Adolescence

At forty-four, Cicero still counted as an adolescent—at least by one ancient reckoning. Stephen Paget begins with that comic puzzle before turning to questions far less easy to answer.

In 1917, addressing Oxford University Extension students, Paget takes up the uneasy business of guiding children through the threshold years between childhood and adult life. Boys and girls differ widely in what they wonder about, he argues, but adults too often meet their questions about sex—and God—with evasion, confusion, or outright lies. His answer is plain speaking, prepared in advance and shaped with care for each child; ignorance, he warns, may leave the young more vulnerable, not less. What should a grown-up say when the question comes?

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