with the woman of
uncertain temper. Think of the families in which some undesirable
trait of this sort seems to pass from generation to generation,
accepted by each member calmly as an inheritance not to be thrown off.
"It's my disposition," one will tell you with a sigh. "Mother was just
the same." Surely the time to combat these undesirable traits is in
childhood, and probably the first step is for the mother, who looks
back to her mother as "being just the same," to stop talking or
thinking about inherited traits and at least to present an outward
show of good temper for the child to see.

Then there is the teacher, who is under a strain and who finds
annoyances in every hour which tend to destroy her equanimity. Her
serenity, if she can accomplish it, will prove an excellent example.
And little by little the mother and the teacher who have accomplished
self-control for themselves may teach self-control and the beauties of
good temper to the little girls who live in the atmosphere they
create.

CHAPTER IX

THE ADOLESCENT GIRL

Adolescence, the critical period of the training of the boy and girl,
presents a complexity of problems before which parents and teachers
alike are often at a loss.

The adolescent period, the growing-up stage of the girl's life, is
physically the time of rapid and important bodily changes. New cells,
new tissue, new glands, are forming. New functions are being
established. The whole nervous system is keyed to higher pitch than at
any previous time. Excessive drain upon body or nerve force at this
time must mean depletion either now or in the years of maturity.

But, on the other hand, the keynote of the girl's adolescent mental
life is _awakening_. Her whole nature calls out for a larger, fuller,
more intense life. Home, school, society, dress, all take on new
aspects under the transforming power of the new sex life stirring and
perfecting itself within. The world is beckoning to the emerging
woman, and her every instinct leads her to follow the beckoning hand.

Now, if ever, the girl needs the influence and guidance of some wise
and sympathetic woman friend. It may be--let us hope it is--her
mother; or, failing that, her teacher; or, better than either alone,
both mother and teacher working in sympathetic harmony.

[Illustration: Photograph by Brown Bros.
Camp Fire Girls. Outdoor life is one of the best means of
safeguarding the girl's health]

The first care demanded fo