Evening star., 1937-07-09
Quiet and
Peace in
The Home
Noisy Children Drive
Away Guests and
Relatives.
BY ANGELO PATRI.
Tim CERTAINLY glad to get back

I'm CERTAINLY glad to get back
home: to the peace and quiet"
Was the noise as bad as usual,
mother?"
Worse, if it could be. The minute
Bob got in the house he turned on
the radio full blast. Then he got out
his airplane set and worked at it. II
1t was a miracle He wasn't listening
or caring
Jackie got in close behind him
and he started whistling and singing
and stamping about, eating crackers
all over the house and every once in a
while snatching at the baby and get
ting him to yell The noise was awful.
You had to shout sbove the din to
make yourself heard Just as soon
as l decently could I told Laura that
had to get back
How is she?"
she looks tired to death. I
wouldn't be surprised to hear any day
that she was sick in bed. How she
can stand that noise and disorder day
in and day out, gets me. She never
was used to it here at home"
Why doesn't she make them keep
quiet? Why doesn't she do something
about the noise and the mess? She S
All l know is that the noise is
something beyond description, and
I'm going to stay away from there.
I'm afraid I'll say something and she
will think I'm interfering"
You're her mother You ought
to be able to speak"
IT'S her house. And her children.
And her business"
Noise is an unhealthy influence in
the home. 1t creates bad manners
and that means plenty OF trouble on
all sides. 1t spoils the voices of the
children and their parents 1t strains
the nerves Of the whole family and
brings on sickness as we'll as bad tenn
pers. 1t makes home place to get
away from instead of a place to cling
to- 1t drives away guests, friends and
relatives
The proper use of the radio is
something that has to be learned. 1t
is new and We had to experiment with
1t for awhile, but the stage of expert
ment is over now and it is time to
put the radio in its right place in the
scheme of living. One would not turn
on the faucet and let the water run
all day, or turn on light and leave
H,,r hN,,rc on1 nco1occlu
Turning on q radio when there is no
desire to listen to it is just as senseless
as either of the other two procedures.
The only explanation for such be-
havior is ignorance, and for that there
Is no excuse.
Teach the children to select the
programs they want to hear and listen
to them intellieently. Why waste
time, money, precious energy of child
hood on noise? Radio costs too
much to permit it to be wasted.
Teach the children to take turns in
using the radio. Have no fights about
it. Surely there is enough intelligent
cooperation to be aroused in family
to allow Of sharing a radio.
Set the house for quiet. Use rugs
Have the children wear house shoes
Pad the tables and put a rubber mat
in the sink. Use soft tones Don't
answer a child who shouts Have a
silent hour in every day when you
keep perfectly quiet, reading, meditat-
ing. praying, communing with your
soul as you please. Be still and you
invite a great peace
Mr. Patri has prepared leaflet en-
titled Spelling" in which he tells par
ents how to successfully help children
with their spelling lessons. Send for
1t, addressing your request to Mr.
Angelo Patri, Child Psychology De-
partment of this paper, and inclose a
self-addressed, stamped (3-cenD en-
velope