New Britain herald., 1927-10-22


 youth and hearing him excorlated from the lecture platform. Criti- cism is focused against his morals, his irreverence, his general lack of respect for standards of conduct established by the generation which has become adult in years and de- meanor. In all the denunciation there have been few suggestions for the amelioration of the situation. Many speakers and writers have ex- is well able to take care of itself and is doing no harm.
 Boiled down and stripped of unes- scntial verbiage, the chief criticism of boys and girls of today is that they are different" They lack an outward show of piety. for example, They are more frank than their grown up elders were in discussing to the class in biology. They have sandpapered the veneer of life and look upon it in it's natural finish. Their attitude toward the opposite sex is changed. Boys no longer treat girls with that refined spirit of chivalry which was once the boast of the male and girls no longer pay tribute to boys in spirit of timidi- ty. which is now accepted as sign of inferiority complex. Girls expose their limbs in public in manner which was once confined to the bur leSque stage. and nobody looks at them twice. Girls smoke in theater lobbies, at dances, at parties and in their homes They go 10 road houses and drink and they have developed into connoisseurs of alcoholic bever- ages. They can distinguish between good stuff" and hooch and they can pass judgment on the ability of the person who mixes the drinks. Many of them can mix the drinks themselves and pride themselves on the art.
 Boys sheer at what used tS be ac- ceptcd as standards Of manhood, but they are probably just as manly at heart as men ever were. They don't advertise the fact, however, and their Sex who make a ballyhoo abouL their gallantry. The military posture of carriage has been Supplantcd by slouching droop of the shoulders. The alert manner of walking has given way 10 a gait which is q cross between the actions of a man just falling into bed and the rolling stroll of a sailor. Most of them appear as if they were just about 10 yawn. They seem bored at life.
 Well, what's going to be done about it and who's going to do 1t? Boys will be boys and girls will be girls. Parental influence is the big scst factor Parents may as well throw up their hands in despair when they consider the manners and manncriSms of their children be- cause Everybody does it." They can best exert control in the teaching of sound morals and in pointing out the great truths which have Withstood attack since man was created. There are truths which no amount of pseudo philosophy or mock reason can destroy; there are truths which cannot be impeached by all the synthetic argument in the world; there are truths which will continue 10 blaze with heat throughout eternity. It is the duty of parents to impress these upon their children in man to man and woman to woman talks. devoid of myth and artificial glamor. Perhaps then modern youth will not be so annoying to our lecturers and he will have just as good a time living if he observes a few fundamentals imposed by the Maker of All Things for his spiritual and physical vel fare.
 Once upon q time a boy took a girl to q night club and when they arrived the girl didn't say they were too early Or too late or too some thing and there wasn't a. dccoy quarter on the check room plate and the place wasn't full and they had 8, table which wasn't too far away from the orchestra or too near the bass horn or out among the dancers or over beside the open windows or the bubbling radiators and the boy and girl drank plain ginger ale and liked it and they didn't fill up the ash dish in seven minutes and there vas always plenty of cracked ice in the dish on the table and the waiter was always lowering around anxious to serve when he was wanted or conveniently far far away when he wasn't wanted and the dance floor wasn't jammed and the party at the next table didn't get tight and bois terous and familiar and screamy and insulting and the toe dancer who fitted about at intermSsiOn was pretty and graceful and she smiled at the boy and the girl didn't get mad and the check for the eve ming came to two dollars and fif teen cents and darn these fairy tales anyway, children, they make us feel had.
 . Once upon a time we played bridge with a girl who vas just learning the game and she could remember what were trumps for at least six minutes and she didn't laugh mcrrily when the other side vas making ten tricks on her four TO trump bid and she didn't say oh I'm so dumb at cards and we didn't say why you're doing fine for a be- ginner and we didn't want to go out and find q sash weight anywhere the door opened, and pr. Farrar, with q broad smile on his face, came out and broke the joyous news.
 "You're father" he chuckled.
 Fine" signed Jonas. That's certainly fine. You know, Doc, l