nl_e17

Powell, "The Moral Elevation of Girls," Feb. 1886
themselves, the aim being to encourage self-respect and to stimulate a
general improvement of character. These young girls are very
sensitive to any thing that has the aspect of a charity and these efforts
wisely take on the character of co-operative help. The evenings are
made pleasant and profitable. Instruction and amusement are blended,
opportunities are given for friendly talks on many topics, and
confidential relations are established. Some of the women who have
become interested in these young girls in this way have had
revelations of the temptations which assail them that have led them to
see the necessity of broadening the efforts for their protection. We
commend to all a careful reading of the thoughts presented in this
pamphlet under the heading of Girlhood, from which we make the
following extracts:
"In all intercourse, ladies should show loving attention in little
things to the girls. They crave love and its demonstration, and seldom
receive it from an overworked mother or grasping father. What wonder
that they readily believe the first man who promises it to them, and that
they are so often led astray by their affection. The temptations put forth
in alluring shape by the foremen, superintendents, and other men
working in the same shop or factory, can hardly be believed by those
who are not subjected to such influences. It is a horrible thought that
hundreds of girls are led into lives of sin by those who ought to protect
and guard them. Three girls were once found in the maternity ward of
a New York hospital all giving the same name as that of the man who
had brought them to deep distress and who was the foreman of the
factory where they all worked."
"To give the girls some knowledge of their physical structure and
the special functions of their sex, to teach them to reverence the body
as the very temple of the Holy Spirit, and to deplore every thought, act,
and habit that profanes it; to urge them to shun every temptation to
impurity, and to guard themselves and others from the first approaches
of evil--these are the lessons and counsels which every older woman
who befriends these young girls should be prepared to impress upon
them. To ignore these subjects is to neglect a most important part of
this preventive work, and to neglect that has brought shame and
misery into many a young life. But the method of giving this instruction
must be left to the individual teacher. It must be in accordance with her
character and experience. Great harm can be, and has been done, by
the indiscriminate presentation of ideas and images that may shock
and offend a young person’s sensibilities. That wise reserve in regard
to the relations of the sexes which characterizes the English speaking
http://womhist.binghamton.edu/aoc/doc2.htm (2 of 4) [6/5/2005 8:50:43 PM]