_THE COUNTY YOUNG MEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION_
Among the movements of first importance looking toward the uplift of
young men is that named at the head of this chapter. Parallel with the
intensive and systematic effort to build up the commercial life of the
city and allow the country district to take care of itself, has been a
like effort to provide for the care and development of the city boy and
the uniform neglect of the needs and interests of the country boy. Now,
here at last is a movement that is proving a real means of salvation of
the rural youth, mind, body, and soul.
President Henry J. Waters, of the Kansas State Agricultural College,
struck the keynote of this young country-life movement most effectively
in a recent address when he said: "We believe in the existence of a
social renaissance. One needs only to read the daily and weekly papers
printed in hundreds of prosperous villages and cross roads corners, the
faithful chroniclers of the community's activities, to find buoyant hope
of the future of farm life.
"The dignity of labor; the close connection between heads and hands; the
monthly or weekly meetings of farmers' institutes in hundreds of
counties; the special lectures provided by agricultural colleges; the
movable schools; the farmers' winter short courses, in which thousands
of men and women and boys and girls participate; corn contests; bread
contests; sewing contests; play carnivals; poultry-raising contests;
stock-raising contests; conferences on the country church, country
school, good roads--all these activities denote the growth of a new and
mighty spirit in the country life of America.
"We need further demonstrations, together with concrete thinking, a lot
of constructive programs, and a deal of hard work and self-sacrifice, in
which the county work department of the Young Men's Christian
Association can have no little share, to speed on the great epoch of
rural social renaissance."
BOYS LEAVE THE FARM TOO YOUNG
It is a tragic story when the whole truth is known, that of the young
boy running off to town in search of some employment that will bring him
a little ready cash for spending money, and also in search of the
sociability so woefully lacking in the rural home environment. Too long
have the country parents attempted to argue and scold and force their
boys to remain at home where they are confronted only with the monotony
of hard work and a very dim prospect of a possible land or other
property inheritance. So at last there is being raised the very
important questions, What is the matter with the country boy? and What
can be done to help him? Knowledge of the fact that more than one-half
of the boys of the United States are living in farm homes makes the
problem of their individual salvation assume momentous proportions.
There can be no reasonable thought of holding all the boys on the farm.
Many of them are best fitted by nature to go elsewhere and find suitable
employment, but there is every good reason for preventing the great
exodus of immature youths who run off to the cities, not knowing what
they are to face and without any well-defined purpose. Yes, the great
concerns of the towns and cities must continue to call many of the
brainiest young men from the rural districts. In fact, the country may
with every good reason be considered the proper breeding ground for the
virile minds destined to control the great affairs of nation, state, and
municipality. But every reasonable effort must be put forth to keep the
boy in his country home until his character is relatively matured and
his plans for a future career are fairly well defined.
PURPOSES OF THE COUNTY Y.M.C.A.
Doubtless the first chief purpose of the county association is that of
building up the boy's character and finally perfecting his spiritual
nature. But this high aim is not sought in the old-fashioned, direct
manner. Instead, there is a studied effort to build up the boy gradually
through the enlistment of his natural interests in matters that lie
dormant in his home environment. The truly scientific method in this
field is first concerned with providing means whereby the boy may work
out his own spiritual salvation. Along with the farm labors, tedious and
irksome to him when undertaken as exclusive requirements, the country
boy is given an opportunity to take part in certain athletic and social
exercises which appeal to his instincts and arouse the spontaneity from
the depths of his own nature.
In carrying on the country work, an attempt is made to approach the boy
from the peculiar situations of his home environment. What specific
readjustments are needed in his home life in respect to the amount of
work required of him? What of the recreation he enjoys? The local
society in which he moves? The home church and Sunday school? The
temptations that may lie near about him? and so on. These and many other
such inquiries are made with a view to dealing with the boy in an
individual way and reestablishing his life for the better.
HOW TO ORGANIZE A COUNTY ASSOCIATION
Unless it may chance that, after a brief survey of the field, some
person from the outside comes in to perfect the organization of the
county association, any interested person within the limits of the
county must make the start. Devotion to the cause, persistence, and
unfailing enthusiasm are perhaps the best personal equipment for the
local beginner of this new work. His first concern should be that of
gathering a committee of men like himself from different parts of the
county. Doubtless these will form themselves into a sort of brotherhood
committee. After such temporary organization, the next important step is
that of securing an able county leader.
[Illustration: PLATE XVII.
FIG. 23.--These Y.M.C.A. members find time for play as well as work. Try
a club like this as a means of keeping the boy interested in the farm.]
1. _Choose a good leader._--Now, the success of the movement is to
depend very largely upon the character of the leader to be chosen. If
the right man be selected, no matter how hard the conditions, he will be
able finally to bring system and order and spiritual progress out of it
all. The important characteristics of the ideal leader of country boys
are comparatively few. First of all, he must, of course, be moved by a
sense of devotion to the cause of Christianity--the up-building of the
characters, especially the spiritual natures, of young men. He should be
a man who has been trained in a good college, if possible a graduate,
with experience in the Y.M.C.A. and other like organizations. He should
have had some special training in such subjects as psychology,
sociology, and economics, and should be fairly well versed in the
literature of these subjects. He should be especially fond of boys and
boy life and interested in the conduct of people of every kind and sort.
He should be somewhat trained in athletics and an enthusiastic supporter
of clean sports. He should have what is known as good business sense. It
may not be essential, but it will certainly prove advantageous, if the
chosen leader has himself been reared in the country.
2. _Local leaders necessary._--After the leader has been selected, the
next step is that of the appointment of carefully chosen leaders for the
local neighborhoods. These may be men of almost any age from middle life
down, but perhaps the ideal age would be that of a few years older than
any of the boys of the neighborhood. All must be enlisted if possible,
not one being slighted or offended.
3. _A committee on finance._--An able finance committee is also of high
importance. This should consist of men chosen especially for their
unusual ability as solicitors and persuaders of men in a financial way.
Let these workers go over the county soliciting funds for the
organization, providing from the first especially that the secretary
shall be well paid for his services. Close-fisted residents, as well as
all others, in every nook and corner of the territory must be seen and
asked to contribute. It should be a comparatively easy matter to show
men who cannot appreciate the social and spiritual needs of the boys
that the new movement will most certainly increase general property
values and bring up the price of land.
4. _Little property ownership._--While new, the county organization
should guard against attempting to own and control any considerable
amount of property or equipment. Not the material goods possessed, but
the strength and force of the spiritual enthusiasm will have greatest
value in carrying on the work. It will be found quite satisfactory in
nearly every case to have the boys meet in some farm home, village club
room, or country schoolhouse. And then, there is always danger of
developing a Y.M.C.A. too exclusively as a business organization. There
are many instances in the towns and cities where this is deplorably
true. The best spirit of the work is submerged by the continuous
hounding of the people in the skirmish for funds to keep going the
over-heavy business machinery of the institution. There often develops,
in such cases, a large body of men who regard the Y.M.C.A. as an
organization of loafers and easy-going money spenders. Once such
sentiment develops, it is desperately difficult to eradicate it. So the
country Y.M.C.A. should preserve the semblance of humility, and that
partly by getting along with almost no property or equipment other than
what its own members may provide in a crude fashion and what may be
necessary to furnish the office of the general secretary.
HOW TO CONDUCT THE WORK
One of the first steps in conducting the new work is that of making a
survey of the entire county. The names, ages, and location of all the
boys must be secured, together with some items respecting their present
social and religious affiliations. In fact, the more personal items
included in the first survey, the better. Some boys will at first look
with disfavor upon the new movement, believing that it is merely another
scheme to convert them to religion and get them into a church. Care must
be taken to disabuse the boy's mind of this thought from the very
beginning. Therefore, it may be well not to try to hustle him into a
Bible-study class the first time he is invited out. While the main
issue, namely, that of spiritual development of the boy, is not to be
forgotten, he must nevertheless be led to this goal through the path of
many very common instrumentalities. A Y.M.C.A. athletic meet would most
probably prove a better opening number than a Bible-study class or
merely a religious service. As the work proceeds, the occasions for a
great variety of exercises and programs will present themselves. Among
these perhaps there would be the following:--
1. _Local and county athletic clubs._--The athletic event is one of the
easiest to put on in a newly organized boys' club. An able leader,
perhaps the county secretary, should be present to preside over the
event, inducing the boys to form a baseball club, or a basketball team;
or at least to arrange for some event in which they can all participate,
although that may be as simple a thing as swimming or jumping. Introduce
at once the thought of practice and the development of skill, holding
out the plan of a county organization and a county field meet in the
future, which all may attend and in which the ablest shall have promise
of a conspicuous part.
2. _Debating and literary clubs._--There is always the possibility of a
literary society, provided the thing be carefully instituted. The secret
of successful debates among persons of any class is to find a "burning"
question. So, avoid such matters as Tariff Reform and the World Peace
Movement and come right down home to some perplexing problem in the
lives of the boys of the club. Something about their work, their lack of
recreation, their chances against those of city boys, and so on, will
arouse interest and bring out rough debating material. Find latent
talent of other sorts in the club. Some boy can sing; perhaps another
can play a musical instrument; still another one may be a natural-born
storyteller; a fourth may be an expert acrobat and tree climber; a fifth
a shrewd hunter or trapper of wild animals. In this way, nearly every
boy can be led to take part in a general program.
Thus, while contributing something toward the entertainment of all, each
boy's active participation will go far by way of awakening his personal
interest in the new life.
3. _Receptions and suppers._--After the boys get fairly under way with
their club, they may need to arrange an oyster supper or some such
affair at which they will discuss their many mutual problems. On some
such occasions they may desire to invite their parents to come and enjoy
the program, also to participate in the discussion of their affairs.
This form of close association will be found especially enticing to the
boys, giving them a good, clean place to go for social enjoyment and
something to look forward to in their thoughts during the somewhat
prosaic hours of the day in the field.
4. _Educational tours and problems._--The boys may find it feasible to
go in a body once or twice a year on an educational tour--to the state
fair; to study some particular thing in the city; to gather data for the
solution of some local problem; to make a study of the habitat of some
bird or animal; to gather specimens of rocks or plants; and so on. In
case of any such trip there is not a little necessity of some
college-trained person as overseer, so that the study may be made
intensive and not become dissipated in mere sport and fun. It is usually
advisable to make a careful study of only one thing at a time.
[Illustration: PLATE XVIII.
FIG. 24--A great Y.M.C.A. Convention in Ohio. Let the boy attend one of
these great gatherings if possible, and he will return with a year's
supply of enthusiasm.]
5. _Camping and hiking._--The boys of the county should be brought
together at least once a year in a summer camp. Farmers will soon learn
to appreciate the value of such things in the life of the boy and will
gladly allow him a few days' vacation for the purpose. The boy who
enjoys such a privilege will more than pay it back through the extra
amount of work his enthusiasm will naturally prompt him to perform. For
the camp site there should be selected some shady woodland with a good
stream of water for fishing and swimming. A crude lodge may be
constructed and all the necessary crude camp equipment provided. Each
boy will want to carry his own blanket and extra clothing.
One matter must be considered in all seriousness; namely, the sanitation
of the camp. Even at the outlay of a comparatively heavy expense, the
camp food supplies, including the dining table, should be screened off
from flies. The garbage therefore will all be scrupulously buried, and
it will be ascertained with certainty that the drinking water is free
from disease organisms. Then, the boys may sleep on the ground, wallow
in the dirt, splash in the water and mud as they please and return home
in the best of health.
6. _Exhibitions._--It has been found practicable to have the boys
prepare during the season for coming together with a county exhibit,
including a wide variety of things peculiar to their interests.
This exhibition should be made as a big annual event, if possible, such
as will attract all manner of persons and make friends for the county
association. In its ideal arrangement the money expense will be kept
down to a minimum. Also keep out the idea of premiums. The contest plan
of promotion will some day receive its desired consideration and lose
its place as a means of promoting social and spiritual well-being. As a
matter of fact it fosters much envy, ill-feeling, and bitter strife and
thus strikes at the root of the good-fellowship which you are striving
to encourage. _But, urge every boy to bring something for the sake of
the help he may contribute and let the honor of this service and the
approbation of his fellows be his high reward._
One boy may come with a mammoth pumpkin; another with a device of his
own invention for catching ground squirrels; still another with a new
method of tying a knot; another with a bushel of highly bred corn;
others with farm and garden produce of the same attractive nature;
others with wild grasses, curios, or geological specimens; others with
the parts of a miniature menagerie. One boy may have caught a badger
alive; another a coyote; another a jack rabbit; another a huge turtle.
Another may bring a cage of rattlesnakes or a box full of snakes of all
sorts; another a set of original plans and specifications--for an ideal
farmhouse, or farm barn and surroundings; for making the well sanitary;
for a milk house; for keeping flies out of the house or barn; a recipe
for driving ants and other insects from the house. The boys in one
family may come with a lot of samples of soil, showing how differently
each must be treated for the same general crop results. Others may bring
specimens of "cheat" and noxious weeds, and the like, with a scheme for
destroying them. Another may have a plan for a patent churn or a
labor-saving device in the kitchen.
Thus there may be brought to the boys' fair an interesting and most
instructive variety of objects, plans, and devices, all looking toward
the improvement of home conditions. Such a gathering as this will bring
not only the parents and other adults from the home county, but great
flocks of outsiders will also come in and learn and become deeply
interested in the affairs of the County Young Men's Christian
Association.
SPIRITUALITY NOT LOST SIGHT OF
It ought to be easy for the average thinker to appreciate the fact that
all the foregoing rough-and-ready work in the lives of the boys can be
made a practical means of the salvation of their souls as well as of
their bodies and intellects. Spiritual perfection is not reached at a
bound. There must be much doing of the crude yet worthy things which
grow naturally out of his inner nature before the boy can finally
achieve a degree of spiritual development that may prove a permanent and
fixed part of his adult life. Yes, there will be some Bible study, an
occasional short prayer, and now and then a real sermonette in
connection with the work of the organization, but much more frequently
the Christian life and character will come as a sort of discovery in the
boy's life and that through his own conduct.
Through all this wholesome exercise of his better and cleaner interests,
the youth will gradually be led away and kept away from those things
which contaminate both the body and the spirit and introduce the
individual to a coarse, debauched life. In other words, Christianity
will be a thing achieved and that through the young man's efforts rather
than a thing instantly caught in some emotional revival meeting only
gradually to waste away in the months immediately following. One
well-built specimen of Christian manhood--a character of the sort which
the ideal work of the County Y.M.C.A. may finally construct--is worth a
dozen of those suddenly converted men whose secret lives are so often
embittered with the consciousness of backsliding and following ever
after the old evil ways.
It will be observed at a glance that in the foregoing outline there is
an avoidance of the heavier work-a-day tasks and problems. It is the
thought of the author that the boys have quite enough of such labor as
it is and that the County Y.M.C.A. can do its best service if it
provides a set of new activities of a more recreative sort. The central
idea--second to the perfection of his spiritual nature--is that of
giving the boy a larger amount of social experience through
self-training in matters that will bring out his latent unselfishness
and his self-reliance. The heavier problems of an economic sort suitable
for discussion among the boys and the girls of the country districts
will have due consideration in another chapter.
In planning the various parts of the county work and the club life of
the boys, there must be extreme care not to arrange for too many and too
frequent meetings. It is especially to be desired that the boy do not
acquire the runabout habit, even though he may in every case go to a
desirable place. Therefore, in arranging the programs it will be seen to
that the meetings are held somewhat infrequently, but that on each
occasion the meeting be continued until some intensive work has been
done. For example, it would be much preferable to have all or a major
part of one afternoon and evening of the week for the exercises rather
than to have brief evening meetings a number of times during the week.
WORK IN A SPARSELY SETTLED COUNTRY
The following statement will show what was achieved during the first
year in the Y.M.C.A. of Washington County, Kansas, which has a rural
population of about ten thousand people.
_General Statement_:--
181 boys enrolled in Bible-study groups, meeting weekly.
35 men give time to the supervision and planning of the work.
236 boys attended ten boys' banquets.
51 out-of-town delegates attended the county convention.
175 men and boys attended the convention banquet.
161 boys took part in the relay race.
91 men and boys on baseball teams.
24 boys played basketball.
56 men attended 10 leaders' conferences.
65 men conducted one day financial canvass.
200 boys given physical examination.
26 took part in the annual athletic meet.
13 young men's Sundays conducted by secretary.
6000 miles (approx.) traveled by secretary.
283 citizens back of work.
_Financial Statement_:--
Pledges unpaid from previous year $120.25
Pledges for year 1568.25 $1688.50
-------
Received during year 1386.15
Due unpaid pledges 302.35 $1688.50
-------
Amount paid 1352.89
Due unpaid 298.00
Available balance 37.61 $1688.50
-------
REFERENCES
Neighborhood Improvement Clubs. Professor E. L. Holton.
Agricultural Extension Bulletin, Manhattan, Kan.
Camping for Boys. H. W. Gibson. Association Press, New York.
Careful directions for camp life.
Training for Boys; Symposium. _Harper's Bazaar_, March,
April, August, September, November, 1910.
Keeping Home Ties from Breaking. E. A. Halsey. _World
To-day_, January, 1911.
Training Men to work for Men. E. A. Halsey. _World To-day_,
March, 1911.
The Organization and Administration of Athletics. Dr. Clark
W. Hetherington. Annual Volume N.E.A., 1907, p. 930.
_Rural Manhood_, issue of June, 1910. Rural Leadership
Number.
Social Activities for Men and Boys. Albert M. Chisley.
Y.M.C.A. Press, New York. A valuable book covering a wide
variety of activities.
_Rural Manhood._ Henry Israel, editor. 50 cents per year. A
most valuable exponent of the County Y.M.C.A. work.
The Physical Life of the Boy. Dr. D. G. Wilcox. (Pamphlet.)
Address, Federated Boys' Clubs, Boston.