ow, then, shall all this be worked out in Bible class and
through-the-week activity? The missionary lesson must not be just fact,
but related fact. The through-the-week meeting that contemplates the
deepening of interest in other lands must be recreational and social.
The contacts must be real, vital, and individual--expressed in the
concrete interests of the now. This is the principle. The method must be
the work of the lesson writer and the missionary expert, and, until this
is achieved, missions must still be but two uninteresting facts for the
teen age boy--Heathen and Collection.
BIBLIOGRAPHY ON THE TEEN BOY AND MISSIONS
Fahs.--Uganda's White Man of Work (.50).
Hall.--Children at Play in Many Lands (.75).
Johnston.--Famine and the Bread ($1.00).
Matthews.--Livingstone, the Pathfinder (.50).
Speer.--Servants of the King (.50).
Steiner.--On the Trail of the Immigrant ($1.50).
XVII
TEMPERANCE AND THE TEEN AGE
Temperance embraces the abstaining from everything that challenges
self-control. The two deadliest foes of young life today are admittedly
alcoholic drinks and the cigarette, and any crusade against these for
the conservation of the boy in his teens should be welcomed. It is well,
however, to keep in mind that profane language, the suggestive story,
undue sex familiarity, athletic overindulgence, excessive attendance at
the moving picture shows, or entertainment places, the public dance, and
other things of like ilk in the community, exert a doubtful influence on
boy life.
Liquor is the greatest plague in a community, and does more to curse the
community than any other one thing. It breaks up homes, causes
divorces, deprives children of their legitimate sustenance, ruins the
life of the drinker, increases taxation, lowers the tone and morals of
the community, and is a detriment to our American life. Cigarette
smoking is bad for anybody. It harms the growing tissue, dulls the
conscience, stunts the growth, and steals the brainpower of growing
boys. In dealing with these facts in the Sunday school let us recognize
then, that they exist, that they are true; and then let us cease merely
to rehearse them from time to time.
The day of exhortation is past. Temperance education today consists in
the presentation of absolute, scientific fact. Sentimentality and the
multiplication of words no longer mean anything. In dealing with the
teen age boy, spare your words, but pile up the scien
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