BOYS' CLUBS. A term applied both to organizations formed by boys and to those main tained by adults on behalf of boys. An investi gation, made by Dr. IL D. Sheldon in 1898, of 862 clubs formed by American boys between the ages of 10 and 17, revealed the following as to their purpose: Twenty-three were secret socie ties, 28 social ('good times'). 56 industrial. 10 philanthropic, 28 literary, art, and musical, 105 predatory (hunting, fighting, preying, etc.), 379 athletic and game clubs. The majority of these were started by boys of the ages 11. 12, 13, the numbers being, (11) 155; (12) 164; (13) 188. Eighty-seven per cent. of the clubs were formed by boys between the ages of 10 and 15, while per cent. stood for physical activity. It was found that interest in athletic organiza tions increased to the thirteenth year. then rap idly diminished; while interest in literary so cieties. etc., increased with maturity. Boys and.girls seldom joined in forming clubs.
The underlying motives of boys' clubs pro moted by adults are very different. It is sought to mold character. to remove boys from bad sur roundings, to inspire to better things. These clubs are of two types. The earlier 'mass clubs,' which bad their great development in the last half of the Nineteenth Century, up to about 1890. sought to get the boys off the streets, to furnish fitting opportunities for games. etc. In some clubs manual training was introduced. The clubs were large, numbering their members by hundreds. In some cities large chub build
ings have been erected. Such clubs have done much good work, but the personal relation of the leader to the individual boys is necessarily limited. This personal influence is the key note of the second type, which came into exist ence with the social settlements, the first of which in the United States was started in 1889. The clubs are small (8 to 12 members). and hold regular meetings once or twice a week, the programme being varied to suit the boys' inter ests; or individual clubs take up specific courses. The boys are usually of one locality, and often are friends. Thus they are interested in each other, and the leader has a chance to come into close contact with them all. Both types exist in the cities, but the tendency is toward the small clubs. The large clubs tend also to become more of a federation of special clubs. Consult: John son, "Rudimentary Society Among Boys," in Johns Hopkins University Studies, 2d series, No. I I (Baltimore. 1884) ; Sheldon, "The Insti tutional Activities of American Children," re print (Woreester, 1899) from American .Journal of Psychology, Vol. IX.; Birtwell, Home Li braries (Boston, 1899) ; Johnson. Gaines and Play, Social NVork Monographs (Boston, 1898): Forbush, How to Keep Boys (Boston. 1900) ; ib.. The Boy Problem (Boston, 1901) : Newman, The Boys' Club in Theory and Practice (Lon don, 1900).