Kemper Military School - Yearbook (Boonville, MO)

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,Z 5-if 'U' 'U' ONEL T A JQLINSTQN CO L . . Superintendent

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KEMPER MILITARY SCI-IODL BOONVILLE - Mrssounr I p 4 L19 Lavfs of fvimsourz T. A. IOHNSTON . . . . . president A. M. HITCH . . . Vice-President A. BATES , . . . . Secretary and Treasurer Directors T. A JOHNSTON! H. C. JOHNSTON A. M HITCH CEO T IRVINE G. T. BOYCE

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Ji Letter to Parents of Boys N CONNECTION with the rearing of your son you are, no doubt, con- fronted with numerous and perplexing problems. You have for him ideals of learning, culture, character, and manhood that he seems more or less unlikely to attain. His personality is mysterious and you find yourself lacking in the power to understand him and especially in the time needed to devote to the solution of the problems that he presents. Many of the problems that beset you and your boy are beyond your con- trol. In the last twenty years the attendance of high schools has increased be- tween 300 and 400 per cent with the result that the schools are woefully crowd- ed, and classes are so large that boys who need personal attention receive little or none, lose interest in their work and drop out or fail. If a boy has graduated from high school and goes to a large university he receives little or no personal attention from the faculty, has no opportunity to participate in activities un- less he is of outstanding merit, becomes lost in the crowd or is carried away with distractions, loses interest in his work, and drops out with very little profit from his university experience and sometimes with a positive loss. The small college, which avoids some of these pitfalls, frequently offers too few at- tractions to interest the boy. Furthermore, modern conditions have handicapped the boy with idleness. The present day father grew up busy with chores or helping his father. The present day boy has no chores, and business is so specialized that few fathers can find a place in their business for their sons. The result is disastrous for the boy. He frequently has most of the afternoon and the evening with noth- ing to do but amuse himself. His companions of both sexes are as idle as he and a condition results that is profitless, harmful and always potentially dan- gerous. Idleness does not make muscular or moral fiber, or furnish visions and ideals, or prepare a boy for man's estate. It does tend to fill prisons and pro- mote failure. Another problem of adolescence is sex. The problem is aggravated by co- education. At this age girls mature more rapidly than boys to the disadvan- tage and embarrassment of boys in class competition. Boys do far better school work when in classes composed of boys only, where the subject matter is presented by men and for boys. As bad as the problem is in school it becomes most acute after school hours when boys and girls, both idle, are left to provide their own entertainment for the rest of the day. Picture shows, good and bad, long rides in automobiles, unchaperoned parties, uncontrolled athletics, and other pleasures too frequently fill the time. Parents are too busy or too much Page Five