The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1914-03-04

oWH DOuy.
If your son were exposed to small pox or the
bubonic plague you would be worried i'll about it.
You could not sleep at night worrying lest you
see him smitten down before you. And yet so
long as he has no clear knowledge of the functions
of sex, SO long as he has had no training in the
right care and control of sex, he goes out every
day exposed to something ten times worse than |
smallpox or the plague These diseases have
power to destroy the body, but that to which
your reticence-or shall we even say prudishness
leaves him exposed, not only destroys the body
but also has power to destroy the soul.
It is not a question of whether the boy shall
be taught or not be taught, because he is going to
be taught one way or another and by somebody
somewhere. It is question as to whether ne
shall have good teaching or bad teaching, true
teaching or false teaching. If he doesn't get it
from you he will get it from his cronies on the
street corner If you don't tell him the facts,
someone else will tell him lies And if he is not
in your confidence he will get into somebody
else's confidence because all of the instincts of
his nature lead him to want to know something
about himself. Sooner or later, in some blind
and struggling fashion, he may learn the facts
concerning his nature, but in too many cases
he learns these facts when it is too late.
How shall he be taught? By the school?
The SchOOl can 40 mucn Dy conveying 10 him
somewhat of right knowledge in roundabout
and indirect way. 1t is still an open question as
to whether it is the function of the school to
teach sex hygiene as such. AS emphasized
by the superintendent of the country in their
convention at New York last week, out and out
teaching of sex hygiene in the school has not yet
been made success. But the school throw
such influences about the child, give him
such physical and mental training and through
his studies in biology, physiology, botany, etc.,
may convey such knowledge to him that he can
gradually grow up into some conception of his
body and its functions that may do him some
Igood.
And the individual teacher WELD a noble
influence in the life of boy or girl by gaining
the confidence of her pupils She can have pri-
vate talks with the girls and may tactfuly as we
have known teachers do, arrange to have the
boys talk with physicians or men well fitted to
teach them the things they so much need to
know.
But it is the parent who must continue to car
ry the full burden of responsibility for this kind
of education. AS Superintendent Giles said the
other day, the schools may be forced to assume
this function, but the home is in position much
better to fulfill it. AS parent you cannot shift
this responsibility to the shoulder of the teacher
Rightly to fulfill this responsibility you your
self parent may perhaps have to go to school.
1t is impossible for you to pass on to your child
what you do not possess yourself. If you your
self do not have an education in sex hygiene you
cannot give to your boy. And you cannot
expect that your boy will be clean unless you are
clean. You can have little influence over him I'M
less he has confidence in you. Unless you can
convince him you know what you are talking
about you cannot gain his confidence
| If you cannot get hold of the facts about sex
hygiene yourself or feel that your own ignorance
| is your greatest handicap, go around and have a
talk with your doctor, tell him frankly just what
you trying to do and get him to lend you
| books about these subjects and tell you what he
himself knows. Further than this, write to the
State Department of Health and ask them to for
ward you some of their excellent pamphlets on
the matter.
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