Evening star., 1925-11-17
PARENTS SCORED
FOR DODC|NC DUTY
Catholic Educational Leader
Hits Shifting of Burdens to
School Teachers.

I
the home onto the overburdened
| shoulders OF school teachers and
offlcials, Francis NJ. Crowley, direc-
/ TOR or the department of education,
National Catholic Welfare Conference,
told the delegates to the convention
of the National Council Of Catholic
! Women ut the Willard Hotel this
| morning.
The best agency with which to
combat this situation is the Parent
Teachers Association. he declared.
This association should not be in op-
position TO the schools, but should
cooperate with them, he added. Many
people who cannot be persuaded to
] JON any other Catholic organization
would gladly become members of a
parent-teachers association, the speak
er said. as the work of these
! associations is closely related to the
personnel problems OF every parent.
lie urged the delegates To consider
the Organization OF a national fedora
tton OF Catholic parent teacher asso-
Citations which would be actively iden-
, tltied with the Catholic Educational
Association in its work
MISS Florence Loeber, president Of
the council. told OF the health work
, Ill New Orleans done by the psiroG hial
schools in the archdiocese, and dis
cussed tho beneficial physical and
mental results that have been achieved.
Urges Cooperation.
Declaring that the compulsory edu.
catlnnal laws have forced many un-
willing children into the schools, Miss
Sarah Laushliu of Philadelphia made
an urgent plea for the co.operation
OF the council in furthering the work
OF The visiting teacher. She told of
the work these teachers have accom-
| plished in dealing with the parents Of
such children. despite the fact that
they have had practically no financial
support from the Catholic laity.
ReN. Raymond McGowan OF the
social action department., National
Catholic Woman's Council, described
the work of the study clubs that have
recently been started among the diY-
| rerent parishes. He urged all the
delegates when they return home to
| start study clubs and to discuss such
matters as education, religion in
dustry and any other of national. III.
ter'national or historical Importance
Other speakers this morning were
Miss Margaret Lynch, assistant
executive secretary, National Cath.
ollie Woman's Council; Rev. w.
howard Bishop, superintendent of
| rural work, archdiocese of baltimore:
Miss Katherine Williams, president
Milwaukee archdioceSan Council of
catholic Women. and Miss Isabel
stephens, National Catholic School of
! Social Service.
Aid for Morons
Despite the fact that the higher
! class or nlorons are necessary to So
ctety, Catholics as a whole are not in
| terested in the subnorlnal child, Rev.
Thomas Y. Moore, professor Of
psychology at Catholic University, de-
| clared at the business session last
night. i am making an honest plea
to you. as a representative group of
catholic women, to aid IN caring for
the moron, as it is paga nistic TO aid
| only the normal child" he added.
Any attempt to weed out the feeble
minded by birth control or segrega-
| ton was condemned by the speaker
as impracticable and undesirable, for,
| he said, they are needed to perform
| the menial work in our social system
| THE home has fallen down and
failed to meet it's responsibilities, and
something must be done to save the
children" Rev. George w. johnson OF
! the department of educa fon, Catholic
University, declared i'll speaking on
educa ton i'll the home.
With the passing Of the old indus
| trial home, almost automatically edu.
cattve in the fullest sense of the word
the task Of properly educating the
child has fallen on the school. he said.
Teaching of Cooking.
The schools, he said, have been
severely criticized for teaching cook
| ing. serving lunches and instructing
| the children III the best methods OF
! brushing the teeth. But, he added II
| the children, even those from the bet
ter homes, do not get proper food, and
! If they are not instructed in the sim
| plest principles of personal hygiene
it becomes imperative that the school
| as the representative of society, must
| assume the cast-off burdens Of the
| home lest the next generation he even
| less careful of their young than Is
| the present
| children are neither angels nor
| nuisances,' the speaker concluded
| perhaps they are a little OF each
| but at least they deserve to be treated
with understanding and synpathy'
! Miss Mary +. Spencer of the de
; partment OF education. National Cath
| olic Welfare Council. speaking on the
! modern health movement, emphasized
| the need of a public health educa
| tional campaign, declaring that the
! need of this was secondary only to the
! need for religious education
/ Her plea was especially for the edu
! cation of the pre-school child but she
! added that it would probably be nee
| essary TO educate many of the adults
! before they could educate the chill
| dren.
Rev. Edward Molloy Of San An
( tonic, Tex, speaking at the Afternoon
! session, deplored the lack of funds II
| inc la
nominations to offer the Mexican i'm
| migrants, essentially Catholic since
! the days of the Spaniards, bette,
treatment and opportunities. Mex
/ leans, not coming under the restricted
| immigration act, are pouring into
| Texas by the tens of thousands, he
said, and the Catholic Church
| through its financial weakness, /.
! losing a great many of its natura
| adherents.
Community House Work.
Miss Johnette Pierik of Honolulu
told of the work done by the com.
munity houses and Mrs. Agnes Bacor
of Providence, Il. l., discussed the best
means of cooperating with the State
in Americanizing the immigrants.
Miss Sarah Weadick. assistant di
rector, bureau of immigration, Ma
! tlonal Cathollc Welfare Council, spoke
on the difficulty of handling the i'm
migrants In foreign countries. declar
| ing most OF them look on America as
purely a Protestant country
Miss Mary Kennedy of the New
York Archdeacon Council of Catho
lie Women told of the work of he,
Archdiocese in handling the imni
grants that come 70 New York, Tn,
institution they have built up there
is model for the rest of the country
| she declared.
The session this afternoon is being
devoted to a discussion Of social anT