From the Improvement Era, October 1914 –
Ten Reasons Why Young Men and Young Women Should Attend the M.I.A.
1. It places the boy and the girl in companionship with the best element in the community.
2. It gives unusual social advantages, and provides wholesome recreation under proper leadership.
3. It affords them an opportunity to express themselves before the public, which in itself is a valuable training for the duties of life.
4. It enables them to discover their possibilities and to render actual service to others.
5. It satisfies every condition and want usually supplied by social societies, literary organizations and private clubs; and it teaches young men and young women proper conduct at dances and socials.
6. It develops the young man and boy in athletics and scoutcraft, and teaches the girl the essentials of home-making.
7. It affords them training in music, public speaking and storytelling, and helps them to find their life’s work.
8. It gives them something good to do; it keeps alive in them the ideals of their noble ancestors, and holds them in harmony with the spirit of the gospel.
9. It offers opportunity for the study of social and industrial questions of the day from a “Mormon” point of view and under the influence of the spirit of the gospel.
10. It gives them pride to know that they are members of an organization of seventy thousand active young people working for the social, intellectual and spiritual advancement of its membership.
I wish that there was more of the intellectual advancement today. When I compare the youth program I had to what I’ve heard from parents, it feels like it has been dumbed down quite a lot. When I look at this list, I don’t feel it has much to do with my experience, many things have been absent or have been quite superficial in my youth.
I understand that, Niklas. It’s what makes this list feel foreign to me, too.
It also reflects the availability of other resources to today’s youth that weren’t necessarily available in 1914 — recreation, training, self-expression, intellectual development — which, in most places, we don’t have to depend on the MIA to provide anymore.
But all that said, we could still benefit from looking at all those fields “from a Mormon point of view,” and could benefit from bringing all the tools of intellectual development to the study of the gospel. Yes?
Even in 1914, it seems like “athletics and scoutcraft” are a stark contrast to homemaking. Teach the girls to be responsible adults who can manage a home, and teach the boys, um, basketball? Not that athletics or scoutcraft are bad (they can be good ways to build character) or that focusing on homemaking all the time is a treat, but it seems like putting those very different goals on the same line might make someone say “Hey, wait a minute — aren’t there goals beyond scoutcraft here? (And for that matter, wouldn’t some of those home makers benefit from knowing how to cook over an open fire?)”
Was this list targeted toward the young people or toward their parents? Maybe I’m a hard sell, but this wouldn’t have been very persuasive to me as a youth. As a parent, however, I can see the appeal…
And amen, Mike R. I had the exact same thought, as well as thinking the young men could certainly benefit from some homemaking skills, too. I wish I could say it’s much different today, but in many cases the boys are still doing athletics and scouts, and the girls are making crafts and cookies.
The Improvement Era was intended for both youth (men only, at this date) and their parents and adult leaders, so I can’t really guess whether it was aimed at one group over another. I also haven’t checked the Young Woman’s Journal to see whether there was an equivalent list at around this time.