The potters herald. [volume] (East Liverpool, Ohio) 1899-1982, 1950-11-02
BY FLORENCE STRAND

washington (LPA $50, before
a door that will not open, sick anC
numb, | listen for a word that viii
not come and know at last | may
not enter more" A child speaking
voicing child's misery.
"Down the far chambered cor.
ridor Of years, | hear the silent
shutting, one by one, of DOORS
An answer is not given to a child's
question. A door shuts. A hand is
not extended at a time when to the
child its very life seems to depend
on that outstretched hand. A door
shuts.
For millions of children, the
doors to a happy, well-balanced,
full life are shutting all the time.
Their potentialities are being driv-
en- within and buried. Parents,
teachers, neighbors-all those who
reach them in their early years
are the ones who determine how
many doors will shut in their minds
and hearts. The adult population is
now spelling out the degree of hap
piness which will be possible for
the present generation of children.
Alarm is on the land that the
personalities of Americas youth
are not being given the proper at
tention. Their physical needs have
been stressed. How about their
emotional and spiritual needs?
A conference, called by President
Truman, will be held here in Dec
ember to see what can be done to
assure children their birthright-a
well-balanced, rich, happy life. The
Midcentury White House Confer
ence on Children and Youth is the
fifth of it's kind. The first was
c | ID by President Theodore
Roosevelt to "help dependent child
rem stay in their own homes when
ever possible and to find home care
for homeless children. President
Wilson called the second one in
1919, which resulted in establish
ment of the first body of child
health and welfare standards. It|
also speeded up public demand for
child labor legislation.
In 1880, President Hoover called
the third conference, which pro-
1uced the "most comprehensive
statement of the needs of children
ever assembled in one set of docu-
nents, pointed up the need for
specialized training of people work |
ng with children, advanced the
of pediatrics, and stimu-
ated progressive education.
President Franklin ID. Roosevelt
leralded the fourth conference
which canvassed the Fundamental
principles in our developing demo-
,racy and the conditions and SER
ices necessary for the well-being
# children.
These gatherings were long in
and heavy with pur-
,ose. They reaped oncrete
hanges. Fewer children are starv-
ng now, fewer working in factories
md fields, fewer are living in
qualor. Nowadays, most American
hildren are taken care of to the
xtent, at least, that their immedi-
tie physical needs are provided.
But what of their minds and
carts? What will be their attitude,
heir approach, their contribution
o and return from life? Are they
eveloping now, in their childhood,
sane, balanced outlook? Will the
hildren today become the neurotics
f tomorrow-twisted, afraid, un-
Apply, lonely, desperate?
The Midcentury Conference onl
children and Youth has seven OBJ
ectives, culled from meetings and
and sessions held in all
he states throughout the past
ears. Mainly, the conference will
e concerned with instilling In the
hildren and the parents the belief
hat spiritual values, democratic
ractices and the dignity and worth
f the individual are Of first i'm {
ortance. The conference aims to l
rganize the present knowledge {
bout the status of children, their S
hysical, mental, emotional, and t
loral development. 1t will look at
le present environment in which
lildren are growing up and recon- v
lend ways of improving it. r
A government pamphlet on the I
Inference states the aims must be
add more stability and balance G
those growing up than is evid-
need in so many of those already