Farm Boys and Girls

by William A. McKeever

So, again, it may be contended that there is a happy mean between the over-work and the absence of social experience so common in the farming communities and the lack of work and the extreme social excitement that so often obtains in the life of the city child.

A social renaissance in the country

There is becoming more and more apparent the necessity of not only a revival of the social life in the country, but also the demand for its reconstruction. It is especially to be desired that the reorganization be effected under the guidance of sound principles of psychology and sociology. That is, it must be based on the fundamental fact of the sex instinct so prominent during the adolescent period, and the further fact of the imperative demand at this time for a large amount of social intercourse. How differently this point of view persistently held will shape the matter as compared with the older ideal of merely “giving the young folks a good time”! Yes, the social life of adolescent boys and girls has its source in the sex instinct then so predominant. It is not therefore to be viewed as a piece of superficial sentimentality, but rather as a profound law of nature.

As suggested by two or three of the preceding chapters, there may be organized a social center in the church, or other such centers may develop independently through the leadership of some mature persons. But instances of this class of effective organization are as yet few and far between. Meanwhile, the young are growing up and their present social needs are very pressing. Individual farmers cannot wait for neighborhood movements; and so the parents of the children requiring the social life must themselves take the initiative in the matter.

Conditions to guard against

Before proceeding to a detailed outline of various plans for supplying the social needs of rural young people, it may be well to point out a few of the pitfalls to be guarded against. In reference to the latter, it is not the purpose to advise parents to try to place their children in an exclusive social set. Far from that. The purpose is rather the converse; namely, to urge parents to attempt to build up good, clean characters in their boys and girls and yet permit the latter to mingle freely with common humanity. An aristocracy in the towns and cities is bad enough and a thing wholly out of harmony with the best and highest interpretation of our national life; but an aristocracy in the country neighborhood is an abomination.

But while the so-called best families must think of their young as growing members of the entire social community and not as belonging to an exclusive set, there is nevertheless great need of constant watchfulness in respect to certain evils that always threaten the lives of farmers’ sons and daughters.

1. The social companionships of girls.—Of course it must be admitted that there is frequently present in the country neighborhood some vile or wicked young character whose influence is very pernicious. On one occasion this person may appear in the guise of an exemplary young man, smooth in manners, stylishly dressed, and apparently interested in the best affairs. But as a matter of fact, he may be secretly an agent for some infamous institution in the city. The records show that thousands of country girls have been enticed away to the cities by such characters only to meet an untimely and awful fate. The parents of the country girl should therefore know who the young man is with whom she keeps company. Usually it is a comparatively easy matter to test his worth. If he have no fixed local attachment in a home, and no permanent business relations in the community, he may be regarded with suspicion at least, and may be compelled to furnish evidence of his moral integrity.

Another type of the young country man unworthy of the company and companionship of the young woman is the one who is known by the men of the community as being habituated to the use of vile and indecent language, or to the practice of drinking intoxicants. If such be among his known characteristics, the evidence is decidedly unfavorable, making him unsuitable as a social companion of the country girl. It is reasonable to predict that he will never change his ways very radically, and especially that he will not develop into a desirable life companion for the daughter. Some good parents make the fatal blunder of allowing their girl to keep company with such a coarse-grained young man simply because he is so “good hearted,” and “means well,” and the like. To say the least, a depraved social taste will gradually develop in the girl’s life if she continue in such company.

Another contamination for the country girl sometimes results from the depraved young woman who has drifted into the neighborhood. The girl herself will be in the best position to detect such a type, as the latter will be marked by her coarse manners when in the presence of the girls, and by her practice of discussing obscene matters in private conversation with them. This is the situation in which the innocent young girl’s mind may become forever poisoned and her wholesome faith in humanity entirely too much unsettled.