CHAPTER XIII 



SOCIAL TRAINING FOR FARM BOYS AND 

 GIRLS 



WE have been exceedingly slow in realizing the 

 social needs of our children, in the usual instance 

 depending on chance conditions to determine the 

 matter for us. The city and the rural communities 

 present a striking contrast in this respect. It does 

 not seem possible that both can be right, while there 

 is much to support the opinion that both are wrong. 

 That is to say, in the city community the majority 

 of the children are allowed to spend too much time 

 in the company of others. As a result, they take on 

 social manners and customs in a mere formal way and 

 by far too early for the good of their character-de- 

 velopment. The city ripens young life too fast. 

 It produces the manners and refinements of adult 

 life before the child becomes matured mentally. In 

 the ordinary rural community there is not enough 

 social experience for the young; and hence, a cer- 

 tain amount of crudeness, awkwardness, and lack of 

 refinement tend to linger permanently in the charac- 

 ter. 



A HAPPY MEAN IS NEEDED 



What seems necessary, therefore, is the establish- 

 ment of a social life which will be a compromise 



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