de vast inroads
upon our normal home life, with the result that the home has been
seriously weakened and the boy has been deprived of his normal home
heritage.

To give the home at least some of the old power that it used to have
over the boy life, there must needs be recognized the very definite
place a boy must have in the family councils. The general tendency
today, as far as the boy is concerned, is an utter disregard on the part
of the father and mother of the importance of the boy as a partner in
the family. He is merely the son of his father and mother, and their
obligations to him seemingly end in providing him with wholesome food,
warm clothing, a place to sleep and a room in which to study and play in
common with other members of the household. Very little thought is given
on the part of the father and mother to the real part the boy should
play in the direction of the family life. Family matters are never
determined with the help of his judgment. They are even rarely discussed
in his presence. Instead of being a partner in the family life, doing
his share of the family work and being recognized as a necessary part of
its welfare, he is only recognized as a dependent member, to be cared
for until he is old enough to strike out and make a place for himself.
This sometimes is modified when the boy comes to the wage-earning age,
when he is required to assist in the support of the family, but even
then his place in the family councils to determine the policy of the
family is usually a very small one.

In the home of today few fathers and mothers seem to realize the claim
that the boy has upon them in the matter of comradeship. The parent
looks upon himself very largely in the light of the provider, and but
very little attention is paid to the companionship call that is coming
from the life of his boy. After a strenuous day's work the father is
often physically incapacitated for such comradeship and only the
strongest effort of will on his part can force him to recognize this
fundamental need of his boy's life. It is just as necessary that the
father should play with and be the companion of his boy as it is for him
to see that he has good food, warm clothing, and a comfortable bed to
sleep in. The father generally is the boy's hero up to a certain age.
This seems to be an unwritten, natural law of the boy's life, and the
father often forfeits this worship and respect of his boy by failing to
afford him the natura