A STUDY OF CHILDREN'S IDEALS. 



95 



honest and truthful, and moreover he freed his country without tak- 

 ing pay for his valuable services. He was also the one that formed 

 the constitution of the honored country he had saved. These are the 

 reasons why I should like to resemble him most." 



But the older children are not satisfied with an ideal who is great 

 and good and wise and brave; he must be the greatest or best or 

 wisest or bravest of his kind. He must excel all others in his chosen 

 line. George Washington, " because he was the greatest man that 

 ever lived in America"; "John S. Johnson, the champion bicycle 

 rider in the world"; Paderewski, "because he is the greatest musi- 

 cian in the world"; James Corbett, "because he is the champion 

 fighter of the world " — these are examples for this desire of leader- 

 ship, almost as strong in girls as in boys. Indeed, one of the most 

 significant features of this study is the increase in male ideals among 

 the girls. A corresponding influence of female ideals is not shown 



Chart No. III.— Male Ideals. 

 Boys ^■^—■^-■— Girls 



among the boys. Some of the younger boys wish to resemble their 

 mother, the little girls with whom they play, or the heroines of 

 romance; but with one exception all the boys above ten years of 

 age who select female ideals mention authors, as in the case of a boy 

 of fifteen, who writes, " I would like to be Annie Laurie,* to be 

 travelling all around the world and you could learn a great deal in 

 that way and make out reports for the Examiner and always be 

 working." 



As shown by Chart III, as many as sixty-seven per cent of the 

 girls of fourteen and fifteen select male ideals. To be sure, there are 



* The nom deplume of a well-known Western journalist. 



