THE MIND OF A BOY

Evening Post, Volume CXIII, Issue 113, 16 May 1927, Page 7

THE MIND OF A BOY

HIS BEAU IDEAL OF A HERO lord nelson leads I have just concluded an investigation into the mind of the boy. The results of that inquiry, ■while they are not surpris* ing, may be of interest to my fellow-teach-ers and to parents, writes “Pedagogue” in the “Sydney Morning Herald”). My school contains about 430 boj-s, doing secondary work. Their ageß range from 11 to 17. They are mostly lads from our State primary schools, from homes where a fair degree of comfort is found, and where children should be receiving encouragement from their parents to choose the highest. A fortnight or so ago I told them that -I would ask them to write a brief composition on the subject, “My Hero, and Why I Wish to be Like Him.” They were told that they could pick their favourite from either sex, and could choose any man or woman of past or present ages. I impressed on them that 1 wanted their real opinion as to heroism; they were not to say what they thought I would like them to say, nor were they to take father or mother’s choice for them, although they were free to discuss the subject with their parents. In order to secure from them their real opinions, I promised* them to treat their essays as confidential, knowing from my experience with young people that they are not prepared to bare to the world their inmost thoughts on a serious subject. / I feel convinced that I have secured what I wanted, namely, an indication of what sort of individual figures on the mind of the average boy as his beau ideal of a hero. Seventy-eight different , persons were named as heroes, but 26 of these secured only one vote each,-14 gained two votes, five gained three votes. Others got four, five, six, seven, eight, or twelve. But the names at the head of the list spoke with no uncertain sound as to whom boys admire. Lord Nelson got 100 votes, Drake 50,. Stanley Gibbs, the Port Hacking hero, 49, and Captain Cook 42. A classification of the chosen ones reveals that out of the 78, . no less than 34 may be described as “men of action,” persons conspicuous for prowess . on sea or land or in the air, especially soldiers and sailors.' Wqlfe, Wellington, Napoleon, Cromwell, Clive, Columbus, Robin Hood, Kitchener, Robert Bruce, Livingstone, Baden-Powell, Joan of Arc, the Prince of Orange, Ross Smith, Amundsen, Cornwell of Jutland, Jacka, Jellicoe, Gordon, William the Conqueror, Sir John Lawrence, Lord Roberts, Hereward, Horatius, Magellan, Bass, Blaxland, and Wentworth, Cobham, “An Anzae”—all had one or more devoted admirers. This is clearly indicative of the tendency of the boy to worship at the shrine of physical vigour," to be captured by the spectacular. Had I given them a lead, which I deliberately refrained from doing, some of them would have placed altruistic service of others in the front to a greater degree than they did. The keynote of patriotism was very plainly heard; and men like King Alfred, Lincoln, Sir Thomas More, Simon de Montfort, Pym, Hampden, Macquarie, Parkes, and Governor Bourke were praised for their services to their country. The Philanthropy of Wilberforce and Florence Nightingale, and the self-sacrifice of Edith Cavill and Sir Philip Sidney, called forth expressions of determination to emulate the good deeds of these great ones. Australian sentiment found vent in admiration for bygone, statesmen, as Parkes ' and Wentworth, and for the hardihood pf our Anzacs, and of the stockman and the boundary rider. Sad to say, only two presentday politicians ■Were “on the little list,” and each of these gained only one vote. Wild horses will not drag from me their names! Four boys, mentioned “My Mother” as their heroine.' They probably chose better than they knew. Inventors figured in the persons of Marconi, Edison, and Stephenson; Paderewski and Caruso each had his votary. Poetry-and literature generally came in for little notice. Dickens and Longfellow gained one vote each; Shake-

speare got six. Sport naturally had ftg place, "Boy” Charlton, Victor Trnmper, and others being mentioned. I awaited the receipt of the essays with keen interest, for one reason because I wanted to see how many boys would mention Jesus Christ as their hero. Two did so. The fewness of these did not surprise me; for even the pledge of secrecy would be insufficient to induce the ordinary boy to avow x his admiration for the God-Man, and his desire to be like Him. I think the reasons why so few chose Him are, first, the boy’s reticence on sacred subjects; second, his mistaken idea (shared by very many adults) that the Cleanser of the Temple, the Denunciator of the hypocrisy of His time, was merely a lovable, loving, gentle, rather effeminate man, and not, as I have since tried to impress on my boys, the bravest as well as the gentlest man that ever lived. I fear that there is a third reason, namely, that there is in these days too little being done to present Jesus Christ .to young people as the best Exemplar. Some comments on the results of my investigation may be made. (1) The voting indicates to me conclusively that boys love action, daring, and adventure, and can admire self-sacrifice. This is shown by the figures quoted above. And the mere fact that one who recently performed a very gallant act is ranked above others whose whole lives were given up to the service of others, while due partly to the recency of the deed, noes not count when we consider the nature of the deed that is admired. (2) This test was given to boys. How far would, the results coincide with similar tests of, say. University undergraduates, men of middle age, men of advanced years? All such people have their heroes; but our ideas of what is truly great and most worthy of imitation change as the years pass. The undergrad would probably pick some, great athlete, or, if of a more thoughtful turn of mind, someone, ■ eminent for his academic or. scientific achievements. The middle-aged man might choose some statesman or philanthropist, who, to his maturer mind, has done much to make the world a better place for all, especially for the rising generation. The elderly man, faced as he is constantly with the certainty of the Great Change not far off, will, in his best moments at least, place on the pedestal one who has helped to enrich the world spiritually, to reveal the inwardness of the things that matter most.

But the Hero of all ages, of all nations that have heard of Him, should be, and will be if His followers truly represent Him, the Man Christ Jesus, or, as I heard Him described recently,_ the Jesus of History and the Jesus of inward experience As Fosdick says in his “Manhood of the Master,” “The Children sang ‘What a Friend we have in Jesus;’ the youth sings. The Son of God goes forth to war’; the mature sing, ‘How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord!’; the aged sing, ‘While Guided.’ All centuries, al races, both sexes, hfes dark maze I tread. be Thou my all ages, find in the Master their virtues consummated.”