Askov American. [volume] (Askov, Pine County, Minn.) 1914-current, 1940-07-25
What Price Ignorance


ing countless thousands to SWIM
ming pools and lakes, it would
be wise to exercise little less
haste and a little more caution.
All too often a family vacation
trip is turned into sorrow by the
loss of loved ones in head-on
crash on the highways, or marred
by a drowning in a stream or
lake. Many highway accidents
could be prevented with more
alertness on the part of the driver
and sensible driving speed. In
the water, many fatal accidents
result from the victims lack of
knowledge, or skill, in the rules
of water safety.
Concerning summer accidents
the Minnesota State Tourist Bu-
reau, under the caption, What
Price Ignorance" has issued the
following timely message:
We call them accidents-these
drownings, traffic accidents and the
other ways in which an eagerly an
ticipated weekend outing is turned
into heart-rending tragedy.
But a little sober thought makes
it clear that most of them, if not all,
could have been prevented by the
exercise of a modicum of forethought
and common ordinary horse sense.
Forewarned is forearmed. Too
many people, either through lack of
knowledge, skill or failure to exer-
else the faculty an all-wise Creator
has endowed them with-the human
mind-neglect to think before they
act.
The dire consequences of this reck-
lesSness do not alone affect the vic
tins and their near and dear ones,
but react on society as whole in
various ways. For one thing, it re-
fleets discredit on the group intel
| ligence which tolerates this state of
affairs and makes these accidents"
possible.
Most of them would never happen
if everyone took the attitude that they
are preventable and must not occur.
The mental status of people who can,
with gesture of futility, dismiss
these tragedies as unavoidable acci-
dents, or something memorable fate
has decreed must happen, is on a
level of those who formerly regarded
yellow fever, smallpox, typhus, etc.,
as scourges that had to be endured
and nothing could be done about it.
A majority of us know better now
experience has taught us that this
fatalistic complex is all wrong. SIM
ilarly, there is reason to believe,
humanity some time will have learned
that it is not necessary to offer human
sacrifices to the god of play. 1t is
only a matter of education-mental
and physical training designed to
adapt the individual to his of her en-
vironment.
There is not one valid excuse, for
instance, under ordinary circum-
stances, for a person residing in a
state with more than 1000 lakes and
streams not knowing how to act in
water with safety. First of all, Min
nesotans should be able to swim
certainly, all the children should be
made to acquire at least fair degree
of skill in keeping afloat when pre-
cipitated into the water. This is a
logical safety measure since water
always fascinates children who are
almost certain to indulge this fancy,
despite parental objections, when
ever opportunity presents itself. In
state with almost countless lakes,
rivers and smaller streams, the OPP
portunity is virtually ever-present.
The adults who cannot swim-and
there are altogether too many of them
need constant reminders of water
and beach hazards and what to do in
the case of accidents. Presence of
mind is something that must be Gull
tivated
We like to boast about being an
erudite people, but judging from the
recreational and highway carnage
going on, what we do know isn't doing
us much good. The CORY fact is that
when it comes to safety and conser-
walton of human life, we are still in
the jungle stage mentally.
Here is phase of education which
has been and still is sadly neglected.
Until we give it the emphasis it
merits, this horrendous situation will
get worse instead of better. True,
excellent beginnings have been made,
notably by the state conservation de-
partment cooperating with the many
organizations represented in the Min
nesota Safety Council-but these eff
forts must be expanded until they
reach every man, woman and child
in the state if we are to put stop
to this needless waste of life and
property.