Confidential Chats with Boys

by William Lee Howard

Now what did this mother do? At once became frightened so that she frightened him. He at once thought that something horrible was to happen to him. Poor boy! The mother at once asked him if he had received a blow on the breast? Of course he remembered such a blow. Then this ignorant mother rushed to her family medical book—the curse of many a home—and commenced to read up on cancer of the breast. Then she rushed off to the doctor, leaving the book, which was at once seized upon by the trembling and pale boy. Then he read his doom—cancer of the breast; he had all the symptoms! At once he lost what little heart he had left, and when the mother returned she made matters worse by her fear and sympathy.

The doctor? He wasn’t at his office; would return the next day. That boy spent the night in a fear which almost wrecked him. He could not go to the doctor the next morning, he was so weak from fear. When the doctor did come, instead of laughing at the whole matter, taking the boy aside and telling him what the signs meant, he hemmed and looked wise. Then he said he “thought it would pass away.” But it did not, neither did the fear. The boy just escaped complete ruin of his health, or perhaps a worse fate at his own hands, by a stroke of luck.

In the small city where he resided there were a number of Chinese youths—sons of gentlemen—being educated. One of them, a chum of the unfortunate boy, called to see what was the matter. Tearfully the boy told him his pains and fear. The Chinese boy laughed loud and heartily. Then HE told the boy the truth.

You see these foreign boys had a real knowledge of the truth given them before being sent out into the world.

From that time onward this American boy never told his mother anything about himself or his thoughts; he had to get what knowledge he wanted from other sources, and as his Chinese friends soon went off to a large prep. school, the later information came from older boys who only knew the lies and untruths.

So never worry about these little pains or uncomfortable feelings. They belong to your natural growth and are signs that you are becoming a man.

At about the same time hair will appear on various parts of your body. It will make its appearance there before it will be seen on the face.

New and strange feelings will now be part of your mental life. You will wonder about everything around you. What is life? where shall I go to when dead? what is religion? am I fit to live? and all sorts of new and queer ideas. Don’t bother about them; just go along doing your best with the knowledge that all is coming out right when you do your best.

Of course you cannot be perfect—you will make many mistakes, do things which you would be ashamed to repeat; often tell an untruth when you wanted to be truthful. But this does not make of you a sinful boy—just a natural boy. Time and forthrightness in TRYING to correct these errors will make you a square man. That is what you must aim at being—a square man—square with yourself, God and man. A boy is a thing of many sides; he is in the rough; experience, growth and determination cut away, hammer out and finally polish the rough youth into a square man.

But he must have the proper tools for this work and these tools are knowledge of self, determination and forthrightness.