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Page 25 text:
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three other cities observed), from statistics which include only first-hand, or very reliable second-hand evidence, there are thirteen young men, all from good families and respected by their fellow students, who are habitual drinkers of intoxicating liquors, and what is worse, who frequent saloons. This is not a condition peculiar to Michigan City only; it is a common condition, but one usually unknown because older people are not in a position to obtain this information. These are merely examples of what is going on among our boys. The natural query is “Why does this condition exist?” By the careful use of statistics and a cautious analysis of information, gained by much questioning and independent investigation, we positively believe it goes back to our original contention—these boys cannot face the accusation by their companions that they are “not game ’ that they are “mama babies”, “mollycoddles”, and the like. The whole situation comes about in this manner. One young man becomes acquainted, or usually has been acquainted from boyhood, with a group of boys, who, because of environment and inclination are, in common parlance, termed “fast”. With the mistaken notion that smoking, gambling, and drinking are manly qualities, they fall into these habits and are proud of the fact that they are called “tough”. They are not to be condemned entirely, for they have not been trained dif- frequcntly. But the high school boy, who has been taught the correct conception of manhood, and who, because of the taunts of this sort of “gang”, becomes like them, should be severely blamed. He, in turn, “shows off” his new accomplishments to his school friends, and by his ridicule, leads others into evil habits. And the remedy? There is no teacher in the world who can do more than tell his students in what manhood consists. He can also give advice; but on matters of this sort, a boy considers his affairs purely personal and dislikes to divulge them. However, he wants his chums’ respect and is willing to do anything to gain it. The only being on earth who can make a boy into a real man, one worthy of the name, is the boy himself. This is the solution of the problem. It is our sincere hope that these lines may cause some young man to think upon this subject; and. if he has the stuff in him, let him talk the matter over with himself, and. unless he has a “yellow streak”, let him break away from what he doesn’t want and do as his own better sense tells him. “When the fight begins within himself, A man’s worth something!” E. DAVID LILIENTHAL, Editor-in-Chief. We have been assisted by innumerable friends in the production of this book, and to all of these kind co-workers we extend our gratitude; and especially do we wish to thank Edward Dankert, our artist: our board of critics, Mr. M. C. Murray and the Misses Vail, Mathews and Fickel; Mr. L. Lilienthal for his services in painting advertisement cards, and Mr. E. Ward for work on the Sophomore Roll drawing. THE STAFF. 21
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Page 24 text:
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A PROTEST Although it is an error in practically every kind of composition to introduce a subject with an apologetic explanation, yet circumstances may cause this to be permissible and even advisable. Were the writer of this editorial a man of years and experience, he would have no qualms about criticising and reproving young men. But for a boy to criticise boys may, at first, appear presumptive. The writer, however, considers everything said as applicable to himself as to any other young man; and being himself a young man, he is able to give firsthand information which an older person could not obtain. The young men of America are slipping—drifting. So vastly different are they from their strict ancestors of New England, or their simple forefathers of Pennsylvania, or their rugged pioneer grand-parents of the Middle West! The average American youth is becoming lax—lax in his morals, his conduct, his speech, his habits of work and play. His whole life is merely a following of the line of least resistance. He is an adept in the “modem art of making a fool of himself’, but for the most part, he lacks the backbone that it takes to squarely face himself and determine to stop a pernicious habit, or change an attitude of mind, to say nothing at all about a real battle, which combines control of himself and of others. To exhaustively cover all the ground which comes under a vast subject of this nature, would require a huge volume. But it is our object only to mention a few of the matters in which the American young man fails to do what his better sense tells him, and to show in what respects he is falling back. Let us start on minor matters, matters which are apparently of such small consequence that they command very little attention. For instance, there is the matter of courtesy. The old spirit of chivalry seems to have died out in the majority of American boys and is replaced by an uncommendable attitude of “do others before they do you”. We have seen so much discourtesy. especially about the school building, that we have come to accept it almost as a matter of course. We see it in the class-rooms in the impolite practice of speaking while another is reciting; we have noticed it in the young fellows who hang about the entrances before school in the morning and at noon, and use profane language, even though girls are passing in. In the entertainments given in our own auditorium, we have observed rampant discourtesy. We always find those who will persist in whispering, or in putting on their coats and hats just before the curtain falls, thereby destroying the effect of an impressive scene. The cause of these short-comings is usually thoughtlessness. It seems that, under the modern conditions, this is a problem for the school to handle, altho it rightfully belongs to the home. Leaving the category of smaller evils, of which a lack of courtesy is representative, we come to those greater evils to which many young men are drifting. Of course, as we leave the “little foxes” and proceed to actual sins, the discussion applies to fewer young men; and yet we wager an older person who prides himself on his knowledge of youth, or who thinks that he intimately knows certain young men, would be astounded to learn to how many boys of his acquaintance these following words apply: The inability of the American youth to face the ridicule of the crowd is leadiny him into more corrupt practices and sins than any other outside influence or combination of influences. “But how can this lead to anything worse than a loss of independence of thought?” you may ask. Out of seventy-three cases of boys, under twenty-one years of age, who smoked tobacco, from observations made during the last four years in four different types of cities, so far as the character of the population is concerned, sixty-two admitted, and in some cases, maintained that their reason for using it was not that they enjoyed it. but that they were as game as the next one”, or that the bunch all smoked, and they kidded me about it. so I began, too”. That a fellow who smokes respects one who does not is shown by the fact that most of the seventy-three advised the investigator not to begin. “I wish I never had”, they said. Our next statements will probably be the most surprising and would not be disclosed, true as they are, were it not that they may bo the means by which many people may have their eyes opened to some conditions which exist, not among working boys, but among students in high schools, surrounded by the most uplifting environments and by a cultured class, which should tend to strengthen their characters. In our own high school of about one hundred fifty boys (and the condition is typical to a more or less degree in the 20
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