is being offered locally by an existing
agency. If there are several of these
agencies the club may wish to appoint a
subcommittee of the boys work com-
mittee to cooperate with each. On the
other hand, if no such agency has been
established locally, the club may take
the leadership in creating a community-
wide interest which will succeed in get-
ting the needed organization started.
Upon request the secretariat will pro-
vide a list of these organizations to-
gether with the addresses of the central
or regional offices from which infor-
mation can be obtained.

Types of Boys Work

Among the many aspects of boys work
to which the committee might give at-
tention are the following:

1. Opportunities in the community
for healthy physical growth.

2. Opportunities for basic education,
vocational training, etc.

3. Juvenile delinquency.

4. Occupational guidance and place-
ment.

5. Appreciation of and training for
citizenship.

Boys Work in Wartime

While we are giving all credit and
every possible attention to the boys who
are wearing the uniform of their coun-
try, let us not forget that there is an-
other generation of boys, too young for
military or naval service, who are also
having their problems as a direct result
of the war. They are living and grow-
ing up in an abnormal period and need
the helpful cooperation and guidance of
their elders more than ever before.
Boys work by Rotary clubs, therefore,
takes on a new and added significance
and each Rotary club should re-survey

the local situation in the light of to-
day’s conditions and plan its work ac-
cordingly.

The period during and following a
major war is usually marked by a seri-
ous increase in juvenile delinquency.
This is due in part to a war psychology,
but perhaps a great deal of this letting
down in moral standards can be traced
to a weakening of the institutions re-
sponsible for character building. This
may be due to a loss of manpower
(leadership), to a reduction in needed
financial assistance, or because adult
attention is focused on the broader field
of world events. The Rotary club can
do much to see that these important
character building agencies—the home,
the church, the school, and special com-
munity organizations—do not suffer for
lack of adequate support and encour-
agement during this critical period.

The war psychology can even be used
to advantage in developing a more efh-
cient boys work program within a com-
munity. The excitement of war has ap-
peal to the imagination of the average
boy. He pictures himself as the hero if
the fortunes of war should bring its
horrors to his door. He is eager to pre-
pare himself for any eventuality. If he
can be shown, for example, that Scout-
ing, with its training in first aid and its
general program which leads to self
reliance in any emergency, would help
to fit him for service to his country, it
is likely that he will enter into the spirit
of Scout work with a renewed enthu-
siasm. Make the boy an active partner
in any local plans for civilian defense
and his natural enthusiasm can be di-
rected into safe channels. Recreational
facilities should be maintained—even
improved. School standards should not
be lowered. Boys need help in selecting
careers. Through friendly interest the
boy should be made to feel he is an
important citizen of the community.