strongest motive for 
 study is the desire to make personal use of it. 
 The teacher of religion whose aim is merely to 
 help them to pile up more and yet more informa- 
 tion about the Bible, the Holy Spirit, or the 
 Church information that is not especially in- 
 tended for use need not be surprised if they lose 
 interest and disappear. 
 
 In order to remain steadfast in their religious 
 life these young folks must continue to build up a 
 definite system of organized religious ideas which 
 76 
 
OF ADOLESCENTS 77 
 
 is permeated with strong religious emotions and 
 which produces actions of a definite religious 
 character. Such a system is called by psycholo- 
 gists a potential "religious complex." 
 
 If the religious instruction previously given has 
 not been systematic or well organized, it is difficult 
 for a young person to become definitely and 
 wholly religious. The religious ideas of persons 
 who are indifferent to religion are usually dis- 
 organized and scattered. It is difficult for them 
 to increase in religious wisdom because of mental 
 confusion on this subject. 
 
 But it is also vitally important to have this 
 definite system of ideas permeated with strong 
 emotions. Religious emotions, however, cannot 
 be built up except through actual, first-hand 
 religious experience. The religious nurture of 
 adolescent young people involves practice in 
 prayer, in worship, in oral witnessing, and in 
 service supported by religious motives. Unless 
 this actual practice in religion takes place, the 
 emotional elements will be weak and the potential 
 religious complex will fail to have sufficient 
 strength to be a controlling factor in conduct. 
 
 The adolescent's interest in religion is limited 
 largely by the sense of value which grows out of 
 this system of organized ideas, emotions and im- 
 pulses. He is the conscious possessor of a religious 
 
78 THE RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 
 
 system which he recognizes as his own. Unless 
 he feels it to be a vital part of his life, something of 
 which he is not ashamed, something that brings 
 satisfaction through use, indifference is sure to 
 result. 
 
 CONTROL FROM WITHOUT AND FROM WITHIN 
 
 For him to become habitually adjusted to the 
 moral law, as interpreted by those who have 
 charge of his We, is the child's great moral achieve- 
 ment during the years preceding adolescence. 
 But during the years twelve to twenty-four, the 
 problem is to make the voice of habit the voice of 
 a conscience that is consistently obeyed. Respon- 
 sibility for the appreciation and interpretation of 
 the moral law now rests upon young people them- 
 selves. 
 
 It is because religion is the highest, the most 
 sacred element within one's own life that it should 
 decide what are to be the standards of one's con- 
 duct. Before adolescence, young people have 
 little experience in moral self -direction. They 
 get permission of parents or teacher to do that 
 which is not covered by some former consent or 
 approval or concerning which they are in doubt. 
 To disobey their elders is to do what is wrong. 
 To obey them is to do what is right. The element 
 that is most sacred is without rather than within. 
 
OF ADOLESCENTS 79 
 
 But this moral dependence is outgrown after 
 the first dozen years. Adolescents feel free to 
 express their own opinions of what is right or 
 wrong conduct and to go ahead on the basis of 
 those opinions. They take up the responsibility 
 for their own behavior. Being thus consciously 
 amenable to themselves, they naturally try to 
 find within themselves something that they can 
 tie up to. Religion is or should be this something. 
 They should recognize the supremacy of their 
 religious interests over all others. 
 
 WHAT is ADOLESCENT RELIGION? 
 
 Religion is simply one's whole bearing toward 
 that which is held to have highest value. It is 
 one's deference to (or rebellion against) whatever 
 is felt to be of supreme worth. We worship the 
 objects or persons that we feel to be most im- 
 pressive and sacred. 
 
 The adolescent mind naturally moves out to- 
 ward the ideal toward whatever seems to be 
 most powerful, most beautiful, most worthy of 
 confidence, most majestic, most effective in caus- 
 ing things to happen. When it finds this ulti^ 
 mately real person, it feels a sense of obligation to 
 him. The differences between self and the ideal 
 are readily felt, especially by adolescent young 
 people. To try to realize the ideal is a universal 
 
80 THE RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 
 
 adolescent endeavor. That is, religion is now na- 
 tural. 
 
 Boys and girls of this age who are irreligious are 
 unnatural and uncomfortable. They sense the 
 fact that something is wrong. A young person 
 endeavoring to conceal the fact of a life lived in 
 defiance of the God of his childhood may try to 
 appear comfortable and happy, but in doing so 
 he is insincere and more or less dissatisfied with 
 his own pretenses. 
 
 Conduct that is brought into harmony with 
 one's conception of what is of greatest value, there- 
 by becomes religious. It is thus that religion 
 permeates all life and gives "tone" to it. Reli- 
 gion affects every thought, impulse and desire. 
 A person who is religious thinks certain kinds of 
 thoughts, has characteristic desires. He conducts 
 himself in a particular way as though he cared 
 about God. 
 
 There are three distinct ways in which adoles- 
 cent young people adjust themselves and their 
 conduct to that which awakens in them this high- 
 est sense of value. One is through obedience; 
 another is through personal appreciation; and the 
 third is through belief. There are three outstand- 
 ing types of experiences that are seen in the reli- 
 gious unfolding of adolescent life. One is domi- 
 nantly volitional; another is emotional; and the 
 
OF ADOLESCENTS 81 
 
 third is intellectual. At the dawn of early adoles- 
 cence, the child is supremely interested in doing 
 religious things. At sixteen, religious experiences 
 affect his emotions, particularly. At nineteen, 
 or later, his religious interest centers in beliefs, 
 doctrines, theology, creeds. 
 
 EARLY ADOLESCENT RELIGION 
 
 Usually, in the twelfth year, an outstanding 
 type of religious experience occurs. Its most 
 marked characteristic is voluntary and implicit 
 obedience. The whole religious life is now as- 
 sembled or organized around the doing of things 
 that have the approval of the highest authority. 
 This child does what he thinks the one highest in 
 authority wants him to do. A whole-hearted 
 decision to recognize the lordship of Him who has 
 the greatest inherent right to rule over the life 
 marks the culminating point in this twelve-year- 
 old religious experience. 
 
 This supreme decision brings highest satisfac- 
 tion. The mind is no longer annoyed by two or 
 more conflicting influences that attempt to rule in 
 conduct. This kind of behavior reveals consist- 
 ency and sincerity. There is now response to but 
 one voice. Conduct is morally sound. 
 
 Religious conduct during early adolescence 
 is expressive and expansive. Impulses are both 
 strong and numerous. There is also muscular 
 
 7 
 
82 THE RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 
 
 vigor. Normally, the mind is turned outward, 
 away from itself and is interested in things to be 
 seen and heard, good turns that need to be done. 
 There is more conduct to be controlled than ever 
 before. The stream of life is flowing more swiftly. 
 It has greater volume also. Children of this age 
 find joy in taking the initiative. They appreciate 
 being in the midst of things that are "doing." They 
 are highly suggestible, provided that the sugges- 
 tion originates in a plane of conduct or experience 
 which they recognize to be higher than their own. 
 When this highest standard of what is right or of 
 greatest value is enthroned within their own lives, 
 its place therein recognized as supreme and au- 
 thoritative, conduct becomes truly religious. Re- 
 ligion has become the mode of control in their 
 conduct. 
 
 The years thirteen and fourteen are normally 
 spent in putting this mode of control into practice. 
 The supreme decision that normally comes at the 
 twelfth year, has to be put into operation again 
 and again until it becomes throughly established 
 or automatic. Self-will gradually becomes trans- 
 formed into the supremely good-will. 
 
 During this time, attention must be directed, 
 frequently, to the highest type of conduct as seen 
 in the lives of heroes and in the absolutely perfect 
 life of the Master. With this ideal in mind, ado- 
 lescent young people become personally religious 
 
OF ADOLESCENTS 83 
 
 through religious conduct. That which was exter- 
 nal becomes internal. Standards become one's 
 own. Moral and religious suggestions like those 
 that originated in the Hero now begin to spring up 
 from within. Choices are made in accordance 
 with them. That which was received is now given 
 back in a spontaneous way. ( Conscious effort to 
 be good or to do what is right gradually disap- 
 pears. The outside supports, so necessary in 
 childhood, are no longer needed. Religion has be- 
 come one's own. The ship that was held in place 
 by "ways," "shores," "blocks" and other scaf- 
 folding in the yard is now launched and maintains 
 its own balance. 
 
 One of the practical dangers during this inter- 
 mediate or transition period is that of a growing 
 lack of appreciation of those parents and teachers 
 whose guidance and interpretations have led to 
 this personal appreciation of the highest good. 
 Young people of this age are idealists without much 
 practical experience. They are apt to pick out 
 the faults and weaknesses in the conduct of others 
 and over-estimate their significance. The average 
 fourteen-year-old begins to be an iconoclast. His 
 opinions are formed hastily. He is ruthless in his 
 criticisms. There is little patience for the gather- 
 ing up of all the evidence before a final judgment 
 is reached. This spirit often gives rise to the use 
 of such expressions as "the old man" instead of 
 
84 THE RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 
 
 ^N 
 
 "father." A few years later, this critical non- 
 chivalrous attitude toward persons, if permitted 
 to develop may become the permanent attitude 
 toward churches and other institutions. 
 
 The restraining influence of the religious ideal 
 to which this youth has decided to become obe- 
 dient must be quantitative as well as qualitative. 
 The natural volume of impulses and activities, 
 the abundance of interests and desires must not 
 be interfered with. Religion must now provide 
 for the opportunity of vigorous expansion in life. 
 An early adolescent youth can be impulsive, vigor- 
 ously active, adventuresome he can enjoy fun, 
 abhor dull routine, flee from the commonplace, 
 and keep his most cherished secrets from his par- 
 ents all without breaking the Ten Command- 
 ments. 
 
 The religious ideal and the moral law which it 
 sanctions must not stand in the way of his living 
 an abundant life. If a new shoe is causing a 
 blister, the thing to do is not to keep off one's feet 
 and to lie in bed, but to get a more comfortable 
 pair of shoes. Religion and religious institutions 
 were made for life, and not life for religion. Early 
 adolescent religious life is not less active, adven- 
 turesome, impulsive. It is expressive in a new 
 and better way. The truly Christian conscience 
 is not destructive and unnatural. It is superna- 
 tural, even autocratic, yet sympathetic and kind. 
 
OF ADOLESCENTS 85 
 
 MIDDLE ADOLESCENT RELIGION 
 
 The early adolescent barely brings himself into 
 habitual subjection to this higher will and law 
 when he discovers that it is a new self with which 
 he is dealing. There is now a still further expan- 
 sion of life. A reaffirmation of loyalty is required, 
 social interests are now intensifying. Friend- 
 ships may or may not suggest compromise with 
 one's former ideals. "To thine own self be true" 
 is the great challenge of religion to middle adoles- 
 cence. To keep God at the center of life and to 
 go on making friends, following out vocational 
 interests, accepting membership in various or- 
 ganizations, appreciating the aesthetic and letting 
 altruistic motives find abundant expression is 
 the supreme achievement during these years. 
 
 If a standard of value other than the highest or 
 an ideal other than the loftiest has temporarily 
 gained supremacy or has become an equally force- 
 ful factor in controlling conduct, social and reli- 
 gious salvation can be found only through con- 
 version. Any attempt to serve two mutually 
 antagonistic ideals two hostile masters is fatal. 
 Dual morality is damnation. "Is thine eye 
 single?" "Doest thou love the Lord thy God 
 with thy whole heart?" " Simon ' Peter, lovest 
 thou Me?" These are the questions which reli- 
 gion asks of the sixteen-year-old youth. " Blessed 
 
86 THE RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 
 
 are they pure in heart." Moral adulteration is 
 now the most dangerous of all temptations. No 
 secret social alliance must be permitted to under- 
 mine one's religion. 
 
 A vital part of the problem of experimental re- 
 ligion is now that of whole-hearted, warm-hearted 
 obedience to the moral law and to the supreme 
 loyalties already established within one's, own heart 
 and mind. It is continued loyalty to the highest 
 loyalties brought over from the preceding years. 
 (Consciousness of sin should quickly follow any 
 violation of conscience. Repentance and restored 
 allegiance is the only road that leads toward tran- 
 quility of mind and soundness of character?) 
 
 This period is often called the time of storm 
 and stress. The reason is nolfr difficult to discover. 
 Religion is intensely personal. Varieties of stand- 
 ards are discovered in individuals who exert a 
 strong personal influence. Motives other than 
 those that are religious may seem to be adequate 
 supports of good conduct in others' lives. Spirit- 
 ual compromise may seem to be the price of friend- 
 ship or of vocational success ^ The ethical code 
 reflected in the by-laws of a fraternity, member- 
 ship in which seems to be a social necessity, may 
 conflict with one's own standards, built up through 
 a series of former experiences. 
 
 It is also a time when the imagination readily 
 pictures a lofty ideal and sees self in relation to 
 
OF ADOLESCENTS 87 
 
 that ideal. Self is constantly being measured or 
 tested by that which is heroic or sublime. Lofty 
 conceptions of right conduct are "tried on" like 
 new suits of clothes. Ideals exert a powerful in- 
 fluence but the ability to reach them seems, at 
 times, to be utterly lacking. Thus the mind is 
 drawn toward both the ideal and the practical, 
 the perfect and the personal at the same time. 
 And all this takes place at a time when sensitive 
 personal relations to a complex social and intellec- 
 tual environment are being maintained. 
 
 SOCIAL ASPECTS OF MIDDLE ADOLESCENT 
 RELIGION 
 
 Religious sentiments are now very closely in- 
 tertwined with those that are social. Life is be- 
 coming less individualistic and self -centered. A 
 middle adolescent young person readily appreciates 
 those who have personal qualities which he him- 
 self would gladly possess or which others possess 
 as a result of his own efforts. 
 
 A parent, teacher or pastor who ignores this 
 instinctive desire for social experience, this de- 
 light in various forms of social service, and interest 
 in social institutions or co-operative endeavor will 
 thereby put himself out of sympathetic touch 
 with young folks of middle adolescent age. The 
 practical problems of management will so increase 
 that failure will be inevitable. ( There is no au- 
 
88 THE RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 
 
 thority, even of religion, that can take the place 
 of social influence. These young people simply will 
 not be forced into what another arbitrarily holds 
 to be right conduct for them and which they can- 
 not appreciate. If they must, they wont. 
 
 Personal influence and example will succeed 
 where autocracy and arbitrariness fail. The in- 
 fluences that are most effective in causing them 
 to live religious lives arise in a social atmosphere 
 created or maintained by religious persons who 
 have large capacity for human sympathy and kind- 
 ness and who appreciate the intensity of these 
 social sentiments. 
 
 Directing various kinds of social service activi- 
 ties that are supported by religious motives, 
 therefore, is an effective way of training middle 
 adolescent young people in religion. If religious 
 ideals are maintained and find expression in such 
 forms of service as giving material relief in cases 
 of absolute poverty, providing elevating types of 
 recreation, awakening interest in self-improve- 
 ment, caring for children or other dependents, and 
 various forms of civic or community betterment, 
 these ideals tend to become permanent and con- 
 trolling factors in conduct. 
 
 If these young people never know the joy of such 
 experiences, they cannot enter fully into their re- 
 ligious inheritance. Their religion must have a 
 human tang and their social relationships must 
 
OF ADOLESCENTS 89^ 
 
 have a religious tang. Religion is weakened and 
 restricted by the absence of social imagination. 
 Likewise, by that social superficiality that often 
 results when social experiences are excessively nu- 
 merous, too complex and too highly varied. Re- 
 ligion is the natural bond of the noblest and most 
 enduring friendships. A truly Christian motive in 
 rendering service not pity, merely, but genuine 
 appreciation and love often leads young people 
 out into religious experiences which would other- 
 wise be unknown to them. Love of God and love 
 of fellow man are jointly meaningful during these 
 
 If social service is to result in the purification 
 and strengthening of the religious life it should be 
 practical; suited to the temperament, capacities 
 and resources of the one who is to render it; pro- 
 ceed along permanently constructive and scienti- 
 fic lines; stimulate a social consciouness that tran- 
 scends a single local church or demomination and 
 includes the whole community. Some encourag- 
 ing results should be in evidence before the efforts 
 sink down on to the plane of dull, hopeless 
 drudgery. The idea of achieving immortality 
 through service rendered to an institution which 
 abides through the centuries the custodian of the 
 personal influence of the saints of former genera- 
 tions makes a powerful appeal to the middle 
 adolescent mind. 
 
90 THE RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 
 
 LATER ADOLESCENT RELIGION 
 
 The first task of the one responsible for the 
 religion of young people between the ages of eight- 
 een and twenty and whose mental development 
 has continued normally, is to help them to hold 
 on to the religious sentiments, ideals and habits 
 and the church membership which are already 
 theirs. Loyalty to the church and church school, 
 delight in doing God's will, vital appreciation of 
 prayer, worship and Bible study, enthusiastic 
 service supported by a religious motive, should 
 all be kept alive. The vital religious experiences 
 of the past must not be permitted to fade away. 
 Sustain them at any cost. Mere consistency, how- 
 ever, should not be sacrificed in the interest of 
 progress. 
 
 But in order to do this, the religion of childhood 
 and early youth must become increasingly mean- 
 ingful. At this age, young people try to under- 
 stand as well as to enjoy their religion. Their 
 enjoyment of it comes largely through deeper and 
 clearer insight. They insist upon the right to 
 ask questions. They are quick to discover weak- 
 nesses in religious organizations and institutions 
 or to note any disparity between practice and pro- 
 fession. They are the full fledged iconoclasts. 
 
 The religion that controlled impulses and 
 sentiments, during the preceding years, is now 
 called upon to control the reason. 
 
OF ADOLESCENTS 91 
 
 An elevated self-confidence and sense of power 
 leads to discontent with responsibilities that are 
 not correspondingly large. Service as well as 
 loyalty is judged from the standpoint of the ideal. 
 It is first pure idealism, then passionate idealism, 
 and finally practical idealism that mark the succes- 
 sive stages of adolescent imagination. The capa- 
 city for self-sacrifice, power of endurance, sustained 
 loyalty and quick response when help is needed are 
 all seen in the kind of service rendered by our 
 later adolescent young people in war time. They 
 also suggest the kinds of" opportunities for service 
 which the church should supply. The moral 
 equivalent of war-work is a pressing demand. 
 
 A fusing of patriotism and religion is character- 
 istic of these years. The ideal of the Kingdom of 
 God realized in actual civic, social, political and 
 economic affairs appeals to them profoundly. 
 There is splendid youthful courage seen in their 
 readiness to undertake programs of social and 
 political reform. The practical undertakings 
 needed to create a truly Christian community 
 and state, present a challenge to which they reply 
 "Here am I, send me." This is the youth who 
 replies "I can." 
 
 Religion is adapted to the need and capacities 
 of this period when itjs formulated into accurate 
 statements of belief, when its historic origin and 
 development are clearly set forth, when it is pre- 
 
92 THE RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 
 
 sented as a gigantic program a going concern 
 that needs the support of those who are strong, 
 and when it can furnish guiding principles to help 
 in choosing a vocation, a life companion, a politi- 
 cal party, a denomination or a fraternal organiza- 
 tion. 
 
 It is an interesting fact that young people are 
 independently thoughtful in religious matters 
 before they are capable of sustaining their religion 
 without the help of others. This means that they 
 begin to form their own ideals before they are able 
 to manage their daily conduct. It is not always 
 easy to bring practice up on to the level of profes- 
 sion. There sometimes follows a certain incon- 
 sistency between the two. The youth may be 
 splendidly encouraging to us as to his purpose, 
 and yet discouraging in his actions when with his 
 crowd. We must be patient until his actions begin 
 to catch up with his ideals, and help him to see 
 what actions belong with his ideals and that re- 
 ligious creeds and denominational loyalties are 
 intensely practicable. 
 
 NOTE: The strong word, "complex," is used here for a specific pur- 
 pose, namely, to call attention to the damaging results of wrong peda- 
 gogical methods in the religious nurture of adolescents. 
 
 A fully developed religious complex is designated as a compact sys- 
 tem of religious ideas, of marked emotional accentuation, which is 
 split off from consciousness. It is more or less completely repressed 
 into the unconscious, remaining there in a somewhat dormant state. 
 Now and then it is called forth for a tune. While in consciousness, it 
 annoys and harasses the mind. Then it returns, like a disturbed ghost, 
 to its resting place. Such is the religion of many an adult. 
 
 When adolescent young people begin to be indifferent to their religion, 
 they take the first step in the direction of this disastrous "dissociation" 
 
OF ADOLESCENTS 93 
 
 and "repression." It may be that they will never journey to that state 
 where their religion actually endangers their mental integrity. But 
 just as soon as a youth turns against his religion, it tends to take on 
 definiteness through separation. Internal antagonisms spring up. 
 A struggle is begun which may last through the remaining years of 
 life. His religion is finally related to the mind only by means of dis- 
 sociation and repression. 
 
 If religious teachers of youth could only be made to see the ripened 
 results of their errors, in terms of religious complexes, they would have 
 a new motive for self -preparation for their work. 
 
 QUESTIONS FOR INDIVIDUAL AND GROUP STUDY 
 
 1. Compare the religion of later childhood with 
 that of adolescence. 
 
 2. What is a potential "religious complex"? 
 
 3. What are some of the general characteristics 
 of adolescent religion? 
 
 4. Why are the life stories of religious heroes 
 especially appropriate for early adolescents? 
 
 5. How does the vigorous activity of early 
 adolescent boys and girls affect their religion? 
 
 6. What are the outstanding marks of middle 
 adolescent religion? 
 
 7. What practical difficulties are involved in 
 being religious during these years? 
 
 8. What effect do social sentiments now have 
 upon religion? 
 
 9. What are the chief characteristics of later 
 adolescent religion? 
 
 10. Of what use is religion to young people in 
 this stage of development? 
 
 11. Describe the creed-making tendency of 
 later adolescence. 
 
CHAPTER VI 
 RULING MOTIVES 
 
 Besides their religious faith and those impulses 
 that find expression particularly in play, there are 
 seven outstanding motives that are. clearly re- 
 flected in the conduct of adolescent young people. 
 They are pride, dissatisfaction with the common- 
 place, hero-worship, responsibility, group loyalty, 
 chivalry and the "career-motive." 
 
 PRIDE 
 
 There is nothing which the average young per- 
 son dreads more than to be the object of ridicule. 
 This explains the absolute determination to have 
 neckties or blouses, hats or spats, of the extremest 
 mode acceptable to by the special circle of friends. 
 Their idealism permeates their self -consciousness. 
 This also explains why this public opinion of the 
 boy's "gang" or the girl's "crowd" is taken to 
 heart. It registers the degree of one's elevation 
 or humiliation. 
 
 We may take advantage of this motive, even 
 
 though it be not the highest one. It is a potent 
 
 help toward cleanliness and neatness of person. 
 
 It assists in learning social graces and in practising 
 
 94 
 
OF ADOLESCENTS 95 
 
 the outer signs of courtesy. So far as it conven- 
 tionalizes the youth's conduct, it delivers him 
 from the more brutal vices, and if the motive can 
 be lifted to the level of honor, it makes him im- 
 mune to the lower temptations, for, as President 
 Stanley Hall tells us: "Of all safeguards honor is 
 the most effective at this age." 
 
 This is a good time in which to appeal to the 
 pride of clan, to tell the stories of ancestors who 
 were brave and pure and courtly, and set up a 
 standard for the family beneath which no member 
 of it will care to fall. The church school teacher 
 finds that pride in the school which inspires loyalty 
 is one of the most potent motives of student dis- 
 cipline. 
 
 "My children always sing better," the father of 
 the Peet family of concert singers used to say in 
 public, "when they are applauded." All lives 
 give better music when they are praised. No 
 matter what may be the perturbations in an 
 adult leader's heart, he must steadily retain the 
 attitude of expecting right conduct. No matter 
 how much the youth may become discouraged 
 concerning himself, and during the moody years 
 of adolescence there are many days of utter 
 despair, he will always insist that, no matter 
 how many mistakes or failures are made, the 
 youth himself is going to come out all right. 
 
96 THE RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 
 
 More youths have been saved by feeling beneath 
 themselves the solid rock of confidence on the 
 part of adult leaders, than by any other one fact. 
 
 "It is a very dangerous, wicked thing/' says 
 Orison Swett Harden, "to destroy a child's self- 
 faith." Children are very easily discouraged. 
 Some of the most hopeful children develop very 
 slowly, while some more brilliant show, during 
 the process of development, very trying traits. 
 While overpraise is as bad as utter neglect, ap- 
 preciation of the effort and enthusiasm shown by 
 youth at playing the violin, at making some little 
 composition or some mechanical device, may be 
 just the inspiration needed to bring forth a nascent 
 talent to the sunshine. 
 
 In his "Mind in the Making," Dr. Edgar J. 
 Swift gives us a striking catalogue of instances of 
 men who became great who showed little promise 
 during adolescence. Charles Darwin was "sing- 
 ularly incapable of mastering any language." 
 His father told him he would be a disgrace to him- 
 self and his family. Napoleon Bonaparte stood 
 forty-second in his class at the military school,' but 
 who were the forty-one above him? Patrick 
 Henry "ran wild in forests, like one of the aborig- 
 ines and divided his life between dissipation 
 and the languor of inaction." So little ability 
 did Sir Isaac Newton show that at fifteen he was 
 
OF ADOLESCENTS 07 
 
 taken out of school and set to work upon a farm. 
 Lord Byron succeeded in reaching the head of his 
 class only by inverting the proper order, so that 
 the most ignorant were temporarily placed first. 
 Oliver Goldsmith's teacher "thought him one of 
 the dullest boys that she had ever tried to teach." 
 Henry Ward Beecher was a "poor writer and a 
 miserable speller, with a thick utterance and a 
 bashful reticence that seemed like stupidity." 
 One simply cannot afford to prophecy failure for 
 a boy who has not found himself. 
 
 DISSATISFACTION WITH THE COMMONPLACE 
 
 During the years of pre-adolescence, boys and 
 girls seem to appreciate repetition and routine. 
 It is the familiar things that occasion satisfaction. 
 Habits are forming and the habit-making experi- 
 ences do not annoy. There is no serious objec- 
 tion to the same thing over and over. If the 
 same experience is repeated regularly and fre- 
 quently the child does not object. 
 
 But after adolescence has been reached, there 
 is particular appreciation and exceptions. The 
 commonplace palls. There is an intense desire to 
 escape from mere routine. Satiety in any one 
 direction is easily reached. Variety is the spice 
 of adolescent life. Wanderlust seizes the mind 
 at times and the impulse to migrate is overpower- 
 
98 THE RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 
 
 ing. The future time and distant place become 
 burdened with great treasures. The mind de- 
 mands excitement. Where there is no change 
 there is little interest. 
 
 Even those adolescents who do not disappear 
 mysteriously from home do become restless and 
 frankly express dissatisfaction with familiar con- 
 ditions. Ordinary clothes are no longer adequate. 
 The plain and simple annals of lowly living awaken 
 no appreciation. The majority of adolescents 
 are unwilling to begin in the lowly circumstances 
 where their parents began. To their friends or 
 companions they apologize for home conditions 
 that do not appeal to the imagination. Tastes 
 tend to become extravagant. It is the uncommon 
 thing tjiat arouses curiosity and desire. Patience 
 is not a universal adolescent virtue. 
 
 HERO-WORSHIP 
 
 Another ruling motive is that of hero-worship. 
 "Every man," someone has said, "is some boy's 
 hero." Many a boy who would almost fight at 
 the implication that he is a "good boy" is quite 
 willing to be any of the qualities characterized by 
 the man he admires, who may chance to be one of 
 the best of men. The youth is now a loyal St. 
 Christopher, searching for his strongest master. 
 "That boy looks upon me as his hero and I dare 
 
OF ADOLESCENTS 99 
 
 not let him down," said a man struggling to keep 
 his own conduct on a high moral plane. 
 
 You can guide a youth, Kirtley tells us, in the 
 course you want him to take, by the interest he 
 takes in those who are going that way. What an 
 extraordinary personality must have been that of 
 Mike Murphy, late athletic coach of the Univer- 
 sity of Pennsylvania, who could say to the men of a 
 losing football team between halves, "If you can't 
 win for the sake of Pennsylvania, if you can't win 
 for the sake of your mothers and sweethearts, go 
 into the game and win for me!" They won the 
 game. How many professed adult leaders there 
 are who could not say a thing like that without 
 being laughed at? That such a man should live 
 and not only talk so but be followed to victory is 
 not at all incredible to your adolescent son. He 
 has just felt that way toward some man himself. 
 
 The girl's hero worship is as absorbing, and as 
 potent for character molding as the boy's. Her 
 hero may be her father, or some other man of her 
 actual acquaintance, or he may be a character in 
 history to which she is adapting her growth toward 
 a complementary womanhood. 
 
 But the x 'adoree" must be a tangible person. 
 In the dramatic plays of childhood, she has "tried 
 on" various characters as she saw them about her, 
 and from the "feel" of them, she has built an 
 
100 THE RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 
 
 ideal, has chosen the elements most to her liking 
 and built them into an ideal. Now she must see 
 how this ideal looks in actual life. The woman 
 may be hardly more than a lay figure for this mar- 
 velous drapery of perfection, but the girl is not 
 conscious of that. If the parents have made it 
 possible for the girl to know women who are both 
 attractive and worthy, the girl will be pretty sure 
 to choose for her worship one whose influence will 
 be wholesome. Neither need the mother grieve 
 that such intense affection is given to another. 
 It is one of the ways in which the girl's horizon is 
 widened and her experience deepened. 
 
 Was Dr. Slaughter too emphatic when he said, 
 "The chief value of great men is to fertilize the 
 imagination of adolescents?" He was saying 
 that heroes have not appeared in the world's 
 history at random. They are the final expression 
 of various vocational types the sailor, the soldier, 
 the engineer, the adventurer, the man of affairs. 
 Thus they connect themselves with the interests of 
 childhood, they inspire children and youth to fol- 
 low them. It is of distinct advantage if young 
 people can be brought into either personal or 
 imaginative relations during adolescence with men 
 who are leaders, particularly in the vocational 
 fields towards which they themselves seem in- 
 clined. Even better is it that they should know 
 
OF ADOLESCENTS 101 
 
 a man or woman who is grandly following one of 
 the idealistic callings. Some of us have felt that 
 it was asset enough for such a life as his that Dr. 
 Grenfell should come to the States every other 
 winter from his heroic work in Labrador, simply 
 that our younger people might meet him and grasp 
 his hand. 
 
 RESPONSIBILITY ' 
 
 Another ruling motive is that of responsibility. 
 Many a boy will do work well if he is in charge of 
 the job. Now, more than ever, we should give 
 adolescent boys and girls opportunities to use 
 their common sense. Resourcefulness and the 
 power of initiative are important factors in the 
 aim of American education. The responsibility 
 of the government they cannot evade. In a 
 democracy, the ability to originate and to direct 
 affairs is priceless. 
 
 This is perhaps the place in which to emphasize 
 the value of dealing fairly with our young people 
 in financial matters. In many homes there is no 
 definite understanding as to what money shall be 
 given to the children ; in others the small allowance 
 of earlier years has been continued, the parent 
 carelessly thinking that it represents as much as 
 the child ought to spend on his pleasures. The 
 result is that when the boy or girl wishes any 
 
102 THE RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 
 
 special indulgence, lie goes to his father, who re- 
 sponds according to his mood or immediate ability, 
 Then he holds up his mother for the rest of the 
 required amount. The father feels consciously 
 that he is not handling this as he does other 
 financial matters, the mother recognizes her weak- 
 ness in yielding to entreaty, and the youth feels 
 that he has been treated like a little child. 
 
 The only proper way to treat a child in the home 
 is to give him a weekly allowance, which will be 
 one-fifty-second of the carefully estimated cost of 
 his needs during the year, exclusive of board and 
 such accidents as doctor's bills, to be paid over to 
 the child without question every week. By this 
 method, he gets an opportunity to learn the value 
 of money by having enough with which to learn 
 its value. 
 
 It is not in the bath tub that we teach children 
 to swim; we do not send them to school without 
 text-books; yet we expect them to learn the uses 
 of money without money. 
 
 The value of the weekly allowance is in fact 
 more than a device; it is a principle. The child, 
 partly because of his preciousness and partly be- 
 cause he is of some real value in the home, de- 
 serves to be recognized as a sort of partner. 
 
 The home is the fountain of democracy and its 
 advantages for practice in co-operation should be 
 
OF ADOLESCENTS 103 
 
 utilized to the full. What he receives should not 
 be doled out as a sum given an infant, but a fair 
 share of the family income should be his. In re- 
 turn for this he should, of course, perform his 
 share of service. What that service shall be 
 should be put in the form of a contract at the 
 time he begins to receive his income. The receipt 
 of this allowance, like his father's receipt of salary, 
 should depend upon his fulfillment of this con- 
 tract. It is astonishing how far-reaching are the 
 effects of this plan. It applies not merely to 
 financial affairs but to the determination of other 
 questions. The matter of money is so closely 
 intertwined with all a young person's pleasures 
 and problems that the placing of the youth upon 
 his own responsibility and honor works out many 
 difficulties of varied character. 
 
 Kirtley has put the matter clearly in these 
 words: "To some extent his work ought to have 
 material remuneration. Often he wants no more 
 than the pleasure of helping and the appreciation 
 he deserves. Those two rewards must never fail 
 to come. If there is no form of interest he can 
 take in his work, it will become only eye-service. 
 He will be at cross purposes with duty. Co-op- 
 erative partnership is most congenial to him. It 
 appeals to his self-respect, enlightens him about 
 
104 THE RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 
 
 values and needs, and gives him an unselfish 
 interest in others besides himself. 
 
 "It is of the highest importance that he receive 
 some of the rewards in order to gratify and train 
 his sense of ownership and responsibility, to satisfy 
 his sense of right and to secure the uncoerced 
 co-operation of his will. The sharing may be in 
 indirect ways. Even if his part goes back into 
 the common fund for the support of the family, 
 he is usually willing, provided he can have the 
 pleasure of being in the combine, and can retain 
 his sense of freedom. 
 
 "His ownership of his earnings is to be recog- 
 nized, even though he is not to be left without 
 instructions as to the way he should handle them. 
 Habits of thrift must be taught both in the work 
 done and in the care taken of his possessions. 
 
 "Possessions mean power, and thrift is prepara- 
 tion for peace. He cannot take care of his own 
 things unless he has a place for them which is his 
 own. That is one of the reasons why a boy should 
 have a room, a trunk and all the equipment with 
 which to take care of his things." 
 
 It is hard for us to realize, as President King 
 says, "that one of the inalienable rights of every 
 human being is the right to make at least some 
 blunders of his own." It is the rather startling 
 theory of Gerald Stanley Lee that some people 
 
OF ADOLESCENTS 105 
 
 by reading of sins in books, are prevented from 
 committing some of their own. It may be that 
 some of the faults of youth have a similar immun- 
 izing value in forestalling more serious deeds that 
 otherwise might be committed later. In learning 
 to swim, we expect a boy to begin by floundering, 
 nevertheless we put him in the water; in learning 
 to play baseball or golf, we expect him to miss the 
 ball, nevertheless we put into his hands the bat 
 or the stick; we do not, however, show a similarly 
 free willingness for actual experiment in other 
 matters of choice. 
 
 The boy wants to go to places where his parents 
 feel they cannot permit him to go; other boys go, 
 why not he? Is it not time that he was taught 
 self-government and the sense of responsibility 
 for his own behavior? Soon they cannot pre- 
 vent him, as in the past, by simply prohibiting. 
 "Would it not be wise to say," as an experienced 
 mother suggested, "'Now, my son, it is time you 
 learned to decide for yourself. Only a few years, 
 and you must go from under the parental roof. 
 Then mother and father may not be near to decide 
 for you, even if you desire it, as no doubt you often 
 will, so I shall not say you cannot go, but leave 
 you to decide. You have perhaps had better 
 teaching than some of the boys you mention; if so, 
 more will be required of you by the hand of God. 
 
106 THE RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 
 
 I have confidence in you, and believe you want to 
 do right. I shall be glad to advise you, but must 
 leave you to decide.' By this course you may 
 teach him a lesson in self-government, which is so 
 frequently neglected. When your boy gets from 
 under restraint, never having exercised the power 
 of self-government, of self-control, he often goes 
 into vice, and we wonder why the children of good 
 parents should turn out so badly." 
 
 Girls also much need this practice in good judg- 
 ment and self -direction. We have advocated 
 during the earlier periods of childhood some meas- 
 ure of natural penalty. We must still trust our- 
 selves, and our youth to some extent, to this 
 method. Since we can no longer punish them, 
 we must allow them to punish themselves. While 
 it sometimes seems to us that the results of their 
 conduct in pain or loss of reputation are serious, 
 these are bound to be less serious than if the 
 mistakes were made later, when they are away 
 from home, as they are bound to do if they do 
 not learn self-government now. 
 
 We speak of the self-assertiveness, the arro- 
 gance and "cantankerousness" of youth so often 
 seen in connection with a vivid sense of responsi- 
 bility and free self -direction. "These sharp- 
 cornered stones," says James P. Munrce, "which 
 we builders would like to reject, may be made, on 
 
OF ADOLESCENTS 107 
 
 the contrary, head of the corner in the boy's edu- 
 cation, for it is these qualities which will most 
 quickly respond to any moral appeal." 
 
 "Sensitiveness" is another and very common 
 characteristic of many girls and of some boys. 
 If undirected, it leads to all sorts of misery for 
 themselves and others. But it is the material 
 out of which sympathy is made. Over-sensitive 
 souls must be helped to see their privilege and their 
 responsibility for a social use of their special 
 make-up. 
 
 Here is another argument for giving the adoles- 
 cent youth a room of his own. He needs a sanc- 
 tuary, he needs a place to be by himself where he 
 can think out his long, long thoughts. He needs 
 a chance to get out of the influence of his gang and 
 even of his parents, so that he may become a per- 
 sonality. Through the decoration of his room 
 he can objectify his own thoughts, expressing his 
 growing ideals through the articles, both useful 
 and ornamental, with which he fills it. Here in 
 hours of over-stress he can let off steam and make 
 more noise than could be borne in any other part 
 of the house. He will be fairly quiet everywhere 
 else if he knows that there is one room always 
 at his disposal for free self-expression. A boy as 
 well as a girl sometimes wants to cry, and he ought 
 to have the privilege of a wailing-post in solitude. 
 
108 THE RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 
 
 The youth is brought to full individuality 
 chiefly by the exercise of responsibility. "The 
 majority of people who have been of the greatest 
 service in the world," says Mrs. Birney, "are 
 those who are capable of taking responsibility." 
 
 GROUP LOYALTY 
 
 If the child has a normal social development, by 
 the time he is ten years old he should find himself 
 belonging to a gang or holding a recognized place 
 in a group. By the time he has completed his 
 twelfth year certain strong but tender sentiments 
 bind him to his bunch of pals. 
 
 This group loyalty, already awakened when the 
 period of adolescence is reached, increases in 
 intensity provided the gang in which membership 
 is held had a progressively interesting program 
 of activities. Thus a suitable play program for 
 a group becomes a means whereby a youth's 
 capacity for loyalty to social units or institutions 
 is realized. He thus comes into possession of one 
 of the great essentials of citizenship and Chris- 
 tian character. 
 
 The motive that unites a boy to the first gang in 
 which he holds membership may be selfish. It is 
 a means of getting what is otherwise bey6nd his 
 reach. One boy, for instance, can "stand guard" 
 while the others fill their pockets or blouses with 
 
OF ADOLESCENTS 109 
 
 fruit. Later in some rendezvous, the harvest is 
 equally shared. This selfish motive, however, is 
 soon substituted for one that is unselfish. The 
 youth discovers that to make a contribution to the 
 welfare of the group is a source of joy. Loyalty 
 reaches a higher moral plane when it is thus sus- 
 tained by an unselfish motive. 
 
 If the things for which the group stands are in 
 harmony with the moral law and Christian ideals, 
 then loyalty to that group becomes a powerful 
 factor in regulating conduct properly. It keeps 
 the youth from doing the things that are disal- 
 lowed by a morally wholesome public opinion. 
 It gives him practice in controlling his conduct 
 so that it will be pleasing to others. His social 
 imagination is also quickened. The fight be- 
 tween his own gang and a similar though hostile 
 group will help him later, more readily to ally 
 himself to other adults in the attempt to overthrow 
 a damaging social institution. One reason why 
 many moral reforms proceed so haltingly is found 
 in the lack of capacity for group loyalty on the 
 part of the men and women of to-day. 
 
 CHIVALRY 
 
 The youth who hardly seems mature enough to 
 accept responsibility for his own self proudly 
 assumes the responsibility of caring for one 
 
110 THE RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 
 
 younger or feebler than himself. It may be 
 hardly ennobling for a woman to make an appeal 
 of her own weakness, but it is always inspiring to 
 appeal to a boy's strength on her behalf. 
 
 Girls can be trained to accept this chivalry in 
 a way that stimulates manliness, instead of with 
 the self-conscious and selfish coquetry which 
 spoils both the boy and the girl. The teacher in 
 school, the leader in a summer camp, and the 
 parent in the home find the youth who is asked to 
 be responsible for the welfare of little folks seldom 
 deserts or betrays his trust. "If he would be 
 masterful, overbearing and pugnacious," says 
 Munroe, "put him in charge of weaker or smaller 
 boys, making him responsible for their safety, 
 and, unknown to him, those wards of his will pro- 
 tect him far more than he will them." 
 
 In some neighborhoods emphasis should be 
 placed upon the duty of teaching daughters to be 
 chivalrous to their mothers. Why are we all 
 under the impression that chivalry is a virtue 
 becoming only to boys? Are not fathers some- 
 times too inclined to like to hold companionship 
 with the bright, prettily dressed daughter, while 
 the plainly garbed mother who made the pretty 
 clothes sits, somewhat overshadowed, in the 
 background? Here is a new place for the chivalry 
 of fathers and the righteous self-assertion of 
 
OF ADOLESCENTS 111 
 
 mothers. What could be fairer than that the 
 daughter who loves pretty things should learn to 
 make them? Could we not mass the sense of 
 fairness in the family in such a way that mother 
 should get her rights and regain her place and that 
 daughter should give her the deference which the 
 Proverbs tells us belongs to the "virtuous" (or 
 capable) woman? 
 
 A LIFE PURPOSE 
 
 Gradually out of the varied experiences of ado- 
 lescence grows a life purpose. The reader may not 
 at first agree with that strong statement of Presi- 
 dent Eliot: "The career-motive holds more spirit- 
 ual content than any other." Yet interpreting 
 the phase broadly, is this not true? As soon as the 
 youth has seized the helm of his own life, does he 
 not find that he has repeated that critical experi- 
 ence which came to Robert Louis Stevenson when 
 he said, reverently, that, after a restless youth, 
 trying to master himself, he came at length 
 "right about" and discovered that he has been in 
 charge of "the helmsman, God." 
 
 "It is not of so much consequence," says Presi- 
 dent Hyde, "what a boy knows when he leaves 
 school, as what he loves." May not a part of the 
 meaning of this statement be that his interests, 
 his choice of a vocation, his friendships, his relig- 
 
112 THE RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 
 
 ious purposes, all that constitute his life-ideal, 
 are worth more than all his book-knowledge? 
 
 That is one of the most vital matters to be 
 looked out for in the girl's school, as well. In 
 this new age, the woman's life is as subject to the 
 hazard of change as is the man's. It is as impera- 
 tive that it should be planned and prepared and 
 directed with a conscious purpose of fitting the 
 needs of the world, instead of being allowed to 
 drift, 
 
 COMBINATION OF MOTIVES 
 
 Let us not think that these ruling motives are 
 like a set of push-buttons which, when pressed, 
 in turn release certain currents of activity. They 
 are rather like the notes of a piano, and the wise 
 parent-player finds that he can make music, by 
 playing them in chords. Felix Adler instances the 
 virtue of cleanliness, which he says we may arrive 
 at by appealing at one time to the aesthetic in- 
 stinct, at another to the prudential, again to the 
 motive of self-respect, to sympathy, and some- 
 times to two or more of them at once. They all, 
 he says, "say Amen! to the moral" instinct. 
 
 QUESTIONS FOR INDIVIDUAL AND CLASS STUDY 
 
 1. Name seven of the ruling motives of adoles- 
 cent young people. 
 
OF ADOLESCENTS 113 
 
 . How do you explain the fact that personal 
 appearance is a serious concern during these 
 years? 
 
 3. Why do adolescent young people object to 
 being odd? 
 
 4. In what ways do they show dissatisfaction 
 with the commonplace? 
 
 5. What are some of the benefits of having a 
 regular allowance? 
 
 6. At what age should a boy or girl " go to work" 
 and assume full responsibility for paying for board, 
 room, clothes and recreation? 
 
 7. How can a boy or girl decide what vocation 
 to choose? 
 
 8. How can girls be chivalrous? 
 
 9. In what way does group loyalty prepare 
 young people for Christian citizenship? 
 
 10. What is the influence of the " career-motive" 
 upon character? 
 
 11. How may the ruling motives of adolescence 
 be combined? 
 
CHAPTER VII 
 THE ADOLESCENT PRODIGAL 
 
 THE PRODIGAL 
 
 Some adolescent young people endowed with 
 exceptional vigor and precociousness do not yield 
 readily to the influences which should be adequate 
 to keep them within the bounds of good conduct. 
 The play spirit seems to have gone wild. They 
 are abnormally self-willed. They may be living 
 in a world of baseless romance. An overpower- 
 ing desire to know the world sets prudence aside. 
 With the passions of maturity and the self-re- 
 straint of childhood, the vigor of a man and the 
 judgment of a boy, they are ripe for any course of 
 conduct which suggests itself to them. 
 
 Such boys or girls may drift into one of a number 
 of different courses. They may play truant con- 
 stantly or drop back of their grade in school; they 
 may run away from home; they may, at home or 
 elsewhere, become dissipated. In any case, they 
 are likely to enter into many changes, perhaps 
 failing in one school after another or in one posi- 
 tion after another. They show a discouraging 
 lack of aptitude for anything in particular within 
 the ordinary range of adolescent behavior. 
 114 
 
, OF ADOLESCENTS 115 
 
 JUVENILE DELINQUENCY 
 
 During the ten years from July 1, 1899, to June 
 30, 1909, there were 11,413 boys and 2,770 girls 
 who appeared in the juvenile courts of Chicago; 
 228 of the boys appeared on two offenses. The 
 nature of the offenses is indicated by the following 
 list*: 
 
 Offenses Boys. Girls. 
 
 Stealing 50.8% 15.0% 
 
 Incomgibility 21.7 42.8 
 
 Disorderly conduct 16.2 6.7 
 
 Malicious mischief 6.5 0.2 
 
 Vagrancy 2.3 0.1 
 
 Immorality 1.6 31 .4 
 
 Dependent charges 0.8 3.3 
 
 Truancy 0.7 0.0 
 
 Miscellaneous 1.4 0.1 
 
 Offense not given C.O 0.4 
 
 More than half (fifty-one per cent) of the boys 
 were brought into court for the violation of prop- 
 erty rights. Eighty-one per cent of the girls 
 were classified as incorrigible, disorderly and im- 
 moral. 
 
 The age of these delinquent children and young 
 people was as follows: 
 
 * (The above chart and the succeeding four, together with 
 some of the general conclusions are taken from "The Delin- 
 quent Child and the- Home," Breckenridge and Abbott, 
 published by the Russell Sage Foundation). 
 
116 THE RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 
 
 Age Boys Girls 
 
 7 0.4% 0.2% 
 
 8 0.9 0.5 
 
 9 3.2 0.9 
 
 10 6.3 1.8 
 
 11 9.6 2.5 
 
 12 13.0 4.4 
 
 13 14.6 7.3 
 
 14 18.6 15.5 
 
 15 22.0 26.3 
 
 16 9.6 23.8 
 
 17 0.2 14.2 
 
 18 0.0 0.5 
 not reported 1.6 2.1 
 
 "More than two-thirds of all the delinquent 
 boys brought into court are from twelve to fifteen 
 years of age." "On the other hand, a relatively 
 large number of girls, 1,050, or thirty-eight per 
 cent are brought in at the ages of sixteen to seven- 
 teen." Signs of waywardness appear later among 
 girls than among boys. Going to work often 
 means that the boy will "settle down." With 
 girls, it may mean the beginning of temptation. 
 
 The economic condition of the families from 
 which this large number of juvenile delinquents 
 came is as follows: 
 
 Family Condition Boys Girls 
 
 Very poor 38.2% 68.8% 
 
 Poor 37.9 21 .0 
 
 Fairly comfortable .-. 21 .2 7.6 
 
 Comfortable 1.7 1.3 
 
 No home.. 1.0 1.3 
 
OF ADOLESCENTS 117 
 
 Thus it would seem that "the families of the 
 delinquent girls are of a lower grade than are 
 those of the boys." "In round numbers nine- 
 tenths of the delinquent girls and three-fourths of 
 the delinquent boys come from the homes of the 
 poor." In multitudes of instances, deliquency 
 is youth's protest against being forced to go to 
 work. It should be kept in mind, in connection 
 with the above table, that in the families of the 
 well-to-do, particularly, are many instances of 
 incorrigibility and other forms of delinquency 
 which fail to reach the attention of the juvenile 
 court. 
 
 Most eloquent are the figures indicating the 
 fact that it is the orphan and homeless child 
 the child of misfortune who is apt to become 
 delinquent. 
 
 Parental Condition Boys Girls 
 
 Father dead 13.6% 17.8% 
 
 Mother dead 8.9 12.7 
 
 Both parents dead 3.1 6.3 
 
 Separated or divorced 1.5 3.9 
 
 Father deserted 1.6 3.6 
 
 Mother deserted .8 .7 
 
 Both parents deserted '. . 1.0 1.2 
 
 One or both parents in prison 0.1 .3 
 
 One or both parents insane or in institu- 
 tion - .3 .5 
 
 One or both parents still " in old country" .1 .1 
 
118 THE RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 
 
 Thus it appears that in a total number of 11,413 
 boys who fell into the hands of the juvenile court, 
 thirty-one per cent did not have normal parental 
 care. In a total of 2,770 girls, over forty-seven 
 per cent were living under similar misfortune. 
 The primary need of the exceptionally vigorous, 
 precocious, retarded or otherwise unusual youth 
 is a home and good parents. 
 
 That the next great need is a good school is sug- 
 gested by a .study of the school records of 262 
 delinquent boys. The grades which marked the 
 close of their school work were thus tabulated: 
 
 Age 
 
 Grade 
 
 High Per 
 
 
 1st 2nd 
 
 3rd 
 
 4th 
 
 5th 
 
 6th 
 
 7th 
 
 8th 
 
 School cent 
 
 10 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 ,7 
 
 11 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 ,4 
 
 12 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 2 
 
 1 
 
 .9 
 
 13 
 
 1 
 
 5 
 
 8 
 
 8 
 
 8 
 
 3 
 
 7 
 
 15 
 
 .3 
 
 14 
 
 1 6 
 
 5 
 
 16 
 
 44 
 
 29 
 
 30 
 
 11 
 
 54 
 
 .2 
 
 15 
 
 1 
 
 2 
 
 6 
 
 4 
 
 12 
 
 8 
 
 7 
 
 1 15 
 
 .7 
 
 16 or over 
 
 1 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 3 
 
 8 
 
 11 
 
 2 
 
 2 11 
 
 .8 
 
 Only three of these boys ever reached high 
 school. Only twenty-nine others got as far as 
 the eighth grade; forty-five per cent did not get 
 beyond the fifth grade; twenty-five per cent were 
 below the fifth. Eighteen of the boys in the first, 
 second, and third grades were fourteen years old 
 or older. 
 
 One of the startling facts revealed in a study of 
 juvenile delinquency is the 1 large number of in- 
 
OF ADOLESCENTS 119 
 
 stances where the offense was that of stealing in 
 order to secure play equipment. The homes of 
 832 boys brought into the Chicago Juvenile Court 
 in the years 1903-04 were located and it was 
 found that only fifty-four per cent of the total 
 number were within half a mile of any public 
 place of recreation. That is, forty-six per cent did 
 not have adequate opportunities for play. It is 
 not so much that human nature is bad as it is that 
 instinctive tendencies are not properly directed 
 or have no adequate opportunities for wholesome 
 expression. 
 
 It is unfair to the child to be endowed with the 
 desire for muscular effort, yearning for compan- 
 ionship, delight in effort directed toward some end 
 that involves risk and surprise, and other play 
 impulses, and then to be deprived of suitable con- 
 ditions under which to act. Not infrequently, the 
 responsibility for the adolescent prodigal rests 
 upon a prodigal city government, home, school or 
 church, that does not have an intelligent appre- 
 ciation of adolescent life or wilfully refuses to 
 pay the price of coming into possession of such 
 appreciation. 
 
 When the vigorous play impulses undertake to 
 find expression under conditions of poverty, 
 family misfortune, parental delinquency, abnor- 
 mal congestion, confusion and ignorance such as 
 
120 THE RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 
 
 is found in immigrant families facing the profound 
 problem of adjustment they are apt to con- 
 stitute a problem for the juvenile court or volun- 
 tary charitable organization. 
 
 But the bad boy who appears before the judge 
 of the juvenile court is not necessarily the product 
 of poverty or of misfortune. "Even in the most 
 respectable families there are boys who find the 
 amusements provided by civilized life very dull 
 and who must occasionally fare forth to feed the 
 gnawing spirit of adventure." "The children of 
 the poor are not more seriously delinquent than 
 the children of the well-to-do, but rather the 
 offenses of the latter do not easily bring them 
 within reach of the court. Bad children in good 
 homes are for the most part disciplined at home or 
 sent away to school, while bad children in poor 
 homes get into the juvenile court." ("The De- 
 linquent Child and the Home," page 160, 161.) 
 
 SHALL HE BE PUT TO WORK? 
 
 When a working man finds his son restless or un- 
 successful in school, he usually cuts the matter 
 short by putting him to work. Sometimes this 
 is the best course for those also who are not the 
 sons of workingmen. If a child is suffering from 
 too much luxury and ease or too much spending 
 money or has become spoiled for serious work by 
 
OF ADOLESCENTS 121 
 
 too much play and athletics, this may be just 
 what he needs, and it may teach him the value 
 of money and of school. 
 
 The work chosen, however, should be selected 
 chiefly for its educative rather than its financial 
 interest. It is to be thought of as another kind 
 of school. The youth still needs an education, 
 and to put him into a blind-alley occupation will 
 not only stop his education but take away his 
 courage. The only possible advantage of this 
 sort of drudgery is that he may get so tired of it 
 as to choose school again in desperation. There 
 is, no doubt, a type of boy who must get his edu- 
 cation in this way, and if ours be one of these we 
 ought not to be discouraged if this turns out to be 
 the course of study that fits him best. Sometimes 
 superabundant energy put to work upon a busi- 
 ness or a shop problem finds its own moral cor- 
 rective by this means. With a precocious boy, 
 work has the advantage of giving the body time to 
 catch up with the mind, and it avoids the danger 
 which comes from sending a child to college before 
 he is old enough to appreciate the best things a 
 college has to give. 
 
 SHALL WE SEND HIM AWAY TO SCHOOL? 
 
 Another 'alternative, adopted by many par- 
 ents, is to send a difficult boy or girl away to school. 
 
122 THE RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 
 
 This is to be done only as a last resort. If the 
 parents are actually incompetent through ill- 
 health or engrossment or lack of ability, this ex- 
 pedient may be tried. The probability is that 
 there are no persons on earth whom such a boy or 
 girl needs so much at just this time, when he seems 
 least to appreciate them, as his own parents. 
 The moral effect of sending a child into exile is 
 itself to be deprecated. 
 
 Parents, too, sometimes forget that the kind of 
 school which they choose as a retreat for their son, 
 a military academy for example, has also been 
 selected by the parents of a good many other boys 
 like their own. Wise and skillful though the 
 teachers of such an institution may be, the boy's 
 character is shaped so much more by his fellow- 
 pupils than by his masters that the moral results 
 of such a polite reform school are often quite dis- 
 appointing. There are a few schools where daily 
 hard work, carried on with enthusiastic school 
 spirit, is a part of the program in which a mis- 
 understood boy may develop leadership, dis- 
 cover himself and learn to appreciate his home. 
 
 SHALL WE LET HIM WANDER? 
 
 It is not so dangerous for a bright-minded boy 
 to go out into the world and earn his living as some 
 parents suppose. In some instances it seems 
 
OF ADOLESCENTS 123 
 
 necessary to let the youth have free course for a 
 while and provide for himself, while at the same 
 time unobtrusively surrounding him with as 
 many friends and helpful influences as possible. 
 
 INFLUENCES THAT WILL BRING HIM HOME 
 
 The prodigal usually returns. One of many 
 influences may bring him back. We are told of 
 the prodigal in the parable that "when he had 
 spent all, there arose a mighty famine in that 
 land, and he began to be in want." The result 
 of having his own way usually satisfies a lad with- 
 in a short time. The time when he has used up 
 his resources is apt to be coincident with the time 
 when his new-found friends desert him and his 
 new-found experiences pall upon him. 
 
 Sometimes sickness of body and sometimes sick- 
 ness of soul brings him back home. Sometimes 
 he simply awakens from his illusions, and knows 
 the truth that his best future is to be where he 
 belongs. Again, his experiences may have dis- 
 covered for him new purposes which he hastens to 
 return to fulfill. 
 
 As to which of the home influences is most 
 powerful in leading him back, it would be hard to 
 say. Home itself, with its food, its friendliness, 
 its understanding, no doubt powerfully attracts 
 him. The. patient love of those who have awaited 
 
124 THE RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 
 
 his return and will welcome him without upbraid- 
 ing him is enough. Yet no doubt the homely in- 
 fluence of force of habit underlies almost every 
 prodigal's return. He simply cannot break the 
 lengthening chain of right-doing which has been 
 forged for him ever since he was a young child. 
 
 Usually the combination of simplicity, drama- 
 tized activities, patient companionship, a vaca- 
 tion experience that takes him to some distant 
 place or reveals another world, and a just but 
 stringent financial allowance, while retaining the 
 youth at home, will tide him over this time of un- 
 rest until he awakens to better sense and self- 
 command. Thirty days of labor voluntary on a 
 freight boat in the Great Lakes quieted one boy. 
 Indeed it made him homesick. 
 
 In reply to the question, "How can I gain the 
 confidence of my daughter?" a wise mother has 
 answered, "Never, never lose it; retain it, give 
 sympathy, enter into all her plans and sympathize 
 in all her trials; these may seem small to you, but 
 they are her trials; and when you do not approve, 
 do- not be too stern and drive her from you; a 
 word of advice and counsel will do more good than 
 scolding and prohibiting." 
 
 j So anxious are parents and other adult leaders 
 both as to the good conduct and the good reputa- 
 tion of the young people in their charge that nearly 
 
OF ADOLESCENTS 125 
 
 all need that admonition which is required more 
 during this period than any other: Don't nag. 
 It is hard to endure in silence the noisy turbulence, 
 theungoverned expressions of passion, the thought- 
 less and selfish conduct of this era, but the parent 
 or leader can never hold a large influence over his 
 youth by being little himself. Do not descend 
 to his level. It is the one who retains a certain 
 large, tolerant attitude who reaches that happiest 
 of all events, the time when the young man or 
 woman actually wants his counsel and help. 
 
 It is perhaps fortunate that during adolescence 
 all boys and many girls tend to turn from their 
 mothers to their fathers. Men, because of their 
 broader daily experience, are supposed to look 
 at things in a larger way, and the father who ap- 
 preciates his privilege, ought at this time to be in 
 a position to be trusted and depended upon as I 
 never before. 
 
 ENCOURAGING FACTORS 
 
 There are some manifestations during this 
 period usually considered trying that may be inter- 
 preted as really what we like to call "good signs." 
 
 The youth is garrulous. But this means that 
 he is confidential. No matter if the boy bores 
 you dreadfully with his football lingo, or the girl 
 with her . school gossip, be thankful that they 
 
126 THE RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 
 
 trust you so as to want to tell you their secrets. 
 Never shut that door. 
 
 The youth is so susceptible to unworthy com- 
 panions. But susceptibility is impartial. He 
 must be equally susceptible to good ones, if they 
 are as interesting. Help him to achieve better 
 companionships. Don't try to shut that door. 
 
 The youth is not studious. Maybe he is pro- 
 tecting his health while growing, maybe not. 
 The main point is not, What is he getting out of 
 school but, What is he getting out of life? Life 
 is more important than school. 
 
 The youth has such crude moral conceptions. 
 Crude, but strong. And did you never notice 
 how true he is to the few conceptions that he has 
 succeeded in mastering? 
 
 The work is not to be judged till sundown. 
 
 There are some responsibilities that neither 
 parent nor teacher are called upon to share. 
 
 SOME PRACTICAL SUGGESTIONS 
 
 Don't Nag. You only fray the already over- 
 strung strings. You numb the attention so that, 
 in self-defence, the children no longer hear what 
 you say. 
 
 Don't Snub. It paralyzes the minds of the 
 children and checks their willingness to take you 
 
OF ADOLESCENTS 127 
 
 into their confidence. It leaves a stinging sense / 
 of injustice. 
 
 Don't Spy. Don't read your children's letters. 
 Stop a correspondence if you think you have to 
 and are sure you can, but do it because of what 
 you know about the correspondent and not be- 
 cause of what you have succeeded in reading of 
 his letters. 
 
 Don't Quell. You can't. You are not big 
 enough. Don't start what you can't finish. 
 If you could finish it, you would finish the child. 
 To break his will is to injure his character per- 
 manently. 
 
 Don't coddle. Unless the children are really 
 ill, remember that they can stand a lot, and will 
 be the better for it. You are making men and 
 women, not mollycoddles. 
 
 Don't Hurry. "Time will unfold the calyxes 
 of gold." Many things you are worrying about 
 to-day will cure themselves to-morrow. Some of 
 the best results that you desire are a process of 
 years. 
 
 "Use your best mood" as often as you can. 
 Be satisfied with your own mood before you try 
 it on the child. Take more time to get into the 
 right mood than you do to act. Most things are 
 better decided over night. 
 
128 THE RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 
 
 RESULTS To BE HOPED FOR 
 
 What may be hoped for is not finished* charac- 
 ters, fully matured judgments, perfectly polished 
 manners, before the years of maturity. But one 
 may hope for these: the general disposition to will 
 well and wisely; the ability of these young people 
 to propel themselves after the pushing from be- 
 hind has ceased; undying affection for parent or 
 teacher, coupled with growing appreciation of 
 what he or she has meant to them; and the power 
 of handing on to their descendants the goodly 
 heritage of bodily, mental and moral soundness, 
 with all that means to society and to the world. 
 
 It is a task well worth all it costs. The price 
 of saving a prodigal may be the real test of the 
 adult leader's character. 
 
 QUESTIONS FOR INDIVIDUAL AND GROUP STUDY 
 
 1. What are the chief causes of delinquency 
 among adolescent young people? 
 
 2. At what age is it most apt to occur? 
 
 3. What are some of the influences that prevent 
 the developing of the disposition to "sow wild 
 oats?" 
 
 4. What is the influence of being put to work? 
 
 5. When should an incorrigible boy or girl be 
 sent off to school? 
 
OF ADOLESCENTS 129 
 
 6. What should be the attitude of the parent to- 
 t ward a run-away boy or girl? 
 
 7. What effect does it have upon a boy or girl 
 to be turned over to the police and the juvenile 
 court? 
 
 8. What influences will bring the prodigal back 
 to himself? 
 
 9. What are some practical suggestions in 
 dealing with "high-strung" adolescents? 
 
 10. If all adolescent boys and girls had the 
 right kind of homes and other environmental in- 
 fluences, would the juvenile courts wholly dis- 
 appear? 
 
 10 
 
CHAPTER VIII 
 
 CHARACTER THROUGH PLAY INTERESTS 
 AND ACTIVITIES 
 
 One of the most effective methods of giving 
 proper guidance to the conduct of adolescent boys 
 and girls is that of helping them to become inter- 
 ested in wholesome forms of play, and of properly 
 supervising their leisure-time activities. To grow 
 up with vulgar, untrained play interests or with 
 the habit of spending leisure time in idleness, is to 
 become limited in moral and social development. 
 Suitable forms of play may be as educative, though 
 in a different way, as are carefully selected courses 
 of study. 
 
 THE EDUCATIVE VALUE OF PLAY 
 
 "The craving for amusement is as fundamental 
 and irresistible as the craving for food." No 
 parent or teacher who looks upon play as "a more 
 or less permissible sin" can hope to understand 
 adolescent life in its natural richness and fullness. 
 Play is a "natural, right and beautiful expression 
 of the human spirit." It is a wholesome means of 
 self-discovery. It awakens a spirit of optimism, 
 loyalty, co-operation and competition which are 
 fundamental in the building of character. Prop- 
 ISO 
 
OF ADOLESCENTS 131 
 
 erly supervised activities during leisure time can 
 yield enlarged capacity for team-work, sensitive 
 appreciation of justice and fair play, chivalry, 
 perseverance, and heroic devotion. 
 
 The folly of trying to guide the moral unfolding* 
 of adolescent young people through the wholesale 
 repression of their play instincts is becoming 
 widely recognized. Any church or home or school 
 that does nothing toward the guidance df these 
 splendid, God-given play impulses, except to 
 offer solemn warnings concerning questionable 
 amusements, merits both unpopularity and active 
 hostility on the part of boys and girls of this age. 
 Commercialized, professionalized and demoralized 
 forms of amusements have multiplied with phe- 
 nomenal rapidtiy largely because this whole area 
 of adolescent human nature has been either 
 ignored or put under the ban of suspicion by 
 parents, teachers and preachers. The abundant 
 Christian life during these years includes vigorous 
 play experiences. It is the part of wisdom to help 
 young people to make right choices rather than 
 merely to point out the dangers of wrong choices.J 
 
 Parents in particular should never lose sight of 
 the fact that when boys and girls begin to move 
 out beyond the immediate range of their authority 
 and the limits of the home circle, they are apt to 
 make their first real contacts with the larger social 
 
132 THE RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 
 
 order through membership in a play group. The 
 moral ideals that are reflected in the leisure-time 
 activities of these groups become almost as binding 
 as the law of the Medes and Persians. 
 
 Through play, young people can learn to govern 
 themselves. The control of muscular movements 
 is one of the primary lessons which athletes have 
 to learn. Play teaches whole-heartedness. The 
 careless* or indifferent player is despised. The best 
 forms of play require splendid self-control, keen 
 interest, sustained attention, accurate knowledge, 
 obedience to the leader, and group loyalty, as 
 well as physical fitness. Whole areas of one's 
 moral nature are realized when play ideals are 
 high. To make oneself conform to such ideals 
 during leisure-time activities has a twofold value. 
 Through preoccupation of time and strength, it 
 shuts out evil influences. It also gives one prac- 
 tice in elevating forms of self-government and 
 other forms of self-realization. Such experiences 
 are vitally educative. 
 
 GROUP LOYALTY 
 
 Boys and girls who live alone most of the time 
 and have very few friends or playmates and no 
 group games, are sure to be backward in their 
 social development. They may even reach adult- 
 hood without becoming skilled in team play or 
 
OF ADOLESCENTS 133 
 
 developing capacity for institutional or social 
 loyalty. Many churches and other organizations 
 are weak because their adult members, never 
 having learned the lessons of group play, are 
 unable to work together. Their thoughts and 
 sentiments are self -centered. They balk unless 
 their own selfish interests are furthered through 
 the common enterprise. They have never learned 
 with the apostle Paul, how to put away childish 
 things. Group games, if played successfully, in- 
 volve mutual concessions and other personal ad- 
 justment. But that which abides, as a lasting 
 benefit, is the developed capacity to give oneself 
 heartily for the success of a common enterprise. 
 To think as one of a group of individuals and to 
 have a share in group emotions and collective 
 undertakings is to stimulate group loyalty. Thus 
 out of adolescent play comes one of the most 
 valuable traits of good character. 
 
 Two COMMON MISTAKES 
 
 The shameful trickery adopted by some work- 
 ers in using a temporary or superficial play pro- 
 gram as the means of baiting young people draw- 
 ing them within the range of the influence of 
 leaders whose sole motive is ecclesiastical or in- 
 stitutional stands exposed and condemned in the 
 light of the true purpose of play. There are both 
 
13G THE RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 
 
 Second, during middle adolescence, certain 
 individuals within the group awaken special ap- 
 preciation. They make an appeal that is stronger 
 than that of the others. There is a sensitive ap- 
 preciation of the personal influence of each member 
 of the group. 
 
 Third, this social specialization becomes more 
 intense, usually, after the eighteenth year. It 
 also involves those of the opposite sex. This 
 does not mean that the earlier group loyalty 
 to the smaller circle of intimate friends is aban- 
 doned. These friendships are conserved and 
 form a vital background for this higher specializa- 
 tion. Young people like to form their particular 
 friendships in the midst of social occasions when 
 other friends are present. 
 
 t Sex consciousness is naturally reflected in the 
 play activities of adolescents. Boys and girls 
 should be permitted to play together frequently 
 as groups while they are of Scout or Trail Ranger 
 age. Where the form of organization in the 
 church school, the organized class, can be pre- 
 served as the group units for play purposes, this 
 should be done and provision should be made for 
 inter-class games and other recreational activities. 
 These inter-sex relationships will naturally be- 
 come more intense and specialized as young 
 people advance toward adulthood. A play pro- 
 
OF ADOLESCENTS 137 
 
 gram which does not make provision for this sex 
 aspect of social development is both faulty and 
 harmful. 
 
 NATURE OF ADOLESCENT PLAY 
 
 Whenever the full range of play interests and 
 impulses is given expression and activity is spon- 
 taneous and free, there is awakened a spirit of 
 adventure, a yearning for distant realities, a desire 
 for high achievement, a readiness to sacrifice self, 
 a wholesome interest in personal appearance, and 
 personal appreciation of playmates. In planning 
 a play program for these years, the leader, whether 
 he is parent, teacher or other adult leader, must 
 have an active imagination, good prudential 
 judgment and an all-embracing sympathy. Above 
 all he must have the power to awaken the 
 play spirit. The sail-boat or canoe symbolizes 
 the spirit of adolescent play as well as its dangers 
 and need of a steady hand. 
 
 Young people crave those forms of play into 
 which they can throw their whole selves, or at 
 least those portions of their selves that have not 
 found expression in study and other forms of work. 
 The pent-up ideals, enthusiasms and loyalties, 
 the interest in skill, beauty and power, the muscu- 
 lar intoxication, fondness for rhythm, romance, 
 and adventure, all suggest how richly varied and 
 
138 THE RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 
 
 intense must be this ideal program of play. Mere- 
 ly to warn against the dangers of wrong methods of 
 expressing these play impulses and at the same 
 time, to provide no adequate substitutes for pop- 
 ular forms of commercialized, professionalized 
 and demoralized amusement is to reveal either 
 ignorance and incompetence or a lack of faith in 
 adolescent boys and girls. 
 
 THE IDEAL PROGRAM EARLY ADOLESCENT 
 PERIOD 
 
 The ideal play program and organization for 
 boys and girls of early adolescent age who belong 
 to graded church schools; will have to be fashioned 
 in accordance with the following principles: 
 
 1 . It will be more like an educational movement 
 within the churches than a preconceived and 
 closed system of specific activities produced in- 
 dependently of the churches and handed over to 
 them. 
 
 2. Its program will be so elastic and its sugges- 
 tions so varied and practicable, that it will be 
 adaptable, easily, to the needs of local churches, 
 schools, and neighborhood family groups. 
 
 3. One of its primary concerns will be that of 
 selecting and training adult leaders who are loyal 
 to the homes, the churches, and the public schools 
 to which the boys and girls belong; who are 
 
OF ADOLESCENTS 139 
 
 capable of arousing and sustaining the play spirit; 
 and whose personalities are such that association 
 with them will greatly increase the social, moral, 
 and religious inheritance of the coming generation. 
 
 4. Its program and organization will be such 
 as to make a direct and vigorous appeal to the 
 natural, spontaneous, play interests of early 
 adolescent youth. In this particular it will be as 
 scientifically graded as the instruction given in 
 the schools. 
 
 5. Through it the entire system of formal re- 
 ligious and ethical instruction provided for this 
 age by the church schools will be conserved and 
 made increasingly influential factors in the lives 
 of the boys and girls. It will be so administered 
 that they will look upon the church as the best 
 patron of their play. This correlation between 
 instruction and play will facilitate the use of 
 teachers as supervisors of play. 
 
 6. While there will have to be two distinct 
 programs, one for boys and one for girls, the two 
 will be similar in the majority of the activities 
 provided. Definite provision will be made for 
 groups of boys and of girls to play together as 
 groups. 
 
 7. There will be generous provision made for 
 all sorts of out-door activities. Camping, wood- 
 craft, hiking, trekking, out-door plays and games, 
 
140 THE RELIGIONS EDUCATION 
 
 nature study, and out-door sports will awaken 
 enthusiasm. The church school camp will be a 
 conspicuous feature. 
 
 8. There will be relatively little ritual of 
 ceremony. A minimum of formality will charac- 
 terize the in-door and out-door meetings. The 
 emphasis will be upon varied physical activities 
 that appeal to the imagination and which other- 
 wise conform to the laws of physical education. 
 
 9. The unit of organization will be clearly de- 
 fined, eight being the most satisfactory number 
 for the purpose of directing multiple behavior. 
 Group ideals and commonly accepted principles 
 of practical ethics will be made effective through 
 group loyalty and appreciation of the adult leader. 
 
 10. It will have to be a program in which all of 
 the denominations can co-operate, which con- 
 serves denominational loyalty in a wholesome way, 
 and under the national leadership of men and 
 women of recognized official standing within the 
 churches. 
 
 11. It will take account of the hobbies of in- 
 dividual boys and girls, imparting much valuable 
 pre-vocational information and skill. 
 
 12. The use of a special uniform or other sym- 
 bol of common interests and loyalties is a psy- 
 chological necessity growing out of th'e newly 
 awakened self -consciousness of early adolescence. 
 
OF ADOLESCENTS 141 
 
 13. Its principles of organization will be such as 
 to place the task of self-government progressively 
 in the hands of the boys and girls themselves. 
 Thus capacities for leadership will be discovered 
 and realized. The art of directing the activities 
 of others will be mastered wherever leadership 
 capacities exist. Out of it will come strong civic 
 and religious leaders. 
 
 14. Through the maintenance of distinct de- 
 partments at National Headquarters and the em- 
 ployment of specialists, an invaluable and nation- 
 wide service will be rendered in combatting the 
 influence of bad literature, in stimulating good 
 reading, and in awakening interest in clean ath- 
 letics and other profitable leisure-time activities. 
 
 15. The entire program will be so formulated 
 and administered that the awakening community 
 consciousness and sense of civic responsibility will 
 be greatly stimulated and re -enforced by intelli- 
 gent loyalty to home, church, and public school 
 the most important component parts of the com- 
 munity. 
 
 THE IDEAL PROGRAM MIDDLE ADOLESCENCE 
 
 The ideal play program and organization for 
 middle adolescent youths who belong to graded 
 church schools will recognize the following prin- 
 
142 THE RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 
 
 ciples in addition to those numbered 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 
 10, 11, 13, 14 in the above list: 
 
 1. The adult leader will be less and less con- 
 spicuous. He will provide for greatly increased 
 opportunities for practice in leadership. The 
 boys and girls will be given greater freedom and 
 responsibility in initiating and carrying through 
 plans for their leisure time. 
 
 2. Loyalty to the community will be a con- 
 spicuous part of this program. Rapid increase 
 in civic knowledge and skill will be provided for. 
 Play, in many instances, will merge into practical 
 forms of community civics. 
 
 3. This program and organization will have to 
 be very distinct from that provided for early 
 adolescents. The Canadian program in which 
 boys from twelve to fourteen years of age are 
 called "Trail Rangers" and those of fifteen to 
 seventeen years, "Tuxis Boys," shows great prac- 
 tical wisdom. (" t" and " s " stand for training for 
 service; "u" and "i," for you and I; and "x" 
 for Christ at the center.) 
 
 4. A greater amount of secrecy and formality 
 and the "trappings of ritual" will be included in 
 this program. The well-known popularity of 
 secret societies and high school fraternities is sug- 
 gestive. 
 
 5. Greater attachment between individuals, a 
 
OF ADOLESCENTS 143 
 
 quickened social imagination, romantic idealism, 
 and general personal sensitiveness all require that 
 mechanical notions of organization must give 
 way, now, to those that are more spiritual. Per- 
 sonalities must be taken into account. 
 
 6. Specialization in play is also beginning ta 
 appear. These young people tend more and 
 more to select the types of recreation that appeal 
 particularly to themselves as individuals. There 
 is less of mere common play interest. The pro- 
 gram must be in a true sense, their own. 
 
 7. Middle adolescent young people must be 
 carefully protected from the harmful results of an 
 excessive program of leisure-time activities. In- 
 terests are so personal and so intense that it is 
 easy for health to become permanently injured by 
 excessive indulgence in play. 
 
 8. The amateur spirit will be carefully pre- 
 served in all athletic, and in the majority of the 
 vocational activities. 
 
 PLAY AND RECREATION FOR LATER ADOLESCENT 
 YOUNG PEOPLE 
 
 There are eight principles that need to be recog- 
 nized by those who are responsible for the leisure- 
 time activities of young people, eighteen to 
 twenty-four years old. 
 
 1. Their recreational needs and interests are 
 
144 THE RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 
 
 determined largely by the social, educational and 
 vocational groups to which they belong. The 
 same program will not appeal equally to college 
 \s students and mill hands, or to girls attending a 
 finishing school and those working in a depart- 
 ment store. To be truly recreational, play activ- 
 ities should supplement or round out the program 
 of work. 
 
 2. Play must now be carefully regulated in the 
 light of the study program or other responsibili- 
 ties. Vitality is not limitless. Nervous ex- 
 haustion and even permanent ill health is the 
 price too frequently paid for an excessive play 
 program during these years. 
 
 3. To keep the ethical standards of the in- 
 dividual pure and high now involves the elevation 
 of the current or popular opinions of the entire 
 school or community. The boy or girl who shuns 
 oddity with instinctive spontaneity and persever- 
 ance has a hard time to hold play ideals that are 
 above those of "all the others." 
 
 4. The rate of development intellectual, phys- 
 ical and social must be taken into account. At 
 nineteen, some young people are but fourteen 
 years old in their social development. An indi- 
 vidual may be precocious or belated in the devel- 
 opment of any aspect of his nature. Play, in 
 order to be spontaneous and natural, must take 
 
OF ADOLESCENTS 145 
 
 into account the actual stage of development 
 rather than the mere number of years of physical 
 existence. 
 
 5. Social interests and sentiments now tend to 
 become intense and focussed upon a few indi- 
 viduals. This is the age of confidences. Love 
 between the sexes is the most powerful influence 
 determining the character of play. After ten 
 years of experience in supervising the leisure-time 
 activities of young people in a social settlement 
 house, a careful and mature student of this ques- 
 tion gave it as his opinion that the most popular 
 forms of play are first, dancing; second, debating 
 and dramatics. 
 
 6. Young people of this age resent what appears 
 to them to be interference on the part of older 
 people. They like to direct their own affairs. 
 Instinctively, they avoid personal embarrassment. 
 They enjoy a large measure of self-direction. 
 They face responsibility gladly. Achievement is 
 their great watchword. If the supervisor or 
 chaperon is tactful and has an abundance of com- 
 mon sense, however, his services are keenly 
 appreciated. 
 
 7. Play is now so permeated with the spirit of 
 altruism and practical idealism that often it takes 
 the form of serious endeavor. This play spirit 
 is naturally carried over into the field of actual 
 
146 THE RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 
 
 toil. Abounding energy and sense of mastery 
 are dominant even in the closing hours of a hard 
 day's work. For these young people to succumb 
 to a spirit of drudgery and mere routine fidelity is 
 unnatural. 
 
 8. Play of some appropriate kind is necessary 
 to keep life from growing old prematurely. Peo- 
 ple grow old because they cease to play, rather 
 than cease to play because they grow old. 
 
 9. The play program for these years should 
 involve consecutive, cumulative interest. Plans 
 should be laid that involve several weeks or 
 months of uninterrupted activity or interest. 
 They should cover an entire season. When plans 
 are laid in the Fall for a dramatic or other pro- 
 duction to be presented in the Spring, there is no 
 break in the interest of the young people; but, on 
 the other hand, it increases in intensity through 
 the months. 
 
 10. The best kinds of play are those that have a 
 direct bearing upon the outlook into the immedi- 
 ate future. These are the golden years of prep- 
 aration for civic, social, economic responsibility. 
 Hence, the play program should be supervised by 
 those permanent institutions to which the life- 
 long loyalty of these young people should go out, 
 and which will conserve the abiding influence of 
 their lives. 
 
OF ADOLESCENTS 147 
 
 SOME PRACTICAL SUGGESTIONS 
 
 The primary responsibility of adult supervisors 
 of play or leisure-time activities is to help the boys 
 and girls to get into a happy, playful mental 
 condition. When pleasurable emotions are upper- 
 most, the problem of finding suitable games or 
 other play programs is simplified. 
 
 A definite program should always be mapped 
 out. Idleness or aimless activity is not play. 
 "Work well done is the best of fun." The gang 
 of loafers standing on the street-corner do not 
 have as enjoyable a time as do those with a defin- 
 ite plan to be carried through. A so-called 
 hike is no hike at all unless it takes the hikers to a 
 certain place and for a specific purpose. 
 
 Adolescent boys and girls should never get the 
 notion that for the best kinds of play, they must 
 go beyond the active interest and range of the 
 home, church and school. The responsibility 
 for play activities is coming to rest definitely 
 upon the church school. This responsibility 
 should not be shirked. These boys and girls 
 should come to the conviction that there is no 
 fundamental antagonism between the church's 
 system of formal religious instruction and its plans 
 for their play. 
 
 Leadership in play and recreation comes only as 
 the result of careful study and training. It is not 
 
148 THE RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 
 
 everybody's business. It involves an art, a tech- 
 nique that is clearly defined and which should be 
 patiently mastered before large responsibility is 
 assumed. 
 
 QUESTIONS FOR INDIVIDUAL AND GROUP STUDY 
 
 1 . What are some of the moral benefits resulting 
 from wholesome play? 
 
 2. Why is it dangerous to try to repress the 
 play spirit of adolescent boys and girls? 
 
 3. Point out the responsibility of the church 
 for the amusement and recreation of its young 
 people. 
 
 4. Why is it wrong to use play merely as a 
 means of recruiting the church school? 
 
 5. What is the responsibility of the home in this 
 regard? 
 
 6. When is it wrong for young people to dance? 
 
 7. What are the chief characteristics of play 
 during early adolescence? 
 
 8. Middle adolescence? 
 
 9. What eight principles should be recognized 
 in planning a play program for later adolescents? 
 
 10. Why should the churches of each com- 
 munity co-operate in providing a joint play 
 program for all the people? 
 
 11. Point out some practical suggestions for 
 leaders of recreational activities. 
 
CHAPTER IX 
 
 PRINCIPLES OF RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 
 FOR EARLY ADOLESCENCE 
 
 The entire task of religious education during 
 the years twelve, thirteen and fourteen may be 
 summarized briefly in the following ten laws: 
 
 I. THE LAW OF THE EXPANDING LIFE 
 
 During these years there is a remarkable in- 
 crease of newly awakened instincts, interests, de- 
 sires, and impulses. In this rapidly broadening 
 and deepening current of experience, are found 
 yearning for personal expression and apprecia- 
 tion, joy in escape from the commonplace from 
 merely routine or habitual living, desire to belong 
 to a social group, interest in the simplest forms of 
 leadership, love of adventure, ready appreciation 
 of humor, hunger for varied sensuous experience, 
 keen delight in rhythmical muscular movements 
 and in skillful achievements, readiness to enter 
 into competition or into co-operation, yearning for 
 distant realities, fondness for books that picture 
 thrilling situations, appreciation of aesthetic 
 values. A flood-tide of new interests has set in. 
 Habits are broken up. It is the time of the soul's 
 overflow. 
 
 149 
 
150 THE RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 
 
 After a rain, the clay road on a country hillside 
 is deeply cut with grooves made by the wagon- 
 wheels. These deep grooves harden with the 
 returning sunlight and dry winds. Then comes a 
 heavy shower. For a time, the water is readily 
 carried off by running in the courses made by the 
 wagon-wheels in the plastic clay. But as the 
 volume of water is increased, the grooves become 
 full and overflow. Then it is that new courses are 
 cut and finally a large channel is worn in the high- 
 way. Habits, like these ruts, are capable of car- 
 rying the current of life during later childhood. 
 But with the coming adolescence, life overflows 
 them and many are swept aside by the deepening 
 current. 
 
 Christianity is the religion of the abundant life. 
 Christ came that these boys and girls might have 
 adolescent life in abundance. Religion must 
 therefore expand with this expanding life. Re- 
 ligious habits, such as church attendance, daily 
 prayer and Bible reading are put under a heavy 
 strain to hold these new spiritual out-reachings. 
 The forms, customs and regulations of childhood 
 should now become elastic. 
 
 II. THE LAW OF TRANSITION 
 
 Help these boys and girls to make the transition 
 from external to internal moral control; from 
 
OF ADOLESCENTS 151 
 
 implicit obedience to external authority to that of 
 conscientious self -guidance; from habit, guided 
 by the approval or disapproval of parents or other 
 adult leaders, to habit built up through spontane- 
 ous desire and voluntary choices. During this 
 transition, however, let there be no decrease in 
 the honor or respect shown to parents and to all that 
 is worthy in family traditions and home influences. 
 
 These are the years when boys and girls are 
 neither children nor youths. They are in a transi- 
 tory stage. Many of the marks of childhood are 
 still upon them, but there is an up-reaching, an 
 independence, a restlessness of mind and body 
 which indicate the dawning of youthful qualities. 
 They are too young to proceed upon the assump- 
 tion that they can disregard the counsel and 
 wishes of parents. Yet parents should give them 
 a larger measure of self -direction. 
 
 It is positively dangerous from the standpoint 1 
 of moral development for a fourteen year old 
 or girl to get the notion that self-will should be 
 regarded in preference to every other will. If the 
 new sense of freedom is overstimulated and the 
 parental or other adult will is defied or deliber- 
 ately ignored, it is easy to begin a career of in- 
 corrigibility, lawlessness, and even of crime. To 
 refer to father as "the old man" is to reflect a 
 state of mind that should be set aside for one 
 
152 THE RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 
 
 showing proper regard for a will and moral judg- 
 ment superior to one's own. To sustain their 
 filial devotion takes much of the crisis out of these 
 critical years. 
 
 The most prevalent weaknesses to be guarded 
 against are flippancy, carelessness, irreverence, 
 unkindness, recklessness, impatience, and exag- 
 geration. The new sense of freedom is apt to 
 carry them too far. There is a tendency to dis- 
 card old things before those things have ceased 
 to be useful. In this state of mind, respect for 
 proper authority easily slips away. 
 
 Ill, THE LAW OF THE CREATIVE IMAGINATION 
 
 The imagination of early adolescence is far more 
 active than in the preceding years. It is re-en- 
 forced by the new desires, impulses, interests, and 
 emotions which are now awakened. It has the 
 power to reassemble the mental pictures that have 
 had their origin in actual experience. But these 
 new pictures and visions have their setting in the 
 midst of warm emotions and vigorous impulses. 
 They have more substance and a greater amount 
 of originality. The early adolescent imagination 
 is creative. 
 
 This splendid power of the mind moves out 
 instinctively along several lines but chiefly in the 
 direction of that which is motor and social. Phys- 
 
OF ADOLESCENTS 153 
 
 ical achievements that awaken the praise of the 
 other members of the gang or that surpass the 
 record which some one else had made are the 
 sources of real pleasure. Ideals of both skill and 
 endurance are held vividly before the mind. Like- 
 wise the stories of heroes, adventurers, and mis- 
 sionaries make a profound appeal. There is an 
 almost intuitive appreciation of the kinds of con- 
 duct that will awaken the admiration of others of 
 one's own kind. 
 
 Guide the moral imagination of these boys and 
 girls directly toward the transcendent Jesus 
 Christ. Let Him be the ultimate concrete reality 
 in which their moral idealism finally rests; let 
 them feel that higher than He, there are no 
 values. Provide practice in those forms of devo- 
 tion which strengthen the personal bonds be- 
 tween them and Jesus, their friend and hero. To 
 "this end, as far as possible, simplify the religious 
 organizations which provide programs of study, 
 worship and expressional activities. Encourage 
 those forms of service in which the moral imagina- 
 tion influenced or standardized by admiration of 
 Jesus can find adequate expression. 
 
 IV. THE LAW OF THE READING CRAZE 
 
 The so-called reading craze reaches its point of 
 greatest intensity at about the fourteenth year. 
 
154 THE RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 
 
 If an abundance of interesting books are available, 
 the average boy or girl will then spend more time 
 in reading than in any other form of leisure-time 
 occupation. An abundance of biography and 
 fiction saturated with human values and breath- 
 ing the spirit of adventure, loyalty, heroism and 
 chivalry should be placed in their hands. Culti- 
 vate in them a taste for the best literature. The 
 right kind of books can be used to strengthen 
 memory, stimulate social imagination, quicken 
 wholesome impulses, enrich the emotional life, 
 disengage moral energy, provide spiritual insight. 
 Clothe all religious instruction, therefore, with 
 life active, heroic, throbbing, divine life. For 
 it is imagination that stimulates imagination; 
 sympathy nourishes sympathy. At the time of 
 the soul's overflow, there shall be intimate famil- 
 iarity with the biographies of those great char- 
 acters whose souls had the mature power of over- 
 flow. 
 
 But the other side of this question needs most 
 serious consideration. A few years ago, cheap, 
 degrading books circulated rather freely, though 
 often in a clandestine way, among boys and girls 
 of this age. The day of the "dime novel" is past, 
 however, for the motion picture shows are gather- 
 ing in so many of the dimes. This same trash, 
 fearfully injurious to the imagination, positively 
 
OF ADOLESCENTS 155 
 
 harmful in its influence upon moral judgments 
 and religious sentiments, has now reappeared in 
 thirty-five cent and fifty-cent editions and is pur- 
 chased as gifts by adults who are ignorant of the 
 nature of their contents. Some of them are found 
 in church school libraries and many department 
 stores handle them in large quantities. Eternal 
 vigilance is the only price of safety from their 
 damaging effects. 
 
 V. THE LAW OF THE PLAY LIFE 
 
 Play is best understood as those forms of ac- 
 tivity in which the mind, while controlled by 
 pleasurable emotions, finds expression without 
 serious difficulty. If people are happy, they tend 
 to play. The early adolescent mind is so full of 
 enthusiasm, optimism, confidence, and eager an- 
 ticipation that it is very apt to express itself in 
 some form of play. That is, play becomes a most 
 vital factor during these years. 
 
 Provide a suitable all-the-year-round program 
 of recreation and tactfully administer it. Boys 
 and girls can now play together with great profit 
 if they have proper supervision and play together 
 as groups. For one or two weeks, live with them 
 in the church school camp. Here let all whole- 
 some play impulses have fullest expression with- 
 out the suggestion that Christian ideals are there- 
 
156 THE RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 
 
 by violated. Let the church be the best patron of 
 their play. Do not let them arrive at the conclu- 
 sion that in order to find the best, the most ap- 
 pealing play or amusement, they must go beyond 
 the program and influence of the church and 
 church school. 
 
 It is expected that our adolescent boys and 
 girls will develop increasingly substantial loyalty 
 to their churches. But it is frequently forgotten 
 that this loyalty must be nourished by experi- 
 ences yielding a maximum of pleasure. It is dif- 
 ficult for young people to be increasingly loyal to 
 an institution that does not minister to their 
 whole lives to every part of their natures. Their 
 sense of value unconsciously unfolds in an atmos- 
 phere which kindles pleasurable emotions. 
 
 VI. THE LAW OF INDIVIDUAL AND GROUP 
 SERVICE 
 
 The budding altruism of early adolescence 
 needs to be guided into simple and practical forms 
 of service. The habit of the daily good turn, 
 supported by religious motives and free from a 
 spirit of self-righteousness, should be built up dur- 
 ing these years. In providing awards or recogni- 
 tion for such service, have a care not to injure or 
 contaminate what should be the pure altruistic 
 
OF ADOLESCENTS 157 
 
 motive. Diligently avoid whatever tends to stim- 
 ulate a spirit of Phariseeism. 
 
 The suggestion of William James: "Strike 
 while the iron is hot " is especially pertinent in this 
 regard. Every adult Christian should have as 
 his permanent possession a state of mind which 
 naturally, easily, habitually finds expression in 
 service to others. The most strategic and educa- 
 tionally economical time for the establishment of 
 this habit is while the youth is socially sensitive, 
 instinctively interested in the welfare of others. 
 Practice in being of service is easier and much more 
 pleasant if it is part of the recognized program 
 of a social group in which membership is held. 
 
 If the Church needs mature members who are 
 habitually generous, self-sacrificing, and loyal, it 
 should make provision for its young people to 
 have practice in these virtues during that period 
 when practice will have the greatest influence in 
 permanently molding character. The splendid 
 group loyalties of early adolescence make it re- 
 latively easy for these boys and girls to give 
 themselves freely in service to others. 
 
 VII. THE LAW OF CONSCIENCE 
 
 The most important moral task which the child 
 faces during the first dozen years of his life is that 
 of building a conscience. The material out of 
 
158 THE RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 
 
 which he builds it is the moral judgments of his 
 parents, teachers, and others who help him to 
 control and to guide his conduct. If they are 
 consistent, certain moral preferences will be estab- 
 lished within his own mind. 
 
 Equipped with these preferences for certain 
 kinds of behavior, the child passes over into the 
 period of youth. The task of moral self -direction 
 or guidance is now taken up. He is conscious of 
 the fact that some kinds of conduct yield pleas- 
 ure and others, pain or annoyance. He feels the 
 former to be righteous and the latter, sinful. The 
 voice of conscience is recognized as the voice of 
 God. 
 
 But life is now so enlarged that this newly 
 functioning conscience has difficulty in deciding 
 all of the moral questions that arise. For each of 
 these boys and girls, therefore, provide the help 
 that comes from intimate association with a man 
 or woman whose Christian conduct is set in heroic 
 mould, whose own religious life retains its adoles- 
 cent qualities, who incarnates their personal ideals. 
 Beyond this, arrange for frank, personal confer- 
 ences in order to help them solve the innumerable 
 practical problems of everyday, Christ-like living 
 and service. If their home and school environ- 
 ment offer little direct help and encouragement 
 in solving these problems, redouble thy diligence. 
 
OF ADOLESCENTS 159 
 
 Provide wise answers to such questions as "Can 
 a person be a Christian and . . . ?" Dili- 
 gently avoid the inculcation of that unnatural, 
 extreme spirituality that will cause them finally 
 either to enter a monastery or convent. Do not 
 pitch conscience in too high a key. 
 
 Guard also against pitching it in too low a key. 
 Moral carelessness or looseness is most damaging 
 during the years twelve to sixteen or seventeen. 
 To fail to possess a wholesome and sensitive con- ^ 
 science at the time when later adolescence is 
 reached is most dangerous. 
 
 VIII. THE LAW OF REPENTANCE AND CONFESSION 
 
 During these years, conscience is tender and 
 inexperienced. The power of consistent moral 
 self-control has not yet been acquired. Errors in 
 judgment and in action are inevitable even under 
 the most favorable circumstances. Carefully 
 guard early adolescent boys and girls from temp- 
 tation. 
 
 But if, by any chance, sin should appear in 
 their lives, give thy utmost dilligence to teach 
 them the sweet exercise of repentance and con- 
 fession. Do not let the memories of sinful actions 
 lie buried in the mind as permanent annoy ers. 
 Moral perspective is injured by it. Show them 
 how to secure divine forgiveness. Help them to 
 
160 THE RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 
 
 enjoy the relief which Christ, the Saviour, offers 
 to the penitent mind. Save them from the moral 
 misery and mental wretchedness of arrival at ma- 
 turity without having acquired the power to re- 
 pent and to clear the mind of a gnawing sense of 
 sin. 
 
 IX. THE LAW OF CHURCH MEMBERSHIP 
 
 At this time when there is an instinctive de- 
 sire to belong to social groups, the psychological 
 foundation of church membership is provided. 
 No boy or girl should pass through the period of 
 early adolescence without having the privilege of 
 satisfying this natural desire to unite with the 
 church. The high spiritual ideals of the church 
 are not a barrier now as they will be if membership 
 is deferred until adulthood shall have been 
 reached. It is a definite part of the adult leader's 
 responsibility to awaken and strengthen the desire 
 for fellowship within an organized group of fol- 
 lowers of Jesus Christ. 
 
 Give such explanations of the common beliefs, 
 ceremonials and practices of this holy institution 
 as will make membership within it meaningful, 
 helpful, joyful. These boys and girls should now 
 begin to grow into the common beliefs and prac- 
 tices of the church rather than be permitted to 
 form erratic or arbitrary beliefs arid attitudes 
 
OF ADOLESCENTS 161 
 
 which will greatly increase the practical difficul- 
 ties of their joining the church in later years. 
 
 It is of special advantage that this desire to 
 identify oneself with the organized forms of Chris- 
 tianity have the hearty approval of parents. In 
 those cases where parents object, it will usually 
 be found that they do not fully understand the 
 advantages that will come to their child if he 
 takes this important step. 
 
 X. THE LAW OF THE FULLER LIFE 
 
 Early adolescent loyalty to the church school 
 and the church, to parents and other members of 
 the family, to the public school, and to the play 
 group directed by leaders who are themselves 
 loyal to Christ and His Church, constitute the 
 best preparation for the years of storm and stress 
 which follow immediately. A balanced program 
 of activities leads in the direction of a balanced 
 character. Leisure-time occupations should be 
 consistent with and re-enforce the lessons in- 
 cluded in the program of formal religious instruc- 
 tion. It is the one who, himself, is living the fuller 
 life who can appreciate the personal qualities of 
 a hero like Paul or Moses or Elijah. In develop- 
 ing along the lines of the four-fold standard, it 
 will be discovered that body helps mind no less 
 than mind helps body; that religion helps both 
 
 12 
 
162 THE RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 
 
 as well as purifies and strengthens the social 
 nature. 
 
 This fuller life comes as the result of youth's 
 endeavor to realize the ideal. Imagination is 
 active. Present attainments do not satisfy. 
 There is an inevitable up-reaching and out-reach- 
 ing that is satisfied only by a sense of the expan- 
 sion of life. It is the time of " strikingly pure ideal- 
 ism." There is a genuine interest in victory over 
 weaknesses or discovery through new and en- 
 larging experience. It is not only the body but 
 also the spirit that is restless and eager to grow. 
 With Saint Augustine, the early adolescent can 
 truly say: Thou hast made us for Thyself and 
 our hearts are restless till they rest in Thee. Re- 
 ligion is now personal. Life takes on its natural 
 richness and fullness only when it comes into vital 
 possession of the truths that have nourished the 
 lives of heroes and saints. 
 
 QUESTIONS FOR INDIVIDUAL AND GROUP STUDY 
 
 1. If an early adolescent boy or girl wants to 
 become a member of a church and the parents are 
 unwilling, should membership in the church be 
 postponed or denied? 
 
 2. Under what circumstances is it right for a 
 thirteen-year old to be disobedient to his parents? 
 
OF ADOLESCENTS 163 
 
 3. In what ways does life expand during this 
 period? 
 
 4. Point out some of the physical, mental and 
 social differences between a normal ten-year-old 
 boy and. the same boy three years later. 
 
 5. Why is suitable recreation especially import- 
 ant during early adolescence? 
 
 6. Explain the educational value of the "read- 
 ing craze" if properly directed. 
 
 7. Why does the character of Jesus make a 
 special appeal to early adolescent young people? 
 
 8. Discuss the practical problems of every-day 
 Christian living during the years twelve, thirteen 
 and fourteen. 
 
 9. Why is it dangerous for these young people 
 to violate conscience? 
 
 10. Why is membership in a church a Vital 
 spiritual need of this period of development? 
 
CHAPTER X 
 
 PRINCIPLES OF RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 
 FOR MIDDLE ADOLESCENCE 
 
 I. THE LAW OF THE INTEGRATING PERSONALITY 
 
 The period of the awakening personality is fol- 
 lowed by that of the integrating personality. 
 During middle adolescence, the youth faces the 
 task of assembling all of the desires, sentiments, 
 ideals, impulses, habits, preferences, loyalties, in- 
 terests all of the parts of his personality which 
 he has realized during the preceding years. He 
 must find and cherish the true center of his own 
 selfhood. Centripedal forces are at work. He 
 needs to discover some method of achieving integ- 
 rity or a plan of organizing all of the component 
 parts of his character. The parts must be as- 
 sembled according to some plan. 
 
 It is because his religion is the supreme value 
 the natural center around which all else should be 
 organized that religious education is so important 
 during these years. Any attempt to integrate all 
 of the parts about some other center such as pleas- 
 ure or a career, group loyalty or chivalry, will fail 
 to bring ultimate harmony, simplicity and great- 
 est strength. 
 
 164 
 
OF ADOLESCENTS 165 
 
 II. THE LAW OF A SINGLE LOYALTY 
 
 It is only by maintaining one's loyalty to the 
 religious loyalties of the preceding period that this 
 personal integration can be safely achieved. " Wilt 
 thou be made whole" is the inescapable challenge 
 of religion to this life. It is impossible to be loyal 
 to one's religion and also to a social group that is 
 avowedly irreligious. Guard against any attempt 
 to organize the personality around two standards 
 of value. Numberless, practical, personal diffi- 
 culties arise when a twofold center of life is 
 attempted. Simplicity and absolute sincerity are 
 the very essence of moral integrity. "If thine eye 
 be single, thy whole body shall be full of light." 
 There should be one consistent attitude toward 
 all things. Character is a circle. It has but one 
 center. It is not an hyperbola, having two centers. 
 
 The beginning of the dissociation of piety from 
 goodness, and religion from morality usually takes 
 place during these middle adolescent years. Par- 
 tial consecration to the Jesus ideal leaves room for 
 antagonisms to spring up within one's self. As 
 each opposing loyalty becomes more firmly estab- 
 lished, a dual life proceeds from them. Member- 
 ship in the church is no longer a guarantee of 
 moral integrity in business or social life. Con- 
 science becomes habitually violated in some par- 
 ticulars. 
 
166 THE RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 
 
 \ III. THE LAW OF CONVERSION 
 
 If a false or a dual center of personality has been 
 adopted, conversion becomes necessary and im- 
 perative. Conversion may involve a renewal of 
 one's loyalty to a previous loyalty, temporarily 
 abandoned. Or it may be concerned chiefly with 
 the vigorous and final rejection or overthrow of a 
 desire, an interest, or a habit that is unworthy but 
 which has been competing for the place of suprem- 
 acy. The enthronement of self-will or the sweep- 
 ing rejection of all external authority in early 
 adolescence, often lays the foundation for a spirit- 
 ual crisis in the following period. 
 
 This experience of conversion during middle 
 adolescence, usually affects the feelings profoundly. 
 It will never again take place with as little diffi- 
 culty and personal pain. Therefore, see to it that 
 any early tendency toward false or unworthy in- 
 tegration of the self is now brought to an end. 
 Life is still so plastic that conversion can take 
 place without loss of those fundamental elements 
 out of which mature Christian character is built. 
 In later periods, all is not salvable. Only a partial 
 realization of the true self is possible. 
 
 IV. THE LAW OF ADOLESCENT MYSTICISM 
 
 The religious life is now dominantly emotional. 
 It is less impulsive than it was and less critical 
 
OF ADOLESCENTS 167 
 
 than it will be later on. Feelings are easily aroused. 
 Sentiments come and go like the ceaseless tides of 
 the ocean. Religion is taken to heart. The higher 
 types of mysticism contain a message particularly 
 suited to the needs of this life. The practice of the 
 presence of God is a wholesome, natural exercise. 
 Meditation and introspection are frequent. There 
 is a longing for personal fellowship with God. 
 Original, first-hand, immediate awareness of His 
 presence brings supreme satisfaction. 
 
 Therefore, provide an abundance of sensory ex- 
 periences that are religiously meaningful. There 
 is special appreciation of art, music, architecture 
 and ceremonial. Religious experience should now 
 have that fervency and glow that is so frequently 
 seen in the young people's devotional meeting. 
 Music is the religious language especially of the 
 middle adolescent heart. 
 
 But guard against overstimulation. Many an 
 adult who is unreasonable in his attitude toward 
 the sacredness of the Lord's Day or foolishly 
 alarmed at a reasonable theory of the inspiration 
 of the Bible is simply the victim of emotional 
 extravagance or mystical excesses during middle 
 adolescence, the harmful results of which have 
 never been corrected. Religious excesses during 
 these years are apt to result in the young person's 
 becoming either an incurable crank or a confirmed 
 
168 THE RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 
 
 scoffer Guard also against that other danger, 
 flippant irreverence and other emotional forms of 
 irreligion. 
 
 It is during these years that the value of the 
 Bible, the church with its sacraments and services, 
 and private devotions are rediscovered. They 
 come to have a vital, personal meaning. The 
 middle adolescent is not merely forming religious 
 habits or storing his mind with religious truth. 
 He is literally feeding upon the Bread of Life. 
 His communion in prayer is actually social inter- 
 course with God. He has a religious experience 
 that is his own. 
 
 V. THE LAW OF ARDENT, ORGANIZED ENDEAVOR 
 
 This warm religious experience finds expression 
 naturally in ardent forms of service. Spiritual 
 visions and religious ecstasies need the hardening, 
 solidifying effects which come from practical effort. 
 Fervent devotion is passionately expressive. Im- 
 pulses to serve are now re-enforced by emotion. 
 All of one's personal resources are apt to be 
 brought to bear upon the task in hand. Self is not 
 spared. Hardships are not occasions of discour- 
 agement. Tasks are now undertaken by social 
 groups as well as by individuals. These efforts, 
 however, come to their fullest flower within social 
 groups organized to render actual service. 
 
OF ADOLESCENTS 169 
 
 In order to have the greatest value, these plans 
 for rendering service should, for the most part, be 
 worked out by the young people themselves. 
 Adult leadership is not resented if it is tactful and 
 makes large provision for independent action. In 
 these groups that have a common religious loyalty 
 and plans for giving expression to that loyalty, 
 both boys and girls can meet together. At times, 
 however, they will wish to act separately. These 
 wishes should not be interfered with. 
 
 It is natural that the service impulses now take 
 the direction of the improvement of the commu- 
 nity in which one lives. Civic consciousness is a 
 marked characteristic of middle adolescent social 
 consciousness. The welfare of all the people in a 
 given community, one's home town, makes a pro- 
 found appeal to their altruism and to that outlook 
 which now transcends a particular church or 
 denomination and comes to appreciate all human 
 life. Community civics, housing, industrial basis, 
 transportation, health, sanitation, and other sim- 
 ilar subjects, if properly presented, awaken an 
 immediate response, challenging both study and 
 endeavor. 
 
 VI. THE LAW OF FRIENDSHIP AND ROMANCE 
 
 The desire to hold membership in a group no 
 longer comprises the entire demand for social 
 
170 THE RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 
 
 experience. Tender sentiments weave themselves 
 around individuals. There is a ready appreciation 
 of personal traits of character. It is the time of 
 romance. There is yearning for ideal friendship. 
 One's dependence upon others to complete the 
 circle of one's own life or to supplement one's own 
 personality is felt. "Love affairs," that for the 
 time fill the entire horizon of thought and devo- 
 tion, may suddenly spring up within a life that 
 had seemed to be immune. 
 
 To provide a social environment made up of 
 young people whose fidelity to religious ideals is 
 unquestioned and whose personal influence there- 
 fore is spiritually wholesome is a vital part of a 
 program of religious education suited to these 
 years. A wide acquaintance among young people 
 having rich personalities and moral integrity of 
 character will tend to elevate and refine the 
 youth's social ideals. It provides the only safe 
 environment in which the parental instinct can 
 ripen. There is no complete guarantee, however, 
 that temporary personal attachments will not 
 spring up on the basis of chance acquaintance. 
 
 These years have been called the period of 
 storm and stress. For interests are personal. It 
 is not merely the imagination and reason that are 
 active. Personal attitudes are assured. Hostility 
 to religion is usually hostility to a person or per- 
 
OF ADOLESCENTS 171 
 
 sons who are falsely religious or personally repel- 
 lent; abnormally extreme religion is usually ardent 
 devotion to a person or persons who are religious 
 fanatics. 
 
 A tragic situation develops when the social 
 group to which a boy or girl naturally belongs is 
 indifferent to religion or perhaps positively anti- 
 religious and when the religious group in which 
 membership seems to be inevitable is socially 
 crude or unattractive. To fight these battles alone 
 may lead to permanent discouragement or bitter- 
 ness of soul. Somewhere within the entire range 
 of these vigorous and at times contradictory 
 thrusts of personality, help this youth to maintain 
 an abiding core of friendship ideals and loyalties 
 around which wholesome sentiments and visions 
 can be built up. 
 
 VII. THE LAW OF CULTURE AND RESTRAINT 
 
 Social and educational interests and engage- 
 ments are apt to become so numerous and intense 
 that they interfere with the culture of personal 
 religion. In many communities, social engage- 
 ments and the study or work program practically 
 monopolize the entire time and strength that 
 should be given to Bible study, prayer-meetings, 
 church school and other means of religious devel- 
 opment. 
 
172 THE RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 
 
 The building of Christian character now in- 
 volves the maintenance of a proper balance of 
 culture and restraint. First things should come 
 first. There is no inherent antagonism between 
 social and religious interests. But they have to 
 be adjusted to each other. Some good things have 
 to be given up in the interest of the highest good. 
 The culture of religion should not be ignored ex- 
 cept at those times when one is in a state of mental 
 or physical fatigue. It takes time to cultivate the 
 things of the spirit. 
 
 The lack of co-operation among the church, the 
 home and the public school together with the ab- 
 normal emphasis placed, in some communities, 
 upon matters of relatively inferior value, leave 
 multitudes of middle adolescent boys and girls 
 confused. They are caught up in a pandemonium 
 of exciting interests and activities and do not have 
 the power to select only those that are worthy, 
 rejecting the others. It is hard to build a simple, 
 moral structure in the midst of such highly varied 
 and strongly competing influences. 
 
 VIII. THE LAW OF VOCATIONAL SPECIALIZATION 
 
 In the midst of a multitude of highly varied and 
 competing interests, one steadying influence is 
 felt. It is the tendency to focalize one's attention 
 upon the choice of a life work. With reference to 
 
OF ADOLESCENTS 173 
 
 it, interests come to have relative values. The 
 marks of individuality and of temperament are 
 now realized to such an extent as to greatly in- 
 crease a youth's knowledge of himself and of what 
 will be of lasting service to him. High schools are 
 beginning to render a most valuable service in 
 providing pre-vocational guidance and informa- 
 tion. If a middle adolescent boy has decided what 
 he wants to do in life, he will find the problems of 
 culture and restraint greatly simplified. No longer 
 will all things inherently interesting be of equal 
 interest to him. 
 
 This final selection of a vocation should not take 
 place before one has had some familiarity with a 
 relatively large number of possible choices. The 
 choice should be made while the personality is 
 sufficiently plastic to make possible the most com- 
 plete adaptation and abiding enthusiasm. But it 
 should not be made before the truly integrated 
 self has been realized and before a sufficiently wide 
 familiarity with several vocations have made it 
 possible for the final decision to be an intelligent 
 one. 
 
 IX. THE LAW OF APPRENTICESHIP IN LEADERSHIP 
 
 The one who is understood and appreciated by 
 the individuals who, with himself, constitute the 
 members of a social organization, is surrounded 
 
174 THE RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 
 
 with opportunities to realize whatever leadership 
 talents he may possess. The resulting apprentice- 
 ship in leadership should not be too closely super- 
 vised and should never be interfered with by in- 
 judicious adults. Skill comes through practice 
 under tactful guidance and in the midst of others 
 of approximately the same age. As long as these 
 young people feel that their organization is not 
 their own, that their mistakes will come under the 
 scrutiny of older folks, and that only experienced 
 workers should hold office, so long will the supply 
 , of future leaders for the church fail to be discovered 
 and trained. In each local church, there might 
 well be one person whose specific duty would be to 
 acquaint certain people with the fact that their 
 continued membership in the young people's or- 
 ganization, whether it is Epworth League, Chris- 
 tian Endeavor, Baptist Young People's Union, or 
 similar society, means positive harm to the young 
 people, for it interferes with their having practice 
 in leadership. 
 
 X. THE LAW OF THE SUSTAINED SPIRITUAL LIFE 
 
 , 
 
 Adequate provision should be made for keeping 
 alive the spiritual life re-affirmed or inaugurated 
 during these years. The chief sources of a sus- 
 tained spirituality are now private prayer, com- 
 mon worship, Bible study, social service that is 
 
OF ADOLESCENTS 175 
 
 supported by a religious motive, and unbroken 
 fellowship with religiously-minded friends. These 
 sources of a sustained faith in God, belief in His 
 Holy Word, confidence in organized Christianity 
 and fellowship in service must be kept open at 
 any cost. Prayer is now both instinctive and in- 
 dispensable. It meets a definite need. The im- 
 pulse to prayer grows out of the social sensitive- 
 ness that appreciates confidences and fellowship. 
 "Prayer is the supreme opportunity of friendship 
 with God kept vital by regular, deliberate com- 
 munion with Him." In common worship the 
 powerful influence of social suggestion is felt. In 
 both private and public worship, a purified self- 
 consciousness and an exalted God-consciousness 
 are realized. 
 
 Middle adolescent young people are naturally 
 hungry for spiritual food. They are restive in the 
 presence of mere formality or hollow ritual. Sin- 
 cerity is now an instinctive demand. Hypocrisy 
 is looked upon with horror. The teacher of relig- 
 ion dare not be merely perfunctory. An artificial 
 motive, false pretense, or careless inconsistency 
 will be easily detected. Inaccuracies in fact-in- 
 formation also should be zealously avoided. Sen- 
 timents that surround religious essentials are apt 
 to spread to other less important things closely 
 related to them. All of the institutions of religion 
 
176 THE RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 
 
 become richly meaningful. They should be ad- 
 ministered only by those having clean hands and 
 pure hearts, free from vanity and deceit, having 
 a luxuriant faith and fervent devotion. 
 
 The moral and religious inspiration that comes 
 through Bible study comes in part from the reali- 
 zation that it contains the record of the lives of 
 real flesh-and-blood men and women. The inter- 
 pretations of this sacred record are greatly in- 
 fluenced, consciously or unconsciously, by the 
 known attitudes of others toward the Bible. With 
 the help of a suitable spiritual sponsor, however, 
 the deeper personal realization of what it means 
 to be a disciple of Christ comes directly from a 
 study of the Bible, balanced with a program of 
 Christian service. 
 
 QUESTIONS FOR INDIVIDUAL AND GROUP STUDY 
 
 1. What are the ten laws governing the religious 
 education of middle adolescent boys and girls? 
 
 2. Why is it necessary to find the true center of 
 one's personality during these years? 
 
 3. What is the danger of having conflicting 
 loyalties? 
 
 4. Describe middle adolescent conversion. 
 
 5. How are the Bible, prayer and the church 
 re-discovered during this period? 
 
OF ADOLESCENTS 177 
 
 6. What forms of expression should religion take 
 at this time? 
 
 7. How would you describe the social interests 
 of this period? 
 
 8. What dangers arise from too many intense, 
 personal interests? 
 
 9. How does vocational training help to meet 
 these difficulties? 
 
 10. Why is practice in leadership now impor- 
 tant? 
 
 11. How is the spiritual life sustained during 
 middle adolescence? 
 
CHAPTER XI 
 
 PRINCIPLES OF RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 
 FOR LATER ADOLESCENTS 
 
 I. THE LAW OF A COMPLETED ADOLESCENCE 
 
 Because of poverty, death of parents, misfor- 
 tune or calamity, the majority of adolescent young 
 people take up the responsibilities of adulthood 
 before it is time. This final period of development 
 is either short-circuited altogether or is passed 
 through too rapidly to make possible the complete 
 realization of one's natural power. Many young 
 men at nineteen have experiences that should be 
 postponed until they are thirty. With only a 
 limited portion of their inherited capacities real- 
 ized, they face the heavy burdens of caring for 
 their own or their father's family, making a living, 
 or competing for advancement in their chosen 
 trade or profession. 
 
 To assume such responsibilities prematurely 
 usually results in premature senility. Many per- 
 sons, for forty years, carry a burden of regret for 
 mistakes made during later adolescence, mistakes 
 which have resulted in unhappy marriage, lack of 
 college education, failure to develop priceless 
 178 
 
OF ADOLESCENTS 179 
 
 talents, or inadequate foundation for advance- 
 ment in the field chosen as one's life work. 
 
 One of the common tragedies of life is to see 
 adults striving against heavy odds to make up for 
 the deficiencies of an incompleted adolescence. 
 The* best way to prepare for a normal maturity 
 and old age is to enjoy to the full the possible un- 
 folding of life that takes place naturally during 
 the years eighteen to twenty-four. Help these 
 young people to take time to mature slowly. Save 
 them from the temptation to rush hurriedly into 
 the responsibilities of adulthood. The value of a 
 good education, of an avocation as well as of a 
 vocation, of wide social experience and familiarity 
 with more than one possible vocation should be 
 pointed out. Broaden by retarding. 
 
 II. THE LAW OF DIFFERENTIATION 
 
 During these years, young people tend to be- 
 come identified with different social, educational 
 and industrial groups. Selection and concentra- 
 tion cause lives to diverge. To undertake to put 
 together in the same class, college students and 
 young men who had to go to work before they had 
 finished high school, or girls who are just home 
 from college with factory girls, is to attempt what 
 is pedagogically impossible. The religious, rec- 
 reation and social needs have now become more 
 
180 THE RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 
 
 distinct and highly specialized. There are such 
 marked differences in capacities, interests, habits, 
 desires, ambitions, impulses, satisfiers, that the 
 work of the educator cannot be done on a whole- 
 sale basis. Precocity arid backwardness, as well as 
 other causes of individual differences must be 
 taken into account. 
 
 Courses of lessons, methods of teaching and 
 types of activities must now be carefully deter- 
 mined with reference to the particular needs of 
 the various types and groups of young people for 
 which they are intended. The recognition of these 
 differences should not be made in such a way as 
 to encourage snobbishness or other false social 
 sentiments, but solely for the purpose of preserv- 
 ing symmetry, balance and wholeness of life, and 
 otherwise to stimulate normal development. 
 Recognize the special needs of the different types 
 of later adolescent young people. 
 
 III. THE LAW OF WORTHY MOTIVES IN LIFE'S 
 GREAT DECISIONS 
 
 These young people should start out in life with 
 a motive large and strong and pure enough to lead 
 them with moral safety and victory through all 
 the struggles of adulthood. To begin adult life 
 with low ideals or unworthy motives is to endanger 
 both moral character and vocational success. The 
 
OF ADOLESCENTS 181 
 
 purpose one has in view in taking up one's life- 
 work will determine largely whether or not that 
 work will become a means of grace or a spiritual 
 liability. If Emerson had had no other ambition 
 than that of becoming an auctioneer, or if Lincoln 
 had had no ideal for his life beyond that of be- 
 coming a country lawyer, or if Paul had remained 
 a merely typical Pharisee, whole areas of person- 
 ality would have remained unrealized. When sor- 
 did self-seeking takes the place of whole-hearted 
 desire to be of the greatest possible service, the 
 individual sooner or later becomes a moral burden 
 upon society a parasite rather than a contribu- 
 tor. One of the most vital methods of governing"] 
 later adolescents and adults is to inspire them 
 with the purest motives and most exalted ideals 
 in choosing that form of service which will be their 
 life work. Their choices should be worthy of theirji 
 best selves. 
 
 In the natural order of unfolding, love between 
 the sexes is spontaneous and sensitive. Romantic 
 sentiments easily burst out into passionate affec- 
 tion. The danger is that, in the midst of this 
 wealth of emotion, moral and prudential standards 
 may be lost sight of. To turn one's back upon one's 
 religious motives and moral ideals in this hour is 
 fatal. Make sure that religious motives and 
 
182 THE RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 
 
 moral idealism are not compromised in the selec- 
 tion of a vocation or the establishment of a home. 
 
 IV. THE LAW OF A CHANGED ENVIRONMENT 
 
 Later adolescence, for many, is a time when old 
 ties are broken. Suddenly, one finds oneself lo-' 
 cated in a distant city or other new environment, 
 among strangers. The old familiar faces and ob- 
 jects which were the moral supports of childhood 
 are no longer present. It seems as though a part 
 of one's self had been taken away, for home and 
 youthful friends come to be spiritual accessories 
 of personality. The old, comfortable self-con- 
 sciousness has not been carried into the new sur- 
 roundings. There is a new and strange sense of 
 freedom and independence. 
 
 The possession of surplus money, after board 
 bills and room rent have been paid, becomes an 
 intoxicant. For the first time, there is no longer 
 the felt obligation to give an account to anybody. 
 This sense of freedom may easily lead to moral 
 recklessness. The ethical standards of fellow- 
 workmen, boarders, lodgers, students, are easily 
 substituted for those formerly held. The ethics of 
 one's trade may present a very serious practical 
 problem. 
 
 This is a critical time in the moral development 
 of the individual. Diligently guard such young 
 
OF ADOLESCENTS 183 
 
 people from temptations arising out of a changed 
 environment. Place them in wholesome, uplifting 
 surroundings. They need the support of new 
 friends of the old sort. Show special diligence in 
 searching out, encouraging or otherwise helping 
 those who have recently moved beyond the imme- 
 diate reach of those moral supports with which, 
 as children, they were familiar. 
 
 V. THE LAW OF INSTITUTIONAL LOYALTY 
 
 This is the period to which political parties, 
 fraternal organizations, various clubs, societies 
 and orders make their appeal for new recruits. 
 The objects for which these organizations stand, 
 their numerical strength and impressive ritual or 
 appointments make a powerful appeal to the later 
 adolescent mind. Ambition to be associated with 
 people of influence, interest in the serious aspects 
 of the social order, ambition to have a part in real 
 economic, civic, social or professional affairs, and 
 unfamiliarity with the actual cost in time and 
 money of holding active membership in several 
 such organizations often result in these young 
 people becoming hopelessly involved. They are 
 unable to make their best contributions to those 
 institutions which count for the most in advancing 
 the Kingdom of God. 
 
 One important question now to be decided is: 
 
184 THE RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 
 
 Which institutions should receive deepest loyalty? 
 If all cannot be supported, which ones are most 
 worthy? Some invitations will have to be de- 
 clined. Give these young people a principle in the 
 light of which their obligations of membership in 
 organizations can be rightly determined. Help 
 them to ally themselves with those institutions 
 which are making the greatest contributions to the 
 establishment of the Kingdom of God among men. 
 
 VI. THE LAW OF LEADERSHIP 
 
 Adult supervision, which is so greatly needed in 
 the direction of early adolescent group activities 
 and hardly less needed, though its presence should 
 be less in evidence, during middle adolescence, can 
 now be practically withdrawn. By the time boys 
 and girls have reached later adolescence, they 
 should have learned through experience the weak- 
 nesses of autocratic and oligarchical methods of 
 leadership. They should now be having actual 
 leadership experience under a democratic form of 
 group government. 
 
 This advanced training in leadership will involve 
 practice in public speaking and debating, famil- 
 iarity with the laws of deliberative assemblies, 
 intelligent appreciation of civic and economic 
 affairs, experience in carrying projects through 
 with financial and prudential success, the laying 
 
OF ADOLESCENTS 185 
 
 of plans requiring the activities of an organization 
 for an entire season or year, intelligent co-opera- 
 tion between the sexes, the accurate keeping of 
 records, permanency and practical usefulness of 
 organized activities, good judgment in selecting 
 and deputizing individuals to perform specific 
 tasks, methods of effective supervision. 
 
 Such training requires that serious and practical 
 enterprises be undertaken, and that adjustments 
 be made within the young people's permanent 
 organization in order that such undertakings may 
 be successfully completed. Therefore, discover, 
 further develop, and make serious use of any 
 capacities for leadership that exist. Carefully 
 guard against those false methods of leadership 
 that are not based upon ability to perform truly 
 great service. 
 
 It is also highly important that those who do 
 not possess the capacities for leadership make that 
 discovery during adolescence. The majority of 
 adults will perform their highest service by carry- 
 ing out, in a faithful and thoroughgoing way, the 
 plans which others have originated, or in working 
 at tasks which others have assigned to them. 
 
 VII. THE LAW OF HEROIC SERVICE 
 
 The work of the ordinary wide-awake local 
 church is determined largely by the character of 
 
186 THE RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 
 
 the community in which it is located. But in all 
 churches the following types of lay service are 
 needed? Organization and management of the 
 church school, teaching in the various departments 
 of the church school, directing the musical min- 
 istry of the church, recreational leadership, vari- 
 ous kinds of social, civic, benevolent, missionary 
 and community service, care of church property, 
 directing inter-church activities, lay preaching and 
 evangelistic work of various kinds. 
 
 The commission for heroic service was a part of 
 our Lord's training of the twelve apostles. A sim- 
 ilar commission is needed to complete the program 
 of religious education for later adolescents. Much 
 of the earlier training fails to be conserved because 
 It is not made serious use of. A faith that fails to 
 find expression in works is abortive, incomplete, 
 and in danger of being lost. A great faith and 
 devotion must have a correspondingly large op- 
 portunity of service. 
 
 The altruism of later adolescence is increasingly 
 practical. The program of the local church should 
 be worthy of the final invoices of spiritual energy 
 which later adolescents receive. The standards of 
 service should not be lowered during that period 
 of life when spontaneous interest in athletic rec- 
 ords, social advancement and economic success is 
 at its height. The work of the local church should 
 
OF ADOLESCENTS 187 
 
 be so organized as to make use of the large capacities 
 for service which characterize later adolescence. 
 
 VIII. THE LAW OF SPECIALIZED TRAINING 
 
 To be an unskilled laborer in our Lord's vine- 
 yard or to bury any talents in a napkin and to 
 fail to use them is to merit divine condemnation. 
 Special aptitudes and desires must be discovered. 
 The principle of economy as well as efficiency 
 demands specialized forms of training as well as 
 specialized opportunities for service. Respect in- 
 dividuality both in service and in preparation for 
 service. 
 
 This law implies the recruiting of ministers* 
 missionaries and professional social workers as 
 well as of trained lay workers. Since the local 
 church cannot provide all the specialized forms of 
 training needed in the preparation of effective lay 
 and professional workers, co-operation among the 
 churches of a community or district, with this end 
 in view, becomes not only a practical necessity 
 but a moral obligation. The curriculum of a 
 church school that does not provide for graded 
 forms of expressional activity, as well as of in- 
 struction, is incomplete. This program of expres- 
 sional activity comes to its full flower only when 
 all the service resources of all the young people 
 have been laid hold of. 
 
188 THE RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 
 
 IX. THE LAW OF RATIONAL SUPREMACY 
 
 In his search for facts, for truth that can be 
 scientifically or philosophically verified, there is 
 danger that the later adolescent may develop a 
 cynical attitude toward sentimental and aesthetic 
 values. This period is sometimes called the "age 
 of doubt" or of disbelief, because of the extreme 
 readiness with which truths that cannot be scien- 
 tifically or philosophically verified are cast aside. 
 
 But this is not the chief characteristic of this 
 period. The positive appreciation of any religious, 
 political, scientific or social truth that presents 
 itself with rational credentials is both natural and 
 spontaneous. A real danger is encountered, how- 
 ever, when it is discovered that former teachers 
 taking unfair advantage of the credulity of chil- 
 dren and early adolescent boys and girls have 
 caused them to believe that which is now dis- 
 covered to be untrue. In casting aside a trifling 
 error, some young people are apt to go too far and 
 to get rid of that which is fundamental but as yet 
 unappreciated. 
 
 New and radical views are now adopted with 
 greater ease than is possible in later life. To see 
 the difference between essentials and non-essen- 
 tials is a real achievement. Help these young 
 people to be judicious and fair in their reasoning. 
 The extravagant hopes and passionate ideals of 
 
OF ADOLESCENTS 189 
 
 earlier years may now appear to have carried them 
 too far but in this time of disillusionment, see to it 
 that their critical attitude does not lead to a reac- 
 tion that is extreme and permanently harmful. 
 Under guidance, help them to submit their religion 
 to a frank, thoroughgoing, rational test. But 
 emphasize positive values and constructive criti- 
 cisms. 
 
 X. THE LAW OF A RELIGIOUS CREED 
 
 Some life philosophy or personal point of view 
 is sure to be evolved and formulated during this 
 period. The later adolescent is naturally a creed 
 maker. His beliefs tend to become definite in 
 form. He delights in argument and debate. Ac- 
 curacy of statement is a vital part of his reasoning 
 process. Creedal beliefs such as the Apostles 
 Creed now become either necessary and ration- 
 ally satisfying or the source of intellectual irrita- 
 tion. There must be a definite, simple core to his 
 religious beliefs and around it the whole is grad- 
 ually organized into a system. 
 
 Beliefs that are not thus crystallized and ar- 
 ranged in order are apt to become vague and in- 
 effective. They are easily lost. The practical 
 affairs of mature responsibility will soon crowd 
 aside this creed-forming interest. Before that time 
 comes, his mind should arrive at a statement of 
 
190 THE RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 
 
 beliefs' which is true to the Christian revelation 
 and which is fundamentally similar to that which 
 others, who are sound in the faith, have adopted. 
 When his own individual creed is in harmony with 
 the common creed of the church, efficient co-opera- 
 tion is made easier. 
 
 In all progressive denominations, special* em- 
 phasis is being placed upon social service and all 
 other forms of expressional activities. There is a 
 widespread and popular appreciation of goodwill 
 and kind deeds. The educational pendulum has 
 swung far in this direction. There is danger that 
 this movement will have the practical result of 
 ignoring the importance of having our young 
 . people well-grounded in the faith. A universal 
 bond of commonly accepted beliefs is necessary to 
 the unity and solidity of living Christianity. To 
 think together is important. It takes something 
 besides a general, benevolent attitude to make a 
 Christian. There is a historic origin and develop- 
 ment of Christianity. The church has a theology. 
 Her doctrines are not matters to be set aside 
 lightly. Later adolescents face the responsibility 
 of being able to give a reason for their faith. They 
 should not be blown about by every wind of 
 doctrine. 
 
OF ADOLESCENTS 191 
 
 QUESTIONS FOR INDIVIDUAL AND GROUP STUDY 
 
 1. What are che ten laws that summarize the 
 program of religious education for later adolescent 
 young people? 
 
 2. Why should adolescent development be com- 
 pleted? 
 
 3. What account should be taken of the differ- 
 ent types of young people found in this period? 
 
 4. In what spirit should life's greatest decisions 
 be made? 
 
 5. What practical problems arise out of a 
 changed environment? 
 
 6. What kind of institutions deserve the su- 
 preme loyalty and active memberships of later 
 adolescents? 
 
 7. What practical problems. are now involved 
 in achieving leadership? 
 
 8. What types of lay service are possible in the 
 local church? 
 
 9. Point out the reasons for specialized training 
 for service. 
 
 10. How does the supremacy of the rational 
 faculties affect later adolescent religion? 
 
 11. Of what value is a religious creed? 
 
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