Putnam patriot., 1928-10-18
pARKINc-spAcE FOR YoUTa
("Uncle Dudley in the Boston Globe,
 October 2, l92S)

OCtouef l, iSGoJ
 Supposing your boy did like to study, is there any spot in your house where he could do SO in cOmforty By comfort is meant merely warmth, si- lence, privacy, and freedom from in- terruption
 This, as the school year begins, is yexing question in great many young lives, and one which does not get talked about much. The reasons why 1t does not get talked about are curious and interesting. They reveal certain unfattering secrets about our prevailing manner of life and mode of thought.
 Just SO surely as youngster going Co school and attempting to study at home becomes genuinely interested in his school work, time comes when he approaches some sympathetic elder with a look of something being on his mind which he is diffident about ex- pressing. Under encouragement, he begins by apologizing. He says
 "Of course, 1 have to remember that my folks brought me up, and are send. ing me to school and paying my bills, and all that"
 Yes" you encourage him; but then what?"
 "I don't see how they can expect me Co get anywhere if I'm not allowed q proper chance 10 study"
 Then it all comes out. His very loyalty to his parents is arrayed against him. To ask for part of each day for privacy and freedom from in- terruption seems like presumption on his part. or even fiat ingratitude--es- pecially when the very wish is resent ed by his parents.
 "They don't understand how hard it is to get anything done under the conditions I have at home" he excuses them punetiIiously.
 Parents wonder why their studious sons are SO anxious to get away from home. This Is one of the reasons.
 It is reason, furthermore, which operates even in households where there is distinct tradition of study and an established love of learning. This reason impinges on something which has nothing to do with either, and that is the inability or the down right unwillingness of parents to re- alize that their children may be grow ing up, and to recognize that they may have some rights to growth and development which ought to be un- grudgingly conceded and graciously aequiesced in by their elders. Growth Is instinetiveiy resented often by those nearest and dearest to us; because all growth means outgrowing, and those who do not grow fear those who do and, even though unconscious of 1t. try to stop them. The remedy for this is to keep on growing one's self. Then there is nothing to be feared from growth in others.
 Again. does it strike anyone as sig. nificant that in the average middle class dwelling house there is seldom any place, saving possibly his bed chamber eff heated). where young. ster can study in quiet and privacy In such houses, where is the library In such houses, where is there an oc. cupant who would use the library if there were one2 Is it just possibI, that the position in the household once occupied by the library is now taken by the garage?
 We are not speaking here of young. sters of the iazz-hound, loafer type We are speaking of those who do SC. riously wish to accomplish something worthy in study and achievement. And even these are all too frequently handicapped by living in household. where the whole routine and frame of mind are unfavorable, if not actually hostile, Co studious concentration. The plain fact is that our average domestic life is organized not for excellence, not for achievement, but for comfort. Il may promote comfort admirably; but an ideal of personal comfort does not stimulate youth Co high endeayor And if an elder generation wonders why contemporary youth seems to have slumped from ideal standards. let them look around them at their own.
 
 If the boy has no quiet place to study make him one It is at least as important as a sun parlor. And hav- ing made him one. keep out of it. and let him work. If he appears to be out growing you mentally. start growing yourself. And if he doesn't appear to be growing mentally, set him an ex- ample.
 Just SO surely as a boy who honest ly wishes to study is going to school and living at home, this trouble per plexes him. For the trouble goes deeper than your home or mine. It vexes the whole of our contemporary American life: too much concern for comfort, and too little for excellence.