Webster City freeman. [volume] (Webster City, Hamilton County, Iowa) 1884-1946, 1915-05-04
MOTHERS PROB
LENS DISCUSSED
Charlotte E. White Lectures to an
a Appreciative Audience of =
y Ladies.
Ladies'.

M -
Alecture on Mothers Problems
was given to an appreciative audi
ence of ladies in the lecture room of
the Methodist church yesterday af-
ternoon. The speaker, Charlotte E.
White, is national lecturer and or
ganizer for the Child Conservation
League of America, and is niece of
a former we'll known early settler
and resident of Webster City, Peleg
C. Babcock. She spoke in part as
follows:
"The greatest weapons of evil are
secrecy and deceit; the most power
full armament of good, truth and
open dealing. The first impure sug-
gestion is whispered secretly in the
ear of innocent childhood. The prob
lem the mother must solve early is,
how can 1 so combine innocence with
knowledge that my child may pass
through the fires of early temptation
unscathed. When the child knows
that he can get the truth on the So
called mysteries of life, as fast and
as far as he questions and can I'M
derstand, he is satisfied, and rele-
gates all such matters to their prop
er back ground.
"The adolescent period is one of
restlessness and unrest. Our youth
should be carefully and judiciously
taught at this period. They should
be made to understand the absolute
truth of what Tennyson puts into
the mouth of Sir Galahad-'My
strength is as the strength of ten, be-
cause my heart is pure Purity and
virility go hand in hand.
"The dangers in the pathway of
our youth of grammar and high
school age are many and great. Dis
belief'.of plain facts on the part of
parents and teachers is to blame. The
youth are left too much unguarded
| anu I'LL W dl ACu CAlo pei AOA " ACA
impulse rather than reason governs
them.
Healthy sport is natures great
est remedy for all these evils. Ath-
letic games act as safety valves. Th,,
Greeks who brought physical life to
it's highest flower recognized this
truth when they made their Olympic
contests the greatest, event of the
civic year. -. %.-,.
Fresh air and proper food are al
so factors for purity in adolescence.
Nature is too busy in other ways at
this time and should not be hamper
ed Our spiritual and moral natures
are so dependent upon our physical
it behooves us all to look we'll to our
diet. The ounce of prevention may
give mothers some study of food val
ues, take some little time. but not
half so much as the inevitable pound
of cure will bring.
AClC oA SOC HWY oucSAS Nnh
gers in the pathway Of ou- youth of
today. What of the songs our young
people are singing together? Do you
know the words of those songs? If
not examine them carefully. Occa-
sionally you will find a pure sweet
song that has caught the public ear,
but what about most of them. Sug-
gestive? Are they of thoughts
that uplift? Do our youth learn Of
the purity of love, or is the sugges-
tion of passion there, and vulgar al
fusion? Suggestion is more powerful
than plain statement.
What of many of the moving
pictures they are seeing. Do you
mothers think sense of modesty
and purity are developed there?
What about the stories in our popu-
lar magazines? Do not put the
blame of the kind upon publishers or
manager, they merely give what
their public demands, put it where
It belongs. You are the heaven ap-
pointed guardian of your child. If
young people attend only the whole
some picture show, sing only the
pure songs, read only the healthy
literature, the other will quickly dis
appear from theater, music stores
and magazine stands.
"If you would bring your children
up to purity, your boy as we'll as
your girl, you must look we'll to their
early years; guard them at the
adolescent period. Arm them in in
nocence that is not ignorance"