New Britain herald., 1928-03-23
Parents Who Refuse to Let Children Do Own Think ing Severely Taken to Task.

The attitude Of American fsth
 CTS towards the job of raising th il children IS 10 leave il to inc moth CTS and then srumblc at the result. " according to Dr. Emmanuel Stern helm of New York, in an address To dinner meeting of Eotarans aud lholr wives at the Burri't hotel
 Dr. Sternhelm took as his theme
 The Challenge of Modern Youth.
 Defending the modern youth he took fling at Clersymen who delight in trltlclslng short skirts by saying they seem to be wasting powers Of ob- SerNation which might better he ap~ piled elsewhere.
 During the var he said, and postwar periods it was. fashona blc for speakers 10 talk q great dea about 'reconstruction, Happily this phrase Is passing out of the rocabu- lary Of public speakers because it iS an invalid conception. IL is not our duty. in the dawn of the o0th cen tnry to reconstruct the civilization that eVsted previous 10 the war + IS our business to construct. if nc can, finer type Of civilization. In no sphere Is this more needed than m the relationship of parents and children.
 "A modern psychologist has jus: Sal1 that If We arc not careful most o our children will have 'iazz minds and tue greatest trouble Of today Is the ahyssn1sl isnorancc Of most parents. In part our merhan- 1'a' r''ll'zatlon IS tn" ause ot this J7zz mind. Jazz radio movies and noise constitute the food Of the mod - crn child. and also the modern par cnt, but does even tho most modern parent want 3 child with 2 iazz mind7
 Most Of the discussion Of inc youth problem has had 10 do with Sup"rhc'al'tios, the alleged willness.
 mmorallty. and general devilishness pt our young people. I have very little sympathy with this typc Of crj- llr1sn,, if is mostly invalid Speaking Mllh a deep sense Of responsibility would say that never in the whole history of the human story has ,hcre been 3 generation of Nounc people fner and moro Capa hle than the present genera ton of modern youth. am weary unto death Of criticism winch concerns itself with hobbnJ talr and short skirts. and often wonder how the preachers of today know so much about short skirts and hohl'ed hair. They ought not 10. r would seem that they were using their powers Of observation which might rroftahlv be used in different directions. I often wonder. too whether some Of the older folks who get SO excited abont what happens m tho autom oblc hay" forgotten what used 10 happen in the buggy. Insofar as my recollection goes th" happenings were not NcrN different.
 SOun" Generation Lazy
 SWlnoburnc said once thai every age is one of dccadcnce in the eyes of it's own fools This aptly describes the situation today. All this does not mean. however that there are no problems in connection with oIr modern youth. One of ihc ma ior charges. which may fairly he made against our young people. is one that is never made. and that is that for the most part they arc lazy. Even this, however. IS not, their fault. They are the creatures Of environ ment. They arc lazy hrcaus" they have everything provided for them. Too many clothes. too much food. a much too easy access 10 the auto- mobile, and pra ac'ically no incentive to work. The modern high school provides one of the best mediums for social intercourse that humanity has vet devised, and the minority work not because of the environment but in spite Of it. In a prosperous in dustria1 age such as ours much oi this is unavoidable, but Is none inc less dangerous. because it is so easy 10 fall into this error. Lazy parent hood begets lazy childhood. So much l, for diagnosis, which is really very nnlmportant, aud which is for the most part generally admitted.
 Therapeutics is both more i'm portant and more difficult. and . within the limits Of my ability [ will proceed 10 give the details of | the therapeutics process.
 The first and most important Is 1 thc necessity for the Nitalization Of our educational system. Youth wants i to he creative, hut not necessarily 1 lndustrially. IL is easy for the mod "rn father to smile whom his son tells him he wants 10 be an artist. hat he is not commercially minded. or that he would be q scientist or T philosopher. What does he know of life, says the father? This is par: "f the old story Of bringing up Tommy in tho way he should go.'-- which really means bringing I'D Tommy in Inc way daddy wants him to go,' and tho two viewpoints do not always coincide. We may praise ihc Lord that they do not The cf- fort has been made many times Shelley was disoWncd hy his parcnt7 because he wanted 10 become a poet cCott's parents wanted 10 make hin, a lawyer. Handel's parents wanted fo make him business man. Flor "nce Nightingaln's parents held up their hands in horror because she wished 10 be a nurse. In those days lt was considered tho primary func- tior of q girl 10 catch man. if she roUld. and it mattered very llttlc what type of man she got If if rnro not 2 salmon it might be 3 min- TOW. and most Of them were min nors.