Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1922-07-19
MRS. ELIZABETH II. ERSkiNE
On Educatino the Parents

TTNlIE business of educating parents In the
proper manner in which to treat the'r
children is one of the problems of chldrens
societies. says Mrs. Elizabeth ii. Erskinc'
secretary of the Pennsylvania Society to
Protect Children from Cruelty.
"Soccties such as ours said Mrs.
Erskine. exist to try to secure for the
child the proper standard of care in their own
homes and to protect them from delinquency,
neglect or cruel treatment, whether tiat
rnd bc attained by moral suasion. rs is
generally the case, or by legal conpulSlon
When pcrsuasion fails Most Of our cases
orr settled by the workers without the ne
cpssty Of arrest or the taking away OF Tue
children. both of which are only done na
last resort We try to rescue III" chiidrcn
from vicious and degrading surroundings, 10
prevent children from appearing IN CANCER
Gus public performances. or where thcS nave
been used nS bcggars, which frequently nap
pens, 10 enforce the laws to ASSIST minor
children.
The Parents Responsibility
"Pcrhaps the most important OF all thc
work which W, try to do is to awaken the
sense of responsibility in the parents as 20
their duties toward their children. lf this
could be thoroughly brought about there
would be little work for such organizations
as We represent, and thG .;tai standard oi COM
'Where 1t is found necessary to iemovc a
child from it's own home, every effort rs and
should be made to place thnt enid with one
of It's own kin, If suitable ones can be
found. 1t is really wonderful what efforts
thcy will make for each other under such
circumstances and the lengths to which even
the poorer families will 90 to retain one OF
their own blood in tna family rirt'c. we
give this attitude every cncourag"!nfnt POS
siblc, but # this solution be found not pos
Sihlo then the child Is placed win suitaDie
family as bOardcr.
.'Children are remarkably responsive nS a
r,lle and 1t Is amazing what can be done
with them when their environment L. changed
for the better. as is inevitably the case when
vc have to remove children from their own
rnrcnts. Illustrating this. may say that
we have had II number Of children with
whom this extreme course was necessary,
who have graduated from various instltu-
,ions. some ns graduate nurses ana many
others who have turned ont uhus'E'llS wen
and are now filling positions Of RESPONSE
hlity with much credit to themselves.
Not So Much Physical Cruelty
"Thcre is not now nearly so much phys
ical cruelty as there was formerly, but there
/. still an immense amount of cruelty
through neglect In our own Office alone
wn receive about 1000 Complaints year,
every one Of which Is thoroughly Investigated
and rcncded as far as possible. The chief
Items IN tne HeS''l "''
proper housing. bad sleeping arrangements,
and those sad cases where the parents have
no interest in their homes or IN Their
rbildren. There are also many cases in
which the children are not properly fed or
clothed.
Most Of the cases of cruelty nowadays
arise through the ignorance OF the parents
"s 10 inst what the proper living conditions
Of their children should be md those 10
which every child is rightfully entitled.
Tslinlly this is the reason. although there
ore still many cases in which general vicious
ness. III temper or intemperance are tho
causes But | should say that ignorance,
rcsulting many times In unintCntiOna
cruelty, is the chief cause of the complaints
which we get.
"Parcnts are usually rcscntful at first Mt
such work ns we do, but the workers On.
lCoyor 10 get hold of the personality OF the
narents in such manner as makes for
| fricndlincss, and they generally succeed to n
remarkable degree.
The Parents Attitude
"As result Of this. the attitude Of tho
| parcnts toward the chldren's organizations
| soon becomes friendly, and this Is especially
| ,h, case where interference was required nv
| their OWN ignorance. We have had many of
| them come voluntarily TO W. and rXprc u
! their gratitude for having shown them n
| better manner and standard Of living and
| admit frankly that what had been done for
| the children has strongly affected the parents
| themselves for the better. Many OF them
keep in touch with US and continually seek