loving and upright and unselfish can she gain the ideal standard which she is to preserve. The torch placed in her hand must be alight before she can preserve its fire of life for her children yet unborn.

Helpful Books for Further Reading.

Bibliography,

Numbers 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 13, 14, 20, 23, 31, 32, 33, 53, 74, 78, 83, 105, 107, 111, 112, 117, 119, 120, 123, 126, 127.

CHAPTER XIII

SOCIAL AND EDUCATIONAL PROBLEMS AND METHODS

A YOUNG girl from a home of wealth and culture was eager to help in a club of girls from a factory. She said anxiously to the worker in charge, "What can I talk about to them?"

"What do you and your friends talk about when you are together?”

Honesty and humor combined in the reply, given with a dimpling smile, "Beaux and clo'es!"

Here are desire for approval and admiration, romance, beauty, ambition to do something in the world. and to have that service recognized by those who have already "arrived." Truly, these are universal roots.

The Girl's Problem, and the Educator's. From the girl's side, the problem of her education is the individual one of learning how to do the things she wants to do; of getting the information that is needed in her projects; of finding out the principles of human action on which she may count in "managing" other people in accomplishing things she cannot do alone; of observation, imitation, "trial and error" in behavior which shall secure the approval for which she longs. She may be very unselfish and altruistic in her ultimate purposes, but learning to do the necessary things is an affair concerning herself and the older or more experienced persons who can teach her.

From the educator's side, the problem is both social and individual. There is the general ideal of "race

progress," of conserving through these young lives all that has been found worth while in civilization and human character; and there is also the desire that each particular girl shall be able to contribute her own gift of personality. There is only one hope of success for the educator.1 Every educator, be she in no more official position than the volunteer leader of a goodtimes club, will be effective just in so far as she is a "good teacher." In its simplest analysis, "being a good teacher" means merely that she sees the girl's own problem and works with her to solve it, rather than attempting to hand over to her, or impress upon her from above and beyond her, ready-made solutions of problems that she will see only when she is as old as the educator.

Teaching Material. The means at the disposal of those who guide the girl in this vital adventure, to be, to get, and to do, are the forces within the girl, the human relationships of her life, and the general social and material environment. The inner forces are the instincts, interests, knowledges, and habits-old, new, and just arising; and these with the laws of their interaction must be understood. The relationships which are most formative are those that are chosen by herself, but the right persons from whom to choose them must be provided for her acquaintance. The general environment of almost any girl in the United States furnishes raw material enough to develop an abundant life, if selection is wisely made from its possibilities; the wiser, more experienced person can help the girl form

1 Let the reader remember that the term "educator" is used throughout this book as an inclusive designation for any relatively mature individual-father, mother, teacher, club leader, or older friend-who has some definite responsibility for so directing the experiences of the girl that her behavior will be different from what it would be without that direction.

and test principles of such selection, and help her to find the elements that are hidden to her inexperience. Instinct teaches the butterfly how to emerge from its chrysalis, but human instincts have to be socially guided in the intricate social life which they have developed. Yet even in human life there are things which cannot be done for another without fatal results to that other. If the girl is to emerge from her chrysalis whole and radiant, she may be furnished the materials she needs, but she must ultimately do the work herself.

The problems in which girls may receive help from their older friends arise in the concrete situations of daily living, in school and home, at work, in recreation and social life, in their friendships and romances, and in ambitions for future achievement and service. Most actual problems involve more than one of these relationships, but this rough classification may serve as a guide in discussion. While in our progressive acquaintance with a girl we usually arrive at her own formulation of her ideals and motives last of all, yet unless we have a fairly clear insight into these hidden springs of conduct we shall fail either to understand her acts or to give worthy help. What are the

instincts immature,

All purposes unsure,

That weighed not as his work,

Yet swelled the man's amount;
Thoughts, hardly to be packed

Into a narrow act,

Fancies that broke through language and escaped"?

Problems of Ambition. On the stage of her inner consciousness the girl's own self has always the spot

light. That self may be very different from the one observed by a prosaic world, and different from the self that now is, as she would herself admit. It is the future, the "possible self," that youth must always see, and one who would do creative work with this palpitating life-stuff must see it too.

Very crude and tawdry in its actual outlines may be this figure of her inner vision; or its grace and radiance may be in pitiful contrast to the possibilities of the exterior; but the realizing of this outline is the allinclusive task of living. It must be with sympathy and understanding that the "relatively mature individual" who attempts to take a part in this drama plays her subordinate role.

1. Beauty. First of all, the heroine must be dressed to fit the part! To secure attention, one must be beautiful if possible, or at least "interesting" enough to be popular. This love of beauty and love of admiration in simple compound often produce personal vanity and absorption in "style."2

Turn to the "Answers to Correspondents" column on the fashion page of any popular Sunday paper. You can easily duplicate these samples which were chosen almost at random from five columns of similar letters and the answers to them:

PATTY

I am an interested reader of your page in the Sunday Journal. I am 5 feet 7 inches tall, weight 130 pounds, 15 years old, waist 26 inches, hips 37 inches, bust 34 inches, wear No. 5 shoe. I have dark brown hair; it is thick but not long, and very oily. Could you tell me of something that would take the oil out? I have dark brown eyes, black eyebrows and lashes, a very dark complexion and lots of color in my cheeks. I have blackheads in my face. Will you tell me of some remedy? I wear my hair parted on the side and in three coils in the back. Is that style becoming to me? What are my becoming colors? Am I homely?

FOR THIN EYEBROWS

-PATTY.

My measurements are: Bust 36 inches, waist 26 inches, hips 35 inches; I am 5 feet 4 inches tall. How are my proportions? I weigh 122 pounds; I wear size