"We gather in our Wigwam that we may become strong as our bows, straight as our arrows, and pure as the lakes of the forest."
Clubs patterned after rangers, yeomen, lifesaving crews, and what not have been successfully projected to meet and idealize local interest; and the novelty and slightly concealed symbolism seem to take with boys of this age. But the most important factor is never the organization as such but the leader.
For the period of from fourteen to seventeen years probably no better organization has been devised than the Knights of King Arthur. Its full requirements may be too elaborate in some cases but freedom to simplify is granted, and also to eliminate the requirement of Sunday-school attendance as a prerequisite to membership and the requirement of church membership as a prerequisite to knighthood. Leaders dealing with this age should read The Boy Problem by William Byron Forbush and The Boy's Round Table by Forbush and Masseck (Boston and Chicago: Pilgrim Press, 6th edition, $1.00 each).
Ordinarily a policy of relationship between the club and Sunday school and church will have to be formulated. It is always best to let the Sunday school and the church stand on their own merits and not to use the club as a bait for either. Nor should ranking in the club be conditioned on church membership. Boys should not be tempted to make the church a stepping-stone to their ambition in this more attractive organization. The best policy is that of the "open door." Let the club do all that it can for boys who are already in the Sunday school and church, but let it be open to any boy who may be voted in, and then through example and moral suasion let such boys be won to church and Sunday school by the wholesome influence of the leader and the group, quite apart from any conditions, favors, or ranking within the club itself.
An unofficial relation between the Sunday school and the club will be maintained by having club announcements given in the school and by bringing the Sunday-school superintendent before the club frequently. In some churches the boys' whole department of the Sunday school is the boys' club, and this may prove a good method where it can be carried out with proper divisions and specialization as to age, etc.
In discussing any proposed constitution, consideration should be given to suggestions from the boys themselves and every question should be threshed out in a reasonable, democratic way, strictly after the fashion of deliberative bodies. The opinion of the leader is sure to have its full weight, and matters needing further consideration can always be referred to committees to be reported back. Questions of discipline should be handled by the club itself, the director interfering only as a last resort to temper the drastic reactions of a youthful and outraged democracy. If there is a men's organization in the church tie the club to that. This will guarantee strength and permanency to the club and will help the men by giving them a chance to help the boys.
The form of the constitution and ritual will be governed by the age which they seek to serve. Boys from ten to fourteen years may not rise to the splendid formality of the Knights of King Arthur. Possibly the idealization of the best Indian traits will serve them better. From fourteen to seventeen or eighteen the knighthood ideals are most satisfying, while one may question their utility after that when the youth turns to reflection and debate and is suited by civic and governmental forms of organization. It must not be assumed that any one type of organization is good for all ages and does not need to be supplemented, modified, or superseded as the boy makes his adolescent ascent.
If the pastor has limited time and limited help he will do well to center his attention on the important period of twelve to fifteen years; and in order to do his work properly in the club meetings and on the gymnasium floor especially, he should have an adult helper as soon as the attendance exceeds ten in number. It is far more important to do the training well than to make a great showing in numbers and at the same time fail in creating a proper group standard and in developing individual boys. In the ordinary improvised church gymnasium one man to every ten boys is a good rule.
In a church club that grew to have a membership of sixty, the following grouping for gymnasium privileges was found to work well: boys ten, eleven, and twelve years old, from 4:15 to 5:30 in the afternoon; boys thirteen, fourteen, and fifteen years old, from 7:00 to 8:15 the same evening; and boys sixteen, seventeen, and eighteen years old, from 8:15 to 9:30. Such a use of the plant secures economy of time, heating, etc., and with a little help one may give every boy two gymnasium sessions a week, which is not too much. If possible, showers and lockers should be provided; and in classification for gymnasium work allowance should be made for retarded boys and for boys of extraordinary ability, so that they may play with their equals irrespective of strict classification by age. The best single test for classification is weight.
The leader will do well to see that everything is right and clean in conversation and practice in the locker-room and showers. Also, foolish prudery and shamefacedness must be wholesomely banished, and it will benefit rather than harm the boys for their leader, after having taken them through the exercises, to join them in the pleasure and stimulation of the shower bath.