The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1916-03-31
Award of $1,OOO For Best Essay on Social Hygiene
 Among the Plans.
MORE THAN 800 ARE
 ALREADY IN CONTEST
Children Are Naturally Idealists, Says Dr. Donald
 B. Armstong. I

| temptation by the Metropolitan Life Insurance Co. The work has been
 given decided impetus by the recent award of the $1,OOO prize, offered by I the company for the best pamphlet on 1 social hygiene. for boys and girls. Dr. Lee K: Frankel, sixth vice president | of the Metropolitan Live Insurance f Co., who represented the company on
 the board of judges of the contest, l said today that what impressed him
 greatly, after the heavy work of vise- ing the 50 manuscripts received, were these two things:
 | 4F'irst, I was most surprised,' pr.
 Frankel saids "at the large number of l contestants. I believed before taking up this matter with the American So- eia1 Hygiene Association, through whom the prize was offered, that ac- l tive interest in this subject was more or less confined to educators. And knew that the, educators and their | circles were least in need of the prop 1 aganda. Now, know that over 500 men and women in the United States, in South America, in Canada, Eng land, and France feel the necessity l of action on this matter enough to | express their views definitely, each in 1 $500 words, the limit imposed upon pamphlets submitted. I found that the subject was live one in the West and Middle West, judging by the pro portion of manuscripts entered; that New York and vicinity was a, close second. Then I was interested in the University of contestants. We heard
 from teachers. editors, physicians, welfare workers, professors, authors, and plain mothers.
 "Our company so far has been un- successful i'm securing what we constd- cred an adequate pamphlet for ado1- essence on the plain truths of sex in struction. We have in our welfare
 series valuable home booklets on other health topics. What was wanted was a straight-from-the-s builder expose for both boys and girls which we could circulate among our industrial, po1icyhoIders. Some of our pamphlets have had a circulation of 5000, 900. This means that publication of this pamphlet would reach possibly 3,000,- 900 children or factory workers, miners, and other p1odders-they are the ones who most need such help. In event of publication, the pamphlet probably would be translated into
 Italian, French, German and Hebrew, after the manner of our booklet on the
 child, and handed out to the boys and
 girls right here in the streets and
 homes of New YoYk. And from here
 this printed word would be spread
 over the country and in Canada. that is, among the holders of small indus
 trial policies who have least oppor- tunity to obtain it." ,-
 Spreading the Instruction.
 That the time is ripe for the recep- ton of literature and concrete action
 for better instruction for children has
 been proven by the American Social Hygiene Association and other bodies by cold figures. In a recent report of a house-to-h house committee in the West, visits in 26 cities and towns were recorded. In 1,147 homes the women of the committee talked with the mothers or homekeepers about social hygiene and left literature. In only 39 of these homes were the talks and circulars not received in good faith.
 Dr. Donald B. Armstrong, director of the Social Welfare Department of the Association for Improving the Condition of the Poor, who with Mrs Armstrong was 1he author of the win ming pamphlet, in an interview today said\that there was no question In his mind but thatNthe best instruction that could be given came from parents in the home; such as the Western women had tried to promote
 However, as 8 general problem" {" l said Dr. Armstrong, i've face the sit uation of the inability of parents to carry out this duty. Parents seem l to be uninformed of physiological facts or incapacitated on account of a false and unnatural viewpoint. Un- | fortunately, this means that we must
 get into the sch hools and into so- cfety with our straightforward instruc- | tion We must raise a, generation of parents with better understanding. | Another difficulty in the way of dea1-I ing with the child in the ideal way, l through parents, is the fact that the 1 mass of material current on sex in struction has nothing but bare bio1ogZ teal basis. This does not express the whole thing at all The spiritual side must be taken into consideration
 pr. Armstrong. in mentioning some of the principles upon which his and his wife's pamphlet was based, said that he had strongly emphasized the spiritual side of sex instruction.
 Children naturally are idea1fsts; they have to lower their own stan dards to understand present-day ex-
 pIanations,'' he said. tI believe, and so does Mrs Armstrong that sex truths are trem ndously Gofg elements for children; they are some of their chief interests and main thoughts. Rather than suppress the situation,
 our plan is to use 1t as a motive force for spiritual beauty. We have made a direct appeal to both boys and girls in our document. There must be no mystery engendered. Mystery aI- legory, fables and cart-before-the- horse methods belong to the unsuc- cessfu1 years in& the history of sex
 education However, no one can say that there are no everyday. parallels by which this intangible story clearly can be set before the children
 The Basis of Understanding.
 we have said to them at the out set that they all know what electricity is. They see it pulling around the trolleys and trains, and doing null titudtnous feats. Yet they can't see it. And we have pointed out that it would be hard for them to tell other children just what electricity was. Just
 powerful and intangible is sex; and difficult thing for mothers and fathers to describe to their children But here our story of electricity ends.