Your ShelfYour Projects

Training Boys

3%

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Washington, D.C. · Oct 15, 1914

FromReview and Herald, Vol. 91, No. 43.

Read the full edition

Training Boys

By I. C. Colcord

I. C. COLCORD

How to Train a Boy Down

1. LET him have plenty of spending money.
2. Permit him to choose his own companions without restraint or direction.
3. Give him a latchkey, and allow him to return home late in the evening.
4. Make no inquiry as to where and with whom he spends his leisure moments.
5. Give him to understand that manners make a good substitute for morality.
6. Teach him to expect pay for every act of helpfulness to others.
7. Allow him to occupy a seat in the church with the boys, rather than a pew with his parents.
8. Permit him to regard the Sabbath school unsuitable for a boy on the verge of young manhood.
9. Let him spend the Sabbath hours between services on the streets.
10. Tease him about his “sweetheart.”
11. Scold or censure him before “company.”
12. Make him regard that fault as his peculiarity, something against which it is vain to strive.
13. Never talk to him confidentially.
14. Never give him what was promised.
15. Let him go to moving picture shows and see a “hold up,” a “train robbery,” and things rude and vulgar.
16. Be careful never to let him hear your voice in prayer for his salvation and spiritual growth.

How to Train a Boy Up

1. Make home the brightest and most attractive place on earth.
2. Make him responsible for the performance of a limited number of daily duties.
3. Never punish him in anger, nor without just cause.
4. Do not ridicule his conceits, but rather, talk frankly on the matters in which he has an interest and “bent of mind.”
5. Let him feel free to invite his friends to your home and table.
6. Encourage his confidence by giving ready sympathy and advice.
7. Do not discourage “collection manias” nor fondness for “pets.” They help to give information, and fix habits of investigation and perseverance.
8. Be careful to impress upon his mind that making of character is more important than making money.
9. Teach him to regard his sister as his “best girl.”
10. Teach him that “almost” is a dangerous word, and that he is never to be satisfied with “fairly good,” “pretty good,” “good enough.” It is said that Stradivarius, when asked why he took so much pains in the making of his violins, replied, “O, I make them for eternity!”
11. Lead him to realize that the best fruit this earth can hold up to its Maker is a Christian gentleman.
12. Live Christ before him all the time; then you will be able to talk Christ to him with power when the occasion offers.
13. Provide proper recreation, and go with him where he can see and hear that which is interesting and instructive.
14. Teach him that obedience is the highest form of worship.
15. Be much in prayer for his salvation and spiritual growth.