Clubs patterned after rangers, yeomen, lifesaving crews, and what not have been successfully projected to meet and idealize local interest; and the novelty and slightly concealed symbolism seem to take with boys of this age.  But the most important factor is never the organization as such but the leader.

For the period of from fourteen to seventeen years probably no better organization has been devised than the Knights of King Arthur.  Its full requirements may be too elaborate in some cases but freedom to simplify is granted, and also to eliminate the requirement of Sunday-school attendance as a prerequisite to membership and the requirement of church membership as a prerequisite to knighthood.  Leaders dealing with this age should read The Boy Problem by William Byron Forbush and The Boy’s Round Table by Forbush and Masseck (Boston and Chicago:  Pilgrim Press, 6th edition, $1.00 each).

Ordinarily a policy of relationship between the club and Sunday school and church will have to be formulated.  It is always best to let the Sunday school and the church stand on their own merits and not to use the club as a bait for either.  Nor should ranking in the club be conditioned on church membership.  Boys should not be tempted to make the church a stepping-stone to their ambition in this more attractive organization.  The best policy is that of the “open door.”  Let the club do all that it can for boys who are already in the Sunday school and church, but let it be open to any boy who may be voted in, and then through example and moral suasion let such boys be won to church and Sunday school by the wholesome influence of the leader and the group, quite apart from any conditions, favors, or ranking within the club itself.

An unofficial relation between the Sunday school and the club will be maintained by having club announcements given in the school and by bringing the Sunday-school superintendent before the club frequently.  In some churches the boys’ whole department of the Sunday school is the boys’ club, and this may prove a good method where it can be carried out with proper divisions and specialization as to age, etc.

In discussing any proposed constitution, consideration should be given to suggestions from the boys themselves and every question should be threshed out in a reasonable, democratic way, strictly after the fashion of deliberative bodies.  The opinion of the leader is sure to have its full weight, and matters needing further consideration can always be referred to committees to be reported back.  Questions of discipline should be handled by the club itself, the director interfering only as a last resort to temper the drastic reactions of a youthful and outraged democracy.  If there is a men’s organization in the church tie the club to that.  This will guarantee strength and permanency to the club and will help the men by giving them a chance to help the boys.