The enervating results of self-abuse, the loss of manliness and self-respect, and the possible damage to future offspring will have weight in safeguarding the boy who has already been fortified by a high and just conception of the procreative power which is to be his.  Moreover, in the severe battle that is waged for self-control, the boy should be given every aid of proper hygiene in clothing, sleeping conditions, baths, exercise, diet, and social intercourse.  Plenty of exercise but not thorough exhaustion, good athletic ideals, a spare diet at night, good hours, and freedom from evil suggestion, entertainments, or reading; his time and attention healthfully occupied—­these precautions, in addition to enlightenment as above indicated, will, if there are no conditions calling for minor surgery, go a long way toward preserving the boy’s integrity under the temptations incident to sex life.  It is to be feared that many boys have been wronged by the failure of parents and physicians to have some slight operation—­either circumcision or its equivalent—­performed in the early days of infancy.

Books on the subject are not best for the boy.  They tend to make him morbid and often stimulate the evil which they seek to cure.  Nor is it wise, prior to the age of fifteen, to open up the loathsome side of the subject, concerning the diseases that are the outcome of the social evil.  After that age, talks by a reputable physician, pointing out the terrible results to oneself, his wife, and his descendants, may be fitting and helpful.  The minister should make frequent use of the physician in having him address on different occasions the fathers and the mothers of the boys.  To hold such meetings in the church building is an altogether worthy use of the institution.

In cases where parent and physician have failed to do their duty, and the pastor is on proper terms of friendship with the boy, it becomes his duty to tell the boy plainly and purely a few of the important things which he ought to know in order to avoid moral shipwreck.

If credence is to be given to the startling reports of immorality in high schools, based, as is commonly claimed, upon ignorance, then the time has certainly come for plain speech, and the boys and girls should be gathered together in separate companies for instruction in sex hygiene and morality.  Any education which makes no deliberate attempt to conserve human happiness and social welfare in this important respect is inadequate and culpable.  The testimony that comes from juvenile courts, girls’ rescue homes, and boys’ reformatories constitutes a grave indictment of society for its neglect to impart proper information.