The first essential in the awakening of a clean social life for the young is a center of effort. If there be no church or clubhouse of any kind within easy access of all, then the farm home may be made use of for this service. There are many advantages in the common country home as a social center for the young, among them being the probable presence of some sympathetic parent to offer guidance and to keep down unbecoming conduct.
Invite the young to the house
So, if country parents are really in earnest about doing something to develop their own children in a social way, let them throw open their own homes for the purpose. In a certain Iowa home this thing was done in an admirable manner. Let the father tell the story in his own language:—
“For years we had a room in the house which we called the ‘parlor.’ It contained some expensive furniture which the members of the family scarcely ever saw, as the place was usually kept closed up and dark. Why we reserved such a dark, musty room for the ‘special company’ that came two or three times each year, I do not know. At any rate, we decided to make the place useful. In remodeling the house we enlarged it to 16 by 20 feet in size and added one very large window.
Plate XXIII.
Fig. 30.—An agricultural and domestic science club in Oklahoma. Without being so named, it is also distinctively a social club, and a splendid socializing and refining agency.
“Here we made a society room for the young people of the neighborhood. Extra chairs were obtained, also a large new stove and fixtures for gaslights. There were also some simple wall decorations and a small library and reading table. That was two years ago. Since then our two boys and two girls have given many parties in that room and no one has got more enjoyment out of the affairs than their parents. We feel as if that room was the best investment we ever made.”
Not nearly all anxious parents may be so situated as to follow the excellent plan described above, but it is certainly worthy of a trial by all who can avail themselves of its benefits. Best of all, the young people in whose behalf this thoughtful endeavor is put forth will most certainly grow to maturity confirmed in the belief that the country life is not lacking in its social enjoyments.