she must say no. A girl's religion must have not only the _constraining_
power which sends her out to do the kindly deed, say the word of comfort
and cheer, give of her time and her talent to help make life easier for
those who find it hard, but it must have the restraining power which
shall keep her from self-indulgence and sin.

Whenever the _thou shalt not_ side of religion is mentioned the girls
themselves and those responsible for their training immediately think
of the question of amusements, which is after all only a part of the
greater question of how much leisure a girl should have and what she
should do with it. Preachers, teachers and Christians generally, differ
so widely on the matter of disputed amusement questions that _thou shalt
not_ loses its force. It is the parents' right to decide the girl's
amusements and determine her social life and when one sees the length to
which parents permit and even encourage their daughters to go, he knows
that the _thou shalt not_ might well be said to _them_. When parents do
not care what their girls do, or are too careless and ignorant to
realize danger, when the girls are without friends and unprotected, then
the teacher of religion must without hesitation, forcefully and with the
arguments of _fact_, teach them to say "no" to the things which she
believes can bring only harm, which weaken the power to resist other
evils and which are unhealthy for the growing girl. One may teach with
feeling and power the "_thou shalt not_" in which she believes without
uttering bitter words of condemnation of those who differ with her.

Religion and the law together have the right to say to the unprotected
girl, lacking wisdom, without discretion, eager for fun and adventure,
ignorant of danger, _thou shall not_. The words should be written over
every unchaperoned or inadequately chaperoned high school dance, over
the public dance hall, over the cabaret, over the vaudeville where the