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at least in part. 1 am, in age,' just
midway between this sheik-flapper
generation and the older one that is
so ready to condemn.
r
have mixed
with the younger set in their high
school and college activities. 1 know
them, I know their parents, and I
know their college professors.
It
would be simple folly to attrib–
ute all the wild and, to the oldsters,
shocking characteristics of the
young folk to any single cause.
Many things, of course, combine to
produce the composite sheik-flap–
per generation.
They are, in the first place,
merely the victims of unhealthy
influences-and this INCLUDES
their parents! They are exactly
what training, environment, exam–
ple and outside influences have
made them.
1 shall not attempt to rate these
influences in order of their impor–
tance. That is merely opinion, any–
way.
But I want to mention, first, the
result of lax parental training. It is
true that the parents of the preced–
ing generation refused to "spare
the rod and spoil the child." The
youngsters of that generation were
reared in such strict discipline that,
when they themselves became par–
ents, they simply could not bear to
be so strict with
their
children as
their parents had been with
them.
Their childhood and youth had
been, generally speaking, one of
self-sacrifice, strict obedience to
parental law and long and frequent
"whalings." The memory of this
unremitting parental discipline was
so indelibly burned into their mem–
ory that it produced a definite reac–
tion. So the present crop of young–
er people were reared in a brand of
discipline that swung almost to the
opposite extreme. They were not
made to suffer the pangs of self–
sacrifice, the stern authority, the
frequent and extreme whippings_to
which their parents had fallen
heir.
The chief difficulty, though, was
not so much a matter of substitut–
ing psychology for thrashings.•
Most youngsters were not taught
SELF-DISCIPLINE. They were not
trained in SELF-CONTROL.
The greatest handicap to the
April 1982
younger people today is their utter
disregard for self-control. They
have been permitted to grow up fol–
lowing DESIRE, instead of DUTY–
given reign to
impulse
and
inclina–
tion,
instead of using judgment.
They have formed the disastrous
habit of being led and controlled by
their whims, their passions, their
fancies. Consequences are seldom
weighed or considered,
an~
stillless
seldom heeded. The question isn't
"SHOULD 1?" but "Do 1 WANT
to?" There's no control of self.
When power is uncontrolled,
then the greater the power, the
greater the potential DANGER! If
· this younger generation is imbued
with an excess of pep, energy and
power, the greater is the danger,
unless that power is controlled–
held in check by the force of self–
discipline. When such excess ener–
gy is permitted to run riot wherever
blind impulse leads, there's likely
to be a WRECK!
Mr. Wright views this tremen–
dous burst of speed, which we
observe being demonstrated by the
youngsters, as a wonderful asset for
the future, when this generation
takes the helm. But will all this pep
and speed and energy be wisely and
beneficially directed? Will it even
be available then? Vitality, like
many other things, needs to be con–
served. When it's wasted and dissi–
pated, the supply is soon ex–
hausted.
And by what process of reason–
ing do we know that this sheik–
flapper age has greater power of
personal vigor than the generations
which went before? When the lid's
off the teakettle, letting out so
much more steam, is there more
steam inside than when the lid was
on? Our youngsters have thrown
off the lid! They are simply letting
off, and not conserving, the steam!
Parental Example No Whitewash
I sharply disagree with Mr.
Wright in any notion that the sins
of the parents can be applied as a
whitewash for those of their chil–
dren. Suppose we grant that Wil–
lie cops onto his dad's cigarettes
and snitches his bootleg liquor?
Suppose Bubbles does learn from
her mother to use rouge and lip-
stick and to pluck her eyebrows?
It happens, 1 grant, altogether too
often. But that does not make it
right.
1 know parents who are far more
interested in the social popularity
of son and daughter than in their
soul's salvation-who encourage
their youngsters in all the searches
after a thrill that keep up the
feverishly excited pace. And who
do not dream of what goes on
beyond the focus of their vision–
and would not believe
it
if
they
were told!
But does the fact that parents are
setting the example--even encour-
' A sheik meant "a masterful man to whom
women are irresistibly attracted." The term was
popularized by E. M. Hull's novel
The Sheik.
later
made into a movie. A flapper was "a young girl
considered bold and unconventional in actions and
dress: term popular from about 1910 to 1930."
The name is derived from the custom of girls
wearing galoshes or overshoes unfastened so they
would flap. Quite an attention-getter!
' Harold
B.
Wright died in 1944. Albert Payson
Terhune died in 1942.
'A major magazine-ceased publica! ion years
ago.
• This false modern child psycho1ogy was then
newly introduced.
' Those were the prohibition years of bootleg
liquor.
• They have now taken it. And look at the sorry
chaotic world they have produced.
' 1 was then 35.
' Mere physical punishment, a1one, may be
totally incffective or harmful. Too many parents
do not spank for the right purpose, at the right
time or in the right degree. Too often it is unac–
companicd by the necessary
teaching.
ll
should ·be
used to
impress
the lesson. When thc teaching is
absent, nothing is impressed but resentment and a
sense of injustice.
The child should never be literally spanked into
doing
what he had rebelled from doing- but
because
he rebelled-because of disobedience and
wrong attitude. 11 should be administercd immedi–
ate1y upon the offense, or failure promptly to
obey- not after repeated threatenings to punish
unless
he obeys-threats expressed
after
initial
refusal to obey, and
while
the child
continues
in
rebellious refusal to obey. Don't give the rebellious
child repeated opportunity to rebel. Be sure he
hears and understands what he is told to do. l f in
doubt of this, repeat the instruction or command
once more, plainly. Then, if ignored or rebelled
against, punish
immediately-makíng
him
under–
stand
it is administered because of failure to obey,
refusal to obey, or deliberate rebellious attitude.
Make him
UNDERSTANO
he must obey
when spo–
ken to!-not
when he gets good and ready. One
exception: if in a public place, where the punisb–
ment would attract public attention, and probab1y
indignan! criticism or hostile action, tell tbe child
quietly but firmly he is going to have to be pun–
ished for his misdemeanor when you return borne.
Then, on returning to the privacy of your borne,
talk to him, making the lesson plain and clear, and
impress it with the spanking.
Most mothers spank so lightly nothing is really
impressed. Make it hurt enough to be impressive!
Many fathers spank too hard. Never
injure.
Make
it impressive short of injury. Like the stitcb in
time, the spanking
in time
may save nine others.
9