South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1919-10-19
Teaching the Young
Ideas By What They
Feel Hear, and See
BY CLARICE REID.


In referring 20 the entertainments
now being given IN this country BY
a celebrated church choir from
Rome. writer n Q. New York pa
per Expresses great surprise that the
audiences in that city contained
hundreds OF very young boys and
g.rs, many OF them peopling the
cheapest seats, showing that they
had probably TSlo considerable
sacrifices to get there. or the same
tenor Is a theatrical review concern
ing the revival Of Shakespeare
plays IN New York theater by z.
II. S0thern and Julia MarlOwe. the
critic referring with words or salts
faction TO the great number Of boys
and girls OF tender years who
crowded into the top gallery, n sec
ton OF the theater almost complete
~ deserted during the past year or
two, aimee the theater took largely
90 the dangerously sophisticated type
OF drama and music play.
There are two important truths
concealed in these separate news
items that possess great significance,
I'm the fret place the present day
access ~ 60 many phases OF infOr-
nation and along so many lines OF
life and thought DfTef new problem
ih the education of the young, when
our parents and grandparents were
children the avenues of learning
were confined largely to the home,
end learning was obtained pretty
much by fste. Parents were IN
those days almost the sole arbiters
6f what thaif children should or
should not learn Life was then con-
siderablY more sequestered and as
a consequence the young people OF
that age entered manhood and wO-
manhood unsophisticated and igner
ant of many things that today are
familiar to the merest tots,
Accepting the fact that the mod
ern young person is exposed today
to all sertH OF educational influences
likely to form his character and
direct his future, the question OF
what he sees, hears and learns be-
comes at once OF paramount i'm
portances Until he has reached the
stage of adolescence the young per-
sen. whether he is being taught by
conventional means or not, absOrbs
most of his education from what he
sees, hears OF comes IN contact with
outside of his book hours. AS never
before I'm the history OF the Ameri-
can people, is young people IRE OK
posed to what life In the raw Is
teaching. Because this Is an age
of especial extravaganza IN all the
forms OF distraction and amusement
the wild scramble for recreation and
the notorious freedom in providing
for this spirit, the so-Called arts
become powerful aids IN the educa-
tion of the young The liberties
vouchsafed these young people, an
almost complete absence OF parent
al control and direction in the use
Of them. heighten the dangers that
lie In these popular forms Of relax
alton.
Tho theater and the music hall
under present condition become ac-
tual schools, colleges and universe
ties In which young people from the
tenderest years to manhood and
womanhood obtain very large
share OF their education both In
manners and morals. All this COM
ment leads to agreement and SYM
pathy with the New York comments
IN which the eagerness manifested
by the boys and girls OF that city
TO hear good music and see instruc-
tive and srtistiCally played dramas
Of classic value shows a growing
desire for the best means OF self ed
uoation IN the arts that are so bad
~ abused these days. The public
duty Is to see that they have more
opportunities TO enjoy these things.