o approach the boy on the subject. Even a father should make it
his business to master the problem by extensive and wise reading before
he becomes his boy's teacher. In the second place, books or pamphlets on
the subject are poor mediums for instruction on the sex functions.
Nearly every one that I have seen so far is either too technical or too
sentimental. There are a great many books on the market which had been
better left unpublished as far as their helpful influence is concerned.
The treatment of this problem should be oral instead of in written form,
and should be a straight, business-like talk, such as a father would
have with his son about his studies or work. The gush of sentiment plays
havoc with the emotions of the boy and lures him to the edge of the
precipice, just to look over. First, there should be the spoken word
concerning the function of the sex organs; and then, if the need is
urgent, a choice book to guide him a little farther on the way. The less
a boy thinks about these things the better. The instruction should be
for the purpose of teaching him the knowledge of himself in order that
he may see these things in their proper light and live purely, and not
for the purpose of giving him expert advice.

Another thing is necessary for good sex instruction. Up till a little
while ago it was the custom of workers with boys to caution the lads
against self-abuse. They used all kinds of colored slides and fearful
examples to impress on the boy the horror of the act, and very often
inflamed the boy to exactly the thing they were shooing him from. But
today we are learning the fact that the positive is of more force than
the negative, and that the "thou shalt" is better than the "thou shalt
not." There is a real reason why the later adolescent boy should give no
attention to the "thou shalt not," and so fall into the snare of the
negative; for it is the law of his being to "prove all things." It is
far better to lay emphasis on the legitimate purposes of the boy's sex
life, the glory it gives him and the beauty of the self-sacrifice it
begets, than to say a single word on the other side.

I have found it a good thing to refer to the practice of self-abuse of
any kind as a sure sign of weak mentality, and this has produced a
greater impression than anything else that I have formerly said. Boys,
it should be remembered, have brains and are really able to think. When
they act wrongly it is so often from lack of