remain long in camp. Each youth who is selected for enrollment should 
understand what it means to follow the rules of a social group and be 
willing to do so. 
Mental Alertness 
Mental alertness, as used here, means the possession of 
reasonable mental capacity . The Corps is not interested in selecting 
brilliant or highly educated youths. Neither is it interested in se¬ 
lecting youths whose mental capacities are not sufficient to enable 
them to learn to follow instructions and to do some job. reasonably 
well. 
Schooling : The number of years of schooling completed by 
a youth is no certain criterion of mental alertness. For example: 
A selecting agent may have two applicants, the first of whom has 
completed only three grades of school and the second of whom is re¬ 
ported to have completed four grades of school. The first youth 
dropped out of school when he was nine or ten - he went to school 
for three years and no longer. He demonstrates, however, that he 
can read as well as most fifth or sixth grade children and shows 
himself to be wide awake and with reasonably good mental equipment. 
The second youth went to school for eight years in order to complete 
four grades of school. He appears to have difficulty in signing his 
name or in writing the most common and simple words. His physical 
coordination appears to be poor. He does not seem to have the mental 
capacity to understand and follow simple instructions. As between 
the two youths, the Civilian Conservation Corps wil l clearly benefit 
the first youth more. The fact that he has less formal schooling 
should not act to his disadvantage in CCC selection. 
Low mentality : Youths with extremely limited mental ca¬ 
pacity often become real problems in a CCC camp. They may be safety 
hazards to themselves and to other enrollees. If given an axe, they 
may chop bheir own feet or hit another enrollee simply because of 
poor physical coordination or lack of reasonable understanding of 
the necessity for being careful. One such enrollee thought n it would 
be funny" to push another enrollee off a truck, with the result that 
the youth who was pushed off was very seriously injured. Safety alone 
demands that applicants with very limited mental capacity should not 
be selected for CCC enrollment. 
Superior ability : At the other end of the scale, youths 
with very superior mental capacity who have an obvious desire to 
obtain further schooling or college training should be encouraged 
to explore all possibilities for obtaining further formal education 
before seeking enrollment in the Civilian Conservation Corps. The 
NYA high school and college student-aid program may be of help to 
them; scholarships may offer opportunities; part-time employment 
may sustain them while continuing their schooling. Such applicants 
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