Jasper County Democrat, Volume 19, Number 97, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 3 March 1917 — ONES OWN PLACE [ARTICLE]

ONES OWN PLACE

".J. . v. '... ■ ' V PROBLEM THAT CONFRONTS SOY A STARTING LIFE WORK. Examinations Made by Experts Are) of Supreme Importance tn Guiding Footsteps of Youth Into Their Propet - Sphere. In view of the practical quality of the results of psychological examinations, it is not unreasonable, to .suppose that much practical knowledge can thereby be gained concerning an individual, which may give a clearerconception as to his place in the world, and may even indicate - the conditions whiChjJead to his fullest development, Pearce- Bailey, M. If., writes in Scribner’s. The boy who seems to have ho special qualifications or special interests when he reaches the period when he should begin to prepare for his life work is convicted by his own indifference of not being first class. In the event of his parents having no employment or occupation ready at hand, he falls into something haphazard. Such a boy under present arrangements may have aptitudes which might permit him to excel at some particular calling, or he may have defects which definitely prohibit certain callings. There is another class of boys between whom and their parents there is disagreement as to what they should do. Each is, perhaps, controlled by an idealistic preference for’some occupation, but the ideals do not coincide. Psychological examinations might determine whether the boy really had some leaning to or qualifications for what he wanted to do, or whether his ideals on the subject were purely imitative without solid foundation, and whether he would do better at the calling his father wished, him to follow. In deciding this question, the antipathy which not infrequently exists, although hotly denied, between parent and child would have to be considered. It has often been found, when a parent is determined on some one thing and the son just as obstinately on another, that the divergence is not on the real issue, but on a personal antagonism which neither of the two admits. There is another large class of boys and young men who are almost certainly predestined to get in wrong unless they are wisely directed in youth. There is some twist in their mental make-up, either Congenital or acquired, which unfits them for certain lines of work, and if they follow these lines the restjit is not only economic failure, but physical and mental collapse. Such young persons are recognizable by a variety of signs. . . . There, isno absolute standard by which such individuals may be judged as a class. On the contrary, each <>ne is different, depending upon . heredity, environment, early education, passionate prejudices

acquired, through ■ individual experience, a lack of balance in learning and a discrepancy in moral development, capacity ami, ideals. Each requires a different social remedy. They are boys that- present the most serious problems that parents have to face, such as‘drinking, failure in studies, tendency to evil associations, criminal and immoral tendencies. The vast majority of these are the product of conditions and are not incurable’delinquents. Could the fundamental disharmony be recognized early enough, and could Conditions be changed, many of these boys might be saved from ultimate collapse and might become useful citizens, r' . •*■■._