TRACTS FOR THE TIMES.

Auckland Star, Volume LXV, Issue 190, 13 August 1934, Page 6

TRACTS FOR THE TIMES.

I CAREERS FOR BOYS. MISTAKES PARENTS COMMIT. (By PRO BONO PUBLICO.) It is inevitable in these times that parents should be worried about the future careers of their hoys, because the trouble in many cases is to find any sort of employment, and the difficulty is intensified because of the virtual breakdown of the apprenticeship system. But a schoolmaster who spends an occasional weekend with us tells me that the worries of parents on the subject are by no means conlined to times of depression. He says that fathers arc more difficult as a rule to persuade than mothers, and when a father makes up his mind about a bay's career the choice is very likely to be a bad one. The matter came up through the visit of a fine young fellow, the son of one of my neighbours. This lad's interest is all in mechanics and engineering, but his father has determined that h e is to bo a farmer. He will do well, perhaps, if he sticks to the land, but he is very unhappy about it and is likely to be unhappy for years to come, because he is missing- the opportunity of getting a training in the career of his own choice. I told the story to my schoolmaster friend, and his comment was very interesting. He said that in his experience only a few boys revealed any definite bent when they were at school, but towards th e time of their leaving most boys, under a close and intelligent examination, could be assigned to their suitable occupational classes. There were tests, he said, which the psychological expert could apply, which would give a very good idea of the kind of occupation for which a lad was fitted, but they were a long way from instituting a comprehensive examination of the kind." In any case, lie added, parents were not very readv to accept the verdict of the expert. "It is curious," he went on, "to study the ideas of parents. Your lad's father is a farmer, probably his father was a farmer, and he wants his boy to carry on the good work. It might just as easily happen that the farmer would regard the farm life as a hard and unsatisfactory one and determine to send his son into the city. You can never tell when the boy's future is going to be determined by pride or vanity or prejudice on the part of the father. Seeing that the boy has to live the life chosen for him it would generally be safer and more satisfactory to let him decide for himself—though boys are just as liable to make mistakes as fathers are." I said I thought mothers were more likely to be influenced by pride. They were anxious to see their sons doing well in attractive jobs, and probably ovjr-estimated the capacity of the youngsters. He said he had had_ the same idea at one time, but had changed his opinion. Mothers, ho believed, really had more sense than fathers, who were guided generally by their own temperaments, whereas mothers were not so dogmatic and were more likely to take notice of warnings. "The worst cases I have experienced," he said, "have been those in which fathers who had been balked in their own early ambitions, wanted to push the sons into th • careers they had themselves missed. I am convinced that if a boy has a decided preference it is best to give him his chance to make good, if it is at all possible."