Detroit evening times. (Detroit, Mich) 1921-1958, 1944-09-09
BEHIND
The NEWS
BY Paul
MaRon

MdliOh
WASHINGTON, Sept. S-The
w restoration OF com m n n
sense teaching in the schools is
proceeding so swiftly land so
silently the general public IS
not aware of II.
With the least possible adj
vertising and a minimum
acknowledgment of error ma
tionally. the teaching trends OF
more than decade are being
widely revised.
The false philosophers of
progressive education whi ch
corrupted the youths and on
Couraged juvenile delinquency
with laxlty of discipline. are be-
ing corrected, in he Eas' AT
least, where all these trends
and swings originate.
Do you remember for in
stance, the column published
May 10? II set forth the ideas
of a junior high school principal
IN Philadelphia, who wanted 10
teach romantic love 10 l5-year-
ofd children IN special classes on
sex hygiene tthe lady herself
being miss.
do not know how she made
out with her plan, disclosed in
an article ln-the-Ph IPhla-
Teachers Association News Let
ter of April. which said the
teachers must lead the gradual
emancipation 81 children from
their parents and become
mother substitutes
DUE Washington sehee4 att
- thoritlcS have Just an
nounced they are dropping their
class in sexual education en-
tlrely. Although II never went
as far AZ romantic love and ran
only three weeks of the year,
II was unanimously conceded a
compete ldllufc.
1.-THE boys and girls either
laughed or were sea-. ed tO
death" says A wise surgeon and
physician member OF the board
Of education. Or, James A.
Gannone
Apparently Boston. Phiiadei-
phla. Baltimore and Richmond
are taking similar action. Only
NeW York eli the five Seaboard
cities checked by Br. Cannon
VIII stuck to sex education this
fall They had the same exc
perience as Washington, Or.
Cannon says. adding
Teachers as rule are not
temperamentaIIy fitted or COM
petent To give seX Instructions.
Our experimental session be-
came n circus for the students
and an impossible situation for
the teachers. You might think
physician teachers would he
satisfactory. but they are not,
because they talk over the
heads Of children.
we will dispense with the
seN classes which were part
Of the phys instruction
course and hereafter teachers
will merely answer questions as
these arise. and furnish In tho
regular courses. such az biology,
such moderate Information ~ 10
constructive. noncontrovprsiaI
and helDful.".
TNlCS are The views expressed
i IN this column Nav 10 he
coming prevailing and more
popular tthe idea that human
thought is far from perfection
on the sex subject that no one
rs competent 10 teach sex "a hich
Is such high personal and IN
dVdual problem: not even
pSNchlatrlStS have Yet accepted
an agreed course and No two
members OF any board NJ edu-
cation have precisely the same
attitude toward ScX }
But these views were not
popular then In Boston thew
were especially criticized. A
professor Of human relations in
me Massachusetts Institute ~
Technology wrote mo that frank
sex instruction had aduced
stealing IN Wisconsin and said:
"SeN ~ being taught In tho
schools with great success"
He was so obviously wrong q,
IN make reply unwarran,ed
IF YOU could curb stealing with
sex instruction. tho education
should not he limited 10 l5.yesr-
oldS.
The truth i case history ~
the sex lives of those procrns.
SiNe educators would probably
show them not only Incompetent
IN teach others but even 10 han.
dice their own adulthood with.
out divorce or other extreme DIFF
hcultleS W h n would make
them about average
One physician tells mo 90 per
cent Of his adult cases are
founded IN similar facts Of life.
They had hotter first roach per.
lection themselves or AZ least
agree on 4 common doctrine
before undertaking 10 impose
Their IDEAS on others.