HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1971-12-09, Page 15TheB
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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
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MEW
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The Square
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'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;
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