176 THE CONTROL OF LIFE 



During this time the child continues consciously 

 what the infant began unconsciously — garnering its 

 mother's love. During very early childhood the parents 

 are in the place of God to their children, and to many, 

 happily, the mother always remains in a pecuhar way 

 sacred. 



§ 6. Adolescence : Its Adventures and Dangers 



Adolescence is a long stretch on the ascending curve 

 of development, when childish things are put away, 

 when juvenile characteristics are for the most part 

 slipped off as a crab slips off its shard, when adult char- 

 acters are gradually put on, when the life begins to 

 take definite shape, when the hmit of growth comes 

 withm sight, and when sex-impulses, at first mere pass- 

 ing whispers, compel a hearing to their mingled voices. 

 Male adolescence in North Temperate countries usually 

 lies between fifteen and twenty, female adolescence be- 

 tween fourteen and nineteen. 



From our biological standpoint, we would notice 

 four things about adolescence. (1) There is a reac- 

 celeration of growth toward adolescence, and this grow- 

 ing preoccupies the youth — organically, not consciously 

 — and is apt to induce slackness and Hmpness. It is 

 surely a time for plenty of rest and plenty of play. 



(2) The adolescent creature is rearranging itself. 

 It becomes more complex, from its teeth to its nerve- 

 paths; it likewise becomes more subtly knit together. 

 There are new complexities and new controls, new 

 ambitions, new ideas. The readjustments are accom- 



