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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1971-12-09, Page 15TheB ue Thumb BY G. MacLEOD ROSS A High School headmaster "4 has written a thoughtful *article which he titles "The betrayal of the Young", and in ,which he traces this_b,etxa.yal to the failure of the older- generation to ' inculpate.-knovvledge of our sr cultural past. ,The following is based on his ideas. As he points out, even the animal kingdom passes on certain acquired wisdoms which, when mastered, enable the • young to behave as adults. « Almost immediately you can hear lithe younger generation replying with ribald laughter at. the mere' suggestion of their' being trained as' adults, because "adult behaviour" is, if not a dirty phrase, at least a highly is undesirable state to acquire. And yet, ori ,fuller consideration, the conditions under which animal society lives are not so dissimilar to our own. To exist --the denizens, of both the Human and Animal kingdoms, have to eat ° and• have to achieve security if • they 7. are to survive: While animals know instinctively that failure to pass on •trheir vital traditions could encompass. the death of their species, for these animal parents "play for •the side" They are not, consumed • solely with themselves. , How very different the many of our young. How suipidal! This selfish determination to do their Own. " thing; to rebel against any, irrrestraints to mould them along Well proven lines; to mobilise the power of the crowd to renounce • any established ---standards of behaviour. How did they get so out • of hand? Whence the generation gap? Rhodes Boyson, +tithe writer, blames present intellectual leaders who denied - - this deep responsi i t -• -to w MEW MODERN UNITS 5EI VE YOU RIGH; ' THEY MAKE TRE KITCHEN WORK•GO LIGHT • Ilri Al TNAIIFMANK, I.. T'r lr GODERICH SIGNAL»ST ,R, TRUR1 DA ,, D'g gIVIES R 9, 197 73k Whence the generation -gaffs? prepare the hurpan ' young for adulthood. The betrayal of their responsibilities by many of the elders of our society. Most human societies, certainly all stable ones, set up certaintistandards to be achieved k .efore ~ aecepta_og'e•- into adulthood. This. no longer holds true in much of society where there are fewer accepted standards in the arts and in behaviour.., Where childish scribbling .and obscene graffiti are held to equal or to supersede the world's greatest works. No wonder Our young people are confused, when refused traditional wisdom and offered sets ' of half-baked fallacies. In place of the spiritual truths which man struggled to acquire over b0 =' •' rs or more, we tell them that experience and' passion is all, and that all experience and passion is 'equal: - Fiction and -dreams have replaced .winnowed wisdom; slogans have been substituted for the logic of traditional reason, while fastidiousness and -tdiscrimination; which are the hall, mark of civilisation have beenexchanged because of a fear of creating "inhibitions", which in turn possess no rules to a point where a girl develops suicidal • beliefs that there is something wrong if she is still a 1e impression of having exchanged interest in the student for - interest in agitation for ever- increasing increments of pay, FI'he home with its own back yard has become the soulless high-rise apartment building and the street where once the children played is now choked with mechanical traffic. The sehools were intended to pass on literacy • and numeracy, ,and in addition 'to uphold the basic values such as punctuality, good attendance, a sensible attitude to dress, a. sensev._o,f_ fairness and humour and high standards in what -ever one undertook to do. The answer to that constant cry "I want t� do my own thing" could be satisfied were it possible to segregate the • individual ,-Grom the herds-for—a minimal period during which he could . examine • himself to discover w hat Godgiven qualities, aptitudes, skills, he had been given and. which be might sharpen by, widening his acquaintance with traditional wisdom. boy, not -desiring thrice daily intercourse, takes to drugs believing he is an underperforming wreck.' ` ", Politically the young are offered the dangerous. fallacy • that all is wrong with the world,• that this has been caused .b.y "fascists of 30 years of age and up, and could be righted_ asily by blodshed and' anarchy which would put Che romantic primitives __in. control of our • society. ' Who is responsible? Who is responsible for this gross betrayal both of•the rising 'generation and of our cultural 'past? Yesterday with the' Tribe it was the elders and the• witch doctors . who, passed on the wisdom of tradition and set the tests • for acceptance of the young. Today the counterparts. of the tribe and elders are called the neighbourhood, the parents, the. schools and the Chyrch. Today the very idea that any of these owe a.ny responsibility, c'est a rire, as the saying goes. But the • neighbourhhood is ceasing to exist. Schooling has been emasculated by huge units, governmentally, created in the name of efficiency while the dedicated instructors of • a bygone age have • been superseded by` an . association which annually gives the G QUALITY RINGS TO WEAR WITH PRIDE MEW From DON MacRAE •WATCHMAKER. & JEWELLER The Square ASHIONAIILE RINGS of outsiau ing Quality! 'I'he fact that ~.universities exist (or existed) to pass on accepted wisdom and knowledge and to train minds to advance learning, further has been forgotten, while .orgapised mobs demand instant • answers to political moral arid. economic matters: - Education v"as never intended - to solve all the problems which society itself finds insoluble„ .Rather was its function to aim at developing a frame of mind which. through thought could suggest solutions to problems. But so lbng as the 'so-called intellectual , leaders declare that all opinions should not only be heard, but that they ark of equal validity, they Aare merely greasing the skids and seeding tie seductidn of the young away from all genuine wisdom and scholarship with disastrous consequences• ---with which we are too familiar.,, Parental .confidence in their own commonsense and traditionally successful methods • has,• been- challenged, by the: - media and inundated with advice from psycholcigists for the last 25 years. in consequence the parents, battered and confused, Wave wirfhdr.wn from involvement and guidance,' thus .leaving the young who • felt betrayed, to rebel in the hope of finding. in conflict-htr_th _the look. and- the standards -df . their parents, , When the older generation, whether of parents' or of nationalised educators, has failed to pass on the mechanisrrts and controls of wise decision -taking, but has left them to find out for themselves„, how Cain they ting succeed'? • 'l'he wrong priority, Finally the betrayal of the Church. Youth looks for guidance as to the meaning of life. When the "drop -outs” are se r i ously concerned with whether there is a Cod, the Church appears determined -to turn itself into asocial agency, whereas its ancient, purpose was the salvation of souls. The slogan on the vests ,at the Festival of Light "Smile — Jesus loves you" was but an obSious attempt to remind the Church of the reason.' for its existence without which it and they are purposeless. . "The Solution? 'What is the -solution? Parents must be encouraged" co believe that traditional ways of bringing- up their children are more litely to be • right than the e ve r -conflicting advice - of "experts. Modern child psychology is very suspect, just, as "progressive" modsin education have renounced the relative warmth, security and interest in the individual child purveyed . in the• little' red - schoolhouse, for a;,regional architectural monumept, as soulless as its electric eye doors, its Babylorrian••gymnasia (always plural) and its fuming diesel buses. Can anyone' doubt that over the teen-period,'"individual attention . was more effective, more desirable, and more character -forming, as well as• a better foundation £for any later Victoria T-' Viewpoint • Our school won first prie coats of white latex paint for a bright background, 'Second'ly hey made a rough pian for• their p' l help them cut he tissue pieces to'the correct ize and shaper„ ;.;,. A' Mrs,, MacDonald's Grade Fives have been busy making decorations *tor Christmas. 'Mr, Yeo's pupils have begun tc�..urtruitii.ply.. bv.:. s .and 1,000's and their multiples. Groups have begun working on their tops in the Amazon. They have set up a terrarium and watche.d • it rain to see flaw situ:ii1 a Rainforest would be. The children have completed making Wise Men from coney. this weekeuda..i;n the Santa Claus parader , The float we had entered was called "Florton Hatches An Egg?' ;Lazy., Bird was Mrs. Doney, Horton is still a big mystery — do you know who played Horton? . PRIMARY Today Mrs Cory's" class painted their idem of how Santa Claus looks. The results were as variedas one would expect --• fats_ tall andshort, but his smile was me`r.ry and his, nose like a cherry.. The pupils were all excited about their first rep r't card which they carried home pinned to their sweaters for safe delivery. Mrs. Fisher's Grade One has found out that seeds take quite a while- to start to grow. None of 'the seeds "'from trees have sprouted -yet. Mrs. Fisher has' been talking 'and reading stories about • the first Christmas. A manger Scene has been set up on a table. The children are learning' to sing "Away In The Manger" and "Silent,Night."• Mrs. Fisher's class has learned what a` lullaby is and are now learning some lullabies. The pupils have been putting.. Christmas trees on their calendar 'each day, and counting the days until Christmas. • This week the. boys and girls of Mrs. Redman's class' made a dist of Christmas words' .and everyone , is going to make ae.,• booklet with the Christmas words in it.' Then they will use the booklet` to help them' write Christmas stories. Miss Verhoef's class , is studying , about skunks. The children will be making candles 'this 'week. Group One built a helicopter in their Nadine group. Susan Morris or Mrs. Hopkinson's grade brought the class a fine pine tree which the pupils will decorate for their classroom Christmas tree. They' 'shave, just finished a projeet on the Indians of North America. They learned how Indians of 'different regions made homes: suitable to the climate and their way of life. Everyone was happy to take their report cards home •to parents on Monday, . Mrs. ,Stephen's' class has been •reading about Indians in their readers. On the back table the children have been making a display to show how the Indians made maple sugar. n. The pupils of Mr.': ,Walter's class' have , been `rmaking Christmas decorations for the classroom. The children have been painting pictures in their spare time.' The artists display their finished paintings for others to see on the bulletin board. People who had their spelling perfect are decorating a Christmas tree. Thra children enjoyed reading the book called "Mr. Popper's Penguins" and recommended it for anyone in Grade 3 and 4. JUNIOR Mr. Carroll'sQ grade six class learned that rock is not as solid. as one might think. Rock can flow like a liquid ,when it is' under great heat and pressure. The stress on rock must be applied gradually or rock will shatter. A good example is when you hit some "silly putty" with a' hammer and it crumbles. If puddi•e. The pupils are working or collage. The first thing they did was paint .their panels with two t s i Mlle. HAZLIT1' REPORTS Christrnas.: stories have? been very ,popular with students this past week. • We have the -old favoril.es .su.ch;,..as ,The Christmas Carol and The Night Before Christmas along with new stories about the Christmas Mouse and the Castaway Christmas. MISS RODER — FROM -THE FRENCH DEPARTMENT Leff grades. 5 et ---6— ont commence a etudier u_ ne piece intituiee: "Un cadeau de Noel" et ils veulent ,presenter la piece, avant Ic,>s vacances de Noel. Les grades 3 et 4 sont en train detudier les e outumes de Noel chez ;les Francais et les Canadiens-Trancais.. TRANSLATION OF THE ABOVE Grades 5 and•6 have begun t� study a play entitled: "A Christmas Present" and they hope to present the play before Christmas. ' Grades .;f 'and 4 are about to study he Christmas customs of the f"rench and French- Canadians, • ' o Reporters for the Grades: Max Bourdeau, Debbie I)aer, Michael Budny, Brenda, Cook. Editor: Jane Bedard. Compiled by Mrs, Telford's class. occupation in ,life, than the relative apathy of the Province, regulated sausage machine? • "Every ,unstable 'age like ours - is only brought back to its senses by a coherent ,p-hilosophy, ,generally a religious faith. Maybe ,. it is- again the`-Berle-•'the+-•Ghhrch. preached Christ crucified and Risen from the 'dead for the salvation of all men." The Betrayal of the Young, by 'Rhodes Boyson. Headmaster of Highbury Grove : $chool, London; ..I ngland; • XPECTING? HOW NICE! Come in and visit us for a complete Zine of maternity - wear including pant suits, • dresses, blouses and slacks. • * DON'T MISS OUR NEWLY ARRIVED FALL & WINTER 'STOCK * Join Our Lay -Away Plan For. 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