The Sentinel=record., 1914-04-26
.CHlLDREN'S TASKS
 IN THE HOME HOUR
PROBLEM OF CHILD CoNCENTRA TON IS DISCUSSED BY THE
 WELFARE LEAGUE.
Real Problems Of Life Must Be Solved by Individuals Working Alone, Says an Authority.

Washington, April 25.-Prof. NJ. V. O'Shea, of the University of Wiscon- sin in an address before tho Interna- tional Congress on the Welfare of the Child here tonight appealed for d solG- ton of the. problem of how to get children to spend some of their time alone in concentration He suggested community agreements whereby dur ing certain hours all children would set themselves to quiet tasks at home.
 The individual home has been con stantly losing its distinctive charac- ter" he said, Fifty years ago. even in the city, young people and old spent a considerable part of their time in their own homes Today most of their time is spent outside and even when children are in their own homes, their friends are there with them. The home has almost com pletely merged with the general so- cia body
 "The group activities of the young today are vastly more inclusive and elaborate than they were formerly Parents testify that their children are often not alone at all.
 These changes in social life have already produced pronounced influ- ence upon our people The tendency of this new life is to make young peo pie more responsive more alert, more self-reliant in the presence of others, perhaps even more 'smart' than was true in the old order. But at the same time, young people do not have training outside of the school in long, continued application to any task. They are not trained in working inde pendently and il isolation So the school really has a new problem or great importance and equa ly great difficulty. No civilization can long endure unless the people are trained to apply themselves to their tasks. whatever they may be, for long time; that is to say, until the tasks are solved.
 Probably most of the real prob lens of human life must be solved by the individual working a'one without distractions, and without feeling the continual longing to be in contact with his fellows. If it is true, as it seems to be, that the rising genera ton cannot concentrate on difficult problems as effectively as did the pre- cedng generation, then we are i1 peril Our problems are growing more complex all the time, which means that the people must be train ed to apply themselves more and .concentratedly to their solution. The moment our people cease to increase in their ability to solve intricate problems by long continued applica- tion, at that moment our development will cease. Further, if young people decline in the power of concentration, 1t means that we still begin to return on our path.
 "There must be community CO., operation in dealing with the new probleI. If all the homes in a neigh borhood would have a common ua- derstanding of this matter, there would be no trouble in any individual home,
 "A child will willingly do what his fellows do. If in a given neighbor- hood, it should be understood inI all homes that high-school pupils should apply themselves to intellectu al tasks, say from 7:30 to in the evening, there would be no desire on the part of individual children to spend this time at the theatre or on any sort. Any one boy will do wha the crowd does, and if we are going to solve our problems today we must work with the crowd mainly"