Page:American Journal of Sociology Volume 4.djvu/461

 ETHICAL INSTRUCTION IN SCHOOL AND CHURCH 441

gence of the father gives to the concrete ethical problem of the boy.

The method which I suggest, and have tested to the point of willingness to state it, simply artificializes this natural method.

THE GIRLS

I take my camera, and hunt for important episodes of child life in homes and schools and streets and playgrounds. If fighting is to be discussed, I must be on hand when some fight takes place, and I must press the bulb of my camera just at the time when the fight is significant. If a girl goes to help an old lady replace parcels which the wind has scattered from her market basket, I must catch her in the act of doing this kindness. If two girls are quarreling over a skipping rope, I must catch them at the critical moment of the quarrel. The disappoint- ments of my hunt are as keen as those of the Adirondack deer hunter, and my successes are of permanent value.

From these negatives are made slides, and thus is provided visual instruction in ethics. By means of these slides, and a recital of the incident involved, I can throw a hundred or more boys and girls into a realization of the episode of the photograph. If I show a picture of a fight, they realize approximately the experiences of those watching or participating in the fight. The questions of right and wrong that were uppermost in the minds