HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Exeter Times-Advocate, 1966-06-16, Page 4Failing our
children?
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Int
Those terrible
teens
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SERVING CANADA'S BEST FARMLAND
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Advertising Manager: Val Baltkalns
Phone 235-1331
thought of them. They were just
disgusted that they'd been caught.
They didn't regret what they'd
done. Nothing is wrong anymore,
except being thought narrow min-
ded. How can you teach honesty
and pad you income tax? How
can you prepare an adolescent
for stable marriage when you
play around yourself and coun-
tenance infidelity in your
friends".
Culture can multiply
There were days, some fifteen
years ago, when this writer was ap-
proached by some Canadians, promi-
nent in the creative fields, with the
awed respect for European culture.
Canada has made great progress
in these years. No longer do we have
to take a second seat to European coun-
tries (especially if the years of progress
are kept in proper balance). Canada is
producing its own talent, is finding
ways to utilize it and it seems, in a
matter of years, may be able to pro-
vide it with a full scope of home con-
sumption.
Nor do we stop there. Our gov-
ernment, or at least some of its cabi-
net ministers, consider the purchase of
costly Leonardo Da Vincis to put Can-
ada on the cultural map. At $6,000,000
the shot, it must be a bold cultural
move, indeed.
We are expanding also in other di-
rections and it seems that Canada no
longer is satisfied with only one cul-
ture. It is during the recent years that
the word "bi-culturalism" has been
coined, creating a score of new prob-
lems that might not have anything to
do with culture after all.
There are dissentists who believe
that on occasions cultures can be just
one too many.
Voices are raised from a fragment
of this nation that has been accorded
a mere back seat in the past.
Things might have been more
comfortable if somebody would have
come up with some sort of tri-cultural-
ism, If this has not been done so far,
it is because this back seat element
can not be pinned down to a separate
culture. It is a conglomeration of cul-
tures, nationalities and traditions and
is most popularly known as the New
Canadians.
Yet it might surprise many to
learn that the number of those people
have reached the very impressive mark
of six million. This is practically one-
third of our population.
From their ranks have come the
call to stop dividing this nation, to for-
get about historical prejudices and to
live in peace in this great country and
to work for its future.
There have been skeptics who have
wondered whether the varied back-
grounds and on some occasions, hostile
sentiments back home, might not im-
pede the unity of this segment in
achieving the desired influence.
The answer was that there might
have been hostile traditions back home,
but in their new homeland the idea of
the common goal might be stronger.
If this indeed could be proven
within a relatively short time, it might
throw a different light on some pain-
ful problems. And who knows, maybe
a united Canada still could become a
reality.
The missing picture
For one day in the year the father
is the King.
And appropriately for this day, a
photograph on this page should have
depicted some father, plus some fish-
ing tackel and his son busily engaging
in a friendly activity.
This photograph is missing from
our file. Maybe out of sheer principle,
since long ago we gave up photograph-
ing men in respect far another master,
who played a great role in developing
our own particular field of photo-
graphic activity that certainly is not
one of portraying men and their char-
acter.
Maybe also because it would ap-
pear too much like blowing one's own
horn. After all we too belong to the
same court that is held by the King
of one day.
And maybe, because those pictures,
that seem best fitted for this day have
never been captured on film, even if
they are quite vividly alive in memory.
Like the quiet evenings in a dark-
ened living room lit by a candle as
father tried to explain, with the help
of an apple, why there was day and
Grace Lane goes on: "Typical
of this attitude was the comment
of a secretary of a national
charitable organization after two
of her colleagues had run off
together, leaving a wife to cope
as best she could with five chil-
dren--'of course what they do is
their own business but we're
afraid it will hurt our work'.
"What youth looks for are time
tested standards that have in
them the bite and the strength of
steel. We have such guidelines.
They are the values which grow
out of the Judeo-Christian world
view. It's high time we articu-
lated them clearly and worked
at communication the faith that
sustains them".
"Admittedly the Christian e-
thic is difficult. Its demand for
integrity, unselfishness and
chastity runs counter to the flab-
by self-indulgent sensuality and
callousness youth sees all too
often in the adults he knows best'.
She then quotes James Mit-
chener from his nove 1, 'The
Source' which is set in modern
Israel: "Life isn't easy, it's
meant to be life...The Jews had
survived only because the stern
rabbis had kept them faithful to
the law and now if this law
raised certain difficulties, that
was nothing new..only it could
keep Israel alive.. Where were
the Chaldeans and the Moabites,
the Phoenicians and the Assyri-
ans? Each had been more power-
ful than the Jews, yet each had
perished and the Jews remained.
It was no mean thing to be the
custodian of God's law...for if
His Law was exacting it was also
ennobling".
I believe that somehow we m ust
clearly state just how and why the
ethics of our Judeo-Christian
heritage are still the most exac-
ting and most ennobling values
we know. Unless we do we will
fail our children even if we give
them everything else the world
has to offer.
There are many indications
that we are failing our children,
The United Church Observer of
June 1, carried an article by
Grace Lane entitled 'Why We
Are Failing Our Children'. It
was subtitled, ,We can put rockets
into space but can we put charac-
ter into children'?
She introduces the subject this
way: "young Canada, in many
ways has never had it so good.
Our Johns and Marys are grow-
ing up in a booming economy.
Most of them get the health care
they need. Education is free and
doors to advanced training are
opening rapidly. Beginners at
work are cushioned with securi-
ty benefits and leisure unknown
even a decade ago... And yet--
All is not well with our children".
"Prosperity and social ser-
vices run parallel with broken
homes, battered babies, school
drop outs. Judges, pastors and
social workers worry about in-
creased illegitamacy, alcohol and
drug addiction and the number of
young offenders on every police
blotter. Between 1957 and 1961
juvenile delinquency rose 27%--
three times the Canadian popu-
lation increase."
"Two national gatherings—the
Vanier Conference on the Family
in June 1964 and the Second Ca-
nadian Conference on Children
in Montreal last November-- at-
tempted to tackle the problem.
Both times it was easy to pin-
point the maladies--what was
lacking were remedies. One psy-
chiatrist said, "There are no
technical problems we can't solve
There are few moral problems
we do solve. How do you put
character into children."
That is the question and Grace
Lane says that the word 'values'
came up again and again. "The
only snag was no one would de-
fine what he meant. This was
like deploring malnutrition but
refusing to produce food. This
reluctance to come down any-
where is not confined to the con-
ference table. It recurrs in the
press, in public addresses and
in private conversation".
She quotes Judge Flynn of the
Moose Jaw Magistrate's Court
who held long private interviews
with several teenagers who had
committed assault. "I found a
frightening self-love. Not one of
them had the slightest sense of
social concern. They weren't e-
ven interested in what others
By Val Baltkalns
qcteideity cieackla 49414
night on earth . . . years before this
question was ever touched at the
school,
Or an afternoon in the kitchen
with the water kettle boiling when
father showed how air condensed and
gave rain . . . or the quaint nights be-
fore bedtime when the family went
out for a stroll to watch the mysteries
of the stars and the moon.
Life has become more hectic in
the last few decades and the head of
the family has been left, mostly by
circumstances, in the background and
in the role of "hand me over the car
keys" . . .
Still there are moments, even in
the busiest families, that will live for-
ever and no craftsmanship will ever
be able to record them on film or
paper.
Like the letter bearing a far-away
stamp and starting with the casual
"Hi Dad".
And we would read it, nod at
times, and remember, and with quiet
pride would say to ourselves, "Well,
we did not do so badly after all."
Who knows what it's all about?
Reams have been written about re-
gaining control of our economics in
Canada, of reclaiming our sovereignty,
but who really knows what it's all
about. Certainly not the average citi-
zen. He doesn't understand any of it
and has no real interest in it.
Prime Minister Pearson did give
an inkling recently when he said that
Canada could gain complete control of
its economy but at a heavy price. Im-
mediately we would have to be ready
to accept a 25 to 30 6:-"r, lower standard
of living. This was enough to disinterest
the average citizen right away. How-
ever, no one, not even the Prime Min-
ister, has ever said publicly what this
drop in living would involve. Would it
mean less food, poorer houses. poorer
education, clothing, cars. No one is go-
ing to appear too interested in paying
the price if they are never told what
the terms are to be.
cedure. What gives a seeming
justification to the mockery is
the fact that'the scales of justice
are no longer in balance.
The Crown has at its disposal
all the necessary means to prove
the guilt of the accused. The ac-
cused on the other hand, as a
rule, has quite limited means to
maintain his innocence. Properly
conducted defence, in cases when
it is most desperately needed,
can be extremely expensive.
For the sake of objectivity we
must point out that the courts
may appoint a lawyer to a de-
fendant who is unable to provide
one himself. As in all welfare
cases this system has its basic
deficiencies. As a rule it fails
to provide the expert help that
is needed in most serious cases.
This practice must be considered
inadequate.
To retain the balance of justice,
expert help to defendants should
be available as a matter of
course. The state (and the tax-
payer) should bear the costs.
It might appear a rather ex-
pensive way to administer jus-
tice. But if we accept the ex-
penditures for the rehabilitation
of the criminal, compatible with
this enlightened age, we must
as willingly accept the respon-
sibility of seeing that the inno-
cent have their fair chance in
the courts of our country.
It is but a small way in which
to repay the debt to our con-
science.
job in exercising the principles
of a fair trial. We have seen
magistrates, who certainly do
more than their share in volun-
teering information to the ac-
cused on his rights. We have seen
these representatives of t he
Queen sternly advising the ac-
cused to get a lawyer and point-
ing out the serious consequences
that might arise of neglect to do
so.
We have witnessed, and this
sounds quite unbelievable, Crown
Attorneys plead the case of the
accused when it has been emin-
ently clear that he had been the
victim of circumstances or en-
tangled in technicalities. Also
we have seen other Crown At-
torneys withdrawing cases that
could spell a serious tragedy to
the younger generation who had
encountered the possible sever-
ity of law without any premediat-
ed criminal intent.
*
Even so, we believe, our law
makers have a job ahead of them
in correcting a situation that
creates a stumbling block in ob-
serving the rights of an individ-
ual.
we have heard mockery aimed
at the doctrine that everybody
is presumed innocent till proven
guilty. Yet the principle is sound.
It still governs our court pro-
By V.B.
A judicial review of a court
case within our midst that would
have remained unnoticed but for
the inquiring mind of a free lanc-
ing writer is bound to open new
vistas of argument. It has already
raised a serious question in re-
gard to others who might have
fallen victims to the inequities
that exist in the administration
of law.
We have read some arguments,
emanating from the profession
in defence of the existing system
which is held infallable in prin-
ciple even if subject to human
error and the occasional "mis-
carriage" of justice.
We are familiar with the his-
torical doctrine that bad law is
better than none at all; that laws
and the principles upon which they
are built have remained untouch-
able through the centuries and are
the last ones to follow the path of
progress.
Thus fortified we can, for the
most part, make sense of judg-
ments and procedures that baffle
the general public and on oc-
casions give rise to an outcry of
"injustice" for a seemingly good
reason.
On the average, it appears to
us, our courts are doing a good
It is standard knowledge with al-
most everyone that our economy has to
be tied in with the United States, our
greatest market, and this whether we
like it or not.
It is also true that Canadians could
invest more in their own country's
growth than they are doing. They have
the money. We Canadians are told that
we are the greatest buyers of life in-
surance in the world so that a vast
amount of our savings are invested
abroad by the insurance companies,
and our country is the loser.
Thousands of Canadians ask about
this sovereignty, why do we want it, is
it desirable even if we could get it?
And that is where it remains, and will
no doubt remain for a long time. Peo-
ple as a whole are not interested
enough so the politicians are quite safe
from having to be more specific.
(Stouffeville Tribune)
"When are you going to get
up so we can enjoy Father's
Day?"
0110,fiREMWSORTAMW•• •
50 YEARS AGO
Jack Mallet is already wear-
ing three stripes. He has been
appointed sergeant of the offi-
cers' mess.
Mr. W.G.Medd of Winchelsea
purchased a large truck for haul-
ing butter and cream. Mr. T.
Willis of Centralia also pur-
chased a truck this week for
the same purpose.
Wedding bells are ringing in
Whalen this week. Mr. Frank
Squire and Miss Vera Hodgson
will be united in wedlock in the
church here by Rev. Finlay.
Caven Presbyterian C hu re h
and Trivitt Memorial Church
have installed electric motors
for pumping the organs. Times Established 1873 Advocate Established 1881 Amalgamated 1924
15 YEARS AGO
Thursday hydro men start the
first change-over in the Exeter
rural operating area when they
tackle farms south-west of the
town.
A bylaw for the extension of
Edward Street was passed at
the meeting of Exeter council.
The Huron County Pioneer Mu-
seum in the 95-year-old former
Central Public School, Goderich,
was officially opened Wednesday
when Tom Pryde, MLA for Hu-
ron County cut the ribbon with
a pair of ancient sheep shears,
symbolic of the museum itself.
Exeter (England) city council
will present a mayor's gavel
to Exeter (Ontario) in honor of
the latter's new town status.
"Now, that's what I call ACT-
ING. They're married in real
life, you know."
leigrialielikitro, v4 A• IA 00 %wk., ).
Published Each Thursday Morning at Exeter, Ont.
Authorized as Second Class Mail, Post Office Dep't, Ottawa,
and for Payment of Postage in Cash
Paid in Advance Circulation, September 30, 1965, 4,208 to 0,
SO
1V A
4
Or QS COM9"'
25 YEARS AGO
Southcott Bros. were awarded
the five dollar prize for the
best decorated window in the
Victory Loan drive. In Hensall
the prize was awarded to ILK
Middleton, druggist.
Huron County, with a quota
of $1,400,000 in the VictoryLoan
drive, was the second county
in the Dominion of Canada to
oversubscribe.
Mr. Vernon Schatz has pur-
chased the Dry Goods and Gro-
cery business of Mr. A.V.Tie-
man, Dashwood,
Rev, Harry ,Jennings, who, for
three years, was an Anglican
missionary at Norman, N.W.T.,
and for the past year has been
stationed at Ft. Smith, returned
to Exeter Saturday to visit his
mother, Mrs. Harry Jennings,
Sr. It took three and a half weeks
to make the trip home,
10 YEARS AGO
Huron MPP Thomas Pryde
Thursday afternoon laid the cor-
ner stone for Mt. Carmel school
for which he had donated the
stone.
Tom Pryde, Huron MPP, an-
nounced this week that tenders
have been called for paving
Thames Road from Exeter to
Russeldale.
South Huron Hospital is only
seven away from giving birth
to its one-thousandth baby. The
milestone will probably be
reached within a week.
Firemen and neighbours, who
rushed to Staffs sawmill when
it caught fire Monday night,
Worked in vain to stop the raging
blaze which was fed by lumber,
sawdust and oil. The mill was
levelled to the ground. It was
the second time the Staffa Mill
has been destroyed in 40 years,
SUBSCRIPTION RATES: Canada 0.00 Per Year; USA $7.00
Those Terrible Teens are at
it again. Riot in Montreal. Riot
in Toronto's Yorkville. Teen-
age boy charged with glue-
sniffing. Girls nailed with bun-
dle of marijuana. Students pic-
keting everything but the public
lavatories.
Searching articles by sociolo-
gists point out the obvious: that
teen-agers are rebellious, re-
sentful of adults, eager to ex-
periment; anxiety-ridden, reck-
less, sensitive, moody. Any par-
ent knows all that.
"Probing" and "sensitive" TV
programs point out some more
of the obvious: that teen-agers
like power (boats, cars, motor-
bikes: but not lawnmowers); that
they like music with a big beat;
that they like members of the
opposite sex, Anybody who is
not blind and deaf knows all
that.
What's all the fuss about, then?
Is it a lot of overblown sensa-
tionalism in the mass media?
I'm no sociologist, but I have
been a teen-ager, I have two of
them under my roof, and I teach
swarms of them every day, so
I have some qualifications, how-
ever amateurish, to speak
a piece,
Let's try to look at the whole
thing coolly. They did inherit a
pretty cruddy world. Their fresh-
ness and idealism is soured at
every turn by the massive march
of materialism. Man is aiming
at the stars with his feet firmly
mired in the mud. And over all
hangs the threat of annihilation.
What do they want? They want
to sweep away all the old shib-
boleths and start fresh. They
want to be their brother's keeper.
They want to communicate. But
every way they turn, they are
confronted by a great, passive
resistance from a society con-
structed by adults for the com-
fort and convenience Of adults.
Who wouldn't be frustrated?
Students would like to take
over the universities. And re-
membering some of the deplor-
able professors and ridiculous
courses I was subjected to, I
don't blame thefn.
They'd like to have the vote
at 18. And this might be a good
thing. It would mean nobody over
25 would dare to run for public
office. In this way we might
"Herb, you loft your tooth-
brush on the washbasin again!"
get rid of vast numbers of the
incompetent politicians we now
have at every level of govern-
ment.
They'd like to be able to drink
legally at 18 (instead of illegal-
ly at 16). This, too, in the long
run, might turn out well. The
resultant slaughter on the high-
ways might ruin a few insurance
companies, but at least it would
help control the population ex-
plosion we hear so much about.
They'd like to be able to non-
conform (though they do cling
rather frantically to the ultra-
conformity of the teen cult). Well,
there's nothing wrong with being
a non-conformist. I'd love to
grow a beard, if it didn't emerge
as a grizzled stubble that makes
me look like a Bowery bum on
a binge. I'd like to have two
mistresses and a pet tiger, but
I can't afford it. I'd like to go
in bare feet, but I have this
terrible Seed-wart on the ball
of my right foot, that hurts like
the dickens.
They'd like some direction in
their lives, so they say, and
blame the lack of it on their
parents or adults generally. Did
you ever try to direct a teen-
ager to get to bed or mow the
lawn? Right now!
They'd like to be beautiful or
handsome. They'd like to be loved
and trusted. They'd like to be
given responsibility. All these
longings prove is that they are
human beings.
You know, things haven't
changed that much. When I was
18, I thought my parents well-
meaning, but terribly narrow-
minded. When I was 21, we used
to call chaps of 29 in the Air
Force, "Pop." When I was 25,
people in their late 30's were
completely incomprehensible.
All they could talk about was
furniture and fuel bills, children
and chimneys, taxes and tea-
chers. People over 40 were dodd-
ering, senile.
Don't try to understand teen-
agers. Just try to put up with
them, They want to fly. We want
them to get on the treadmill
with the rest of us squirrels,
Remember, you too once wanted
to fly, Yes, you,MOm, who necked
in the back seat of a 1935 Ford.
And you, Dad, who got drunk
when you were 18.