Guidance for Development

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in chil-

dren of these ages. One can only say, "Some time in the period from birth to fiye years of age, the following habits should be acquired," and, "Some time before the child is twehe years old, he should haye learned these habits and

of the

The atmosphere as attitudes tiyes

and

friends,

mother

they are as considerate and courteous to him and to all whom they meet, as they would like the child to be

about him.

If

toward others, the child

will learn

from

is

as well rela-

established by a

is

courteous, says "Please"

and "Thank you" and

talks softly, the

child will tend to absorb these attitudes

out the period. The child should be taught patiently, and too much emphasis should not be placed on the training. of the adults

home,

haps quarrelsomeness. From the yer\ beginning, children are influenced by what goes on around them in the home, whether it reflects culture, kindness and courtesy, or carelessness and bad manners. A little child's beha\'ior depends largely upon the way he himself is treated. If

and standards.

child learns courtesy best by ob-

of the

young married couple before their firstborn arriyes. The atmosphere may be one of snobbishness or neighborliness, hospitality and loying affection, or per-

training should be continuous through-

and imitation

Home Environment

and behayior toward

his

ser\'ation

direct training

can teach him.

As to just when particular training should be giyen, the mother herself must determine. In general, the attitudes."

The

iiom Cemurj- I'hotos, Inc.

example more than

Importance

it is

of

I

as

important to consider the more practical matter of how, what, and when to teach. It will perhaps be best to consider manners according to the age of children. First, what can be expected of children up to fiye years old; a

1.

empha-

sized over conformit\' in manners,

though conformity has

Hi

but

are, like beaut}',

Manners and Physical and Social Growth WTiat can be expected of the little child at different ages depends upon his stage of deyelopment. First of

all,

his ac-

depends upon the amount of control he has of his limbs. A baby of nine months can bang his spoon on his hightiyity

Manners and Courtesy chair

and make much

noise,

but he lacks

sufficient control to feed himself.

Food

spoon and onto his bib. A child of less than two has not much command of speech, and he is socially adjusted only to his parents and close members of the family. He cannot be expected to make a satisfactory approach will slip off his

strangers

to

who

visit

the home.

Too

upon saying "How do you do" or "Thank you" at this age will confuse the child and cause him to withdraw into shyness. Ever\'thing the young child does must

much

ing a cup or glass.

Gradually he will learn to hold it ^^ith only one hand. It is too much to expect a child of this age to sit waiting at a family table while all the others are served. He should be served first and begin his meal before the others. Later he can learn to wait for others on special occasions, perhaps

when

A

insistence

guests are present.

child of five can hold a fork in an

manner and

adult

little

upon formal types

when he

child sometimes

fails

to respond to her

suggestions, his failure should be ignored

and the mother should help by saying "Thank you" or "Please" for him, having

all

the time the attitude that next

time he

will

Manners

What,

be able to respond better.

Age

for the Preschool

some

of the

manners

lift

a glass with

one

hand. Before this age, and even later, a crust is often needed as a pusher to avoid the use of fingers or thumbs with

be thought of as a learning process. Gradual achievement is all that should be expected. The mother should not insist of behavior. If the

147

difficult foods.

Between four and

age a child can be taught to say "Please"

he wants or

asks for things

needs, and

him.

five years of

"Thank you"

for things given

He

can learn to sav "I'm sorrv" or "Pardon me" for such things as bumping into others. He can be expected usu-

"Pardon me" when passing in he will forget to greatly interested in his he is

ally to say

front of someone, but say

it

own

if

activitv.

A

him by the time he is five years old? At the age of two years most children

harder lesson to learn is that one cannot always express his ideas just when he wants to but must wait his turn. This can be taught gradually by saying, "Mother is talking now; in a little while

can partly feed themselves and have sufficient control to hold a spoon firmly

be your turn." Then, of course, the child should be given his opportu-

then, are

that a child of preschool age can begin to learn?

and

What

should be expected of

carry food to the

mouth

times, however, they will

At need help and safely.

it

will

nity to speak.

The

too much independence should not be expected. The child can be expected to

hand or handkerchief before the mouth and nose when coughing and sneezing, as a pre-

sit

for a short period at the table while

ventive against spreading infection, can

he

is

but he should be allowed some movement during a meal, such as carrying a dish to the kitchen. He should be allowed to get down from the table when he has finished eating. A child of this age will use both hands for steadyeating,

reason for putting the

be explained to a child of

Manners From Five Years It

may seem

of

to the

five years.

to

Twelve

Age mother

of a

boy

between eight and twelve that she has

The two best allies of parents when teaching manners or almost anything are patience and example. Meals should be served attractively- and father and mother should always observe

—

the practices they ask of the children.

ing in manners to the high-school age. Mother may remember that at fifteen

she took a real delight in knowing just what was the etiquette of a particular situation. Father may recall that his in-

washing and keeping his clean was coincident with his first

terest in

nails affair

of the heart, at the age of seventeen. National Dairy CovincU

standards of the neighbors' children and ot certainlv, not up to the standards

an impossible task when she attempts to teach him manners. He seems to have lost all the gentleness he had as a six-year-old. His ideal now is to be a fearless' hero-a soldier, a cowboy, a football hero, a gangster, a Superman,

set herself

Grandmother, who frequently comes to are really \isit. Besides, Charles and Jean thoughtless— unnecessarily so— and the familv dislike to think about that long period they must live through before

a desperado. Cleanhness, consideration have for adults, and neatness all seem to

the two begin to have a real interest can be in conventions. Just how much expected of them? ^^'hat is the best

been pushed into a world belonging to will congirls and women. No reasoning vince him that Daddy washes his hands

method

before he eats for any other reason than

With

girls

full in

is

at the

The young child's

them? Table

chief lesson in learn-

his ing to use silver is to get the food to mouth on the fork or spoon without five his spilling it. Until he is four or

the play of his gang.

the problem

of appealing to

Manners

Nothto please overparticular Mother. time ing can prove to him that being on particifor meals is more important than pating to the

Yet

somehow or other both parents feel that Charles and Jean are not quite up to the

somewhat

^^^S ^J^^^^^:^^^

--iS are not s.ffiaentlv developed o. ,,,;„,^ m to use a knife or him enable h trained to Pn^^ble

aimcuit biucc discourteous so often of the unwashed, boys in type. But thev are exactly like placing the standards of the group be-

less

t-n

spoon in any way except by But putting his fist around the handle. his by five or six he can begin to hold which fork and spoon in the adult way, because it makes for is mannerly chieflv to

girls are fore those of fussy adults. And against as likely as boys to join together

adult conventions This lack of interest in adult standTTiev ards often discourages parents. sometimes consider postponing the train-

hold

more

a

efficient ea ing.

use the Tlre s.x-^ear-old can learn to to cut kn.fe to spread butter or |am and

148

Manners and Courtesy tender meats. He learns the lesson that cutting is not tearing but is more like sawing.

Tougher meats

will, of course,

have to be cut by an adult. It should be a matter of pride to the child when he graduates into the "I cut my own meat" class, and he should have achieved this by the age of eight or nine.

At

L49

Breaking bread in two before spreading it with butter. Pushing the chair under the table at

5.

6.

7.

the end of the meal. Putting the napkin in the lap and not tucking it in at the neck.

8.

Asking to be excused

if

he must leave

the table before the others leave.

this

period, too, he can easily learn to leave

and fork eating and to

on

his knife

parallel

after

fold his napkin.

The

should be consistent and patient. Probably only one adult at the table should be responsible for this training. It is not fair to a child just beginning to feed himself to have everyone, from Big Sister on down, "pouncing" on him for his awkwardness. The mother should realize teaching of these

skills

that learning to eat properly like learning to play

is

Many

his plate

something

the piano.

It is a

muscular task and slowly learned. No anger or impatience should enter into the training. The training should be

minimized when guests are present, so as to avoid unnecessary embarrassment

are learned at the

bers,

the following: 1.

The

ability to eat

without spilling any

chewing

2. 3.

Wiping the mouth with the napkin. Talking only when there is no food in the

4.

mouth.

Chewing food

quietly.

As soon as a child can write she should send her own thank-you letters for gifts or courtesies received outside the home. Through writing and receiving such letters she will begin to understand the true

meaning

of gratitude.

a matter-of-fact attitude

noisily

others. It helps in place at the

nicest

is

toward

if

are

likely

Mother

if

to

annov

chairs are put

end of the meal. Mealtime

the

members

of the familv

There is less confusion are seated. If one must leave the it is polite to say "Excuse me."

are all together. if all

table,

Child Learns To Say "Thank You"

In teaching children to express grati-

tude the mother must emphasize sincerity. Most children are by nature grateful

in

of the food.

and

should be given to the child. Spilling food or smearing it on one's face and

Other table manners which should be ten include

train-

the learning process. An explanation of the reasons for these ways to behave

A is

same time. The

ing will require frequent gentle reminders, casual praise when the child remem-

to the child.

acquired before the child

of these ways to be mannerly

and show

their pleasure

and delight

ways other than by words. Too much

Press Syndicate

150 Even rather young children can learn answer a telephone courteously and intelligently. They should be taught to speak plainly and how to take a mes sage or call another person. to

emphasis upon ^•e^bal thanks at a time when they ha\e shown their pleasure spontaneous!}' in another wav is to insist

on form rather than

sincerity.

Howe\er,

there are situations in which words are necessaryB\-

and

desirable.

the time a child

five years old,

is

he should be able to say "Thank you" in certain situations.

He may

stand the true meaning of gratitude until" he is twehe or more, but in thanking others for things

done

him, he begins

for

to acquire the bigger conception.

As soon as a child can write, he should be encouraged to send thank-you letters for Christmas and birthday presents which he received from outside his home. He can say "Thank you" to Grandmother and tell her what he did with the engine or book and ^^hat he

The child should be given help to make writing such let-

liked about sufficient

H. Ajmstroag Roberts

not under-

it.

own way and

in his

to fit the occasion. Gratitude can be expressed in deeds as well as in words. The child can prepare a small surprise for Mother; make a hand-painted Christmas card for Grandmother; pick a few flowers from the garden for the lady next door \^ho alwa\s gi\es him cookies; help Big Sister clear the supper table. These are all sincere wavs of sho\\ing gratitude for kind things done for him, even if his words

are not adequate.

than a disagreeable task. In the same way, the child should learn to thank his friends and their mothers for entertaining him in any wav— not merely at parties. Children can do this bv the time they are eight, but they often do not do so, mainly because \\ords do not come readily to them and Mother is not there to remind them. It may be helpful to teach a shy child just what to say, such as "Hiank you for asking me to vour party." Such a practice, however,

squeezer, glasses,

should be recognized as a crutch and

as

In

ters a pleasure rather

not used long.

It is

much

better for the

child to express his feeling of gratitude

and

ners

manmust be empha-

these matters concerning

all

courtesv,

it

the child, in a sincere way, that one thanks others not only in forsized

^^•ith

whenever one notices that another has done something or taken some special trouble for him. It is just as necessar\' to thank

mal

situations such as parties, but

Mother

or

someone

else in the house-

hold for allowing one to make orangeade in the kitchen, and for washing the it is

doll.

to

If

and pitcher afterwards, thank Grandmother for a new

Mother

is

as

courteous to the

grocen' store clerk or the deliver\man

Manners and Courtesy as she

is

to a guest;

if

thanks the attendant at the service

sta-

up his gas tank; the children will learn from them to be courteous in all situations and to all people. It is largely by observing their parents' tion for filhng

attitude in these ever^'dav situations that

the children learn to express their thanks for services in a natural

The

Father poHtely

and friendly way.

little

Most

know how to With some train-

children do not

answer the telephone. ing in the proper \\'ay to reply to a telephone inquiry, they can become extremely helpful. One girl whose mother was a \^idow with a full-time business, learned to answer the telephone intelligently at the age of six. On taking down the receiver she would sav, "This is Mrs. Green's residence," speaking plainly in a voice loud enough to be heard. She

would explain that her mother was not in and would not be in until such and such a time. She would then give

num-

the mother's business telephone ber.

As soon

as

she could write sufE-

ciently well, she took

down

short, sim-

ple messages for her mother. \\Tiat a

contrast to the child

who

insists

upon

win's residence,"

asked

the receiver, yet

who

is

dumb-

founded when it becomes necessarv to say anything beyond "Hello." Usually long silence, then the receiver is dropped, and Mother or some other adult is summoned, much to the puzthere

is

a

zlement of the

caller.

Small children cannot be expected to understand the reasons for certain traditional

courtesies.

observe

many

like to imitate

of

They will learn to them because they

Daddy

or Mother.

and when someone

is

person to the telehe is not at home. If the child is able to understand names on the telephone, which is also a matter of training, he should be taught to sav,

"May I

for, to call that

or to say that

I

know who

is

calling?"

and "May

take any message?"

Other Social Conventions Parents sometimes ask what to do

about such conventions

boy removing his hat when in the house or when passing an adult acquaintance on the street; a younger person rising when an older person enters the room; saying "Pardon me" when passing before an as: a

man woman

older person in a small space; a

or

boy pushing

or

girl

in the chair of a

at the table; or

an adult or child

making some pleasant conversation with a guest. The social consideration behind some of these conventions is obvious.

running to the telephone and taking

down

mentioned above was

girl

not necessarily of superior intelligence; she had merely been taught a wav to act which helped her in a difficult situation. At an early age children should be taught to say immediately upon answering the telephone, "This is Mr. Good-

phone

Answering the Telephone

51

Halt

Childcraft

152

Those regarding the manners of men to women and of younger to older people are traditional. It is true that modern life has changed many of these aspects of our culture. Men no longer observe certain forms of courtesy toward

since

women,

women have in manv ways achieved men. The \\hich Father's word

equalitv of opportunitv with

old ci\ilization in

was "law" has passed to a certain extent, and in its place have appeared democratic family units, with less emphasis on external signs of respect for parental authoritv. Yet certain con\entional obser\ances are a part of our heritage and manv families like to preser\'e them. Such obsersances are expressed in the consideration and helpfulness of

men

nine-year-old

seem rather curt

to

or

short. Until assured of the real friendli-

may be on his guard. Children learn that some adults are not genuine in their approach to children; ness of a person, he

therefore, a child will often be restrained

with

adults until he

all

is

certain of the

particular indi\idual. It

cannot be emphasized too stronglv

that consideration

is

the true basis for

courtesy and manners.

who

adult

A

child

all

or an

has acquired the outward

forms of good manners without the

in-

ner feeling of kindliness and considera-

not really courteous. Children get a basic satisfaction out of being contion

is

siderate. If a special

need comes up and

children understand

it,

ward women and of youth toward age. Wliere these ideals are held by a family,

thev will usually respond willingly. They should be given opportunities to show their considera-

the teaching of the externals just de-

tion for others in situations in w^hich

scribed can be

to-

is

their efforts

meet with

ex-

Mother has

a headache, Billy

begun before the child

ten and the reason for

them can be

plained. WTiether a family respects these

to

only too glad that they are passing away, it will probably help the child who is growing up during a period of changing tradition to observe

if

traditions or

as

many

of

is

them

as are

common

to the

group in which he mo\es. It will save him manv embarrassing moments in adolescence when he will have an intense desire to conform outwardly to the other young people in his group. Parents cannot hope, however, to have double standards for their children's manners. If children do not learn to

game"

in the

home, thev cannot be expected

to be-

follow "the rules of the

ways when in public. At the same time, one should not expect nor demand perfect manners from the child under twelve vears of age. It is normal, for instance, for the eight- or

ha\'e in pleasing

appreciation. is

If

likelv

respond well to an appeal for quiet he is allowed to help ^Iother by bring-

ing

cool

a

drink,

pulling

down

the

and tiptoeing out of the room. Grandmother has rheumatism and

shades, If

cannot walk well, the children will be glad to run errands for her if the situation

is

explained and

affectionate "Tliank If

if

she has a kindly,

you"

for

them.

parents wish their children to

show

consideration for other people, thev, in turn,

must show consideration

dren as well

as

for adults.

If

for chil-

Mother

expects the children to be at her beck

and constantly interrupts their acti\ities for errands which are not necessary and could wait, she is not setting a good example in the art of consideration. Parents must remind themseh'es over and over that children's interests and needs should be respected. and

call

t#

i^>»,"- .•««.*• ,**».'? J^'

When

children understand the reasons for requests, and adults show appreciation, they are willing and co-operative.

7;:-';:'

not discourteous for children to tune in on radio programs of special interest to them, unless it deprives the adult members of the family of an equal It is

share of entertainment.

and romping

in the

Loud

talking

Press Syndicate

house are not nec-

be condemned of themselves; they should be censored only if they

has

essarily to

its

own way

of doing things,

and

of the child, as well as protection for the

do things according to these customs than to break away from them. On the other hand, whenever the child has observed manners superior to those used in his own home, the mother should be eager to praise the child's observation and to urge improvements in her own family group. During the preadolescent period, when

feelings of adults.

the child normally

actually disturb other

members

that

of the

household, destroy property, or make the children overexcited. It must be re-

membered

in all families that

what

is

one member of the family is not necessarily good for another. The home must have outlets for the spirit

good

for

what is to be expected of the would be well if the father

and the other older members of the family observed at the table the same behavior that the mother is endeavoring to have the child observe.

A

child of any age

may

learn a par-

code of manners at home and be puzzled by differences in other homes. Handling such a situation may require great tact. The mother wants her child ticular

manners lived in his home; yet she does not want him to become a snob. She cannot, therefore, tell him that all persons who do not do it "our way" are at fault. Some parents meet such a situation by telling the child that every family, and indeed every nation, to follow the

interested in

home and their home and his par-

ents' standards, trying to teach a strict

everyone who is a part of the daily family life should understand and accept It

more

is

standards than in the

In training children in good manners,

child.

easier to

his friends outside the

General Suggestions

in detail

it is

conformity

to

conventional

behavior

may do more harm than

good. If the child resists the training to such an extent that the conflict between parent

and child becomes should be eased

great,

the training

during this period when, to the parent, the child seems unwashed and ungracious, the parent can keep a sympathetic and warm understanding of his child and his needs at different ages, the good manners, the considerate behavior will follow naturally.

The

off. If

child has a great need to gain

own

age group; but he also has a need for strong support from status with his

home. One of

his

that support

that his parents can ac-

cept

him

is

measuring

in spite of his faults.

between parents and child

is

sticks for

The

more im-

portant than the child's manners.

153

love

Childcraft

54

SOME THINGS TO THINK ABOUT 1.

select 2.

"good manners" do you think are most important? these particular manners?

WTiat

specific

In what respects do }0u think children today are

than they were

when you were

a child?

How

less

do you account

Why

do you

mannerly and courteous change?

for the

Keep a record of the specific ways in which you show courtesy and respect for your children and the things they are doing. In what ways do you think you may have fallen down? 3.

Do

you believe that a different standard of manners and courtesy should be expected from bovs than from girls? In what respects? How do you justify these differences if vou belie\ e thev should exist? 4.

5.

How

WTiat sorts of manners and courtesy do your children seem do you account for these lags?

On

what kinds

to learn

most slowly?

manners did your parents put greater emphasis with you than you do with your children? Can you see likely changes in the next generation? WTiich of the changes do you believe are desirable and which undesirable? 6.

some

of

which you have been most successful in getting your child to be mannerly. Least successful. How do you explain such differences? 7.

List

of the ways in

8. What common practices as far as manners and courtesy are concerned do you feel have little value at present? Do you think that such practices as the man always walking on the street side, for instance, should be maintained?

BOOKS TO READ Breckenridge, Marian E., and Vincent, E. Lee. Child Development. Philadelphia: W. B. Saunders Co., 1943. Leaf,

Munro. Manners Can Be Fun. Philadelphia: Frederick A.

Strain, Frances Bruce.

Century Co., 1943.

Your Child, His Family and Fnends.

New

Stokes, 1936.

York: D. Appleton-

RESPECTFUL

BEHAVIOR ETHEL

WARING

B.

Ewing Galloway

Wise parents help children learn to judge the worth and value of desirable attitudes and actions. However, they encourage each child to express his feelings of respect in his own way.

RESPECT, like obedience, is expected of all young children. Many parents, however, are satisfied with the outward forms of respect and give no thought to what the child's real attitude is. Sometimes actual respect exists even

havior seems

these facts

stand fairly

in

disrespectful. if

child's be-

Parents should under-

they are to deal wisely and The author is Professor

with their children.

the

Department

of

P'amily Relationships,

Home Economics herself is

though the

is

a

Child

Development and

New York

A

State College of

at Cornell University. Since she

mother, her knowledge of the subject

based upon practical experience as well as upon

professional study.

group of

most

en,

one

dav

of

intelligent, studious

them mothers, were

about

children

wom-

talking

interrupting

There were a few who contended that it was disrespectful. The their elders.

majority, however, preferred to explain

THE

teaching of respectful behavior to a child is a chronic and trouble-

many

some problem

to

From

we must look not

the

first

parents.

only at the polite actions in themselves, but also at ( i ) the worthiness of the

on grounds other than disrespect. They found that their children interrupted in the same wav that adults do, on similar occasions, and for similar reasons.

and

to deal with interruption

Children's respect for their elders has

object he respects; (2) the genuineness of his feeling; and (3) the spontaneity

become

and acceptability

of

of the behavior.

ents

155

a matter of dispute

and teachers

among

largely because

par-

no two

them mean the same thing when they

Childcr.\ft

56 about respect. Respect pigeonholed and labeled— it talk

ence, and, like

all

is is

experience,

not easily an experiit is

com-

plex. Parents are likely to

misunderstand and undervalue, and so do the wrong thing with the child, if they fail to consider all the essential aspects of respect.

Objects of Respect

The feeling of respect or disrespect may be little or much. The object of respect may be worthy or unworthy in the estimation of adults. The manner in which the child expresses his feeling may be the customar\' and expected one or it may be unexpected or spontaneous. Recognizing something as worthv of respect, feeling respect, and expressing this respect in

some way— all these go

into e\er\' experience of respect.

The

dis-

crimination between the worthv and the unworthy is thinking; it is accompanied

by feeling for the worthy and by doing

something to express that feeling. Children often seem to respect objects adults consider unworthv and seem not to respect some considered most worthv. In addition, they sometimes show their respect in unexpected or irregular behavior patterns.

Many

mother of a four- or five-vearold has been dismayed to find him spitting incessantly and ever^-where. Discreet but careful inquir\- mav reveal some

man

a

in the vicinity-

is

the inspiration for

A wise

mother will refrain from any disparaging comment, no matthis behavior.

how disgusting to her the may be. She ^^ill, however, be ter

^

raise

spitting alert to

the child's attitude of respect to a

higher level as opportunit}'

arises.

Mrs. Harris and Dick happened upon the scene of a dog fight. Their young neighbor, Peter, was trying in vain to call

away from a rougher, larger dog. A man went to his rescue and Dick exclaimed, "WTiv, Mother, that's Amy!" Mother said, "Mr. Arnold his dog, Ginger,

certainly helped

Peter out of a hard place and helped little Ginger, too." She

knew Dick would pay

attention to her

remarks because Dick alreadv respected Mr. Arnold as the mighty spitter. Heretofore, however, Mrs. Harris had seen little that was worthy. But since she had reasoned that two of the three factors in this experience of Dick's were constructi\e, she had watched for an opportunity to focus the genuine and generous respect of her son on those aspects of Mr. Arnold which were worthv. Thus, she helped Dick improve in his discrimination of worth, while conserving his spontaneous and generous respect. An overconscientious and less thoughtful mother might have condemned Mr. Arnold for his unworthv traits and thereby confused her son, who had overlooked these traits in his admiration of the worthy elements that his mother had not had occasion to see. Mrs. James was at first quite concerned at seeing seven-year-old Henry show great respect and admiration for Jake, the "rough-neck" of the district school. Fortunately, she kept her no-

most part. A little later the neighborhood situation became serious enough to demand that the parents take a hand in it, but they did not seem to know what step to take. Mrs. James suggested that Jake seemed to have a good deal of power, and if they could enlist his interest he could tions to herself for the

probablv control the boys so that the neighborhood would be safe for the little

From the tales Henr\' had she knew that Jake had cour-

fellows.

told her,

Respectful Behavior age,

and she believed he would sponsor

the cause of the younger boys.

He

did,

and Henry's respect was justified, for Jake revealed far more that was worthy than was unw^orthy. Anv spontaneous feeling of respect

can be directed to more and more worthv objects as the child is helped to discriminate. WTiereas at first he may respect one person and feel no respect for another and a hearty disrespect for

he later learns to the more worthy from the a third,

traits of a

person.

To

help

differentiate less

worthy

him

in this

process of refining his discrimination, his parents must accept the objects of

genuine and abundant respect thev find them.

his

as

Outward Versus Inward Respect Adults are inclined to expect from children certain fixed forms of behavior which have been accepted as showing respect. WTien a child behaves that way, thev are content, assuming, sometimes wronglv, that he feels respectful. The misunderstanding may \\'ork two ways.

The

child \\ho beha\-es that

way may

not feel respectful and the child who behaves some other way may feel genuinely respectful. Things are not always what they seem when it comes to outward observance of respect. Max was one of the most consistently mischievous lads

who

ever sang in a

church choir. He sat in the front seat in full view of the congregation and,

he always exhibited the most cherubic countenance and a posture and attitude of respect for so far as they could see,

the church.

The

choirmaster

knew only

too well though that the cherub was responsible for most of the misconduct

among

the boys.

Da\id had

57

Sunday school until, at the age of seven, he went to boarding school. There he went to Sunday school \\ith the other bovs, but he was somewhat puzzled o\er the performance. \\Tienever his row of boys kneeled, it seemed to be the signal for nudging, pinching, and the like. The teacher at the end of the row was una\\-are of this for the most part, but a careful observer in the row behind readily saw that the bo}S were outwardlv conforming in the beha\'ior expected of them, though they had no spontaneous feeling of respect. Although David had not attended Sundav school before, he had frequently visited churches in whatever community he had li\'ed. He and his mother had often stepped into one as they passed and had stayed a few moments, sitting quietlv, and had then departed. No wonder he was confused by his first Sunday-school experience. ne\-er

gone

to

Jim, at the age of three, xer}' much liked to take his turn in gi\"ing the bless-

ing at mealtime. his

One dav he bowed

head and repeated the nurserv rhvme,

Boy Blue,"

an attitude of praver. His family was wise enough to accept it without comment, just as "Little

in

though he had said the usual little mealtime prayer. Parents may harshly misunderstand a child

if

they judge his attitude merely

from what he does. The Sunda\-school boys were kneeling and bowing their heads, but their feeling was not respectful. On the other hand, Jim was truly respectful although he repeated a child's poem instead of a prayer. Da\"id showed his respect for a church when he chose to go into it and sit quietly for a few moments.

A five-vear-old \\ho looked to be se\en

Children, as well

as adults, have respect for actual performance. Setting

a good exam-

ple will be worth far more than explanations or long lectures. Waring

was considered by a middle-aged woman as very disrespectful because he asked her once, "How old are you?" Either he was very disrespectful or his mother had put him up to this question, she was sure. The explanation was much simpler than either of these. Because he was so large for his age, he was asked by almost every newcomer, "How old are you?" So far as his experience had taught him, this was a usual form of greeting and

A brother and old,

were on the

sister, five

and

six vears

friendliest terms with

the minister of their church,

who

lived

neighborhood and with whom they carried on a continuous game of tag. \Vhenever they saw him, they crossed their fingers and watched their chance to tag him. One Sunday morning he happened to stand at the end of their row as he pronounced the benediction at Sunday school. WTien he finished he felt two little taps and heard the whispered "Tag!" He looked down to see two children with beaming faces and in their

smiled and went on

with his duties, for well he understood the respect that had restrained these folk throughout the benediction

little

and subdued

their usual hearty tag to

the almost imperceptible touch and the

whispered voice.

beamed whenever Uncle her home, and when he gave

Elsie's eyes

Joe came to her the gift which he always had for her she threw her arms about her mother's

Yet the mother tried to have Elsie say the customary "Thank you." "Thank you" may be a more respectful neck

quite respectful.

He

fingers crossed.

in joy.

wav than for

Uncle

way

is

Elsie's of expressing her feeling

Joe,

but to

fully as

much

many

uncles Elsie's

appreciated.

A

boy of ten one day called up one of his mother's friends and said, "Margy, come on over and eat chick with us." Tlie

accepted

friend

heartily,

for

in

these unconventional words she read a very genuine regard for her.

To

her, the

spontaneity and informality of a

name— and

first

that— and of the "eat chick with us" expressed an 58

a

nickname

at

Respectful Behavior

59

unmistakable respect which he knew that she would understand. Sometimes, although the child gives the expected response, it decreases rather than increases the real respect felt. It

taught and as they have found it profitable to behave, without necessarily anv discrimination on their part as to the worthiness of the teacher or any real

makes the child less discriminating rather than more so. Little Helen loved to go to her grandparents' home. For a time an occasional unexpected visitor was an elderly man with a thick beard and

spect for her.

.

sideburns, a cousin of her grandfather.

This gentleman's remarks made it perfectly clear that he expected the little

him

to kiss

girl

of his

part of the ritual

as

welcome. She complied when the

demanded (out

occasion

of respect for

her grandparents), but her dislike for the old gentleman's kiss made her unable to see his

many

demanded

of respect

The form

virtues.

of her prevented

her from feeling a respect which she might naturally have felt for the old gentleman. In

many

instances,

it

is

well

if

the

child can express his genuine respect for

worthy object

If,

customary form. however, the customary form tends

to

become

a

feeling,

comes

no longer

respect. If

it

be-

criminately for worthy and unworthy to

no longer

be used

respect. If

it

comes

as a tool to gain considera-

tion or privilege for the child,

it is

most

decidedly disrespect.

Children

respectful,

who have been

taught to the

Sometimes they may feel but for the most part it is

so.

a perfunctory like so

many

ticular teacher

ful

means of obtaining special attention and privileges. Honest children must truly respect less, rather than adults as a

more, an adult who can be thus influenced. Moreover, a child must respect himself less when he uses such indirect

means instead of earning by personal

his privileges

effort.

Wise parents should realize that they may trust children's respectful behavior which comes spontaneously. With sinand understanding guidance they can stimulate that respect and direct it to more and more worthy objects and, when desirable, to more conventional cere

forms of reaction. Learning To Evaluate Worthy Persons and Deeds

Only

indirectly can parents guide a

child toward worthy people

achievements spect.

as

direction, or advice. Neither should chil-

dren.

Example

is

a powerful influence.

the child's attention to the per-

son and the deed and leaves to place his

own

one

whom

they do not

free

In a household where appreciation

tie

is

him

evaluation.

puppets, even

the par-

re-

No adult gives respect on demand,

performance. They stand if

and worthy

the objects of his

and expressed in manner bv the father

and may even dislike or fear. The children perform as they have been

respect

few who learn to use respectbehavior toward certain vulnerable

It calls

stand whenever a teacher enters

room, do

al-

wa}'S a

in the

so habitual as to be used indis-

is

In camps for children there are

so habitual as to lose real

it is

alike, it

desire to express a feeling of sincere re-

felt

details

that

make

is

a simple, honest

manv lithome run

for the

the

smoothly and the people comfortable and happy, the children learn to understand what the mother's efforts achieve

Childcraft

.6o

and

to respect

them and

her.

Even the

youngster can understand something of

mother when his father says confidentially, "It's some Mother we have, to make apple dumplings on respect for his

Mother to get us all off to work and to school on time," or "Of course, the boys like to come here. Mother knows how to make home home" Similarly, the mother can show ironing day!" or "It takes

by her manner, her occasional remark or explanation, and her joy in doing

he cannot do. Children can understand these achievements in performance enough to marvel at them. It is obvious that they respect both the perof things

formance and the performer. The achievements in physical skill which demand the most ardent respect from a twelve-year-old may pass unnoticed by the five-year-old. The younger child likes to see

wood

fastened together

things for father, that she appreciates

with nails in any manner. His older brother, however, respects the accurate corners and smooth finish with which

what he contributes

his father

to the familv in

home,

support, in planning, in helping at

and

in

The

children seeing this will appreciate

what

sharing the family recreation.

their father's efforts

come

mean and

will

them and him. For exeasy and natural for a mother "Your Father can help you

to respect

ample,

it is

to suggest,

think that out.

He

is

a fine planner," or

comment, "Not many men are handy about the house as your Father to

We

so is.

couldn't run this household with-

out him, could we?" or to ask, "Can we go when Daddy can be with us? It is such fun when Daddy goes on our trips." Qualities Children Respect

Cbildien.Like Adults, Respect Achieve-

ment and People Who Achieve. They respect an adult for his skill— his gross physical skill, his fine manual skill, and his

mechanical

skill.

Watch

a little child

follow his mother about, trying to

the floor, dishes.

roll

out biscuits, or wash the

Watch him

does in

filling

mop

trying to

do

as

Daddy

the radiator of the

car,

mending a broken toy, or pushing the lawn mower. His face beams with respect and pride for his parent's performance. All day long in work and in play the young child sees adults doing scores

makes

a picture frame. Simi-

make

bed smoothly escapes the younger child and is frequently respected by the older child. There is also a difference in what the two ages expect and respect in playing ball. Only as a child can understand something of the difficulty of a deed and the power necessary to control that difficulty, can he value the deed itself. \Vhen he recognizes skill in performance, he offers his respect naturally and generously. Parents must take this fact larly,

the ability to

a

into account.

Respect Achievements in Thinking. When they seem not to do so, it is frequently because they do not Childzen

understand.

They may seem

to adult explanations

structions

and

inattentive

careless of in-

when the words have

little

meaning to them. George wanted long underwear. His mother explained, "But it's too warm. When it gets colder you may wear it." Some davs later at bedtime the mother was surprised to find him wearing long underwear. WTien she asked about it, he explained that he had seen some hanging on the line at his friend's house and the weather was colder than it had been. His seeming disrespect of his mother's

Children respect their parents' abil-

do a variety things. They en-

ity to

of

joy the opportunity to

work and play

with their parents and learn how to

do "grown-up" activities

themselves. By Halur irom Black Star

explanation had been due to the fact that he

had only

partially

Frank had put a wrist watch at the head of his list for Santa Claus. The watch was not among his gifts on Christmas day, but when he went next door he saw one among his friend's gifts. He asked, "Did you ask Santa for that?" "No," said his friend, "it was on the tree." "Then it belongs to me, for I asked Santa for it." This lad was not lacking in respect for property rights,

but rather he was wholeheartedly

re-

spectful of the thinking of the adults

told

him

swered children's

A child who

that Santa Claus an-

letters.

has always found his par-

ents ready with a

new

A

understood her

thinking.

who had

ing.

story about a dog,

This friend was priceless to him. little

child

who

gets a satisfactory

answer to his question or an explanation for the situation which puzzles him shows his respect for the adult's thinking. One of the evidences that he respects such thinking is the discrimination he uses in selecting adults to help him with his difficulties and problems. If a child asks you what he had better do when the other boys want him to do irregular things, you may feel his deep respect for your thinking. If the children ask you to help them plan a surprise party, figure with them how much it will cost, and so on, you may know that they respect your thinking. If they come to you with the strange tales of their companions and ask, "Wliat do

may

a train, an Indian, or anything that chal-

they mean?" you

lenges his interest, shows his respect for

spect your judgment.

their creative thinking. Lincoln Steffens,

Children delight in make-believe and they pay tribute to those who can create products of the imagination \\'hich surpass their own. Most spontaneously

as a boy,

had the

finest respect for his

friend, the bridge tender,

who

under-

stood his imaginative stories of prospect-

i6i

feel sure

they

re-

Through sports and athletics, children learn to respect the qualities of good sportsmanship and fair play as well as superior physical skill.

e\ery night

but when

when

she puts her to bed, her father puts her to bed she

goes to sleep without a wiggle.

Wliy?

whimper

or a

Sally respects authority

in her father.

Mrs. Carson made a change in her household help, and the children soon

new member of the family did not know much about them or their affairs. The children do much as found that

this

they please whenever their mother on the spot.

is

not

Two

boys \\-ere building a dam not far from the house. Thev heard their mother calling Philip Gendreau. X. T.

went on with their building. She called again in a few minutes. TTiev glanced at each other and continued their plav. A little later thev heard her again, and this time one of them said, "There speaks the \oice of authorit}'," and thev both promptlv made their wav to the house.

and genuinely do the\' respect achievements in thinking, whether the skill be expressed in solving problems, in under-

standing the thoughts of others, or in creating vivid imager}'.

Children Respect Achievements in Physical Peiloiinance, Thinking, and in Attitude. In the nursen.- it is easv to tell \\hich adults the children respect and

which they do

ward in the hospital the regular nurse mav be off duty. A strange nurse comes in and not. In a children's

with hesitant, uncertain manner looks into each crib. There is a general fretting throughout the room. Another equallv strange nurse comes in \\ith a friendlv, confident

manner and soon the room

is

again quiet. Children respect a friendly, confident attitude.

One mother Sally

is

reports that two-vear-old

up and down

for an

hour or more

them from the house, but thev

Childzen Respect an Attitude of Truth and Feel a Genuine Disrespect tor Un-

Edith frequently chatted with Mr. Cross as he walked by her home. He happened to be the superintendent of her Sunday school and he raised Shetland ponies. One of the smallest ponies, a spotted one, was the delight of this little girl. She watched it at plav almost everv- day. Mr. Cross had told her that the ponv was too young to lea\e its mother vet, but it could be her pony just the same. He chatted with her daily about her pony. One day the ponv was gone and she disco\ered that Mr. Cross had sold it. Her respect for truth.

.62

Fi\e-\ear-old

Respectful Behavior him was

shattered as she disco^•e^ed that

adults did not always

tell

the truth.

Her

overwhelming lack of respect for Mr. Cross encompassed the whole of him, and though she lived in his town for fifteen years after that, she never

could

overcome this feeling for him. The Attitude of Fair Play Is One That

Young Children Leain and for

to

Respect.

Games

enhance the value of fair play vouth. The major responsibility of sports

adults

is

affairs— in

among

them apply

to help

the

family,

in

school,

and between children and adults— the same respect for fair children,

play that they give spontaneously to

it

game. Another refinement of respect is encouraged through good sportsmanship. To respect the effort and skill of an opponent, to respect anyone's improvement, whether it beats an opponent or breaks a record— these are in the

some

of the finer grades of respect that

may grow

out of school

ready to respect the heroism and service of e\er}day life if it is within their experience and understanding. Children of all ages respect achievements, whether in

performance, in thinking, or in attitude. Children will respect an adult for those achievements which thev see and understand, because such achievements command their spontaneous respect. This is the only source of genuine respect. Exacting Children's Respect

to ever\day

the

life

and espe-

Sometimes adults exact respect from children to bolster their

.

cepted her mother's suggestion, however, that Miss James did not know the children vet and deserved a chance. Children feel grateful for service to

but they feel respect for service rendered to others to whom thev have no personal relationship. Respect themselves,

for heroes in current life is

universal

among

and

in fiction

children. Tliey are

Children give their spontaneous respect and admiration both to the person who has the skill and patience to do creative work and to the product he makes.

lack of

self-

examine themsch^es carefully, they are likely to find a tendency to demand formal respect from children

when they cure.

To

feel their authority

the basis of authority

weakness.

is

inse-

exact respectful behavior on

A

is

a

symptom

of

father discovered that his

son listened intently to discussions of scouting, carpentrv, and the like. It was only when the father got "preachy" that

out of recreational activities if supervised bv people who respect them.

from the third to the fourth grade, left Miss Shaw, whom she ardentlv respected, for Miss James, who seemed to her quite a contrast. She ac-

own

respect. If they

cially

Sallv, in passing

63

Ewing Galloway

Childcraft

164 he had

to

demand

that

the lad pay

attention to him.

Fred,

who

father could

make her do

not think and

respected highly his father's

as

he

said

but

feel the respect that the

act implied.

word until he knew the story by heart. WTien his father started reciting in a dramatic way some event of the day in which the lad had shared, he broke into his father's story and told the next part.

Boys and girls today tell their parents about their shortcomings and what they think are their faults. This may be done frankly and brusquely and yet not be disrespectful. More often than not it is an expression of respect that boys and

The

girls

ability to tell a story, listened to every

father listened attentively as the

had and supplied details at any place where the lad faltered. This father was not annoved at what some adults might call interrupting. He and his son had shared the original experience and now

lad

they were sharing the telling about

He

it.

no necessity for demanding the center of the stage and exacting respectfelt

ful silence of his son.

An

adult

who

has

not need to rely on the respectful behavior of children to indiself-respect does

think their parents are the sort who can hear and talk about their faults.

The

children are expected to hear about

their

own

own

faults,

shortcomings. Just why should an adult expect a child to listen to his

and yet be told that

him

disrespectful for sort of is

remark

to

make

it

is

the same

in return? If the parent

respectful of the child w^hen correct-

ing him, the child will be respectful of the parent, but he should be permitted to tell his parents their faults in a re-

A

mother was somewhat

date their esteem.

spectful way.

when a bov of ten said to his mother, who was relating a family incident to a guest, "Oh, I know that.

startled to hear her son say quietly, "Yes,

Let me tell it," he was rebuffed by his mother, who replied, "Don't interrupt, Don. I'm telling this stor\^" The alert interest of the child vanished and he said, "Anvway, I know as much about it as you do." For this so-called insult

realized that she

In contrast,

Mother, but if you would say it only once instead of so many times." She

had repeated

in several

ways because she was not sure that he was getting the significance of the matter. She explained this to her son, and they agreed on a plan whereby his re-

he was required to apologize and sent

sponse to the first telling would assure Mother and she would be careful not to

to his room. Because of her lack of un-

"rub

derstanding and

skill, this

mother damp-

ened the spontaneous interest of her son, and by humiliating him she jeopardized his feeling of honest respect for her. Most children can make a distinc-

between respectful behavior that exacted and that which is genuine. tion

girl in

it

in."

Son and Mother improved

their relationship

permanently

as a re-

sult of the boy's frank criticism.

To

have the respect of their children, parents must behave simply, directly,

and genuinely

so

that

their

children

is

can understand what they are thinking

A

and

the early teens said to her father,

feeling.

Respectful consideration of a child's

you sav so, of course, I'll have to do it— and I will do it— but you can't make

behaxior, however lacking in respect

me

way

"If

think

it's fair."

In other words, her

may

appear, to

make

is

it

the soundest and surest

his respect grow.

Respectful Behavior

165

SOME THINGS TO THINK ABOUT you think your children owe you respect and are you hurt when you think they fail to give it? Do you express your appreciation for an informal or unexpected expression of their regard for you? 1.

Do

What do you expect of your child as respectful behavior? List half a dozen items. What things do your children do which seem to you disrespectful in deed or manner? 2.

3.

Are you more

likely to

be disturbed by disrespectful behavior when other people

are present? 4.

Can you

ing from his

What

some event in which you thought your child was disrespectful action) and later found he had not meant any disrespect?

(judg-

recall

and achievements can you discover in every member of your family and community which you can honestly respect? How many of them can you share with 5.

qualities

your children?

BOOKS TO READ New York: The John Day Co., 1941. Blatz, William E. Hostages to Peace. New York: William Morrow & Co., 1940. Boettiger, Elizabeth F. Your Child Meets the World Outside. New York: D. AppleBeverly, Bert

I.

In Defense oi Children.

ton-Century Co., 1941.

Dixon, E. Madeleine. Keep

Them Human. New

Ellenwood, James Lee. There's

No

Place Like

York:

The John Day

Home. New York:

Co., 1942.

Charles Scribner's

Sons, 1938.

Gruenberg, Sidonie

M. We,

the Parents.

New

York: Harper

&

Brothers, 1939.

Kirch er, Clara J. Character Formation through Books: a Bib/fography. of bibliotherapy to the behavior problems of childhood. 2nd ed., rev. and ton, D. C: The Catholic University of America Press, 1945.

Symonds, Percival M. Psychology oi Parent-Child Relationships. Appleton-Century Co., 1939.

Washburn, Ruth

W,

Children Have Their Reasons.

New

An

application

enl.,

New

W. M.

Parents' ManuaJ.

New

York: D.

York: D. Appleton-Century

Co., 1942.

Wolf, Anna

Washing-

York: Simon & Schuster, 1941.

THE CHILD

AND MONEY SIDONIE M. GRUENBERG Kaufnian

A

WHOLESOME

attitude toward

knowledge of how to spend,

money and

Fabr>'

Company

Helping with the family shopping is one of the best ways for a child to learn the value of money as it

a

as well as the ability'

to save, are essential to a child's well-rounded development. Misunderstandings and misconception about money are the causes of many beha\ ior problems. In this article the author gives many practical suggestions for parents who wish to guide their children wisely in regard to this \ers' important matter. Sidonie M. Gruenberg is Director of the Child Study Association of America and is a frequent contributor to leadmg magazines.

is

related to the necessities.

ing subdued,

money was even

less a part

and children seldom had occasion to handle anv. It was from the experience and tradition of those pioneer times, howe\er, that most men and women of today deri\ed the attitudes toward money which guide their of daily experience,

WHEN

our grandparents were children, most people produced through their own efforts a large part of the things

&

financial affairs.

which

family's

they used. Money entered into daily life only to a slight extent. During the pioneer days, when the frontiers were being opened up and the wild country was be-

money

The is

tradition that the

largely the business of

the head of the household

many

still

affects the

even though that tradition no longer fits our condithinking in

tions generally. 1

66

families,

The Child and Money Today

evenbody has

nearly

to use

money. Mother, of course, does most of the family spending. Children, especially city and suburban children, come into

money more

contact with

and

frequently

younger age than children in the past ever did. WTiether it is for carat a

fare,

school lunches, class and club dues,

or the offerings of the five-and-ten-cent store,

demands and temptations

are

167

mutton

or a picture, a garment or a book, a chair or admission to a motion-picture show. It can hire people to a leg of

do one's bidding; it can pay someone else to do unpleasant or disagreeable work.

It

can purchase the expert counsel

man or buy WTien a man has

of a professional

tickets for

a journey.

a chair or

he \alues it for what it may do him. \\^hen he has money, however,

a suit, for

be: First,

he values it for all the different things it might buy, and he gains a sense of power from having choices and the free-

second,

dom

nearly always present.

The

come

pressing problems have

to

how to earn the needed money; how to manage it in order to Man-

provide the family with comforts.

agement of money requires judgment which comparatively few people have had the chance to learn. Consequently, many adults do not show much skill or understanding in managing their money affairs.

An

increasing

by

are disturbed

number

this fact

of parents

and by

inability to guide their children.

of

them

dren's

their

Many al-

They

are

lowances, penalties, and

anxious to children in

fines.

know how to guide the use of money from

early years,

so that they will

their their

be well

equipped to handle it capably as they grow up in a world in which money has taken on new meanings and powers. Since children are dependent, the money they can spend belongs, in a

make

decisions.

people, however, have

If

money, or none, then plied

many

its

too

value

is

little

multi-

they feel depri\'ed

times;

not only of the necessities which they cannot obtain, but also of the man\choices and of the sense of power that are denied them. To many people, therefore, success is thought of in terms of acquiring money.

are asking questions about chil-

spending and saving, about

to

Confused Ideas About Money Confusion about money is shown in the way thousands of people tr\' to apply in home life ideas about buying and selling, about bargaining and trading, that do not properly belong within the family. This fact is illustrated by the

most

trivial

everyday episodes.

Alfred does not like cod-liver

oil.

Urg-

are disposed to keep control of their

be a "brave little man" for his own good does not have the desired effect. But a penny for each spoonful

money. Money

enables the mother to carry out the doc-

sense, to the parents,

is

ents hate to give it

carries

with

it

when they have

and many parents

power, and

many

money and

the power

par-

to their children, even plent^^ of

money

for all

needs and can shower the children with all sorts

of things in abundance.

A handful for

of coins

any one of

him

to

tor's orders

and everybody

another family,

it

is

things—

is

happy. In

carrots or spinach

nap that Alice must be paid to accept. In any or the taking of the afternoon

case, the parents are

may be exchanged

a great variety of

ing

applying to their

dealings with their children the practices of the

market

place.

Out

in the

Paying children

to

be good or

to take

and

distorts

their cod-liver oil is bribery

sense of values. Behavior business proposition. their

is

not a

boy's sa\ings according to a scale

To be

units. gi\'es

a

are A's By

Shigeta-W'right, Inc. from Black Star

perfectly

money payment on the

fair,

of

the father

everv time there

report. In this

way the

children learn that good beha\ior, punctuality, learning lessons, and such things

have a money \'alue— to the parents. The trouble is that thev do not see clearly that business relations of buying and selling are different from home relations of mutual help and understanding. Home matters ha\e a \alue in themselves and should not, therefore, be put

all

world of trading and bargaining, people are hired to do for money what they would not do just for fun or just to please others. Father hires a man to shovel the

snow

off

the sidewalk; mother

woman

to do the washing or help \\ith the sewing. In the case of Alfred, and in similar cases, the parents are teaching the child hires a

money is the suitable means for getting him to do what he would prefer not to do. But they are not teaching him to that

distinguish between things he does for

own good and

those that he does for people \\ith ^^•hom he has only a busihis

ness relation. Furthermore, they are, as

the

saying

goes,

"starting

something

they can't finish." Tlie time will come when the penny must be raised to a nickel, or even a quarter, and in time even the quarter will fail to get results. \\niat will they do when Alfred and Alice decide that thev have enough

monev and sell?

that thev do not choose to

Having placed on

a business basis

the matter of their cod-liver carrots, the parents

ha\e

which has and not with monev. a situation

to

oil

and

lost control of

do with health

In another familv, the child's weeklv report card from school is solemnly looked over and cash is taken from the

on a cash

basis.

The

injection of

monev

reward or punishment only beclouds the issue and gives the children a distorted sense of relative values.

as

Children often give evidence of confusion about money, of attaching false values to it, or of trying too hard to get it. Sometimes they try to get money in ways which parents do not approve, or to use it in ways that do not seem right. Young Jay Parker, for example, spends everv cent as fast as he gets it. This is in direct contrast to Ellen Day, who never spends a cent and who has quite

sum collected in the Humptv-Dumpty bank her uncle gave a

respectable

Neither of these children is de\'eloping a healthy attitude toward money. Little Dolly Sands wants to play only with the children in her school who show by their dress and their belongings that thev come from homes with money. Jimmy Sloan, on the other hand, a\'oids such children. He would rather be alone her.

or play with children

homes with 168

httle

who come from

money. In both of

The Child and Money these cases, there

is

something amiss in

money— from teacher, or his own

certain child steals

companions, his mother— though he has an allowance which adequately meets his needs. Sam King, on the other hand, gives his money his

He

companions for no reason whatsoever. His mother thinks only that he is too generous and kindhearted. A boy like this, however, who gives, and gives too much, may be as much in need of help as the boy or away.

girl

who

loves to treat his

finds

it

necessary to steal, with-

out knowing what to do with the money after he has it. What do such faulty, even twisted, attitudes toward money signify? The

who

he seeks to buy popularity by treating his companions and the child who escapes from the responsibility of spending by saving all his money, both show personality difficulties which are actually not related child

money

feels so inferior that

such cases money is merely the concrete medium which brings into focus the child's emotional needs. By getting a better understanding of the child's total personality needs, parents can learn how to guide him to better adjustments. to

or

its

use. In

Experience in Buying In order to learn what

money

will

buy and what its limitations are, the child must have experience in buying, that is, in spending. From the time he is old enough to be taken along when mother is marketing or to be taken in a public conveyance, he begins to observe

money

in use. People

for the car or

obtained

at

bus

the

"Let

says,

me

pay out money

ride; for store.

the things

This

activity

catches the child's attention and inter-

pay," and he gets

from going through

a certain satisfaction

the children's attitudes.

A

He

est.

^69

the motions of paying for the things his

mother buys. This

is

new kind

a

money, but

not yet buying in any

it is

true sense. It

of experience with

a ritual,

is

and

so far as

the child's understanding is concerned, could be performed with stage money. Indeed, people do actually perform some of

formal

their

with

trading

various

kinds of tickets and tokens, as on public conveyances, at the motion pictures, or in connection with the weekly or

monthly accounts dren of

for

milk or

five or six years like to

ice.

Chil-

play store,

imitating the activities of their elders,

even if there is no money in sight. This is simply the ceremony of exchange. To get a real introduction to the qualities of

money, the child needs

different types

of experiences with the various forms of real

money.

Children

way

first

learn about

monev from

and from the attitude they have toward it. But the

their parents use

it

such learning is not enough. Monev is a tool and evervbodv has to use it skillnecessary part of daily living. In learning to use this tool, a fully, for it is a

child needs his very

own monev with

no strings or quahfications attached. Only when he is free to spend it as he likes will he have any real interest in spending

him only feel

with

money

so that

it

bring

will

the most satisfaction.

when monev

is

Moreover, his very own will he

the responsibility for what he does it.

Since the child needs this experience for his education in the years before

he

way

to

is

able to earn, the most sensible

provide

it

would seem

an allowance.

to be through

The

to spend money wisely is learned only by spending money. To gain this experience, a child needs an allowance which he can use exactly as he pleases. The amount should be adjusted to his age and needs.

ability

Press Syndicate

tempted to squander his entire fortune, whether it be three cents or five cents, on penny sweets. But he will soon tire of this, particularly if there is enough candy for him at home. It is a good idea to let the boy or girl help to choose the candy which is bought for the house so that, in spending his own money, he will be interested in other things. Toys and tricks and novelties soon appeal to him more, and after a few trials he learns that they last longer.

A mother's

The Child's Regular Allowance

patience

she watches her young son or daughter choosing among the various offerings of the corner toy store or the five-

way tools and pencils or paints are needed— not as something of lasting value in itself but as a means of gaining

and-ten.

useful experience.

come

apart, or else a

yond

his

the same

successful

educationally,

e\en further as she watches him decide in fa\or of a tov that

may not come,

or

may be cut in the money when

if it

half, the child will use

he gets it for fear there will be no more. Unable to plan, he cannot learn to spend wisely; neither will he develop the feeling

of

responsibility

for

his

own

spending and saving. Leaining To Spend Wisely. However small the amount, the allowance has educational possibilities from the very beginning. At first the child may be

is

It

is

tried

obviously flimsy and

game

bound that

is

to

be-

understanding or skill. It is hard for her to see her child letting himself in for a disappointment, and it is also hard to see the pennies and the nickels and the dimes being wasted. These pennies and nickels and dimes, however, should not be counted as "waste," but as the "price" of the education which the child is getting. Considering what he is learning, the price is low— much lower than it would be if the child waited to learn how to spend money until he was older and his mistakes were more expensive. No matter what the child selects and no matter how pleased he is with his purchases, he is bound at times to have

the

allowance must be regular, the amount and the interval remaining the same over a period so that the child can count on it and plan ahead. If there is any uncertainty as to next week's allowance, if it

well be tried

as

The allowance, an allotment of money for the child's own use, is needed in

To be

may

170

The Child and Money The

regrets.

model or

flimsy airplane

the cardboard doll bed are pretty

when

new, but they soon break or come apart. The child then wishes that he had bought something more durable. He realizes that it

too late for this time;

is

do better buying, it must be next time. But— and here again parents must be patient— it will take several next times before a child learns what kind if

he

to

is

of choices bring the greatest satisfaction

per penny or nickel or dime.

handed over, parents can think no more about the money set after

If,

it is

aside for the child's experience, they will

find themselves better able to let the

child spend the

From

the very

be under the

may

advise,

money

child's

child's

for himself.

He

He

Parents

control.

asked; but the choice

must be the money.

he wishes.

the allowance should

first

when

as

is

own. He spending

is

buving

own

his

gaining experience. Should the Allowance Begin?

When

is

There is no "right age" to start all children on an allowance with money of their

own

since children differ so

much

from one another as to the age at which they learn to count and as to their readiness to bilities.

make choices or take responsiThe circumstances under which

children

li\'e

also vary tremendously.

city child will

actions

and

A

more money transtherefore, become in-

see

will,

terested in having

money

to

spend

at

an earlier age than a farm child. In suburban communities or small towns, the nearness of the

home

or the school

Giving children responsibility for some of the minor marketing teaches them a great deal about selective buying. It also makes them feel that they are important, contributing

members

of the family.

to a

171

tempting store

will

hasten a child's

money of his own. A secwill become interested in

eagerness for

ond

child

money

an

than a first child and will likely be ready for an allowance at an earlier age than his big brother or sister, for he will have learned something about what money buys from watching the older one.

One

at

earlier age

little girl

of five regularly stole

from her older brother's purse. Giving her a small allowance, though she had really no way of spending it, placed her at once on a level with her brother, and she immediately stopped taking money from him. \Vhether or not a child's playmates have an allowcoins

ance will also influence his interest in having one himself. The time to start a child on an allowance is usually when he can count, when he begins to understand what buying means, and when he has some opportunity to buy. For most children, this time will come between five and seven

Simply asking for money is, of course, not enough. A three-year-old

years of age.

By Grepor from Monkmeyer

Childcraft

172 girl

started asking for

money when

she

saw what a fine time her six-vear-old brother was ha\'ing spending his allowance. Her parents gave her two pennies to play with, and these kept her happy all summer. Gi\'ing so young a child money to spend regularly would have been absurd. In addition to signs of "interest" in money, there must also be an understanding of what money is for. Each parent must decide for himself when the child is ready for the allowance. How Large Should the Allowance Be?

The amount of the allowance cannot be stated as so much money at one age and so much at another age. The amount depend upon the living conditions in the community, on the family income, on the child's own understanding of the uses of money, and upon his growth in the skill of managing it. Individual differences in maturitv and the circumstances in which the child is living must be considered, also. What type of community is he in? How near are the stores? Does he need carfare, lunch money? Are there anv other items

will

that

require

the

regular

handling of

creased nor decreased because the child does something that pleases or displeases

the parents.

The

allowance should be adjusted, however, from time to time as the child's skill in managing money develops and his needs grow.

As a child gets older, his allowance must gradually be increased— both to meet the growing demands on his budget and to give him increasing experience in planning, in sa\ing, and in spending. In addition to increasing the amount of the allowance as the child

grows older, the period the allowance covers should also be increased. This should be done gradually as it is quite a jump from managing money for a week

managing

to

Besides

it

over a whole month.

having an

increased

allow-

ance, the child can be given an oppor-

tunity for further experience by letting

him do more and more

of the purchas-

ing for the family as well as for himself.

Between fourteen and sixteen years he should be able to manage an allowance covering his

of expenses, including

all sorts

amusements and

clothing.

From

a

at least

much

some

of his

age the

earlier

money? How much do his classmates and companions get? If there is an "av-

child should have a share in the selection

erage" that seems reasonablv adjusted

tunity to learn about quality, taste, and

to the responsibility

and judgment of

the children, to their spending needs,

and

to the general

community

pattern

of living, that will naturally give the par-

ents a fair starting point. This does not

imply that one must do as others do, but it can serve as a guide to the children's probable needs.

A

child of five or

town or

six,

in

ordinary

of his clothing so that he has an oppor-

value before

it

becomes

bility to

make

ever

practicable, the boys

it is

chases

that affect

to check

in-

girls

the whole family—

from furnishings and utensils to furniture, an automobile, or a new home. By

and should,

be neither

and

should have a chance to do some planning of the family budget and should take part in making important pur-

seven years of age,

therefore,

responsi-

the final choice. \\^her-

can use from a few pennies to say ten cents a week. The allowance is in no sense "earned" city surroundings,

his

many

children are of the

minor

money

safely,

up on the change, and

so on.

already able to do

some

marketing, to carry the

The Child and Money Shopping for Mother or accompanying her on shopping trips teaches the child many important principles to be considered in making selections and helps to

him

prepare

better for handling the re-

sponsibilitv of his It is necessary,

make

own

allowance.

however, for the par-

between the monev which the child spends under the requirements of home or school and that which he spends entirely at his own discretion— the allowance proper. Someents to

a distinction

allowed to handle money every week, but only a very small portimes a child tion or

is

none

at all

is

left for

him

to

spend just as he wishes. A boy of seven was gi\^en an "allowance" of fifteen cents a week \\ith which to buy icecream cones for himself, his little sister, and a high school girl who took care of the children. The mother was pleased with her clex'cr scheme. She gave her child money to spend and yet took no risks about his misuse of it. But what was the boy learning from this arrangement? Ice-cream cones cost a nickel apiece, week after week, and three nickels make fifteen cents. He made no choices, formed no judgments. The money was no more his than are the

173

They were

ance.

Florence

felt at a

companions

distressed to learn that

disadvantage with her

spending money. If a three-year-old is able to put his mother's fare into the box without delaying other passengers, he should by all means be permitted to do so. And the little seven-year-old should bu\^ the three ice-cream cones weekly if the mother wants to give the children that treat. Florence should continue to handle many of her owti expenses. All these for lack of

experiences are valuable in learning

how

money. But the children— and, of course, their parents— should be perto handle

when they are handling money for Mother or the family, when they are handling money for items already agreed upon, and when they are managing money of their own. fectly clear as to

Should Childien Keep Accounts? Many parents assume that an allowance can be truly educational only if children are required to keep accounts. Perhaps it would be well if children did keep accounts and learned from their records how they might spend their money more wisely. But keeping accounts does not

come to

easily to

most

most children

By

adults.

or,

indeed,

upon such some of the

insisting

nickels a three-year-old puts into the fare

accounts, parents defeat

box on the bus.

purpose of the allowance. First, keeping records under parental orders makes the child feel accountable to his parents for the way in which he spends his money, rather than to himself and his own judgment. Such records

Florence was given an allowance of nearly two dollars a week, but found that she

had only about ten cents

to

spend according to her own choice. She had to pay for her school lunch and

some clubs, for Sunday-school contributions, and for occasional pencils and other supplies. The amount left did not allow her much

may

freedom to experiment with candy and ice-cream cones and gifts, yet her parents thought that she had a handsome allow-

ing

carfare, for

membership

in

^

serve the parents,

them merely

who may

use

another control, but they do not necessarily benefit the child. Secondly, if the process of record keepis

as

very distasteful to the child,

might take lowance.

all

It is

of the joy out of his

it

al-

true that his allowance

Childcraft

174

By watching

their parents

pay

bills

and

keep accounts, children learn to understand the reasons for keeping records, for budgeting, and for periodical appraisal of family expenditures.

involves responsibility, but sibility that

comes out

it is

respon-

of the experience

spending his money for his own purposes or satisfaction. Insisting on accounts puts a condition on the allowance, whereas one of the essential features of a child's allowance is that he should not be made to "earn" it, either actually or by good behavior. Occasionally a child will go so far as to say that he hates keeping accounts so much that he would rather not have an allowance. The keeping of accounts has a place, however, for the child who finds it interof

esting, as

some children

do,

and

for the

one who takes to the idea without resentment. It is perhaps most useful as a short-term measure to find a "leakage." Adults often keep careful accounts for a

why the much faster

short while in order to find out

money seems

to disappear

than it should. Instead of telling a child in advance that he will get more for his money if he keeps accounts, his parents can suggest— when he himself is dissatiswith the way his financial affairs are going— that keeping a record of his expenditures for a while might show him fied

happening to his money and how he might use it to better advantage.

what

By Camei-a Guild

more

fiDiii

Moakmeyer

He may

drop it just as readilv when he thinks he has found out what he wanted to know. That is all right, too. He can start his accounts again the next time he gets in a jam. If he finds the system useful, he may use it

readily.

as a regular thing

when he

is

older.

The

submitting of his accounts should never be made a condition for continuing his allowance, just as other elements of the child's conduct should not be permitted to interfere with the allowance.

The remedy in

for foolish

improving the

counts

may

spending

is

art of spending.

help, but

money

to

help

Ac-

spend

is

indispensable.

Saving

is

The money problems

of

some way

most adults

Itemized records are often useful when the allowance seems to be inadequate

are usually in

and parents and children together want to work out one that will be fairer or more suitable. Introduced to accounting as a project, with a definite purpose he

a reserve to draw

can value, a child

help their children understand that.

is

likely to accept

it

ings; that

is,

related to sav-

an adult finds that

much

upon

if

he has

in emergencies,

and

everything

is

Saving

therefore, considered as hav-

is,

ing great merits.

easier

pleasanter.

Parents must try to

The

The Child and Money trouble

that

is

them the ritual of

are so eager to teach

habit of saving that

it

we make

which has no meaning

Many

child.

we

a

to the

parents will give a child an

"allowance" of five or ten or twentv-five cents a week, and teach the child to drop it into his savings bank. Savings can mean very little to a young child. Certainlv, the monev is in no sense an "allowance" if it is earmarked for the piggy bank or the savings bank before the boy or girl ever sees it. For "saving" to have any meaning, the issues must be clear to the child. He must have a genuine choice, and the sa\ing must be something that he does himself. Parents can help a child in learning to save, as in learning to spend, with suggestions, explanations, and advice from time to time.

But they should

free to

make the

still

final choice,

cludes, of course, the chance

leave

him

which for

him

in-

to

make mistakes. As the child is given the opportunity to spend he will discover that the things he would like most to have sometimes cost two or three or even five nickels instead of the one he has to spend. He can be helped to understand the meaning of saving for something he wants if it is pointed out to him. He can understand that he will be able to buy the ten or twenty-five-cent treasure he wants so

much if he is willing to wait for a week or month until his nickels have accumulated.

He

may, of course, decide that the

dropping money in a bank every not teach a child anything about the value of saving. A child cannot want to save until he comprehends that there is often reason for and need to put money away in order to meet larger Just

week does

expenditures.

175

not worth waiting for, but the decision will be his own. It is often difficult for the child to decide whether to buy the trifle now or save up for something which he would rather have. This experience can be not only distressing but stimulating; it can make him think. Sometimes, however, the child has to be helped with his thinking. It is not always easy to pass from the phase of spending all one has, to saving for something larger, or more lasting, or object

more

is

attractive.

Some

children quickly

catch on to this idea; others are slower,

hard to hold the money without spending it. The child should never be forced to save, the idea will mean much more to him when it has come out

and

find

it

own experience. From saving over a

of his

short period of

time for some special object that he wants very much, a child learns as he grows older to save over a longer period. He will also be able to lay aside a part of his allowance and spend part of it.

^Vhen Henry has skates that

own H.

he

will

allowance,

Armstrong Roberts

in

mind

a

pair of

have to buv out of

it is

his

comparatively easy

Childcraft

176

how much he

have to put aside each week in order to have to figure out

will

money on hand when

sufficient

the skat-

ing season arrives. After having saved for skates, or the circus, or to help get a

come

our business and financial dealings that the traditional fears which surround borrowing need to be revised. A child needs to learn how to use credit wisely

all

better able to

and

understand saving as a general policy in the handling of money. The Child's Bank. Should a locked bank be part of the child's equipment? Of course a box or bank with a slot is useful for the coins that are to be saved. But locking it and hiding the key or

A

bicycle, a

giving

it

boy or

girl is

to the parents for safekeeping

not an educational experience for the child. The child should not have his own money locked away from him. The implications are that he cannot trust himself to stick to his purpose, that he may too easily take out his money for trifles when he undertook to save it for something better. The problem, therefore, is whether parents should force him into doing what he intended to do by locking up his money and keeping the key, or whether they should encourage him to carry out his wishes by trusting him to continue to save his money for the is

effectively.

typical instance in

which the child

money is seen in the young Billy, who knew from ex-

needs to borrow case of

perience that he could save his nickels

he had enough to buy a mouth organ. But he wanted one now so that he could enter a contest at school. It was until

not a question of being able to afford it, but of being able to get it in time. Borrowing is always a question of now against later on. Could not Father let him have the allowances for a whole month ahead? The father went into the matter very solemnly. Billy really wanted to ''borrow

money."

He wanted

to put himself into

"debt," to be under "obligation." All

the traditional arguments against bor-

rowing were brought up by the father, but they did not impress Billy. In fact, the father really cleared up his

on the

subject.

own

The boy was not

ideas

plung-

the parents take the

ing into uncertain futures; he wanted to

he may need similar reanother year and another, per-

knew would come to him so as to make use of it to the best advantage now instead of later. To make

thing he wished.

If

responsibility, straint

to play such an important role in

haps indefinitely. If a child is to learn how to handle money, he must acquire a certain degree of self-control, rather than accomplish what he has undertaken merely because someone else took the responsibility for him. Here, again, he learns by making mistakes rather than by going through correct motions.

Borrowing

Borrowing is one question that troubles conscientious parents in regard to their children's

money

education. Credit has

arrange what he

the matter perfectly clear and businesslike,

the father set

for recording

up

money

a written schedule

received in a

lump

sum, money to be repaid as allowances came in, and balance still owing week by week.

him

The

fact that his father allowed

borrow was a great help to the child and a useful lesson not only in monev, but also in human relations. It differs from other exchanges of kindness and aid only in being carried out through money. to

The Child and Money Borrowing

is

deeply appreciated by

the child at the time.

The

difficulties

when repayment involves bewithout some of his allowance. The

come ing

later

very young child cannot imagine these difhculties clearly is,

enough

in advance. It

therefore, unfair to let

him

get into

debt out of proportion to his ability to understand the situation. A week or two at a time, as in the case of saving,

is

about all the beginner can stand. If the time during which payment has to be made is so long that he forgets the pleasure he had from the purchase, he will

come

to resent

it

and may

feel that

he

has been unfairly treated. As the child grows older, however, and is able to save and to remember over a longer period of time, he is also able to carry a debt over a longer period. Thus, he

will learn

another lesson about money.

177

of the practices are likely to confuse the

and make it difHcult to distinguish between work which he does as his contribution to the family group and that which he does for pay. In most homes children begin early to share in the work of the household, child

according to their strength or ability. They begin to wash and dry dishes about as soon as they can manage to do so safely. They are usually expected to make their own beds and keep their belongings in order. They go to the store or on various errands. \\Tiile all the work

which children do at home is useful, it cannot be put on a cash basis. Such work is

the child's share in the

ily.

To

for their share of the

of their

own

Money

he

in return for serv-

which they are able to give. If the child is to learn what money means as a return for effort, as compensation for skilled service, he must have the experience of really earning money. The various schemes for giving children money for performing such tasks as can be found about the house, especially among dwellers,

aware of

show

this need.

As children grow

that

parents

Unfortunately,

of the house-

hold would be to destroy the

for

is still

him

is

a child to earn

too young, or to earn

For a time

some "extra"

are

many

older, the desire to

be

independent is often as strong as the desire for money. Jobs which are within the child's abiUty, physically and socially, contribute valuable experience.

it

will

it

it is

in the

spirit of

basis for the child

By Crane from Black

Star

who

money,

if

not possible

community?

be best to

jobs in the

ices

city

work

co-operative family living.

Children need to learn about money by spending it; but as they grow older, they also need the experience of earning

money

of the fam-

pay the members of the family

How then Earning

life

set aside

home on

a

pay

expresses a desire

Childcraft

178 to earn

some money. Such

Jobs

might be

those within the abihty of the child for

which you might hire someone

When

else.

a child undertakes a job in this

wav, he must be expected to come up to certain standards of thoroughness, regu-

and punctuality, just as one is expected to do in a "real" job. The pay, of course, should be as nearly as possible what an outsider would receive for the larity,

work.

It is

very important, however, to

keep the distinction

between the things

which the child does as a member of the family—his obligation in the co-operative

group

— and

which he does

the additional work

for the family

on a

busi-

fer to

work

later,

boys and

ligence or oversight that are likely to get

one into trouble. The parents may

girls will pre-

for strangers, or at least for

adults other than their parents.

Very

often the desire to be independent of -ftieir parents is as strong as their desire for money. Here again, children should

if they are help can the child analyze his difficulty and encourage him

really skillful, they

to find his

own

solution.

But if such indirect,

methods do parents must still try

easily,

casual

to give their children the benefit of their

own

experience and wisdom.

of opportunity to exercise

own judgment,

such as delivering groceries for the storekeeper, delivering newspapers, or caring for a neighbor's child, and those things which should be done for neighbors in

children with

and helpfulness. Children Need Guidance

Letting a child learn about

money is it to him

not entirely a matter of giving or helping him to find an opportunity to earn it, and then allowing him to go ahead, any more than teaching a child to skate is merely a matter of providing

and develop

stepping in only occasionally; and, second, avoid nagging or his

dictatorial suggestions.

liness,

The impor-

tant points are: First, give a child plenty

be able to distinguish between jobs which can justifiably be done for money,

a spirit of mutual consideration, friend-

offer

c solution to the difficulty or,

not come

nesslike arrangement.

Sooner or

should be free to give their opinions when an important purchase is being considered or when a youngster consistently bungles his financial affairs. Now and then the boy or girl will need a chance to tell the parent about his money worries, and the mother or father can point out what should be considered in making purchases or the kinds of neg-

All these suggestions for acquainting

money

are, of course,

to be considered as just so

not

many more

responsibilities or tasks. Neither are they

a set of fixed rules to

apply.

The

intention

is

remember and

to assure parents,

on the basis of many years of experience and obscR'ation, that the methods discussed are workable in most kinds of families and that they do help to guide toward sounder attitudes regarding money, as well as toward more effective handling of this universal tool children

of exchange.

But

like ever^'thing else in

the skates. True, one of the most impor-

familv relations, the value of the ideas depends upon the spirit in which they

tant things, as well as one of the hardest,

are carried out. Parents trying to learn

that a parent has to learn to do

about money with their children can find the project another adventure in

is

to

"stand by." But there are times when it is also necessary to step in. Parents

family living.

The Child and Money

79

SOME THINGS TO THINK ABOUT give you an allowance as a child, or did you have to ask for money item you wished to bu\? If the latter, do vou think your experience had any effect on your attitude toward the \alue of money? 1.

Did your parents

for ever}'

2.

Have you

ever tried "bribing" your children to be good or bra\e, to study, or to do Did you find it an effecti\e way to control behavior? Do you

certain household tasks?

agree that behavior

is

not a business proposition?

Have you found that letting your children assist in planning helps them to spend their own allowances more effectively? 3.

4.

Do

money

communit}' because of the excessive amounts of you tried to help your child to or have you tried to cope with the situation by discussing it

you have any trouble

available to

some

understand the situation, with other parents?

you have

family expenditures

in your

of the children? If so, have

an educational but "hands-off" policy with respect to your child's expenditures of his own money, has your child steadily impro\ed in his abilit}' to buy 5.

If

wisely? 6.

tures

tried

Has he learned

to sa\e for larger purchases?

Has teaching your and savings more

child to handle an allowance helped

you to plan family expendi-

effecti\ely?

BOOKS TO READ Gruenberg, Sidonie

M. We,

the Parents.

New

York: Harper & Brothers, 1939.

Gruenberg, Sidonie M., and Gruenberg, B. C. Parents, Children, and Money. York: The Viking Press, 1933.

Lynd, R.

S.,

and Lynd, H. M. Middletown Transition.

New

New

York: Harcourt, Brace

&

Co., 1937.

Ojemann, Ralph H. Universit}' of

Iowa

What Money Means

Press, 1941.

to the

Child (Pamphlet). Iowa City, Iowa:

THE CHILD AND THE RADIO By

The radio

not a novelty to the children of today. It is part of their everyday world. Parents must guide children so the use they make of the radio contributes constructively

EVELYN MILLIS DIA^ALL DR. DUVALL, who "The Child and

author of the

is

the Radio,"

article

about

executi\e secretary of the National Conference on Family Relations is

and advisory editor for its journal, Marriage and Family Living. She has also written numerous articles and scientific monographs. Dr. Duvall is the mother of two teen-age children. Because many parents have questions about their children's use of the radio. Dr. Duvall has analyzed its challenges and its power for enriching and widening human experiences. Power for both good and evil,

coupled with extreme

availabilit}',

make

sary for parents to teach their children this

modern

means

of

it

neces-

how

to use

communication

A. Sussman from Black Star

to their

turning of a

is

development.

dial.

The

great sports, the

grown

greater happenings of a world

small are heard from ringside seats pro-

vided by the family radio. Such a boon

would have been treasured by kings of untold wealth in bygone days. Today it

wisely.

Radio

should entertain, stimulate, educate. It should not be used exclusively as a means of escape from thinking or participating in normal activities.

anyone's for a few dollars. Fortunate indeed are those who live in such an age! is

Yet people

still

must

learn

how

to

make

made it possible for people to become familiar with the whole world. The voices of great

the best use of this new means of communication. They must learn how to

heard in the family kitchens. The music of the masters flows into living rooms. Drama, news, real life, and make-believe are anyone's for the

a servant rather than allow it to be a master. This is an especial challenge for

THE

radio has

leaders

are

solve the problems

it raises,

and

to

make

it

parents whose task it is to guide the child's use of the radio.

180

The Child and the Radio Children have taken the radio unto themselves without question. In millions of homes children sit with ears glued to the family set completely absorbed in its offerings. Children's programs have become as definite a part of daily radio fare as the morning programs designed for the housewife or the evening shows created for the whole fam-

The

ily.

world.

radio

It is

is

part of the children's

the parents' task to

part constructive

make

But she has remained She wonders if she is right, because

able programs. firm.

several times the children, being forbid-

den the radio program they had set their hearts upon, have fussed and fretted long after the radio program would have ended.

Her experience

occasionally there

that

indicates

may be

exceptions to

the rule in cases where it seems justified for the happiness of the child.

An

that

and growth promoting.

181

is

eight-year-old

boy whose bedtime

eight o'clock every night of the week,

Questions about the children's use of the radio come up frequently. There seem to be very few ready-made answers to most of the problems radio has brought. For they are new problems. It is up to this generation of parents to develop the understandings and establish the practices that will prove helpful in guiding children's use of the radio. What are some of the common ques-

allowed to have his bedroom door open so that he may hear a particularly fine musical program that comes on just

which parents must face? What seem to be the directions in which satisfactory answers may be found? Parents need to look at them one by one.

Other parents find that unless they establish a regular bedtime, most children will stay up longer than is good for them. Some children of ten and eleven years of age will stay awake until eleven

tions

The Radio Versus Bedtime Schedules

is

Sunday evening. His parents have found that he is usually at eight o'clock every

quietly asleep before the musical pro-

gram

is

over and that granting

special privilege every

him

that

Sunday has not

weakened the bedtime routine the

rest

of the week.

or even later listening to radio programs.

One

of the most constant problems

the radio presents in

many homes

cen-

about bedtime schedules. Parents

ters

who

are conscientious in

their children realize the

sleep larity

the care of

importance of

and the necessity of some reguin the bedtime hour. Yet, when

tempting radio programs come at that time, it is often hard to know which is the

more important, the schedule,

or the

immediate satisfaction of the child. One mother insists that the definite bedtime be kept regardless of what other attractions come at the same time. On several occasions her children have begged to stay up for particularly desir-

Such

a lack of supervision has little to

commend ing

some

it.

On

the other hand, allow-

lapses for

good reason

an im-

is

portant part of parent-child relations.

When the

program is exceptional, when the child has had a good nap, when the next day is one in which he may stay longer in bed in the morning, or when there are especially good reasons in terms of the child's interests and values, then a wise parent relaxes the schedule and allows the extra privilege. Privileges like staying

up beyond the

usual bedtime are best granted freely rather than under pressure.

who

learns

that the only

The way

child

to

get

Studying tion. For is

is

many

no more

of

concentrachildren the radio

an

of

intrusion than

a child's schoolwork good, parents need not worry if

street noise. is

a matter

If

he studies with the radio on. Philip Uenareau, N. Y.

favors

by teasing and coaxing

for

them

apt to exert a great deal of pressure

is

upon a

is

occasion, especially

little

when he needs

additional attention. Teasing

is

not a pleasant habit either from the child's or the parent's point of view. The best

way

to a\"oid

undue

teasing

is

grant privileges on the merits of the

to sit-

ing and so finds

it

hard to concentrate.

But she can turn on the radio, relieve the quiet of the first empty moments and not even realize that the radio is still on until some time later when her work is done. The radio for her is a nonintruding accompaniment for work which must be done in solitude.

and when

may

uation freely and generously, the rule cannot be relaxed for one reason

radio as an escape from their study. If

or another to hold to

the radio weren't there, there would

it

firmly.

ver\'

The Radio Versus Studying

question the habit their older children ha\-e of studying \^ith the radio going

them as they work. The question is, "Can a child really concentrate on his work with the radio on?" Strangely enough, some children do seem to be able to work equally well with the radio on or off. Indeed, there are some children who may even study betbeside

having certain programs on as they begin their \\ork. ter

use the

possibly be other substitutes thev

would use

There are a good many parents who

full blast

But, of course, children

as escapes.

A youngster might

sharpen pencils, clip his nails, comb his hair, or gaze out the window rather than buckle down to a task that must be done. Such youngsters may need help in learning to concentrate rather than merelv be denied the use of the radio. Such denial may cause greater distraction. Children are so ver\^ different and there are so

grams that

many

it is

various

radio

pro-

hard to generalize on the

and cons of radio accompaniment to studv. It would seem that a soft musical program would blend better with

pros

for

Ruth explains it this way. She goes to her room to study after supper. It is quiet and lonely up there all alone after the hubbub of the family T\^•elve-^"ea^-old

downstairs. If she keeps her door open

she finds herself straining to hear what the rest of the family are doing and say-

studying than a dramatic mystery or an exciting ball game. Yet even here there

must be individual difFerences among children. One young lad, when questioned about his ability to read and listen, too, rephed that he just let the ball

182

The Child and the Radio game

flow

o\^er

him and came up only

185

dren's shrieks of pleasure

when

the hero

touchdowns! It nmst be remembered, too, that children of today have grown up with the radio. Thev heard it through the haze of infancy long before they knew its meaning. It may be that many of them can sift it out of their consciousness in the

wins and see their concern over the fate of a fa\orite. "Is all this excitement good for children?" they ask, as parents have

same wav that adults blot out many

tales of visiting trappers;

for the

miliar stimuli that \^ould

command

fa-

the

done

for

many

Children

children

crouched low fireside

ha\e cra\'ed adven-

al^^•a^•s

The

ture.

years.

of

the

pioneers

the loft to hear the

in

on the plains

the boys by the

sat enthralled at

The

children through

ever-present attention of a person not

the Indian stories.

used to them. So there can be no rigid

the years have plaved cops and robbers,

rules until the parents are sure of the

cowboys and Indians, all because these were wavs of expressing children's love

facts

and of

their child.

If

the child

understands \\hat he is reading, if his work is well done, and if his teachers report his progress

is

satisfactorv',

there

should be little question about how he does it. If he isn't getting along with his schoolwork, the parent and the child should find out what the real cause may be, rather than too quickly to put the blame on what may be an innocent bystander—the radio.

Are Some Programs Too Stimulating?

for excitement.

Modern

li\ing holds

ever^^day

little

adventure for the average citizen, adult or child. Most of us take our danger second-hand through the mystery thrillers, murder stories, and ad\enture yarns in books, movies, and radio. Most children accept with interest and satisfaction the radio fare of high ad\enture that the script writers prepare for them. In many wavs it supplies for the child what the "who-dun-it" does for adults.

some children become

not the same as normal youngster of school

so frightened listening to radio thrillers

age seems to prefer exciting thrillers—

that they are unable to get to sleep, or

Children's taste adult's.

the

The

more

It is

is

ad\-enture the better.

The

so-

when

true that

asleep thev have nightmares or bad

may be

called children's

programs that charac-

dreams. WTien that

come

in the late afternoon

wise to avoid such stimulation until the

teristically

when

children are free to listen are built

child

is

ready for

is

the case,

Such

it.

it

a child

may be

along blood and thunder lines to suit

in

these juvenile tastes. Overhearing the ex-

himself or his place in the family. Tliese

ploits of the pirates, spies, or saboteurs,

fears are often a reflection of a child's

and the G-men, supermen, and daring detectives that put them to rout bv gun play and other gory methods, parents are taken aback by the unusual stimulation and excitement of such programs.

own

They

see their youngsters race into the

house, frantic lest they miss a single step of a current thriller.

They hear

the chil-

need of some basic reassurance about

anxieties about

problems

in his

own

experiences and are best dealt with ac-

cording to the child's needs.

Radio Characters and Play

There

are

many

children

Activities

who

are not

merely listening to the radio. Thev dramatize \\hat thev hear.

content with

quite normal for children to act out what they hear on the radio. Pouncing on the killer from the front hall, zooming down in an airplane on the enemy provides them with a release from the tensions created by living in a world that It is

who

are bigger more powerful than they are.

by

ruled

is

adults,

and

unable to put his feelings into words, but if he could they might run something like this: "It would be far too wicked and dangerous for me to track down criminals, to spy on my enemies, to shoot, to scream orders, and here to issue commands. If it is the radio and not I who does these things, then it

a child.

is H. Aimstrong Roberta

of Parents' ears ring with the ack-ack make-beheve guns; airplanes zoom down

from kitchen ceihngs; 'The Shadow" pounce lurks in the front hall ready to upon the killer. Should children be permitted to engage in such violent and aggressive plav? Those who have studied children's play agree that

it

often takes

forms that seem shocking and violent. They feel, however, that not only should children be permitted such play, as long but that as no one is hurt or frightened, from the point of view of mental health somewhat the it has actual value. It has

same effect as a safety valve. Everyone needs to feel he

is

the pow-

erful figure in a situation once in a while. all those It makes up, for the child, for

times when he felt weak and inferior. Feeling small and without status is an unavoidable part of childhood. The desomebody, sire to be strong, to hit out at

commands, and to be obeyed is sometimes confusing and frightening to

to give

Of

course,

he

is

quite safe." Radio listening sometimes provides

the material for playing out pent up and very normal feelings of resentment. The child knows he is not going to kill anyone. Such play doesn't mean he wants encourage to hurt people, nor will it such behavior in real life. It does, howtensions ever, provide a release from the to created by living in a world geared

more

those who are bigger, quicker, and powerful, where open hostility is either frowned upon or produces painful feelings of guilt.

Understanding parents respect a child s make play time and do what they can to outlet for him. If it it a richly satisfving suggests the forms the is the radio that play takes, they accept it as an child's

intrinsic part of living in the

modern

it. world and help the child interpret They supplv the child with equipment so he may portray visually what he

that

ready has heard over the radio. Costumes encourage the for use in dramatizing Dolls his desire for play-acting. child in

that can be dressed

184

and undressed furnish

The Child and the Radio the child characters for dramatizing

many

different scenes. Finger paints provide a

may

good outlet through which

a child

express his feelings. Chalks

and crayons

used with large sheets of paper (the wrapping paper sort tacked to the back of a door) are welcomed by small children who want to draw pictures of what they hear over the radio. These resources need not be elaborate. Left to his own devices, the average child will

well for himself.

With

do very

just a little en-

couragement in the form of some provisions and the liberty to play as he wishes, the normal child gets the full benefit of his radio listening through acting out and portraying in many ways the ideas and feelings that

come

to him.

The Radio Versus Outdoor Play

Some

children dash

and remain

home from school

close to the radio until pried

loose by the family at suppertime. Other

an hour or more of outdoor play every afternoon in their eagerness not to miss regular late afternoon programs. On a bright Saturday afternoon it is not at all unusual to find an otherwise active child inside listening to a ball game rather than outdoors playing one himself. What can parents do about such situations? Should radio listening be reduced in favor of less fervid listeners lose fully

more play

out-of-doors?

must consider what the values of outdoor play are. Growing children need sunshine and fresh air. There First, parents

are

many

afternoons,

however,

when

no sunshine and when the fresh air is contaminated with smoke and soot. Flay out-of-doors on such days is of doubtful value from the point of view of fresh air and sunshine. Children need whole-body activities and active play. there

is

185

This robust type of play requires space in which to run and romp. After a day spent at a desk in school most children should have a period of active outdoor play. How long that period should be depends upon the individual child. The type of school program also makes a

There are some schools that wholesome variety of quiet and

difference. foster a

active play through the school day so

that

children

whole-body

do not need

as

much

soon as school is dismissed. Schools that encourage free play and individual initiative send children home with less "steam to let off" than do the traditional schools where rigid patterns of behavior have to be followed from nine to three. Parents should be aware of the child's school activities in order to handle the home problems activity as

satisfactorily.

Outdoor play

important for the child's social development. It is there that he or she learns to get along with is

also

his fellows in satisfying ways.

Many

of

the joys and sorrows of childhood center in the successes

and

failures of social

acceptance with the other members of the play group. The child who is getting along well with the gang will, other things being equal, spend considerable

time with them. The child who is feeling insecure or inadequate with his companions may try to cover up his sense of failure by leaving the group and coming in the house to sit by the radio. Then radio listening becomes not so much the cause of his coming in as a temporary escape to which he resorts. The solution lies not so much in forbidding the escape as in helping such a child get along so well with his playmates that he does not have to avoid them. Sensitive parents will investigate this possibility

when

a

Childcraft

86 child spends an

undue amount

of free

plav time glued to the radio while other

children are at play.

Wlien

a happy,

\\'ell-adjusted

child

dashes in from play to hear a special program it is nothing to be concerned about.

Keeping up with what happens

in the

dav-bv-dav installments of the children's favorites is the social passkey to many a youngster's clique!

In general, then, there are

many

fac-

determining children's preference for radio listening rather than outdoor play. Both activities have their place. The healthy, happy child will choose them in satisfactory balance for his needs. Tlie child who is having troubles mav cling to the radio overmuch. When this happens, the parents may help the child find the satisfactions he seeks in tors

different kinds of

wholesome

knowing that he himself radio crutch go when he is stand on his own feet. The Gang Listens

Many

will

pursuits, let

the

fully able to

to the

Radio

children do not have to be en-

couraged to bring their friends home with them. They naturally want to have

and if the home is friendly and not too demanding, friends flock in to listen to this program or that. The invasion of one's home by the neighborhood gang may present some

them

in,

difficulties.

They thev

Children are naturallv noisv.

don't always wipe their feet

come

into the house. Tliey drape

themselves over the furniture in ways that are sometimes hard on delicate fabrics.

They may

leave a

trail

of cracker

crumbs, apple cores, or debris of whatever may be in season in the wildest assortment of unlikely places. They are underfoot when mother tries to tidy up. They usuallv have to be shooed out at mealtime. A pack of healthy youngsters rarely leaves a house with that Better Homes and Gardens' look. The understanding mother, however, will encourage their coming and provide them with a warm welcome, for she knows that they are more important for her child's development than keeping the house in "apple-pie order."

home is truly theirs. They should feel the warm joy of yelling, "C'mon gang, let's all go Children should

to

my

house and

feel that their

listen to the

knowing that Mother Ewing Galloway

when

game,"

not fuss at mud tracked in nor mittens scattered about, nor voices raised in enthusiastic appreciation. If there is a bowl of popwill

corn or a fresh gingerbread, so much the better. But at least the doors should

swing open

easily for the

crowd, except

Healthy, happy children do not listen to the radio overmuch. There is a satisfactory balance between their active play and their listening play. The child who is having troubles may cling to the radio overmuch, but in such a case the radio is

an escape, not a cause.

Press SyuJioate

Children like to listen to certain popular programs together. Parents should be tolerant of their interest in the program even though they do not care to listen themselves. They should also encourage their children's desire to be hospitable.

when

there are real reasons for their tem-

great deal of family

porary exclusion. Such times come with the cold that keeps Dad miserable or the entertaining that takes

all

of Mother's

rifice,

sac-

they will do so often and be the

better for

it.

Parents, too, are

all

the

happier for the contacts.

attention.

The Family Listens

Children who have the run of the house and are taken into the family plans, more often than not, respond un-

to the

Radio

would be an unusual familv indeed that always agreed on what programs to tune in. Since families are made up of both sexes and of at least two generaIt

derstandingly to necessary restrictions. It is for adults to see to it that

commotion and

these

not more numerous than thev need be. It is often more convenient for

tions of assorted ages, a great variety of

the adult to say, "No," before considering what possibilities there may be.

same hour Mother may prefer the symphony. Dad may want the news commentator, Junior the mystery thriller, and Sister the variety shows. Wlien

rules are

When

know that they may bring their friends in without causing a children

tastes

187

and

All at the

interests are to

be expected.

Childcraft

.88

only one radio, such a family must work out a comfortable system of there

is

compromise and make

their plans in ad-

vance if they are to avoid unpleasantness. This is not easy, but it can be done in the familv where the members care about each other's rights and interests.

When

a child

is

old enough to be re-

sponsible for the radio and for his

own

may be for each child to have access to a small portable radio which he may use in his room when only he is interested in a given program. This takes the strain from the use of the family radio and allows some chance for personal preferences. Small plug-in types of radios are not expensive and are often worth their price in the peace they afford. A small radio that Mother can take with her to the laundry or kitchen in the morning and which the children may use after school is within the budget of most families. Indeed, even two or three such sets are less expensive and more useful than the larger living-room model that is thought of as "the" radio. listening, the simpler solution

Radio Listening at Mealtimes

Some people

think that a soft musical background for a family meal is gener-

So families often turn the radio on to some such program at the beginning of a family meal. But what if the program changes to some blaring news item or raucous variety show in the middle of the meal? More important still, what shall parents do when children beg for such disturbing entertainment as a part of the family mealtime? The main difhculty with allowing such ally pleasant.

noisy interference is

dampened,

When

if

several

is

that conversation

not discouraged entirely.

members

of the family

have one or both ears cocked to hear what is being said on the air, it is not likely that they will be tuned in on what the others of the family have to sav. In many families, mealtime is the only period when all members regularly have uninterrupted time together. This is especially true as children grow older

and become involved in many outside activities. Mealtime is the one time when children and parents may talk o\er the happenings of the day, discuss

the pros and cons of current issues, and

make

family plans for the future.

To

break into this important period of time together with the run-of-the-mill type of radio program seems to be a poor use of the time, to say the least. Occasionally a really important program is scheduled for the dinner hour. The President of the United States is delivering an important address, an international

leader

is

some the family is on

discussing

timely issue, a friend of the air, or some other program important to the interests or values of the

family comes just at mealtime. Then the question is, shall the mealtime be changed to make way for uninterrupted

both the program and the meal be scheduled for the same time? The answer is best found in the breadth of interest the program has for the whole family. If the program is one that the whole family will enjoy and

listening, or shall

which

will

not seriously interfere with

the eating of the meal, the family may decide to listen while they eat. If, on the other hand, the program appeals only to one or two

is

one that

members

of

the family, with the prospect of boring the others, the wiser course

may be

to set

the dinner hour up a bit so that those interested may listen without forcing the

The Child and the Radio program upon the cisions like this

ents

make

rights

and

less interested.

it is

In de-

important that par-

a practice of considering the interests of their children

by

.89

wiser buying tends to

make them

resent

what they consider taking advantage of ways

their children's inexperience in the

of advertising.

On

more

the whole, though, there are

not habitually insisting that they listen to programs above their heads or outside

values than disadvantages in children's

their interests.

following

Advertising

Aimed

the radio advertisers. at Juvenile Listeners

The

box-top problem is an annoying one from the parents' point of view. Radio advertisers paint their wares in

glowing colors and further entice their

by offering some alluring bauble or gadget for a few pennies and the tops from boxes of their products. Parents know from experience that chil-

young

listeners

dren are often disappointed

when

the

highly praised gift or prize turns out to

be some shoddy object in which the child has no real interest. Rings that don't fit, badges of sharp-edged tin, wrinkled pictures, and mystery codes too decipher are disillusioning to a young child and often make him feel that he has been ''gypped." From time difficult to

to time,

some

up the box-top

really attractive object ar-

By

offerings

of

experience the

child learns

far

more

by anything

his

parents might try to

him

than

effectively

he feels the responsibility of consuming two full boxes of a breakfast cereal in which he has only lukewarm interest, he will learn tell

in

the abstract.

If

made

for himself that purchases are best

meet family

When

he finds that his precious dime has bought him some object that doesn't seem nearly so attractive as it sounded from the honeyed words of the announcer, he is learning a valuable lesson in consumer buying that only actual experience can teach him. As he learns to conform to the rules of the particular oflfer, he is gainto

ing other

skills

tastes.

that are worth-while.

As he addresses the envelopes,

own

prints his

return address legibly, inserts the

money and coupon, he

answer to his written request, but how is he going to know in ad\ance which will be treasured and which will be

required

worthless?

feeling

Another objectionable aspect of the box-top problem is the pressure children bring to bear upon parents to buv the advertised product so that the coupon or the top from the box will be available

mail addressed to himself. This, too, is good. If his friends are wearing the

to send in for the desired object. This

that he participate as a fully licensed

sometimes means stocking some product for which the family has no real

and authorized member (as confirmed by the box-top transaction) of the club. Parents can guide these learnings by patient and understanding interpretation from time to time. Wlicn Mother is not too severely critical of some transaction the child has undertaken, she is more

rives in

taste or use.

The

quantity required

may

be burdensome especially for a small family. Some parents dislike being highpressured into buving bv appeals made through their children. Their interest in

is

learn-

ing a great deal that will stand in

good stead of

all his life.

A

him

child gets a

importance from receiving

badges or the rings, if they, too, are in on the mystery code, it may be quite important for his standing in the group

Childcraft

190 likelv to

be

on

in

outcome than

if

his evaluation of the

she expresses her

dis-

many up

times to the public library to look

related data.

Her budding

interest in

approval too strongly. If Mother and Father help a disappointed child under-

the topic expressed

stand that these things happen in blind buying and that he will do better next

and gave a ten-minute oral English report on what she had discovered. The

time as he learns about what he really wants for his money, they can help him see what it is that he is learning from experience and help him profit from Such books as Johnny Get Your it. Money's Worth, written for children on the principles of sound buying, are good reading supplements to family teaching

letter itself

and

a valuable addition to the child's

own

librar}'.

In

this, as in

many

other areas of

life,

the best guidance is gi\'en with a light touch. Even wise purchasers sometimes like to take a plunge just to "see what we'll get." Children should be allowed

such excursions into attractive unknowns without too severe criticism from their more experienced elders. They will not only learn best through their own experiences; the learning will also be more permanent.

What About Radio

Much about

Contests?

what has alreadv been said the difficulties and values of of

she talked

tuation,

replv.

The

contest are small, indeed, especially for a very

young

child.

But the experience

that the child gains in the process

often far

more valuable

to

is

him than any

material prize could possibly be.

One

ten-year-old

girl

spent

three

weeks of her spare time preparing twenty-five-word radio contest.

entry

Her

for

a

a

popular

investigation led her

she finally

fact that the costly first prize

had originally motivated her efforts had gone to someone several times her that

age did not spoil her sense of reward for the project. She had done well. She

knew

and now she had received public recognition. It was enough. Radio contests often give a sense of it,

purpose to radio listening that able for the child

who

finds

is

valu-

difficult

it

on one thing at a time. As he concentrates on complying with the rules of the contest and submitting a w^orth-while entry, he finds to focus his interest

himself in the process of creative effort

A word

chances of being a winner of a radio

When

took the sealed envelope personally to the mailbox, it was with the air of one who had put her best into a project and was proud of the result. Her joy knew no bounds when she was given honorable mention and received a note of commendation on the excellence of her

radio offerings also applies to their en-

The

over with the teacher

and neatness.

that itself

air.

all

school where

was written five times before she was satisfied with its spelling, punc-

children's accepting attractive sounding

tering contests conducted over the

it

itself in

rewarding.

is

of caution should be

who spends

for the child

following

in

schoolwork will

radio

suffers.

much time

contests

Not

that

every

his

school

and recognition to did the one in the case

give the time

such a project as of

so

sounded

the

girl

The demust come first.

described above.

mands of the school Most parents urge their

children to take

care of their assignments before they take

on

extras like radio contests

clubs.

and

listening

However, many children can do

A child's world can be enlarged by radio programs. Active listening will be considerably furthered if facilities for looking up information are kept handy.

much more

than the school requires of them. Radio contests may present such children helpful challenges.

Development It

Good

of

Listening Habits

must be admitted that there

are

advantages in just letting the radio ''flow over you" as the youngster cited earlier recommended. But it is important, too, that children learn to listen to

grams

some

pro-

and develop habits

critically

of

The pasmuch as the

following up on their listening.

does not gain as one who responds actively to the program. Children naturally participate in radio programs when they are young. It sive listener

not at all unusual to hear a child sing along with the orchestra or soloist, dance to the accompaniment of a band number, or talk back to a speaker on the air. These tendencies should be encouraged. As a child acts out and responds fully to is

what he

hears,

he

is

perience and building

gaining a

new

new

ex-

words,

be new to the average

new

ideas,

new

child.

of learning

One

from

his listening.

family has provided for active

listening

by keeping on hand beside the

radio the following facilities:

1.

New

be introduced to him over the air waves. What he learns depends upon

he responds to each new stimulus. Unless he is given some guidance and some definite resources, he will do what most people do— slide over the new unknown and hear onlv the familiar. If he is growing up in a family with inquiring habits, he is more likely to look up new words in the dictionary, find new places on the map, and write in for more information about new

dictionary

desk-size

2.

A

(for

preferred

nyms, derivation,

checking

usage,

syno-

etc.).

copy of the World Almanac

gathering data of

many

(for

kinds suggested

by radio listening).

fully

101

A

pronunciation,

parts of the world

will

how

products and organizations and ideas. But the habit of pushing out into the unknown is not enough. He will need some real resources and convenient equipment if he is to get the full measure

ideas.

A great deal of what he hears over the air will

Press Syndicate

3.

A simple world atlas

(for locating places,

checking distances, getting correct

spell-

ing, etc.). 4.

A

scratch

pad

(for jotting

down names,

addresses, notes, etc.). 5.

Some penny for

post cards (for sending in

offerings,

references,

digests

of

speeches, questions for discussion, votes in contests, etc.).

.

Childcraft

102 6.

Pencils (perhaps one should be tied to

the radio table, or ferent? 7.

A

is

your family

dif-

factors in the life of the child

and

in his

surroundings that are related to his getting into trouble. It seems safe to say

)

return address for quick use.

headed for trouble, he may focus the way he misbehaves upon some example he may have heard over

A

the

set of

gummed

labels with family's

that

if

a child

is

drawer kept in the radio stand is a handy place to keep these things. Thev are accessible when needed and do much to encourage the members of the family to follow up on what they hear. Children encouraged to use source books when questions arise develop habits of learning that do a great deal to further their education. Radio listening does not always have to be entertainment alone; neither should it always call for some

however, that the influence of such a thing as a news item is never the full cause of a child's delinquent behavior.

mixed diet of sheer enjoyment programs and programs that children must stretch for is recommended.

explaining to the child

active responses. Instead, a

What About News Broadcasts?

When

news

and crime, many adults wonder whether it has an undesirable eflPect upon listening children. Does listening to accounts of burglary, murder, divorce, arson, and the rest of man's difficulties in getting along of conflict

full

is

make

with his fellows

delinquent

for

tendencies in children? These are hard questions to answer. It children respond in

known

that

different

ways

is

many

to the stories of violence that they hear.

Some seem notice.

them pass with little Others want to discuss the situato let

tions with parents

are children

some

who

and

friends.

It is certain,

air.

parents listen in occasionally with

If

their children, they will find that

opportunities

and

arise

for

many

interpretation

development of intelligent understanding about social and personal problems. A hush-hush procedure only whets a child's appetite. The practice of for the

tions in

human

why

such deviabehavior occur helps him

understand and see that strange behavior is not worth copying. One mother explains murderers as "people who are sick in the way they feel" and finds that her six-year-old is beginning already to grasp the essentials of mental health. It is difficult indeed and probably unwise to isolate a child from the world in w^hich he lives. He is exposed to much of it as soon as he steps off the back porch. Newspapers, neighbors, playmates, telephone conversations, adults of

manv

teach

kinds, as well as the radio,

him

things about

life.

all

The answer

seems to be to take a constructive attitude toward the news rather than to adopt a policy of isolation.

There Interesting Children in Classical

act out in their play

Programs

of the life dramas that they hear

playing at crime stories actually causes

Parents are often puzzled and worried because their children do not share their

delinquency

interest in the excellent radio

over the radio.

is

The a

extent to which

debatable

question.

Studies of the nature of delinquency in children indicate that there are

many

programs

that are available. Metropolitan opera, full

symphony

concerts, classic

and mod-

The Child and the Radio The

em

drama, speeches of truly great men, all can be heard just by tuning in, but they seem to leave most children peculiarly unimpressed. Can't children be expected to enjoy such things? Can't they be taught to like programs that are really good? How long will such teaching take? How does one go about it? These are a few of the many questions educators have grappled with for many years. They have come forth with the following tentative answers:

Children must learn to enjoy great music and drama and art and ideas. Some of that learning comes with experience and maturity. Much depends

upon the example

and chilgood as they

of the family

dren's exposure to

what

is

grow up. Children who are forced to listen to what ought to be good for them oftentimes learn only to dislike the program (and sometimes the insisting par-

ent as well). Children who see their parents getting pleasure from a Saturday afternoon opera program, who hear adults discussing

it,

who

are told

some-

thing of the story, and perhaps are invited in to hear

some

especially spirited

toward opera appreciation that some day may aria

are

taking the

first

ripen into real enthusiasm. of

learning

to

enjoy

is

The

process

symphonies

speeches or heavy drama takes a long time. It

steps

is

similar.

enjoy a full-length opera.

radio has brought the world with

sordidness and beauty into our

its

homes.

What happens

their

characters.

The

The way

different light.

re-

careful consideration.

Family discussion of the news is one of the most effective social-educational forces. As the family listens and talks over what has been heard, the child gets the foundations for his attitudes toward minority groups, people of other races, labor and capital, social classes, war

and

peace, health,

and

a host of other im-

portant social areas in which he must learn to act. Education for

democracy

most active at the family dinner table where the issues of the day are raised and discussed with enthusiastic simplicis

The

radio stimulates it

much

of this

brings fresh from the

four corners of the globe the important

happenings of the hour with

drama and

all

their

color.

The problems

that arise from the use

of the radio in the

are sufficient to develop, over the years,

pared with the

a healthy appreciation of the arts,

affords adult

and of great and significant ideas. This is one of the areas of learning in which the radio has been a real blessing in many homes.

the child

sponds to a radio program and the meaning it has for him is dependent not so much on the radio program itself as upon the family values through which he interprets it. This is an important point to which parents should give their

example and a gradual induction into the pleasures of more grown-up listening

science,

exploits of the

underworld in one way. The lawyer's children see the underworld in quite a

discussion as

of

child

gangster's

upon the

learns to look

It

Cood home

he

depends almost entirely upon his relationship with his parents and upon their examples, their interpretations, and

ity.

sincerely

to the child as

listens

or

unreasonable to

expect the average child to

all

193

home are small commany privileges that it

and child

alike.

As parents

learn to utilize the family radio effectively for the

enrichment of their

lives,

their children, too, will derive greater

benefits

from the family experiences.

Childcraft

lo^

SOME THINGS TO THINK ABOUT 1.

Keep

track of the radio programs your

own

children hsten to for several days.

Can

you, from their choices, arrive at any conclusions about the needs within the children

which the programs are meeting? 2.

List

some

From your

of the ways your

own

family's listening can "be

made more

constructive.

observation, does radio listening encourage a fondness for good stories and

reading aloud?

What

suggestions could you

make

to a family in

which frequent

argu-

ments over radio programs occur? 3.

What

do you

feel are

the disadvantages and what are the advantages of radio for

own neighborhood? What carr)'-over from radio listening in play, about the world around them can you observe in your own children?

the children in your in tastes, in attitude 4.

What

ways can you find that radio draws a family together? In what ways does

it

tend to pull family members apart? Listening to "thriller" radio programs is sometimes blamed for delinquency and destructive acts on the part of children. Do you believe the radio is responsible in these cases? 5.

home where

there was no radio, what differences in viewpoint, in ability to entertain themselves, or in general information do you notice between chil6.

If

you grew up

in a

dren of your childhood days and today's children? 7.

What would

and nothing

you

feel

was indicated

if

a child devoted his free time to radio listening

else?

BOOKS TO READ Eisenberg, A. L. Children and Radio Piogiams.

New

York: Columbia Universit}'

Press, 1936.

Gruenberg, Sidonie

M. We,

the Parents.

New

York: Harper & Brothers, 1939-

A. T. "Children's Programs." Education on the Air. Seventh Yearbook of the Institution by Radio. Columbus: Ohio State University, 1936. Jersild,

Merry, F. K., and Merry, R. V. Brothers, 1940.

From

Infancy to Adolescence.

New

York: Harper &

Animated cartoon films, of the Walt Disney variety/ bring to life some of the old favorite fairy

Mother and Faas well as the chil-

tales.

ther,

dren, will be enchanted by the antics of the

Seven Dwarfs. I

Walt Disney Productions

AND THE MOVIES

THE CHILD

EDGAR DALE

DR. DALE, who search

is

Associate

Professor of Education and Re-

Ohio

at

State

University,

frankly faced the problem of the child

movies and has tions

which

are

clearly

answered

common

This

has

ference

and the

The The

many of the quesThe article is may get additional

to parents.

and parents help on this subject from the movie check list at the end of the article or by reading reviews of motion pictures found in reputable magazines.

reassuring in tone,

do not need

that they face a radio,

it

aims to

makes

tell

and the most

two extremes.

common

in their stride; that predicted sible

harm

is

Not

comic-reading problem. When they see the strong hold and influence of

is

that

greatly

and pos-

overexaggerated.

a comfortable, easygoing attitude,

and the writer

be told movie, and to

dif-

in the field of movies.

writer tries to avoid first,

vou what

children can take these experiences

all

It's

PARENTS

article

believes a dangerous one.

so dangerous

and

certainly

much

these media

the other extreme. This is the belief that the movie almost overnight can wipe out the excellent teaching of

ents

church, home, and school, and substi-

rarer

upon some children, parwonder what they can do to build

wise tastes in these

fields.

The

attitude

tute

is

movie teaching. This

belief

is

as

and

their children ex-

inaccurate as the belief that an occa-

erts

a great pressure

and Mother and

sional carbonated soft drink will

Dad

begin to wonder: "After

of other families

we're a

little

too

strict.

children do what so let their children

does

it

make?"

maybe

ously hurt the health of a well-fed child.

Why not let our

many

do?

all,

other parents

What

seri-

This are

difference

article

is

written for parents

who

neither easygoing nor overanxious

about the movie problem. It tries to answer the following questions which

195

Childcraft

.96

parents

thoughtful

today

asking:

are

1.

\\'hat do children see at the movies?

2.

Do

parent replies: "But that is what I always assumed. It all depends on what's in the movies. I want to know if what's

remember what they see mo\ies? at the \\Tiat is the effect of mo\ies on chil-

there will hurt or help

dren's attitudes?

pictures

WTiat

the effect of movies on children's beha\ior? When should children start going to

Here are some

because

6.

the movies? How often should children go to the mo\ies?

7.

WTien should

8.

What

3.

4.

5.

children

is

parents accompan\- their

children to the mo\ies?

about special programs

for the

children? 9.

W^at

for children? 10.

Parents can read the reviews of motion

found

Does censorship of mo\ies help

or not

and

it

typical reviews: picture of unusual value

dramatically presents ideals

ideas that will doubtless stimulate

discussion about what the United States can do to prevent a third World War. It is an interesting biography of the man, Woodrow Wilson, as Princeton Unipresident,

go\'ernor

New

of

Jersey, and as the twent\'-eighth President of our nation. It pictures him as a man of great intelligence, with an un-

help parents? How can I meet the differing standards among parents of mv child's friends? 12. How can I help de\elop a growing, discriminating taste in my children?

our

What Do Children See

convention.

11.

in reputable magazines.

"A motion

versit\''s

about mo\ies made especially

my child."

usual

warmth

and

of heart

soul,

dwells at length on his family

life

and and

The curtain is pulled aside much of the political life of nation. There are many spectacular

friendships.

to reveal

scenes, a dramatic national presidential

at the

Movies?

Many in the

parents are deeply interested content of the books read bv their

They

Congress in action, great crowds in France and in

and this

country." *

*

*

young children and help them select excellent picture and storybooks. Thev want their child to know and like the best that has been written. At Christmas time and on other occasions, with the help of a librarian or an article in a parents' magazine, thev will select suitable books for

"This heart-warming stor}' of American home life and the bra\'e women who keep the homes intact while their men-

their child.

home, designed

children.

take their

to the librar\-

But what control can parents

exert

over the content of the mo\ies seen by that

same

child? E\idence will be pre-

sented in the that

follo\^•ing

pages to show

motion pictures mav

significantlv

influence the information, the ideas, the

and the conduct of children and young people. But here the

attitudes, the health,

folk are

away

at

laughter, stor\'

of

and

runs the

v\'ar

emotions — love,

courage,

tears. It

common

gamut

of

patriotism,

makes

a beautiful

e\'er\'day living rather

than of moments of high

stress

The

comfortable

lo\'ely settings of this

for real living, are out-

The

standingly impressive

brief

glimpses into the hospital and the work

and care planned mentall}'

ill

for the physicallv and boys are most interesting." *

«

"This biography of

*

a great

and popu-

lar prize fighter in the days of bare knuckles and unlimited rounds is pre-

Many

cartoon films have considerable the

of

merit from the artistic viewpoint. The techniachievements incal

volved in such productions will intrigue adult

audiences and everyone will enjoy the color and music used in these pictures. I

Walt Disney Productions

sented with realism in both acting and vivid background. Excessive drinking

and the

eral

brutality of the fights of that

period limit the audience suitability of " the film «

*

"Good production realit)^

the effects on children of movies in gen-

values

fail

to bring

and a good cast is svmpathy for its char-

to this film,

unable to elicit acters because the story is based upon a false premise that an intelligent man, a judge versed in the ways of criminals, would permit his unruly son and prettv daughter to fraternize with the inmates

—

of a prison."

types.

For example, studies made over a period of years shortly before

War

*

when he becomes warden

and by

of

all

World

showed that about one-fourth Hollywood movies could be clas-

II

dealing chiefly with crime, one-

sified as

third as dealing with romantic love,

and

one-seventh as dealing with problems of sex.

The development

of the double fea-

ture has tended to greatly increase the

number thriller

of crime, detective, mystery,

and

movies.

What

goals are sought

by the

attrac-

Alert parents can discover the con-

tive persons playing the leading roles of

motion pictures bv previewing them, so to speak, and trying to judge them from the viewpoint of the possible influence on a child. After all, children do not have adequate standards for judging what is true and false and sometimes they assume that what they see on the

hero and heroine in the motion-picture

screen

success or recognition.

tent of

is

true.

TTiere

is a third source of e\idence about the content of motion pictures. Parents can refer to studies made about 1.

Edgar Dale. The Content of Motion Pictures.

New

story?

These goals can be rather

classified.^

Indeed, they are

much more

than goals of leading characters in books. In the movies the easily

classified

leading characters are generally striving for either individual, personal, or social

\\^ien a character

is

trying

to

get

something merely for himself he is seeking an "individual" goal. If he is trying

York: The Macmillan Co., 1935.

197

easily

Childcr.\ft

:98

to benefit others as well as himself his

aim

WTien

a "personal" goal.

is

a char-

acter tries to benefit not only himself

whom

he is personally acquainted, but humanity in or a group of persons with general, his desire

classified as a ''so-

is

A

study of 115 randomly selected movies showed that 65 per cent of all goals were individual goals, 26 cial" goal.

per cent personal, 9 per cent social. A listing of the individual goals in or-

der of frequency shows: ( 1 ) winning another's love, (2) marriage for love, (3)

and vocational

professional

revenge, (5)

success, (4) crime for gain, (6) illicit

and excitement, (8) conquering of rival, and (9) financial

love,

(7)

thrills

The most common goals were:

(1)

t\'pes of

personal

happiness of a loved

one, (2) happiness of a friend, (3) protection of a loved one, and (4) protection of a friend.

)

performance of duty,

(

2

)

welfare of

(3) capture of criminal, (4) solution of crime, ( 5 ) welfare of school, to see justice done,

achievement, (9)

(8)

welfare

of

(7)

scientific

supremacy of mankind, and

state,

(10)

were either

conclusion

ex-

tremely wealthy or wealthy in character. Only 4 per cent were poor, while 25 per cent were moderate.

Does

this really

make any

difference

Are such movies one of the causes of the great emphasis today on material wealth and success? Some think that they undoubtedly are. Others reply that if movies show only wealthy homes or above average social conditions they do so because that is what the people wish they had. It could be called an ideal toward which they strive, or less to the child?

charitably, a

method

of escaping reality.

tion-picture art unless

use this

medium

we

a great

mo-

are willing to

to explore the eyer}day

problems of everyday people.

Do Children Remember What They See Movies?

Many

parents argue hopefully that

do not remember what the movies. Rarely do par-

their children

they see at ents point with pride to the fact that their children remember a great deal of

what they see

at the

movie

theater, a

rather inconsistent attitude, since

brotherly love.

The

forty pictures

social goals were:

country,

(6)

some

at the

common

Tlie most 1

in

However, we can never have

success.

(

age person. Indeed, it was discovered that 69 per cent of the residences shown

to

be drawn from

most

parents like to believe that their children

ing characters trying to get,

both absorb and retain most of the information they get from the experiences to v^'hich they are exposed! They do not

succeeding

do so

these facts

is

simple.

At the movies,

chil-

dren will very often see attracti\e, leadin

getting,

and usually something for

themselves. Less often, they will see persons working for others.

And much

less

often, they will see persons unselfishly

trying to achieve a social goal.

You may not have

noticed

but Their

it,

movie characters live rather well. financial and social circumstances usually

much above

are

those of the aver-

cause

in the case of

they

realize

motion pictures bethat

some

of

the

things seen are best forgotten. Let's suppose that a child goes to the

movies once a week or every other week. Is he continually storing away certain ideas which he sees on the screen, or do movie ideas go quickly in one eye and out the other?

ill

-JP United Artists

Authentic historical pictures have both educational and entertainment value. Often much effort is made to recreate the proper setting. This scene of ancient London Bridge as it looked in Shakespeare's day was photographed from a scale model which required one year to complete and cost more than $75,000.

Parents have different opinions about this.

Many

seem to which I either."

them say, "Well, I don't remember the details of movies of

see.

I

But

if

doubt

if

my

children do

parents hope that their

children quicklv forget what thev see at the movies, they will

The facts know this by Dr.

P.

be disappointed.

on the other side. We to be true from a studv made W. Holaday and Dr. George are

Stoddard. Dr. Stoddard

is

now

President

of the Universitv of Illinois.

These scientists made a study of seventeen commercial theatrical films. They tested three thousand children in four different age groups. The tests were of

two kinds. In one

they checked the children's ability to remember the plot of the

test

what the characters said In another test, they checked

stor}',

and did. on general information regarding the historical

or geographical background.

Both children and superior adults saw these mo\ies and were tested on them. \\Tiat the children remembered was then compared with what superior adults remembered. Here are the results: Children remember a large amount of specific information from motion pictures.

Indeed, second and third graders

and older children remember ^g per cent or more of the facts remembered by

99

Childcr-\ft

200 superior adults.

But

this isn't the

What

most

Is the Effect of

Attitudes?

starthng figure. Retests at the end of a

month and

showed

a half

on manv of the items, the younger group remembered more than some of the older groups. And three months after seeing the picture, the children remembered as much as they did six weeks after seeing it. No, children's memories of motion pictures do not fade Further,

so ven- quicklv.

WTiat did children remember best? The investigators found that action was

remembered

especially

best,

when

the

action dealt with items such as sports

when

was connected with familiar t\pes of background such as business or school. Items dealing with drinking, bootlegging, and business were not remembered well. Stoddard and Holaday also discovered that children of all ages tend to accept as true what they see in the movies, or crime or

unless \\hat

is

it

shown

is

clearly false.

WTiat comfort or hope can parents draw from these figures? Certainly, if the content of motion pictures helps the intellectual and emotional growth of children, then this favorable movie memorv' is excellent. But if the content is not suited to children, if it may prove morally harmful, then, of course, parents would prefer that the movie memor}' fade quickly.

At any

rate,

the in\esti-

what Mr. the motion picture

gators proved the truth of

Eric Johnston said of

when he accepted

Not only is there evidence that the may remember a great deal of what

that children

could recall 90 per cent of the amount thev had remembered the dav after the picture. Adults could remember onlv 82 per cent of their original recollection.

the presidency of the

Motion Picture Association of America: "Its power for good is only matched by its power for evil."

Movies on

child

he

sees at the movies;

that

it is

equally true

motion pictures may help change

attitudes. The evidence for this statement comes from a studv, xMotion ViciuTts and the Social Attitudes of Children, made by two investigators at his

the

Universit}^

of

Chicago,

Doctors

Louis L. Thurstone and Ruth Peterson. Their procedure was simple. First, bovs and girls from the fourth grade to the eighth and young people of highschool and college age were given tests on their attitudes toward nationality', race, crime, war, and the punishment of criminals. After one or two weeks they

saw a Hollvwood film which might possiblv influence attitudes in these direc-

Then

the next day they were given another attitude test to measure the tions.

effect of the movie.

The most

change in attitude was the unfa\orable change toward the

Negro

striking

after

seeing the picture,

Birth of a Nation."

The

film,

"The

"Son of

the Gods," de\eloped a definite change

m

attitude fa\orable to the Chinese.

made

A

group less severe in their attitude toward the punishment of criminals. A group of high-school children was less fa^"orable toward war crime picture

after seeing "All

Front."

A

a

Quiet on the \\'estern

group of high-school children

was more severe in their judgment of gambling after seeing the picture, "Street of Chance." These studies showed that mo\ies have a cumulati\'e effect on attitude. Two pictures, neither of which has a significant effect on attitude, may have such an effect on the attitudes of a group

who

see both pictures.

The Child and the Movies

Do

201

taken part in the tests were measured again after intervals ranging from ten to nineteen weeks. It was found that the effect of a motion picture on attitude stays, but not in all cases; there is some return toward the position held before the picture was presented.

movie." They were surprised to find life like the movie. In order to discount something, however, a person must be able to analyze it, to studv it, and to discriminate. One must know beforehand what is true and what is not true. Since many children and young people do not have mature experience in certain areas of living, they

Some

are handicapped in their ability to ana-

these attitudes fade quickly or do

The

they stay?

attitudes of the students

who had

of the experiments suggested that

as

being "just

the effect of the motion pictures was

lyze

But

are,

on the younger

greater

children.

the evidence was not definite.

What

the Effect of Motion Pictures

Is

on Conduct?

like a

and discount what therefore,

likely

not true. They to be definitely is

influenced by certain motion pictures. So parents must answer these ques-

Are the

about current movies:

tions

goals or ideals relating to standards of

Investigation has indicated that the

conduct of the characters in motion pictures may provide a stimulus for both good and bad conduct. Movies may also influence

attitudes

young people.

It is a

children

of

and

mistake, however,

to think parents can judge clearly

what

happens to a child or a young person merely on the basis of the stimulus. Not all people react the same way to the same stimulus. WTiat actually happens to a person depends upon what he has experienced.

previously

from

Parents

know

own experience that some may see a scene of horror on

their

children

the screen and apparently not react very

Other children may weep, and a few may even be terror stricken. People can also de\ elop what Dr. Herstrongly.

bert Blumicr of the University of Chi-

cago

calls

"adult discount."

They

learn

not to identify themselves completely with the characters in the plav, but to

or use of

recreation,

liquor the kinds of goals that

ing to develop in

mv

I

am

try-

son or daughter?

they are not, then is my family strong enough to counteract the power and inIf

fluence of these films? It

may

well be that certain children

have sufficient discipline and sufficient information to keep them from drawing mistaken conclusions from what thev see on the screen. It is apparent though that this is not true of all. will

When The start

Should Children Start Going the Movies? question of

when

to

children should

going to the movies must be faced

seriously

by parents. All too

often,

it is

answered not in terms of what's best for the child, but in terms of what's most convenient for the parent. A look around a neighborhood theater or a theater in a small town any e\ening will

just a

Indeed, during

these children are asleep, but sometimes

more than once, men on the

they are watching the movie tensely,

aloof.

to themselves, "After

all,

It really isn't so."

the war,

vocation,

show that some parents ha^'e their very young children with them. Sometimes

remain psychologically movie.

They think

living,

field of battle

that

is

have described it in-surprise

almost breathlessly.

Childcraft

202

harmful?" a parent asks. There is no dogmatic answer as to what is harmful to a particular child. Parents "Is this

must

find the answer.

child react?"

want best

"How

"WTiat experiences do they

their child to have?"

way

does their

"What

is

the

to choose those experiences?"

Are they looking

for "harmless" experi-

ences, or for valuable ones? Parents

do

not usually take young children to the theater because they think it will be a valuable experience for the child. Rather, they usually do so simply because it is more convenient. It may be difficult or too expensive to get someone to stay with the children. Further, it may be the mother's only opportunity to get a little rest from her daily chores or to go out with her husband. But when young children are taken with some regularit}' to a theater, parents should remember that a taste and a habit are being built up. Sometimes,

young children

are

frightened at the

Sometimes, too, the experience might be a valuable one. One cannot

theater.

make

a prediction of positive

harm

or

of positive good. Nevertheless, the bur-

den of proof of value

rests

with the par-

ents. In selecting the physical diet

ask: "Is this a healthful food?" it

we

not "Is

then children under eight would probably be better off if they never went at all. Children under eight should not attend motion pictures unless the parents feel certain that the experience will be a wholesome one. The young child can "experience" a movie in a way that he cannot "experience" a book. The movie is

more complete duplication

a

How

"How

said for the

number

lurid,

wish to take their children for the first time and the extent to which they wish

So

is

the

of suitable pictures limited, the

Then,

An

too, previews of

are

often

and sometimes

coming

exciting,

at-

violent,

frightening.

hundred movies reviewed in a parents' magazine discloses that only four out of one hundred analysis of three

films are rated excellent for children. if

parents wish to send their younger

children only to excellent films, then in

the fiftv-two Saturdavs of the year there

habit. if

Not onlv

movies.

time of the week when children can go to the movies is very restricted. For example, Saturday movies in many cities are poorer than the movies shown during the week. Furthermore, even if the parent helps to choose a movie, the double-feature problem must be faced. Thus, even if the first feature is excellent, the second feature may be poor and unsuittractions

writer believes that

"How manv

books should children read?" These sound like questions that would have similar answers. But there is one very real difference. There is hardlv anv limit to the number of excellent books suitable for and available to children. The same cannot be

The

The

to

often should children go to the

movies?"

able.

promote the movie

Go

the Movies?

out some of the possible harm and possible value that can come to children attending commercial movies. On the basis of the facts and opinions presented, parents will have to decide when they

to

Often Should Children

harmless?" material which follows will point

of reality.

parents are

would be only two

suitable films, pro-

not going to select rigidly and carefully

vided, in addition, that their local thea-

the motion pictures for their children.

ters

booked them!

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

The funny

and the old-fashioned carriage may amuse the events they have heard their grandmothers tell about give

hats, the iron deer,

children. But movies of color and meaning to many of the family anecdotes.

Ho\ve\er,

if

they were willing to send

their children to pictures rated either

good or

excellent, there

would be

avail-

able during the year fourteen movies so rated by this magazine.

Remember now,

the films available in a particular vear. Thus, if parents permit that these are

all

to

rob

radio programs,

instructi\'e

him

if

they

of a chance to pla}" outside with

on

sunny afternoon. In addition, they want him to develop his own resources for entertaining himself. They don't want excessive adulthis friends

a nice

the availability of good films. Intelligent

entertainment to spoil the child's appreciation of simpler forms of dramatic art. Children must learn how to grow, to become mature, to be on their own. Children need to learn how to choose their own companions, books, radio programs, and movies. Therefore, intelligent parents will start teaching their

parents do not want the child to spend

child

their child to attend a motion-picture

play once or twice a week,

most of the

which he will see will be rated unsuitable for voung children. films

determining the frequency of movie attendance for children, there are other factors to be considered besides In

much time

going to even excellent movies, reading good books, or listening too

level

how

to

make

wise movie choices.

In the beginning, as in the field of diet,

the parent

203

may

supervise carefully to

Childcraft

204

see that the proper foods are eaten.

But

the child must learn to choose his entertainment diet as well as his physical

After the age of eight,

diet.

parents

should encourage their children to take responsibility for selecting their

tion pictures.

own mo-

They must be helped

to

form judgments. At what age should Mother and Dad keep hands off entirely? This question is not easily answered. It depends upon the child. Certainly one would hope that, by the age of fifteen, children would have acquired enough intelligence, insight, and discretion to go to any motion picture they wished. As a matter of fact, most children now do this at a much younger age, and without very much supervision. It is

the habit of going to "the movies"

instead of going to "a movie" that par-

must guard

Simply going to the movies once or twice a week, no matter what picture is on, is an undesirable habit against which the parents

ents

must protect

When

against.

their

young

children.

Should Parents Accompany Their Children to the Movies?

What

about sending young children

unaccompanied to the theater? Parents can hardly

justify

permitting children

under the age of eight to go alone to movies. One can sympathize with harassed mothers who find this a convenience in getting a little rest from the children, but building the movie habit

may store up later trouble

for the parent.

There are very definite values in accompanying the child. It means a shared enjoyment and common memories. It means that young children expect help from their parents in selection of movies. It means building the habit of

family recreation. Family attendance has another value. Parents can much more

movie experiences that are too tense and exciting. And perhaps some experiences which they thought would prove too emotional may have affected the child not at all. Is a three-hour movie program too long for the young child? Many motion picture programs now run three hours readily discover the

in length.

Some

children stay to see the

program twice, and thus may be in the theater for four or five hours. Managers of theaters say that children

may even

bring their lunch with them. Do you as a parent wish your child to be in the theater every Saturday after-

noon

on Sunday from two o'clock to five? Or, if your child is older, do you want him to be in the theater from or

seven to ten, the usual time of the evening performance?

Does it do the child any phvsical harm? If all conditions are favorable— the child has a comfortable seat, the theater is properly ventilated, and the if

motion picture is excellent— there may be no actual physical harm. But far too often, children see the motion picture at a distorted angle at the front of the

theater,

and many complain about head-

aches after spending long hours sitting in the theater.

This again,

is

in the area of relative

What would

be doing if he were not in the theater? He might be playing on a crowded city street. He might also be making a kite at home or taking a hike with his friends. This issue must be faced squarely by parents. Too often, parents surrender to mass pressure and let the group dictate movie attendance patterns even though parents have misgivings. values.

this child

The Child and the Movies But the child can go to the theater and be out in an hour and a half or two hours. Parents can take their child to

though two features are shown. By phoning the theater and finding the exact time when see the single feature even

each

feature

they

starts,

can

govern

their attendance accordingly. If the chil-

dren have not formed the habit of seeing •. £ 11 1^^ j.ff;^„u both features, it will not be too ditticult for them to leave when they have seen 1

1

.

1.

.

.

Saturday matinees have not been a very profitable venture for the theater owner. If he gets ten cents a child, a house seating five hundred children brings in fifty dollars. He must pay a projectionist, rent the film, and sustain more wear and tear on his theater than he would with an adult audience. 4.

,, ^, _, ^ Movies Made Especially What About ,,^,

,

,

Films

„

1.

among which

^

young

are the following:

Suitable films were not available,

not easy to rent films that are more than a year or two old. The exchanges where these films are stored do not keep them for any length of time. Thus, film classics are often unobtainable a year or two after their release. This restricts

number

2.

of available films.

Theatrical films are almost never

made made

They

are

children

by

specifically for children.

for

adults

and

fit

chance only. 3. Thoughtful parents

may

wish their

children to see occasional movies, but

they do not want their children to get the weekly movie habit. They arrange a variety of Saturday or

tional experiences for

movies are only a

part.

Sunday

?

now made by Hollywood com-

i,

1

j

children.

What can parents do about this? They

It is

the

,

panics are produced for adults, not for

,

Special Programs for Children?

People have been told that the way to have satisfactory programs for children is through a special showing or matinee usually on Saturday morning, From time to time an enthusiastic theater owner and an alert group of parents get together and try to build such programs. These matinees often have either failed or petered out for a variety of reasons,

.

Ch'ld

the chosen single feature.

What About

205

recrea-

them, of which

can discuss in parents' meetings or club meetings or church groups the kind of children's films which they would like to have produced. Their conclusions could be sent to Hollywood producers and to producers of films for use in re-

and character education, Here are some suggestions as to possible tvpes of films. These films may in a few cases run as long as an hour, but usually would be from ten to twenty

ligious

minutes in length. 1. Films made from stories such as Black Beauty or Heidi, which are popular with children. 2. Films dealing with birds and animals and outdoor life. One educational film company has already produced such films as "Grev Squirrel," "Bunny Rabbit," "Care of Pets." The National Boy Scouts of America have produced some very instructive films dealing with camping

and hiking.

Films dealing with mechanics and popular science. A study of a magazine such as Popular Science will reveal many 3.

possibilities for films useful in

how

bovs and

girls

interesting

and useful

to

make

objects.

teaching various

Every child that ever lived is always amazed and delighted by animal babies. Seeing them in the movies is the next best thing to having a pet of one's own.

how

to be a

good host to learning to Care must be taken, how-

do your share. ever, not to make these films too preachy and priggish. 8. Puppet plays. Many simple puppet plays would lend themselves to motion picture reproduction. 9.

Song

shorts.

A number

of very in-

song shorts useful for community singing have been made. A good proportion of these films would have some kind of outreach into activity. They would stimulate active curiosity, emphasize things that boys and girls could do. These films would be shown under nontheatrical sponsorship. Film rental rates might be set at no more teresting

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

Films showing athletic skills. Children could have films varying all the 4.

way from "How To Pitch

a

Curve" or

Kite" to "How To Do Finger Painting." Tips could be given

"How To Make a on how

to play football or tennis or

handball. 5.

Real

adventure

Pictures

stories.

showing parents taking boys and

girls

on

excursions to interesting places within their

cities,

visiting

a

farm, spending

day at the park; showing them how to take care of their pets, ways of earn-

a

ing money, and the

like.

Films showing card tricks, sleight of hand, and magic. Every boy and girl 6.

likes

to

know how

motion picture

is

to

do

than five to ten dollars for a one-hour program. Schools and churches and community houses are increasingly installing 16 mm. projection equipment.

There is no more reason whv children should have to go to a commercial movie theater to see a movie than that they should have to go to a pay library to read a book. That they still must do so is merely an indication of our very slow progress in the field of child welfare and recreation.

Does Censorship

The medium

tricks.

an excellent

Movies Help or

Hinder Parents?

Many parents have been led

for this type of instruction.

Films dealing with human relations. Films can show the problems of boys and girls who are learning how to get along with others, some common mistakes, and how to remedy them. These pictures can vary all the way from 7.

of

to believe

that film censorship protects their chil-

dren from harm. They say, "That's what our censor board is for." The word censorship is loosely used in relation to films. Sometimes the newspapers tell about censorship exercised at

206

The Child and the Movies the source of production in Hollywood. Naturally parents are interested in any process which aims thoughtfully to study a motion picture before

produced. Surely intelligent citizens want nothing on the screen which would really harm the morals of either children or adults. As long as only those things which nearly everybody agrees are harmful are censored, no danger arises. But it is easy to censor political ideas as well as moral ideas. So power to censor films at the source has both good and harmful possibilities. It may shut off the flow of new ideas as well as truly harmful ideas. it is

and some individual cities censorship laws. These laws

Six states

have film

vary considerably, however.

In Massa-

chusetts, for example, there

censorship

of films

is

shown on Sunday. The

York law permits the censorship of that are sacrilegious. ards set a

up

The

New films

usual stand-

for rejecting or censoring

picture relate

to

citement to crime.

immorality or

No

in-

207

should be censored in a film. Some would censor card playing. Others would censor favorable treatment of divorce. 3. Censor boards have censored films for political reasons. 4.

Goodness can't be cut into a

Censorship at its best is negative in its approach. It tries to take badness out. 5. Censors are sometimes given their jobs not because of their special qualifications but because of their political ture.

connections. 6.

Even with censorship

and many

cities,

in six states

the films got so bad in

1934 ^^^^ ^^^ Legion of Decency was developed to clean them up.

Some

persons argue that we need laws to help guard children against harmful experiences, just as we have pure food laws.

The

catch

is

that people can agree

on what is a poisonous food, but people do not agree as to what is poisonous film material. Further, the same film experience may hurt some persons, but

state allows cen-

sorship for political reasons.

Metro-GoUlwyn-Mayer

Those who oppose censorship usually do so on the following grounds: freedom of speech. Radio script is not submitted to a censor board before it goes on the air. Neither is newspaper content submitted to a state board of censors before 1.

it is

It

is

a

violation

of

printed.

Except for a limited number of clear-cut immoral activities, even the best-informed persons disagree on what 2.

Movies which depict the

life of

in other lands will interest sters.

They

dren dress,

what

children

most young-

know how other chilwhat games they play, and

like to

their schools are like.

pic-

^^^

Childcraft

208 not others.

saw

If it

harmed everyone

who should be

it,

responsible for

protecting the morals of the censors? There are other possibilities for legal protection of children. In England, mo-

U

tion pictures are classified as

A

and

versal,

which are rated

for Uni-

meaning Adult. Films

U

can be seen h\- old and young. Films rated A cannot be attended by children unless accompanied

H

by an adult. Films labeled for Horrific cannot be seen bv children at all. The Catholic Legion of Decency does the same for American movies.

The

writer believes that the best solu-

tion for the

movie problem

will

How Can

he

really

is

the onlv one

such a standard is set up? Perhaps his parents' standards are too high. Perhaps community standards are too low. If this is true, a community job must be done to build higher standards. Perhaps some further discussion might be gi\en to this problem b}' the Parent-

Teacher Association. There might be agreement on a few minimum standards such 1.

2.

as the following:

No

mo\ies on school nights. Only mo\ies \\hich parents appro\ e

young 3.

for

children.

Parents or another adult should accom-

pany young children. 4.

Listings library'

5.

should be a\ailable at the

or at the school.

Children should be required to check

mo\ie

a

list

to

make

sure the film

is

acceptable.

Another possible answer to the queschild might be, "Yes, Marv,

tioning

there are

dren do.

years.

\^•hat if

for \^•hom

come

through special theaters for young children. They would be publicly supported like our libraries. They would not only show films; they would also have a repertoire of puppet plays, live drama, magicians, dog and pony acts, plays by children. A good beginning has already been made. The Junior League has done notable work with children's theaters for

many

But

^^•ho

some

may do

But you

things that other chil-

that vou aren't allowed to also

have some enjoyments You saw

that other children don't have. the Differing

Among

Movie Standards

Parents Be Reconciled?

some went

children's plavs at the theater. to the children's svmphon\-.

go on hikes

You You

tend motion pictures that other children can attend. What should the parent say

your Daddy." Perhaps the greatest opportunity lies in these substitute recreations. Children who might momentarily feel depri\ed later

when

remember

Naturally children will raise questions

with their parents

when thev

the child points

other children go,

why

out,

can't at-

"All

the

can't I?"

There

are several answers:

First,

a parent can

say to his

son,

"John, are you really sure that all children are permitted to go? What about

John may now have to qualify his statement. He may not know about Bill and Jerry. He may say, "Well, everybody except two or three can go Bill?

Jerry?"

every Saturday."

^^ith

that their famih- has

had

en-

joyments denied to other families. The desire for mature, adult pleasures and pri\ileges is not confined to mo\iegoing. Adults stay up later than children. This doesn't seem fair to children, either. But just as parents can avoid building up the idea that going to bed is unpleasant, so they can show children that there are compensating pleasures when movie attendance is restricted.

The Child and the Movies Parents and older brothers and sisters ought to use discretion when they talk

about pleasurable experiences denied to younger brothers and sisters. Just as parents wouldn't put emphasis on the wonderful times they have after their children are put to bed, so they should be careful not to excite their envy by talking about the wonderful motion picture they saw, a motion picture which the children were not permitted to see. In one family that I know, the attitude has been built up that they see the

vide

209

excellent

family

entertainment. Families can thus provide movie enjoyment without going outside the home.

By

inviting like-minded parents

and

children in for an evening of movies, group standards in the neighborhood

can be developed. Movie-going can be kept as a "treat" for young children, and not allowed to be something that is expected as a regular thing.

How Can

Parents Help Their Children Develop Mature, Discriminating Taste?

good movie comes along,

best. If a really

they have to

the family goes, even

if

drive clear across town.

Remember

The

taste of the child will eventually

their friends. It

be a reflection of the taste of the parent. This means that parents themselves must develop a critical appreciation and discrimination in the art of the motion

not to be able to see them. Parents who wish to hold high movie standards for their children must keep faith with them and sometimes go out of their way to permit attendance at a particular movie. Another substitute for attendance at

It means also that they must help their maturing and adolescent children in growing awareness of suitable standards in this field. Perhaps the most important factor in building good taste with reference to family movie attendance is for them to

that

children read film magazines and critical reviews.

They hear

certain films referred

to in glowing terms is

by

a heartbreaking experience

the theater

is

homemade

movies.

The

8-mm. and 16-mm. cameras are not beyond the purse of many families. Indeed, a little less movie-going would help pay the cost of the equipment and the film.

picture.

learn to select their entertainment.

must not

passively accept

They

what comes

along. People carefully select their books, their

children's

spots, their

room

stories,

vacation

their

furnishings with

all

the

and all the taste that thev have. They must build the ideal of excellence skill

By taking movies of family trips, pets, hikes, and camping activities, the family at work and play, parents can provide interesting good fun that will be enjoyed bv all the members of the family. Ten to fifteen years from now, too, they can have some heart-warming evenings

in all fields.

Good tion.

taste

It also

means not only wise selecmeans active rather than

passive viewing of the film.

A

can bring an active,

inquiring

mind

critical,

on what he

person

on the This does not mean that he is

to bear

sees

with the family laughing over the times

screen.

"when we were

just kids."

always picking things to pieces or that

Parents can rent cartoon comedies,

he does not enjoy himself. It merely means that in general he is criticalminded rather than sponge-minded. He

travelogues,

showing.

and other

films for

If carefully selected,

home

they pro-

Ewing Galloway, N. T.

Movies of the family at work and at play provide interesting, good fun for everyone. Ten years from now these fascinated youngsters will still enjoy, but probably laugh heartily at the home movies made when they were "kids."

doesn't absorb everything.

must

reject

What

some

He may and

lems, as the movies suggest. It in real life that the

things.

are people critical about? Cer-

must learn to distinguish between truth and fantasy. Ah'ce in

is

not true

crime problem

is

solved by punishing individual crimi-

The

movie-goer does

tainly a person

nals.

Wonderland

not permit the highly persuasive movie to influence him so that he suspends

is

enjoyed as a fantasy.

It

does express a vast amount of truth about life, but parents would not want their children to believe that they could

walk through a looking-glass in real life. In the same way, parents do not want their children to accept as true on the screen those things which in real life would be considered as false. For example, it is not true in real life that romantic love solves all prob-

intelligent

judgment of what he sees. To help children develop good taste, parents must start where their children are, not where they think they ought to be. A parent may be bored by Westerns. So is the fourteen-year-old. Tlie ten-yearold may not be. Start where he is. Pressure and compulsion have little value. critical

The

best thing a person has seen, read,

or heard about

210

is

the only standard he

The Child and the Movies has for judging the best. Parents can tn' to get some of the best mo\ies into the diet of their child. Tliey can help

211

single parent. If parents are constantly

standards

met with such statements as, "But the other kids can go" and "WTiy are vou so strict with me? None of the other par-

regarding acting, direction, casting, pho-

ents are so strict," they face difficulties in

tographv, social values, music and sound

getting their children's co-operation.

their child develop his

own

and weaknesses of the One method might be to rehash

Perhaps parents can get some help by turning to another field. \Miat is

the mo\"ie at the breakfast table or at

the situation in the field of good taste in reading? No one assumes that each

effects, strengths

plot.

dinner the next evening. If the movie was poorer than expected, members of the group might make suggestions as to what they would ha\e done if they had been the script writer or the director. Parents must remember alwavs that thev are

tmng

de\"elop their tastes.

to help their children

own

standards, their

Sometimes these

own

tastes will differ

from those of the parents. This is not a bad sign. It mav be a sign of thinking, of growing independence. It is also possible that the children's tastes may sometimes be better than that of the parents. There are two approaches to the problem of the child and the movies. It may be approached from the standpoint of "mv child and the movies." Here the individual parent must do the best he can to protect his children. Parents cannot escape the responsibilitv for guiding the development of their children. But another approach— that of "our children and the movies." This recogthere

is

nizes the point of view that co-operative

needed to solve the movie problem. For example, an indi\idual parent can do little if there is almost never an excellent children's picacti\ity b}' all parents

is

ture available at the theater.

Further,

it

must be

realized that group

standards have a great deal of effect on

Group opinion regarding mo\ie-going may be far stronger than

all

children.

the pressure that can be exerted by a

parent unaided will build good reading taste. On the contrarv, people tax themseh'cs for public libraries. individual

They

hire well-trained children's libra-

Information regarding good books is a\'ailable. The parent who wants his child to develop good reading tastes, therefore, has an allv in the library-. Indeed, in manv cities it mav be easier to get good books than it is to get poor ones. Further, the range of choice is extremely wide. On the other hand, when parents turn to the motion-picture theater, thev find rians.

that, unlike books,

almost never fit

motion pictures

made

children onl\-

b\-

are

They chance. They find

for children.

the hours for attending movies are lim-

much

week end. They find that the poorest movies are shown on the week ends and the best ones are shown during the week. ited pretty

The answer

is

to the

clear.

Parents as indi-

and parents as members of the community must shoulder responsibility in this field. They must develop a group viduals

understanding of the

effects of

movies

upon children and youth. They must build accepted parental standards in this field.

Tliev must look to their

own

tastes

through such individual and group efforts, mo\ics may become valuable for children, not harmful, nor merelv harmless. in this field. Perhaps,

Childcraft

212

SOME THINGS TO THINK ABOUT 1.

Do mv home

2.

Has our family policy

and

my

community' pro\ide varied recreational opportunities for children other than going to the mo\ies? Ha\e I seen to it that my children have a wide \ariet\' of experience in dramatics, music, good reading, and the like?

and

Do

inertia?

I

mation, attitudes,

motion picture been one merely of drift know the possible good and bad effects of movies upon the inforhealth, and conduct of my children? in regard to the

given my children continuous experience in thinking through new experiences so that they are not undulv influenced by what they see at the motion-picture 3.

Have

I

theater?

with the help of the parents of my children's friends, set up clear-cut standwhen my children should begin going to the movies, the frequency of their attendance, the time of da\' and week? 4.

Have

I,

ards as to the age

5.

What

6.

Am

which

I

I

I use in my selection of films for myself and for younger children choose the right kind of movies to attend?

sources of information do

Do

the family?

I

help

my

sympathetic with

my

children's preference for

consider unsatisfactory', realizing that

I

must

Western

start

or other t\pes of films

with their present

tastes

and

guide them to more intelligent selections?

Do

permit

my

children simply to "go to the mo\ies" with their friends without making inquiries about the picture which thev are planning to see? I prepared to suggest another film or to substitute some other attraction or recreation for the group if the 7.

I

Am

film offerings

do not seem

suitable?

BOOKS TO READ and The Content York: The Macmillan Co., 1938.

Dale, E, Children's Attendance at tures.

Payne Fund Studies.

New

Motion

VichiiQ^

oi

Motion

Vic-

A. T. Kadio and Motion Pictuies. Thirt}-Eighth Yearbook, National Society for the Study of Education. Bloomington, Illinois: Public School Publishing Co., 1939. Jersild,

Merry, F. K., and Merry, R. V. Brothers,

Fiom

Infancy to Adolescence.

New

York: Harper &

1940.

Perlman,

W.

J.

(Composer and Editor). The Movies on

Trial.

New

York:

The Mac-

millan Co., 1936.

C, and Thurstone, L. L. Motion Pictures and the Social Attitudes oi Children. Payne Fund Studies. New York: The Macmillan Co., 1933. Stoddard, G. What Motion Pictures Mean to the Child. Iowa State Welfare Pamphlets, Peterson, R.

No.

31.

Iowa

Cit}-:

Universit}- of Iowa, 1933.

THE CHILD

AND THE COMICS Ewing Galioway, N. T.

Surrounded by the Sunday comics, children neither see nor hear anything that goes on around them. It can hardly be doubted that the comics give them something which they seem to want.

JOSETTE FRANK

SHALL

my children read the comics?" This asked perhaps more frequently and more anxiously than any other when parents con-

question sult

I

let

is

librarians

dren's reading.

or

book

advisers

To anyone who

about their

chil-

has watched both

comics and children over a long period of time the answer is quite evident. Comics are so much a part of the children's world that they will probably read comics whether we "let" them or not. In this article, Miss Frank, who is Children's Bctok Adviser of the Child Study Association of America, gives parents suggestions as to

how

to utilize this

all-absorbing interest to the advantage of the child.

appear COMIC newspaper strips

in

ever)'

in

the

almost land;

comic books are on every newsstand—not to mention their way of cropping

up

in

odd places— at the

bar-

ber shop, in the dentist's waiting room,

homes, even in trash bins on the street, from which they are likely to be salvaged by young scavengers. at other children's

Parents,

and

teachers, too, are rightly

concerned with anv form of reading that claims a large share of their children's

time and attention. This, the comics tainly do.

A

cer-

survey of comic reading in

an average American town showed that ninety per cent of the boys and girls between eight and thirteen read comic books. Manv read several such books a week in addition to the comic strips in the daily newspaper and Sunday supplement. Recent figures show that some thirty-five million comic books are sold on the newsstands each month. Not all of these are bought by or for children, but children are hcav\- purchasers.

213

Childcraft

21.

Now,

many chilown precious

the very fact that so

dren will part with their

literature

reading

and

Will

art?

make them

this easy picture

too lazy or too read-

dimes in exchange for one of these pa-

ily satisfied

to read other

per-covered allurements

cult books?

And what

reveals that

own

significant. It

comics are of the children's

choosing.

Nobody

upon them.

ing

is

On

urges this read-

the contrary,

many

people try to stop them— using every means from forbidding or punishing to withholding their dimes. But the children have their own ways of getting comics. They even do a flourishing business

in

secondhand distribution: two

for a nickel, slightly used; or, perhaps

cheaper,

if

the cover

is

missing.

Few chil-

dren ever throw away a comic book in any stage of dilapidation — it is always

good

for a "trade" or for rereading.

Anyone who has ever watched a child with a comic book or seen the eagerness which lights up his eyes when he comes upon one unexpectedly has, no doubt, marveled. Deep in the pages of a comic book, a child neither hears nor sees what goes on around him; he is deaf to the parental voice,

and

all

reasonable

at-

tempts to break in on his reading are

he comes to the end of the story. This seems to be true of all kinds of children— boys and girls, bright and dull, good readers and poor readers, from good homes or bad— they futile, at least until

read the comics.

all

The

evidence

is

boys and girls love the comics. Surely such intense and quite clear that almost

all

universal interest suggests that children are finding in this reading

something

But the

fact that children love

them

does not answer the question most important to parents: "Are they good or

bad

for the children?" Parents,

teachers, too,

fantastic

and many

want to know: "Will the

comics spoil children's taste for

finer

stories

diffi-

about the emo-

tional effects of the exciting

and often Will

the comics?

in

these be harmful? Will the language of the comics affect children's speech habits?

Will the poor paper and print

af-

fect their eyes?"

What

Is in the

Comics?

Before one can evaluate what comic reading may be doing to children, one

must inquire about what

it is

doing for

them. To answer these questions, therefore, comics which children are reading must be looked over to find out what is really in them. What do they have that holds such lure for their young readers?

What

are the youngsters finding there

them? Adults who would evaluate comics must not only delve into them; they must try to see that

is

so satisfying to

them through the

children's eyes.

To

begin with they will discover, perhaps to their surprise, that the comics vary greatly.

Standing before a newsstand, one mother, intent on buying a comic book for her sick-abed child, was at a loss to choose. "Tliey plained.

all

look alike," she com-

But the children know

They know

better.

these books include a wide

and treatments, and they know, too, which ones they like. One often hears a parent say, "But variety of subjects

my

they need and want.

and more

when The fact

children never laugh

reading the funnies!"

they're is

that

only a few of the strips are really intended to be funny. By far the greater

number strips

are

of the children's favorite comic

are

stories

fantastic,

full

of adventure. of

magical

Many events,

"Just

suppose" has always been a

game

vorite

more

all the

of

children.

Superman

fais

exciting because he oper-

ates in a modern city full of ordinary people, just like the young reader. Of course it couldn't happen! But, "just "

suppose

-

-

pseudoscientific tions

inventions,

or

projec-

the future. There are also

into

crime and detective stories, jungle stories, true stories based on histon,^ or biography or science, selections from the classics of literature, some romance, the adventures of cartooned animals which behave in human ways, stories of fam-

and a sprinkling of humorous or nonsensical character strips and jokes. ilv

life,

be noted that these are subjects which have always been found in chilIt will

dren's storybooks.

The

difference

By Luoma from MonJkmoyer

can

would seem

to be in

degree. In the comics the story

more

moves

tell

by the cut of

their clothes, the

facial expressions, the angle of a cigar.

All this

is

clear,

even to a poor reader.

planation or digression as they are in

Another attraction lies in the fact that most of the stories and pictures deal with the familiar things and scenes of today— cars and guns and planes, buildings and workers, businessmen and gangsters and money. The people of the comics, for the most part, are of common clay, wear ordinary clothes, and behave like ordinar}^ folk. This makes all the more welcome those extraordinary characters and events that crash in upon the familiar scene— things that could never happen except in the comics. Interest is heightened by the contrast between the commonplace and the magical. Superman is all the more exciting because spread below his streaming red

books. Balloons indicate very definitely

cape

who

people, people

faster,

the action

is

direct, cause

immediately followed by effect, the humor is crude and to the point, and is

ever)thing

is

very understandable.

Despite their wide variety of subject and treatment, however, the comics

have one they are

common all

ingredient:

packed with

it.

Action—

And

this,

what children crave above all else. They want something to happen; and in the comics something always does— quickly, sometimes violently, always in a most satisfying mannersatisfying, that is, to the young reader. Events follow one another in rapid sucit

seems,

is

cession without being stopped for ex-

\ou beyond a doubt which are the "good people" and which the "villains." You says

what, the pictures

tell

21

lies

a

modern

city full of ordinary

not unlike the young

reader himself. In the back of the child's

mind

as

he reads

is

the unconscious

Childcraft

21(

HEHf ^BH!

I..

I.

.5AVED THE CSLB^-i.'

Copf

World

t5

1945. Walt DtvKy PiodixTioo* Rights Rncned

Di'tnh-jtcd hv K;n^ Ffaturrs Syndicatt,

Walt Disney Productions

Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck capCupr

i"r-. \\ ih I^-oity Pto^iKlfons

World

tivate children, for they act out the

Ri^^JMS Ri...r.^.

children's

own

fantasies.

© Walt Disney Productions reflection:

"Suppose

this

happened

to

comic book, skipping nothing. Others choose certain heroes whose adventures

me!" He knows full well it couldn't. He knows these heroes aren't real. But ''just suppose" has ever been a favorite game

and follow them through thick and

of childhood.

living their experiences with

The humor, too, is of that variety known as "slapstick" which introduces

ing their dangers.

the ridiculous into ordinary' settings with

those that are

come

closest to their

own

Some

heart's desire thin,

them, shar-

children will

read only the funny ones; others prefer full

The changing

and thunder. and emotional

of blood

stance,

Mutt and Jeff, for indo and say the most absurd things. Popeye makes ever\'day matters funny by his silly jargon. \Miole families like The Bungle Family and Blondie get themselves involved in absurd situations arising from the ordinary

needs of a child at various age levels seem to influence his choice of comics. Young children— say, at four or five or six— generally prefer comics of the gentler, Walt Disnev variety. The childlike adventures of Mickey Mouse and Don-

business of daily li\ing. Tliese things,

aid

boys and girls find funny, though they do not always laugh aloud when they

age, for these belo\ed little animals re-

ordinary people.

are amused.

Children Differ in Their Choices Children's tastes in comics vary as widely as do the comics themselves.

Some

will read their

way through any

Duck

flect

interests

are vastly entertaining at this

own fantasies. Behuman ways, these crea-

the children's

haxing in very tures engage in all the kinds of mischief most children— especially good children —would enjoy doing themselves. Tlie inimitable Mickev contrives to think up amazing things to do and comes through

The Child and the Co^^cs opr

lv46, Kip^ Featurfs Syndicate, Inc

NX'orld

21 7

tights reserved

MM-M-M-

/

IS

"m AT A FACT?

SURE BE NICE, WWEM SPRING COMES AGAIKJ, AKID WE SEE TM' FIRST MlSgATORY

WELL,

IT'LL

1VJRU5V-I,

EW,

samSyI

News

King Features Syndicate, Inc

S>Tidieate Co.

,

Inc.

The slapstick variety of Popeye's humor as well as his silly jargon appeals to most children. Little Orphan Annie is a modem Cinderella, nnd since she talks and acts like children of today, they

his scrapes in a

— satishing,

most

that

is,

satisfying to

make

her troubles their troubles.

manner

who

children

would lo\e to do likewise. As they grow older, children share the ad\entures of their boy and girl heroes in their comics. olds, Little

To

seven- or eight-vear-

Orphan Annie

is

purpose for children of

this

age.

These hilarious young hoodlums take the punishment for all the wicked things

that their well-beha\ed readers

would hke

to do, but dare not!

Thus,

they offer children the sweet satisfaction

Cinder-

by prox\- all the rules of good conduct, good manners, and good

bent on good works and usually in

difficulties— the

cial

serve a spe-

the youth-

ful protot}-pe of the unselfish ella,

The Katzenjammer Kids

poor-little-rich-girl,

and

Her

\er\'

the rich-little-poor-girl, theme.

commonplaceness makes her troubles their troubles, for she talks and acts much like the young readers themselves. For boys, Sheets and Skippy and Barnaby personify the problems of small

of transgressing

language.

And

further,

when

the pic-

tured culprits are punished, as inevitably they are, the

young reader

lieved of whatever guilty feelings

is

re-

may

demands of civilized living, with Mother always on the opposite side

have attended his own wicked wishing! This is the age, too, when children love the utter nonsense and slapstick of such strips as Popeye, This kind of humor seems to be actually in the nature of comic relief in an orderly soci-

of the fence, never seeming to under-

ety.

stand the yearnings of her small son.

that children find

Since misery loves company, what

down, trip, get pushed, whammed on the head, and generally propelled somewhere against their own

bovs ever\where,

full of

healthy protest

against the

boy

will

not find solace in the

little

trials

and

tribulations of these lovable characters?

ple

Parents to

fall

may

as well accept the fact it

vastly

funny

for peo-

Childcraft

2l8

Adults may frown upon such misfortunes as a source of merriment, but they are the very essence of humor for children. They readily discount the pain or suffering \^•hich such misad\-entures might bring; in the comics, lumps volition.

and

bruises are quicklv

oddities of language in

much

no small

against

is

these champions of right against

weak modern Robin

to helping the

the strong, as

Hoods. They represent an age-old fantasy—the wish to break through the restrictions and limitations of realit}^ to override our

own human

frailties.

The

and mvthology of all nations bear witness to the need for such wish-

folk tales

ful

thinking

times.

among

The Greeks

all

peoples in

all

gave their gods spe-

powers over earth and sky. Frontiersmen of America, when life was hard and bitter, created Paul Bunyan, who could move mountains and change the course of mighty rivers. Superman cial

is

In

ad\'enture comics,

their

children can enjoy the thrill of danger-

time and all \\i\\ end well. The hero of the comics fights always on the side of

its

wrong dedicated

the plots.

fun as the

charm. Fantasy and adventure strips seem to come next in the age cycle, though they may be high favorites at almost any age. Superman and Captain Marvel can do anything they set out to do; they are not hampered by human limitations. At nine or ten or eleven, bovs and many

girls see

and hair-breadth escapes are the main thing— it matters not how farfetched

ous living, with, at the same time, reassurance that the hero will arrive in

what goes on. The disorder

part of

the hero's unbounded respect. Fighting, dangerous encounters,

mended. Tlie Popeve are as

a part of the children's

clutter of

commands

a folk tale of today, representing to-

and

right,

his cause always triumphs.

Historical ad\'enture

comic books such

too, in ics,

is

to be found, as

True Com-

including biographies of real heroes

and heroines of peace and war,

known ture,

well-

characters of science, art, litera-

and statesmanship. Such

stories in

the comics can be both interesting and informative.

Thev have proved

cially valuable as

espe-

supplementary reading

and current events classes Some young readers prefer

for history

in

school.

to

read about things that really happened.

Others prefer

Many

fiction or fantasy.

There need be no question of "either-or." Both have legitimate will read both.

places in the child's reading.

not until high-school age that bovs and girls are ready for more romantic stories with some love interest such as Terry and the Pirates and Li'i Abner. But even here, adventure continues to be the main interest, with romance It

is

as the

accompaniment.

Effects

—Good

on Children

or

Bad?

day's wishful thinking.

Children of the robust comic reading age, say nine or ten or eleven, want no love interest in their comics. Their heroes engage in adventure for

its

own

have a girl companion, her role is merely to get into difficulties from which the hero must extricate her. She is not the main theme, though she sake. If they

So

far this discussion

has shown only

the children's point of view, explaining

and exploring the

reasons

for

their

almost universal love of the comics. Among adults, however, there is no such unanimous opinion. WTiile some parthemselves comic readers, others "can't imagine what children see

ents

are

The Child and the Comics them." Some express the fear that

in

these stories with so tion

happening so

much

fast

and

violent acso furiously

are overexciting for children.

On

the other hand,

many

educators

and psychologists believe that the comhave positive values for children. They point out that through this type of reading children can experience danics

knowing at the same time that they are safe from harm. In

ger vicariously,

the swift give-and-take of the action,

such blood and thunder in their reading? The answer lies, perhaps, in the lack of adventure in their own lives. Anyone who followed today's children through the routine of their day-to-day living would realize how little opportunity it offers for any real adventuring at firsthand. For most of them even the threat of danger is remote. It is not surprising, then, since adventure is a basic need in childhood, that children should look for it in their reading— and find it,

may be finding also release for their own emotions, a chance to act out in safety their own aggressive feelings.

however

Along with their favorite hero they can overcome their enemies and rescue their

comics serve

children

friends.

Some emotional

outlet

may be

necessary for children who, living in a

world they cannot control, must sometimes

feel

Security

verv

and

frustrated.

lie in

the knowl-

small

and comfort

21(

Some more

vicariously, in the comics.

believe

psychiatrists

exciting

and

that the

fantastic ad\'enture

as a sort of safety valve for

children. In a study of

"The

Effect of

Comic Books on

the Ideology of ChilLauretta Bender and Dr.

Dr. Reginald S. Lourie expressed the opin-

dren," ion:

"Normal,

well-adjusted

children

with active minds, given insufficient out-

whom

edge that their hero will triumph; that

lets or in

the "good

venture are curbed, will demand satisfaction in the form of some excitement.

people" in the story will reap

the rewards of their virtue; and, what is still more important, that the "bad people" will certainly

to grief. In the

no confusion as to what right and what is wrong. One might question whether this will

comics, there is

come

is

give children a false picture, since in

do not always happen like that. Perhaps that is the very reason why children find it so satisfying to have real life things

come out right, at comics. They know it is

everything their

least in

"just a

but they would like to think that life could be like that, too. As they grow older they may be expected to develop a more mature acceptance of the hard realities. Yet manv people never do outgrow this need for the "happy ending." But why, adults ask, should nice, wellbrought-up boys and girls hunger for story,"

natural drives for ad-

Their desire for blood and thunder is a desire to solve the problems of the threats against themselves or those they love, as well as the problems of their own impulses to retaliate and punish in like form Well-balanced children are not upset by even the most horrible scenes in the comics as long as the reason for the threat or torture

is

clear

and the

issues are well stated."

Nevertheless, larly

some

children, particu-

who may be already emodisturbed, may need to be

those

tionally

protected from a heavy reading diet of fantastic

stories

in

their other reading.

pointed out that

the comics

as

in

Psychiatrists have

when

children are dis-

turbed by such reading it is not the comics which create the fear or distress

Childcraft

220

own

imagination which fastens upon the pictured people

wrongs and the punishment of

and

and such themes run through much

but rather the child's

body

creatures in order to give

to

and anxieties. A child who seems unduly frightened or whose sleep seems to be disturbed by his reading, whether of comics or classics, pre-

own

his

fears

sents special problems.

In such cases,

doers

is

a child's

own

evil-

fantasy pattern,

modern

of

The

their literature as well as their play.

how-

setting of these stories,

ever, has given rise to a fear that they

may

give children ideas of things to do. There is no conclusive evidence that

important to examine the child's emotional needs, in relation not only to his reading but to all of his activities. Parents are often concerned about the vast amount of evil-doing that goes on in the comics, ranging from large-scale

reading about crime makes criminals. The motivation toward unsocial acts lies

crimes and plots of wholesale destruc-

blueprint for action, petty crimes such

it

is

tion to the

minor misdeeds of The Kat-

zen/ammer Kids. One may as well recognize that tales of wrongdoing hold great interest for young readers. They love to read about people being "bad"

and

about their being pun-

especially

ished for their evil-doing.

The

folk

lit-

much

deeper than any casual contact with ideas on a printed page. Neverthechildren already on the verge of unsocial behavior may find here a less, lest

as

pocket picking and shoplifting should

be omitted. Ethically, children are best served if crime is made unattractive and unsuccessful."

The language

of the comics has

in for considerable criticism

ents

and

teachers. It

is

come

from

par-

true that children

abound

find a certain pleasure in imitating the

deeds and misdeeds. Such stories have lived for generations because they deal with the elemental emotions, and children, like other people, want to know about them. One is forced to conclude that no small part of the children's intense interest in the mod-

language of Popeye or Lil Abner or the gangster jargon of the rough characters. They may, for a time, offend

erature in

and

fairy tales of all times

violent

ern adventure type of comics

and violence with much

squeamimpor-

dren's speech. Children derive their real

lies in

less

ishness than other books do. It

is

tant that in the comics crime invariably

fying to

fail.

This, too,

young

readers,

is

and

highly

for

it

adult ears with those weird ejaculations

and surprise that are found only in the comics. But such deviations from "nice" speech will be only passing fads; there would seem to be little reason to fear that these will have any permanent effect on the chil-

the

very fact that they present crime and evil

silly

evil

satis-

relieves

any feelings of guilt for their own impulses "to be bad." In a study of the comics the Children's Book Committee of the Child Study Association of America states: "Children are fascinated by tales of wrongdoing and evil. The avenging of

of pain, anger, fear,

to be

language habits from what they hear at

home and

and not from casual contacts with any entertainment medium. While they are going through at school,

"language" stage, parents will have to grin and bear it! this

The

other side of this picture

fact that

many

tually include a

new

is

just

the

comic books acwide and varied use of

of the

words. In a study of vocabulary

Parents should

make an

their children's

enjoyment

effort to

share

of the comics.

With this bond between them, children also listen more readily to Mother's and suggestions reading matter.

Father's

in

regarding

other

the comics, Dr. Robert Thorndike

found that in one comic book there were ten thousand words of which at least four hundred would be new to the average fifth-grade reader. It will be seen then that for many children the comics offer a reading experience which may well serve to enlarge both their reading and speaking vocabulary. This also has bearing on another question often raised by parents and teachers. Will reading the comics keep children from reading more difficult books? Certainly the reading of comics and nothing else would make an unbalanced reading diet.

Tlie testimony of

and teachers on

this

many

parents

point has been that

children vary greatly in this respect.

At

one extreme are the children who are great readers of everything that comes to hand, ranging from the comics to the classics. These children read the comics for "relaxation" between more ambitious reading. At the other extreme are the children who read the comics and little else beyond the required reading of the classroom. For such children, the comics offer better reading experience than no reading at all, and often they serve as a bridge to greater

facility

know how

to use

in reading,

them

if

adults

By

and

and easy

reading experience, that the reader

is

helped along by the pictures and the short units of type, often makes boys

girls

Monkmejer

more ready

to take the next

up to parents, teachers, and librarians to be alert, at the right time, to offer them books— books not too hard to read, books in which the action moves fast enough to catch and hold their interest, books in which "something happens"— to use the children's own expression. These stories need not be great literature or even the classics— they can be well-written modstep into books.

It

ern adventure stories.

is

A child's

selection

may even be a guide to his interests. Books may be offered

of his comics

reading

him which meet

these

same interests-

funny books or exciting books or fantasy tales— as his taste suggests.

The problem ing

is

comic readone which parents will have to deof excessive

The question of how much cannot be the same

cide in each case.

for that purpose. Tlie very fact

that they offer a pleasurable

liobart from

much

is

too

children- nor determined in advance. Wlien a child seems to be reading comics to the exclusion of other

221

for all

Childcraft

222 activities,

vide

the parents' problem

him with

interests

that

to pro-

is

other experier.ces and

compete with the time and attention.

will

comics for his Wliether they should

offer

him

other

more active things to do, will depend upon the child's own inclinations and preferences. Some children are more interested in doing than in

reading, or

many adults are those precious moments when they escaped the call of duty to curl up with a book— it might ories of

have been anything from Shakespeare to Frank Merriwell. This is in the nature of childhood. Parents will ha\e to bear with it at the same time that they work out with their children wavs for getting the duties done without too much fric-

Good humor and a willingness to concede that comics may be more at-

reading.

Such children can often be attracted to books which relate to their

tion.

other interests— sports, games, hobbies of all sorts. Their love of comics can be

than chores, along with the insistence that there must be a time and place for both in the day's planning, will go far toward ironing out many of these irritations. Co-operation, with each making allowance for the needs and interests of the other, will keep the necessary balance between work and play without making the comics a bone of conten-

used, also, to inspire other activities. It

mav encourage them

to

make up and

act out plays about their favorite hero,

or to write stories, using the characters as heroes

and

villains.

Parents are apt to blame the comics, too, for

many

things which really have

nothing to do with the comics themselves. For example, Johnny who is deep in the reading of a

comic book

fails

to

respond when Mother calls him to dinner or reminds him of his unfinished

homework. In

fact,

he

gives

no

sign that

he even hears her. Or Susan divides her attention between dishwashing and a comic book, with the dishwashing falling behind in the race. Or Mother deems it important that Peter should spend the afternoon playing in the fresh air, but Peter seems to find a crime hunt with Dick Tracy more urgent. So many of these problems of management center about the reading of comics that parents hold these books responsible.

But these difficulties— the struggle between pleasure and duty— existed long before the comics came. Other generations of parents blamed storybooks, dime novels, or other pleasurable intruders for their children's desire to es-

cape the daily chores. Stored in

mem-

tractive

between parents and children. It may comfort us to remember that intensive comic reading is, for many children, a stage through which they pass and from which they do recover if parents are tolerant and patient. Along with their tolerance and patience, however, they must see to it that other books and other experiences are kept available and made attractive against the day tion

when comics reading will pall. Children may continue to read the comics, perhaps, just as many adults read light magazines along with

But the comics

more

will take their propor-

tionate place in a wide diet of reading

serious books.

and balanced

and experiencing.

Learning To Discriminate

To many may seem

adults, the

comic magazines

unattractive either as litera-

ture or as art. Tliey must, however, be careful to appraise

them

the children's eyes. Their

also

own

through apprecia-

When

children limit their reading to comic books, parents need to find ways of providing them with the real and satisfying experiences which children crave. Comics reading w^ill then take its

appropriate place.

and standards have resulted from a long process of trial and error. Ruthlessly to attack what children value, to reflect upon their tastes, does tions

not help their development. On the contrary, it may only shake their confidence in the adult's ability to understand their interests. Prohibitions are likely to invite undercover reading, black-market trading, and other evils— the old story of "forbidden fruit." The resultant struggle

is

likely to

make

chil-

By Luoma from Monkmeyer

among other types of reading. Tliis does not mean choosing their comics for them. Whether they prefer stories of

dren resentful and parents angry— hardly a desirable outcome. On the other hand, those parents who cheerfully comply with their children's pleas, "read me the funnies," and who make an effort really to share their

humor, or adventure, the choice must be their own, based on their own needs and interests at the moment. There are, however, wide differences among comic books in style and draw-

Mickey

ing, in care of presentation, in literary

children's

Mouse

enjoyment

of,

say,

adventuring, will find this sharing most rewarding. An understanding s

on any level is the best possible basis for good relationships between parents and their children. Such sharing does not imply that the parents accept this form of of one another's pleasures

history or mystery, true stories or fantasy,

and very

good drawing and

contain color work;

others contain very poor drawing and color work. ing; others

have

Some have

excellent writ-

have xery poor writing.

really creative

Some

and stimulating ideas;

others merely repeat a stereotyped idea

much

reading as great literature, but only that

without

they are ready to enter into the

learn to recognize

chil-

Some

art editing, in ideas.

variety.

The

children can

and evaluate these

enjoyment of it. With this as a bond between them, children will be

differences.

more ready

Through noting these differences among comics and other books, they will learn to recognize and value good

dren's

to listen to the parents' se-

lections, too,

when they

read aloud from

own favorite books. More important than "forbidding"

their

"permitting" to

is

discriminate

or

This

development of

is

the beginning of the

taste

and discrimina-

tion.

characterization,

believable

plots,

fine

helping children learn

use of words, artistic pictures. For ex-

among

ample, they learn that things and people

the comics as

22 3

Childcraft

22.

need not be all "good" or all "bad." A hero is more nearly real when he has some slight imperfection. A bad character wasn't necessarily born so but got

wav through a ences and influences. that

process of experi-

no reason why the comics all of these virtues, and some of them do. One may hope to see a growth and development in the comics themselves, in the direction both of good writing and good drawing. Already the comic strip form has proved valuable as a teaching technique. It was used extensively by the armv, navy, and air forces during

World War

and

way

of driving

tain necessary information

—how

II as a

quick

home

cer-

and guidance

to get along in the jungle, for in-

being used to explain and clarify to ordinary readers the principles of electronics and other complicated scientific subjects. Various comic heroes also have been pressed into servstance. It

is

ice to sell ideas to

young readers on

vari-

ous social and patriotic causes. Because of the highly contemporary nature of the comics, some of their publishers have found it desirable and possible to infuse their stories with attitudes

and

ideas of

democracy and good human

relationships.

In such stories as Terry

and the Pirates, The Boy Commandos, and Johnny Eve^man, the people of various countries are shown working together to bring about world peace and understanding. A few comic books, such as Blue Bolt Comics, Ali-Star Comics, and Comic Cavalcade, have introduced

some

finds a

definitely undesirable

for

children's

the

reading.

and

Of

are simply of poor quality,

judged by any standards, while others cater to obvious sex interests. As a rule comic books of this nature do not appear

among

the children's favorites. In

doubtful whether thev have any interest for readers of the greatest comics-reading age eight to twelve. Adolescents, however, are apt to browse among these as among other undesirable fact,

it

is

—

magazines that are all too easily available to them. For these young people, it is important to see that they have access to good books, which will answer

some

and plenty of opportunity for wholesome and satisfying activities with other young people of both sexes. Parents must recognize that in this of their questionings,

passionate comics reading their children

and satisfying experiences. It is not enough to provide these bovs and girls with more and better reading. They must be given also some of the satisfactions and outlets for which they are turning to the comics. This means that parents and teachers must make home and school busy, active places where work and play are alive and

are showing a

need

for real

rich with

meaningful

dren will

still

activity.

its

live,

The

chil-

read the comics, perhaps,

for these are a part of the

foreign-born Americans as part of the

Thus, the com-

Among

on the market, one

titles

these,

they

life.

of these purposes.

all

unsuitable

occasional Negro, Chinese, Jewish, or

American pattern of

potent force for com-

democratic way of life. Naturally not all of the comics serve

few that are

is

a

bating racial and religious prejudice and for teaching children the meaning of our

many

should not have

effective

have become

any or

Comics as Teachers

There

ics

but

this

proportionate

world in which

reading will

place

take

among many

absorbing and enjoyable experiences.

The Child and the Comics

1.

Did you read

225

SOME THINGS TO THINK ABOUT The Katzenjammei Kids, Mutt & Jeft, Little Nemo,

strips which were printed when you were a child? ested or because you were forbidden to do so?

If not,

was

it

or other comic because you were uninter-

Jot down a resume of what you know about the adventures of your children's favorite comic characters. Do the results indicate that you are well informed about one of your 2.

children's major interests?

Do

you

talk

about their comics with them?

rough record of the amount of time your youngsters spend during a week's period reading the comics. How does this compare with other activities, such as outdoor 3.

Keep

a

play, listening to the radio, reading other things, etc.? 4.

Do

you object

what do you believe are the copies of your youngster's most

to your child's reading comics? If so,

objectionable features about them?

Go

through several recent comic books and check on the presence of these features. 5.

Do

you notice differences among your

child's

comic books

— in

art

readability of the lettering, originality of story material, care in editing?

size,

and

Have your

chil-

work,

dren noticed these differences? 6.

W^at evidence is

there that your children have a false picture of

life?

Do

they believe

comes out all right for the "good" person? Do they ha\e a black and white idea of the "bad" and the "good" person? Do you believe the comics are responsible for warped ideas about human nature and human behavior? ever)'thing always

7.

What

concrete instances have you noted in your

own

children of the effects of

the comics on their emotional lives? Do they show any evidence of fear or anxiet}'? you inquired into other possible causes of these fears?

is

Have

8. Is your child a "good reader"? If so, does he enjoy other books as well as comics? If he not a "good reader," do you think his comic reading is helping him to read more easily?

BOOKS TO READ Frank, Josette.

What

Books

for Children?

New

York: Doubledav, Doran & Co., Re-

vised 1941.

X

"Children's Interests in Reading the Comics." Journal of Experimental Education, (100-104).

"The Comics As an Educational Medium." The Journal of Educational Sociology. December, 1944. "The Role of Comic Strips and Comic Books in Child Life." Adapting Reading Programs to Wartime Needs. Supplementan,' Educational Monograph, No. 57. The University of

Chicago

Press.

December, 1943.

CREATIVE ACTIVITY IN

DAILY LIVING

£?^^E^- V^ii? -

By Luoma from Monkmeyer

EDITH

MRS. NEISSER, who president

of

is

a

She

tells

parents

leam and grow by making up songs and verses and by drawing

mother and former

the Association

Chicago, discusses the creative children.

Every child is not a potential Michelangelo or Shakespeare, but every child is creative. Children

NEISSER

G.

Family Li\'ing, and abilities of they can stimulate

for

or building things.

skills

how

by the attitudes they and by the opportunities they make possible for the child. Emphasis should be placed on the joy of "doing" instead of insisting on perfect prodor discourage these acti\ities take,

ucts. Creative activities help the child to develop

poise, confidence,

and

security.

fun and out of sheer high JUST forchildren communicate what spirits

minds and in their hearts by making something that is

on

their

will appeal to the eye, the ear, or the

imagination. Verses, songs, attempts at drawing,

modeling, or building are woven into the pattern of daily living of almost

ever\' child. tivities for

Most

parents take these ac-

granted. If they were asked,

they would probably say that their chil-

dren never "made up" much of anything. They might even insist that such things do not happen except in homes

where ever}'one is especially gifted. But they do happen! Mother can barely carry a tune and Father's lack of cleverness with his hands is a standing but the children, if given half a chance, will use words, gestures, and majoke,

terials to

226

express feelings

and

ideas.

Creative Activity in Daily Living

The

talented child

who

plays by ear

or has a nice eye for perspective

is

not

being considered here. Neither are the splendid results often achieved by an inspiring teacher. It is the spontaneous,

simple, day-by-day creativity that

comes out

we

of children's play in

which

are interested.

Children need to try out various ways of saying or

making

things.

A

desire for

227

the lines, you might know that Louise sang in praise of the faithfulness of dogs who never let their masters down. She

sang of the comforting comradeship of a dog and a four-year-old girl. The song told, too, that no matter if Mother,

Grandma, and

Sister all sent her

out of the kitchen while they were canning peaches, Ginny could be relied on, now

and

forever.

better

performance and the development of technique will come later on.

the steaming kitchen where the canning was under way, Louise's

The children themselves will want to know how to draw, to play music, to make a true corner. The young

eight-year-old sister took

child finds satisfaction in

making songs,

music, and dances at his own level of interest and understanding. stories,

What

are

some

of these songs

and

WTiat are other typical evidences of creativity? What meaning has stories like?

it

for the child and,

if it is

significant,

Inside

of the chant.

up the rhythm But her song told a differ-

ent story. She sang of the unreasonable-

grownups who pick the most

ness of

golden days of the summer for such dull activities. She sang of the annoyance of being pressed into service slicing fruit, when she would have liked to have been swimming. Loudly and boldly she sang as she worked:

how

can parents encourage it? Does creativity in childhood have any impor-

Peaches, peaches, peaches,

am sick of peaches, Peaches, peaches, peaches,

I

tance in later life? These are questions that will probably come to a parent's

mind. They are questions that are well worth exploring.

Young Children Are

Creative

summer

heat sizzled outside. As she sang in her little piping voice, she stroked Ginny, the shaggy sheep dog

who

sat beside her.

me

tired!

"Must you children keep up racket?" Grandma inquired. But mother

The Child Sings and Makes Verses. Verses and songs may be of a very primitive sort. Such was Louise's chant as she sat on the cool floor of the back porch while the

Peaches make

what

understood

Ginny

is

my

meant. "I'd much rather have them singing than complaining. Louise's is a love song but Margaret's, here, is almost a battle cry! Go ahead, Margaret, I'm just about ready to join in your chorus! These peaches will taste good next winter, but canning isn't much fun." Everyone has heard such chants, for way. verses

They

was not

much

themselves,

sometimes have

though

real

love.

a great deal. If

of a song, but

it

said

you could hear between

in this

are not significant for the

their significance lies in It

their

songs

the

most children find some outlet Ginny, Ginny, Ginny, I love Ginny, Ginny, Ginny, Ginny, Ginny,

that

to the child.

they

spirit

and

may style;

what they mean

Feelings of affection, of

resentment, or of joy that

lie

too deep

Childcraft

22 8

words can come out poem,

for ordinary

story or a

in a

The Child dren

Tells Stones.

Many

chil-

like to tell stories to their parents,

even to themselves.

\\lien the freshness of the earhest simple efforts is respected, children often

their

friends,

They

often borrow a bit from stories

keep on making up poems for their own

told them, but

up

pleasure right

to adolescence.

Here

a verse written for fun by a twelvevear-old. She is no starry-eyed dreamer,

or

no matter!

good

It is a

thing to develop confidence in one's

Sometimes these stories deal with the child himself and familiar events, sometimes they are imas

a storvteller!

is

self

but a very normal young person. She calls the poem "Rain Over London" (not that she has ever seen London).

aginary happenings. Just as youngsters love to hear stories in which their own

names appear, St. Paul's

And As

stands by stately

tell

about themselves. Often, the and imaginary blend nicely.

real

stories

watches the rain

it falls

do they

like to

so

over London.

One

five-year-old, \\'ho

had the

made

Big Ben chimes the hour And the chime is dimmed

tion in his circle of having

By the sound of Pounding on the

rain

ever listeners were available.

roof.

started

A

nev, delighted in telling about

carriage rumbles grumpily along

The olden

streets of

And

the horse dry oats.

And

a

man

is

London town some

anxious for

walks sulkily

factually

enough,

distinc-

a jour-

when-

it

The

"My

grand-

on a farm, way on a dusty road in Mississippi." (His voice would get a faraway tone that gave you a feelfather lives

ing of the remoteness of the place.)

down

the

street

Splashing sprvly in all the puddles water gurgling out of his boots.

The

story

"He

has chickens, and he has pigs, he has a cow, and he has horses." When he came to the horses, fact was too drab for little Dick. His imagination took over the

and what were undoubtedly the slowest of plow horses became "Real wild horses, too wild for anybody but me to ride. When I rode one he bucked reins,

St. Paul's

stands by stately

And watches the sun come out To dry the town of London.

Press Sjmdicate

Most children love to "put on" a show. Performances range from simple re-enactments of grown-

up

activities to

elaborate plays

performed by an older group school children.

of

Children don't want to be listeners. They to "do it themselves." By experimenting with different instruments, they leam how to make music and to understand and like music.

want

and he bucked and when he bucked again I pretty nearly fell off. But I whipped him good. Someday, I'm going to bring that horse

him

home but

in the garage,

here.

he'll

I'll

keep

be too wild

any of the other kids to ride. He won't let anybody ride him but me. Only me, because we're friends. I love for

wild horses."

real

Sometimes the stories are entirely removed from everyday life. They may deal with fairies, pirates, kings, or cow-

on the fancy of the

boys, depending

individual at the

Acme Photo

moment.

The Child Dances. It is not alone through language that children are creative. Motion is another means through which they express themselves. When the hurdy-gurdy organ-grinder comes

enchanted with its beauty. "Oh, how lovely. This is where the fairies dance.

down

dance as the waves do. But, of course, the whole thing is spoiled if some wellmeaning grownup, full of his own ideas,

the street,

nobody has to tell the dance! Sometimes two

children

how

or three

little girls will

to

entertain them-

making up dances phonograph records.

selves all afternoon

to

the music of

They follow no known

school of danc-

ing and might upset a ballet master, but

they do get the feel of the music. Very often they

make up

stories to

go with

the music which they act out. \Vliile this

is

not always the best thing for the

living-room rug or the people downstairs,

it is

Sometimes they

find

who

live

real creative expression.

it is

the setting in which

themselves

One

that

stimulates

See, like this."

she

made up

What she lacked in in spirit.

urges the child to dance.

Closely tied up with dancing are early musical experiences. Even babies re-

and young children enjoy tapping out simple rhythms on anything available. These children are learning through their muscles what time, accented beats, and phrasing in music really mean. With a drum, a tambourine, or a marimba of an elemenspond to a steady

beat,

tary sort, children can

experiment with

different sounds.

much

too solid for a fairy queen, was taken

rattle

picnicking in a woodland glade. She was

shake

it

little girl,

firm sands

of the beach are also an invitation to

who was made from

children to dance.

The

grace,

Jean,

229

in

three years old,

had a

She liked to time to the music when her a gourd.

230 not the only one in the family who likes to tinker! The small child will nail a few pieces of wood together to make cm airplane. As his skill increases he can make a pirate's den or perhaps a model of a clipper ship.

Father

is

mother played simple tunes on the piano. For her, music was something familiar, something which belonged to everyday tunity

life.

came

Later on, to

take

when part

the opporin

"sings" or to join the school

family

band she

confident enough to participate with the groups joyously.

felt

The Child Puts on Shows. Plays are another favorite form of expression. Ever\^ neighborhood has known outbreaks of "shows." These may vary greatly in the amount of time and effort the participants put into their planning. Several four-year-olds may summon their mothers to watch a play they have just made up. Such a play may consist of nothing more than one of the children turning a few somersaults and the others parading around in Indian costumes.

On dren

the children who were interested in the project at the start did not stick with it. New ones were taken

Naturally,

all

in as sluggards

dropped out, but

finally

the circus was ready for a waiting public! The children found immense satisfaction in the fact that they

had

carried

under their own steam, to a public performance, e\'en though some of the public, consisting of brothers and sisters, were pretty critical. the circus through,

Sometimes these plays

are dramatiza-

own experiboys who had made a

tions of events in the child's

the other hand, school-age chil-

may spend most

By Pinney from Monkmeyer

of the

summer

working up a circus, as the Barnes children did. Seating arrangements, tickets, and advertising, as well as the stunts comprising the circus itself, were worked out and discussed with great care. Ideas were discarded and new plans made when it appeared that first attempts were not going to be satisfactory. Attics and closets were ransacked for properties and costumes. Dogs were trained and tumbling acts were practiced. All this activity went on for weeks with no pressure or supervision from any adult.

ence.

Two

little

boat trip with their parents, proudly acted it out for their less-traveled friends. Everything that happened from the buying of the tickets to making fast at the dock on the return trip was portrayed. The Child Diaws and Builds Things. If children have materials at hand for drawing, painting, and modeling, "making things" becomes part and parcel of their everyday lives.

what dubious

The

efforts

and someof the very young early

with a paint brush, finger paints, or crayons may not always appeal to the adult's idea of the beautiful, but they

Creative Activity in Daily Living

221 y

mean much to the child who is communicating many different kinds of feelings. Some of the clay and plasticine

books. Probably nothing lends

products, turned out by small children,

children will

may not

gether to

look like

much

But the the wobbly

either.

badly proportioned horse,

house, and the misshapen pear

all

have

a place in the growth of a personality.

Probably no one child will express himself through all the different creative channels. Neither is there any way of gauging just what kind of material will suit the child's need. Jane's parents provided her with all the paraphernalia for clay modeling and then found Jane didn't take to it at all. They were discouraged, until they noticed that she was enjoying the building blocks her brother used to play with. They seemed to be the most satisfactory way for her to express herself at that moment. So Mother and Father put the clay away until she, or another member of the family, should be more interested in it. Building blocks offer a child a particularly good way of carrying out his ideas. Their three-dimensional quality,

and the more permanent character of block structures combine to make them attractive to many young children. Blocks have none of the limitations of drawings on a flat surface. Tliey are good props for acting out something their solidity,

exciting.

The

child can build an airplane

hangar and runways and spend a thrilling day at the airport. The littlest children find them satisfactory for making patterns

and designs on the

floor

even

before three-dimensional building occurs to them.

Colored paper, also

and paste are making things

scissors,

good materials

for

and they often involve long-term such as paper-doll families and

such a variety of uses as wood, a

few simple, sturdy

tools.

hammer

make an

a

itself to

and

nails,

The

smallest

few pieces

to-

airplane or a boat.

From

here the possibilities range, in intricacy and time involved, all the way

up

permanent structures that months, even years, in the building.

are

to

Some

of these creative activities sat-

the need of the

isfy

come continuing be

which may

started

times.

different

projects

others be-

up again many They develop as the He brings to them an

and

left off

moment;

youngster grows. increasing degree of skill, persistence, and thoughtful planning. It is difficult to

remember

that a fairly ambitious ship

well anchored in the back yard, the vorite hide-out of a

band

fa-

of not-too-des-

perate pirates aged eight, started four

with a packing case and a broomstick! years ago

The Meaning

of Creative Activity

Many

parents might say, "Yes, children sing and dance, paint and build.

them happily occupied, but if quality of product and performance are unimportant, what is the Such

activity keeps

value to the child?"

Those who have watched children time say these activities purpose in the child's devel-

closely for a long

serve a real

opment. Sometimes children are

cre-

ative for the sheer joy of doing, like the

who danced

woods "the way the fairies did." Sometimes creativity has a deeper meaning and helps a child to grow, and to get along, and to communicate with those about him. Through creative expression a child little girl

affairs

may

scrap-

two

relive little

a

boys

vi\id

in the

experience.

who made

The

a play for

Childcraft

232

had hved

ways of reliving an experience. Bobby, who was at the stage where trains were his chief interest in life, was taken to the big terminal in a city near his home. For a long time

The Child Finds His Place. Creative activity often helps a child work out and sohe a difficult situation. Take Pete and his hut. Pete was the youngest in the family. To his older brothers, competitive athletics was the breath of life. They were fleet and sure-footed in all their mo\ements. Bv comparison, Pete was a little slow and clumsv, though nobody could have called him dull! Being the youngest is always a bit of a handicap, but when, in addition, Pete knew that ever\'one agreed that he would

afterwards his block building reflected

never play baseball as well as his broth-

their friends out of their trip

through something pretty thrilhng. The acting helped to recall the precious details. Each performance probably made the experience seem

Acting

citing.

it

more

ex-

tell

their friends

it.

There

this

and

out also was a direct

and interesting way to about

vivid

are other

excursion.

He managed somehow

to capture the lines of the depot \Aithin

the

limitations

of

his

and

crude

he certainlv captured the feeling. The Child Records ImpTessions. A child uses his creative powers w^hen he records an impression. Sally had never been out for anv length of time after dark until she was four. Then one evening she droxe home from an all-day outing with her mother and father. Every time they passed as much as a blocks,

ers did, life

became

discouraging.

Quite by accident one dav, Pete pushed the two sawhorses in the vard

enough together so that the canvas sandbox cover could be draped across the tops. Here was something better than a tent. It was a house; in fact it was a snug hut. And it was his! Even the older brothers saw that the idea was a good one. close

"Now,

wasn't long before Pete got the idea that a wall of boards around the two sawhorses would make it still snugger. That

we're going through the dark forest at night!" Evidently that idea spelled romance and adventure to her! The next morning she went straight for the

was the first of many improvements. During the next two years, the family observed that Pete worked hardest on the hut when the pressures of older

crayons and paper. Presently she brought

brothers or starting to school or getting

her mother a picture. "This

cleaned up for Sundav visitors became unbearable. Hammering and pounding

clump

of trees, she

Through

the

Sally told her.

would

Dark Forest

The

say,

is

called,

at Night,'

"

picture was full of

dark and eerie shapes, not at

all

like

the quiet farm lands they had driven

through. But Sally had pictured what the ride in the dark had

meant

to her.

Most children, especially girls, at some time try keeping a diary. This is an attempt to record impressions. E\en though no one mav e\'er be allowed to see

it,

it is

a real creative effort.

It

him

from all his troubles. No matter how hard life might be, he seemed to take heart as he saw the hut take shape. Of course, his ambitions for it grew with the years. Bv the time his sixth birthday rolled around there were four ricketv walls. (Father had been called upon to place

seemed

to give

relief

four corner posts in the ground.) walls

had been

built

and

rebuilt

The many

By Banleti from Black Star

Children relive their experiences through creative play. Last summer's train trip to Grandfather's farm will be taken again and again, and each time the experience will seem more vivid and

more exciting

to the child.

J

evermore discriminating tastes. There was a door with hinges, and a real padlock! There was times to

fit

in with

also a mailbox,

some

palings to fence

off a garden and furnishings, of a sort, but satisfactory to Peter. The hut improved Pete's standing in neighborhood circles, too. "If I come to your house, can we work on the hut?" was a frequent Saturday morning request from other boys.

Visiting uncles

had always liked to

join in the older bovs' ball games.

One

was delighted to hear Pete answer proudly, when one of the uncles asked him what he liked to do, "I tinker. Would you like to see the hut?" A family friend once said to Pete's day, father

father,

"It's

too bad vou don't

know

something about building. That monstrosity in your yard could so easily be a neat playhouse."

Father wanted to answer: "Have you ever noticed that neat playhouses are seldom plaved in? \Miat you call that monstrosity has the great virtue of never being finished. Pete always has somegoing to do next. It doesn't take a T-square and a miter box to build securitv, either." Should he have answered thus, it is doubtful if the friend thing he

is

would have understood!

33

Childcraft

34

Enterprises on the hut continued un-

Pete was ten. They still varied with his success at school or in sports. Then one day he announced that "some little guys down the block need lumber." He was tired of the hut, so he was going to til

take

down and

it

give the

wood

Then he asked whether

his

to them.

mother

thought the football shoes his brother used last vear would fit him. His mother thought they would, in every way! Making something, whatever it may be, helps in working through a difficult situation in

one's

own

two ways.

First, it builds

self-confidence to

know

up

that

may be inadequate for certain one may still be successful along

while one things,

and most of

drawings were concerned with Nino's doings. Betty, who was extremely imaginative, entertained her younger sisters with stories about a fairy kingdom which she Billy's

had invented. She described the characters in the stories detail of

creative expression

hammering wood, pounding

it

ing a tambourine, beating a drum, or dancing, serves as a safety valve and lets off

steam.

Though

the child doesn't

something know it, he is making up he can't have or can't do, by enjoying the creative activity. There could hardly be a sounder safeguard for the child's mental health. for

Mother could always getting

wasn't

along

tell

when Dottie

well

with

her

was then the dolls were fitted with new dresses which Dottie loved to make. The more hurt Dottie's friends for

it

more elaborate the costumes she would attempt. In her pleasure over producing a fine new dress, the slights were forgotten and feelings were, the

Dottie's

own

The Child Communicates His Dayex-

communicate some of their daydreams and imaginary experiences. pression to

a painting about the house that

"This

is

Nino

lives in," three-year-old Billy ex-

plained.

Nino was

is

the added stature

often gives the child in the family

circle.

It

can be a wholesome way of

getting attention of a pleasant sort.

Sometimes the imagining involves the hopes and aspirations. Ellen and Kate spent months making scrapbooks. These books contained the houses of their dreams— the houses they wanted to live in when they grew up and had homes of their own. Wallpaper scraps made the background against which furniture, cut from magazine advertisements, was carefully arranged. child's

How

To Foster a Child's Creative Urge

Creative expression serves real purposes in the development of the child's personahty. Reliving vivid experiences,

recording impressions, working through

self-respect restored.

dreams. Children also use creative

fairy

to the

appearance and manner. Sharing her daydreams with someone who took them seriously seemed very important to Betty. Through the stories, too, Bettv won the confidence of her more practical sisters. Betty was no longer a person to make fun of because she was always daydreaming; she was someone to be cultivated for the stories she told. One valuable by-product of last

other lines. Second, the very business of clay, shak-

down

his imaginary friend

and communicating ideals are all purposes for which children make or "make up" something. The degree to which constructive selfexpression flourishes, depends largely on how parents feel and act toward it. difficult situations,

Whether

it is

encouraged or

stifled de-

Making something

often helps children disappointments or slights that

forget

have temporarily upset them. In childhood, as in adulthood, one forgets oneself in

one's work.

pends on manv say,

things they do or

perhaps to a greater extent than

most parents

What, age

little

realize.

then, can be done in the aver-

family

to

make

the

atmosphere

favorable to creativity?

More Important Than House-

Living

keeping. Putting everything in apple-pie order at the end of the day has its points.

But supposing a youngster has built something out of his blocks that is of real value to him; isn't it worth keeping for a few days or even a w'eek? A child will have much more incentive to make things, if he knows they will not always have to be taken apart at bedtime. Of course, the surrounding mess can be cleaned up, even though the part that is com.pleted a

room

is

difficulty. If

ing

room

has

he uses a corner of the din-

or living

play space, a

left standing. If a child

of his own, this presents small

room

Mother may

as his special

find

it

a bit of

problem to have even the handsomest

block tower standing around. The inconvenience is small, however, compared with the added self-confidence it gives the youngster. One father remarked that while his boys spent a great deal of time at their basement workbench, he hadn't seen anything to justify either the time they spent or the litter on the basement floor. This father should remember that in order to foster the desire to make things the "doing" must be respected, even though the result is crude. It is always

By Luoma from Monkmeyer

possible to select the best point in a

wagon a fi\e-year-old has made with hammer, nails, and scraps of wood, when comments are invited. Let the Child Do It. Such activity also rickety

can be stimulated by asking occasionally when a finished product is brought for inspection, "WTiat are you going to make next?" In the preschool years parents should be more interested in letting the child try out ideas than in ha\ing

him make one thing

better.

The

child

should feel his efforts are appreciated. Steady encouragement as to the rightness of trying to is

make

things

necessary. "It's fun to

isn't it?" or "I like

is all

make

that

a song,

that painting, don't

vou?" stimulates them to continue. It is often a temptation to ask for the title

of a picture or the interpretation of

asked what he is painting, he may answer, "just painting." Even though nothing that looks like a finished product is forthcoming for a long time, the youngster should be allowed to experiment. a dance. If a four-year-old

235

is

a

Childcr.\ft

;56

Another point

to

remember

to re-

is

the impulse to add a few finishing touches, Sometimes one's fingers fairly sist

itch to straighten out a crooked line or

smooth over a rough place. Those additions that would make it come right in adult eyes might be ever so damaging in the opinion of the small craftsman. Indeed, they might injure not only his product, but— what would be more seri-

ous—his

Sometimes a child makes the same thing over and over

again.

self-respect.

Now,

children enjoy repeating a

performance, but

they feel free, they will usually express more than one idea. Realizing this, Harry's mother was puzzled by the fact that Harr)- al^^•a^•s drew the same house in the same way. It was,

happens

as often

if

in such cases, a

house

than six-year-old Harry would have drawn on his own.

far truer in perspective

Then

his

mother

recalled that a

visit-

ing auntie of the hovering tvpe had said

months before, 'Til show you how to make a good house. This is scribbling." She showed him and no to Harr\' a few

WTiat

mistake!

auntie

didn't

showed him

the

realize

that his

well-intentioned

was that she fumbling efforts

were not acceptable, and he'd better give

up

tr\^ing to tell a story of his

in pictures. It

an older

is

own

a far different matter

if

child, struggling with a difficult

His mother sent him to the kitchen for a low bowl. Together they obser\ed that the kitchen bowl had a smooth, flat bottom. Tom's bowl did not. Right here was one improvement Tom could make,

and he did

He

was not as yet ready to make all the improvements his mother might have suggested. She had found out, howex er, by listening to him, where he was in his thinking. She knew she would be most helpful if she gave a little guidance in sohing the immediate problem. Another time he would see the need for other changes. Don't "Show OH" the Child's Work. Parents can encourage their children's creati\e activity by accepting it in a matter-of-fact manner. In some families there may be an unfortunate tendencv so.

"Only sissies paint pictures!" "\\^hat do you know about pla\ing music? Wait until you've had some lessons." Or "Sister thinks she is a poet— to ridicule.

poet, but this

I

don't

know

make any youngster

it."

Jibes like

painfully

self-

conscious. It will be a long time before

he lets himself go in song, in storv, or in anv other wav of communication of his feelings if he gets such treatment! It is not recommended that anyone go to the other extreme, however. Every good block structure doesn't indicate a budding architect in the family nor

WTien the

line of verse or trying to pick out a tune,

even^ storv a Jane Austen.

comes asking

young person makes something for his own pleasure, he is not likely to want to have it "shown off" in any way. Here, as in so many matters, it is not what parents do, but how they do it, that

for help. Neither 'Tigure

out for yourself" nor "Let me do it for vou" is the answer, but a parent may it

be readv with assistance. If adults can find by listening to the child where he feels the shortcoming

certainlv

lies,

they can help

him

find for himself

is

important. If

Mother

suggests to eight-year-old

way to remedy it. Tommy was trying to make a clay bowl to hold fruit, but

the airplane Charlie made, with the

the bowl was so tipsy

mark, "W^ouldn't

a

it

couldn't be used.

Charlie that Grandpa would like to see

it

re-

be nice to show

it

Adults must

up a

resist the

child's pictures.

impulse

to

touch

What makes

the

bird look right to an adult may ruin it for the child. But even more serious is the injury inflicted on the young painter's self-respect.

him when he comes?" Charhe will probablv agree to do so. If, with no discussion beforehand, Mother tries to to

moment in GrandCharhe wants to get pa's visit when away to his ball game by bringing up the airplane matter, the little boy probably won't be eager to show it at all. He shouldn't be urged to do so, either. If children want to share their creative efforts, they should certainly be encouraged to do so. \Vlien those efforts bridge the awk\\ard

From

toward their children's

are their chief source of self-assurance,

they will avoid the mistake of discussing Helen's modeling, Janet's verses, or Steve's wood-

they need to share them. Pete and his hut will serve as an example. For a long

show it to all mother and father

period he was so eager to

comers that his thought him a shade too insistent for politeness. They realized, however, that he was onlv pro\"ing his own worth, just as his elder brothers had proved theirs in other wa}s. But nobody conducted tours of the hut for guests without Pete's consent!

In the same way, that a

poem

it is

not

fair to insist

or a song or a play be

Ail the Children

re-

peated for strangers. Tlie plav may have seemed good last Tuesday, but by Saturdav the performers feel it is flat and stale. They may know an anticlimax, when they see one, better than their elders! It is always safe to be guided by the child's wishes, for insisting on a performance only tends to make a shy child more withdrawn. Wlien parents have a casual attitude

237

work

efforts,

something unusual, peculiar, or cute. Children have an inherent dignity. Parents should recognize this dignity by not discussing the children in their presence as if they couldn't understand what they mean. Tliey always understand, only too well! Their handiwork which so often can help them over a rough as

spot also deserves considerate treatment. GHts Should Be Used, Not Stored.

Gi\ing the child's work a place of its own in the life of the family encourages

Here is a nice distinc\Miile showing off children's work

creative activities. tion.

decidedly undesirable, it is entirely possible to give it recognition without is

showing it off. A song or a picture takes on

real value

incorporated in the famih''s daily "Let's put your picture here on the

if it is

life.

mantel so we can look

at it," casually

Childcraft

38

people paint pictures and at the same time gives the fecHng that the picture "belongs." \\^en five-year-old Ann made her mother a bright green pincushion that clashed with the soft tints in her bedroom, her mother did not mind. She kept it on the bureau and used it! Had it gone into the bottom drawer, Ann would have known quite well that it was a failure! No matter how much praise the bookcase with the uneven the

accepts

Sam made

shelves that

room

that

fact

for his little

sis-

words are dust and ashes unless the bookcase is used. Making a youngster sing a song for visitors is ver}' different from singing it over with him. Margaret's chant about the peaches at the beginning of this stor}' was adopted by Mother as the "canning song." Wlienever Mother and Margaret became bogged down in the ter's

receives, the

work that summer, they would the chant to ular

day.

fit

re\ise

the labors of the partic-

Many

fruits

and vegetables

with two-syllable names can be fitted into that rhythm.

Mother and Father can

also give cre-

by pointing out some way in which the child's work suggests a real work of art. This isn't

ativity suitable standing

always possible, because not, little

it

more often than

suggests nothing of the sort!

One

boy, howe\'er, glowed with pride

because his father told him that Turner, a

famous

painter,

had used

colors for a

rhyme. Mother read her some such poems, and the little girl's delight in her own poems was restored. Parents Should Also Have a Hobby. Lastly, parents can encourage children to be free in expressing themselves bv being sufficiently spontaneous to make up a song or draw a picture themselves once in a while. Mothers or fathers who are fine artists or expert craftsmen aren't always the most encouraging. False notes

and lines askew will jar on them. It good to have adults around to set standard, but

high

brother

made fun

of

when her her poem that

didn't rhvme, was pleased to have her

mother

tell

her that

manv poems

don't

dub at some things but them anyway is probably a

her creative release in needle-point work. This was a

good skill, for there was no competition between needle point and wood\^•ork, building blocks, or clay modeling.

Her

however, in "making pictures" with needles and wools stimulated the interest,

make

children to want to

A

father with

no

pictures, too.

particular gift for

song used to enjoy celebrating in a sort of ballad of his own invention any family

excursion. His ballads always

had

a

rousing chorus in which the rest of the family would join.

One

by-product of

home, on which children traditionally become fussy, were enlivened and smoothed over by his heartfelt and highly original singing. this

was that

have

hurt

is

One mother found

time afterward, whenever he used colors that were especially brilliant, he would say, 'Tm painting a Turner."

who was

is

if

the ideal variety.

When

little girl,

who

willing to try

sunset just like he was using. For a long

The

a

too can be utterly discouraging. A

it

parent

that standard

is

trips

the children grew to adolescence, thev squelched his efforts, as adolescents a

way

of doing.

But

as little tots

they loved his songs. WTien they were by themselves they would sing "Daddy's

song" to each other and to their friends. Tliev even went so far as to make up additional

choruses.

The

quality

of

Creative Activity in Daily Living Daddy's

choruses,

the

if

were

truth

known, was not far above theirs! The Child Needs Proper Materials. While the way a parent feels about the children's efforts

is

of great importance

in furthering their interest in

making

not the whole story. In addition, parents must look at some of the practical ways of encouraging selfexpression through materials. A place to work and a convenient place to keep equipment are as necessary as sympathings,

it is

a child uses paint or clay—

those tw^o bugbears to

all

keeping

mothers— certain

may be

helpful.

A

good housetricks

little

metal

small

gar-

bage container with a cover or a widemouthed earthenware crock with a lid may be kept especially for clay. Rolled into balls of a convenient size with a moist cloth beneath the lid, the clav will tend to remain of the right consistency for satisfactory use. Water may need to be added, if the clay becomes too dry, or the cover may be left off, if it becomes too wet and sticky. A board about two by one and onehalf feet covered with oilcloth makes an excellent work board. Old newspapers covering the table on which the

board floor

rugs, tion.

is

placed and newspaper on the

below

will save

furniture,

The

first

wear and tear on

and mother's

few times the

disposi-

little

child

Mother to be around. She can show him that clay uses clay,

it is

just as well for

kept on the board, but within that one restriction he is free to do what he pleases with it.

is

Paints can be used advantageously a sturdy easel

is

homes have space for a standing easel, so it is often more practical to make a painting board out of a large piece of

book, At Home With Children, Charlotte Garrison and Emma Sheehy give the following suggestion: "Nail a one-inch strip of wood, half an inch thick, flat across the top of the board. (Two feet by three feet wallboard.

In

helpful

their

Two

screw

eyes in this will hold the cords by

which

is

a

good

size for the board.

the board

is

Then

hung.

)

nail a four-inch

piece of wood, also half an inch thick,

thetic understanding.

When

239

provided.

Good

if

easels

with trays at the bottom di\ided to hold paint jars can be bought. Not many

at right angles to the base of the

board

When

hung

at the back.

on the bottom Such

the board

wall, this strip of will give the

a

decorative

and and

it

wood

at the

proper slant."

hanging board

the

is

not spoil anv room

will

scheme of

out of the way, inexpensive, usable. After tacking large sheets of paper to it and providing enough brushes and cold-water paint, the fun begins! A child must have the feeling that the paints and the paper are to be used! Sometimes children are given a small quantity of such costly paper and paint that they are qfraid to use it. Inexpensive knife boxes or similar is

partitioned trays are good for holding

equipment of the paste, scissors, and crayon variety. Convenient and handily stored materials encourage free and joyous use. If it takes half an hour to find and get things ready to draw a picture, the

fine

moment

have departed! Mother's face are asked for person is likely not worth the the idea that

of

Or if when is

inspiration

may

the expression on paste and scissors

discouraging, a small

to think the

trouble. It

is

whole thing easy to get

Mother doesn't approve.

Mother may be disappointed,

too, be-

cause after Sue has found the paper and

Childcraft

>4o

draw one picture and

crayons, she will

then quit. Young children cannot stay long at one activity. Maybe Sue had said everything she

moment

had

to say at the

one drawing. She would become discouraged if she were made to feel she had to keep on drawing, or sewing, or whatever it may be, just because Mother had got out the materials. The result of such pressure would probably be that the next time Sue felt like making something she would decide it wasn't worth mentioning the subject to in that

some avenue

who

of creative expression.

He

finds satisfaction in using his imag-

ination has a valuable resource through-

out his

life.

Creativity Is

Good

Medicine. Tliere are many different kinds of values in the capacity to enjoy creating, for the child as

he

today and for the adult he

is

going to be. First of

he may find

all,

now and

is

later,

from tension and a

relief

degree of relaxation in creative work when circumstances rule out many other

would enjoy for creativity. In one neighborhood where a small group of five- and six-year-olds

There have been many instances in which people, young or old, faced with anxiety, heavy responsibilities, or even enforced inactivity have drawn strength and courage from music, painting, or from a far more humble

played

creative

her parents.

Few

households can

offer all the op-

portunities a child

the

together,

that one family easel

and

parents

would

"specialize" in

paints; another,

ple space for

it,

decided

who had am-

would provide

a work-

satisfactions.

skill.

Second, there

the matter of hob-

is

may not carry The little girl

Children's interests

bies.

over into grown-up days.

who

bench and tools; a third, clay boards and clay; the fourth, who had the least

necessarily going to enjoy doing water-

space for storage or work, agreed to

color sketches at thirty.

have crayons, scissors, and a supply of colored paper available. In this way no burden fell on any one family. Each child felt it was a special treat to use the materials at his neigh-

bors,

and,

The Value It is a

a

is

make up songs and

to

He

more than

which everyone

likely

finds

stories,

and to beat out rhythms, will feel free enough as he grows up to try his hand present themselves.

of Creative Activity

in

rials,

who

In the case of this

life

not

count on this. The allowed to use mate-

when

fortunate and

happy family

little

child

at creative activities

was informal enough that Pat could say, "Jack, I'm coming over. I have an idea for something to make out of wood with your tools." If Jack were doing something else he could say, "Go ahead. I'm busy." This scheme won't always work perfectly, but it may be worth a try. neighborhood,

is

We can, however,

learned about

incidentally,

sharing his own.

likes finger paints at three

feeling

that

crafts,

opportunities will

music,

have the

and other

imaginative activities are not just for the

few gifted ones. He will feel it is all right for anyone to take part in them. All this is probably never put into words; it is

part of one's

When

way

of

life.

been discouraged ni a child, often something is lost that can never be replaced. For example, Mrs. West, who is a rather retiring young woman, was invited by a neighbor to join a group who were learning creativity

has

By

C. Eiger from

Black Star

nice to have a beautiful lawn and flowers in the back yard, but adults must remember that children also need a place to grow. It is

from linoleum blocks. "Oh, I couldn't do that/' said Mrs. West. "I'm not at all good with my hands. I was so clumsy as a little girl that my mother never even let me make the paper chains for the Christmas tree. I couldn't possibly keep up with the rest of you in such work." Without knowing much of Mrs. West's past, it is fairly safe to assume that if she had been encouraged to make those paper chains or do similar handicraft work she wouldn't shrink from the chance of learning a new skill. Of course to

do

prints

Hobbies Have Social Value. The man woman with an absorbing hobby, like the child with an interest in making things, is less likely to be bored and restless. In addition, he is less likely to be entirely dependent on commercial or

entertainment. Creative efforts all

through

prove valuable as

a

means

of

communication with and response to friends. Such efforts are a way of convcving feelings that cannot be put into ordinary words.

much

as

No

gift

ever says

the one the gi\er has

himself. Children

but also the pleasant companionship that usually goes with such pursuits.

nize this

24]

too,

life,

she missed not just the linoleum carving,

may

so

made

and adults alike recogand enjoy making birthday and

Christmas presents.

Childcraft

>42

The custom

many

famihes for the children to write a verse, a song, or a skit for family occasions.

weird to a child who knows what it is like to work with clay himself. If, in addition, he has not been told that only

One

announced, "I just knit up a little scarf of poetry for Uncle Joe's birthday." If it gets to be a burden, of course, it serves no purpose; but in many

certain lines

demonstrative families who are not these verses offer the chance to say much that might otherwise seem sentimental. Sometimes their good-natured banter furnishes them with an excellent

gling with the difficulties of putting

has grown up in

little girl

ver}'

Some adults find sketches and verses which may ha\e little artistic merit, a way

sentences could. this

is

more than formal

of telling

A

surprising proof of

found

to be

in a

scrapbook a

surgeon has kept through the years. Tlie book is a collection of all the songs, poems, and drawings grateful patients

have sent him to celebrate their recov-

The theme is, of The disconcerting

eries.

course, similar in

all.

indignities of

ness are ridiculed,

point

is

always

humor, and

ill-

and somewhere the

made

that the kindliness,

real interest of the particular

doctor will be remembered long after the discomforts of the incident are forgotten. None of the dozens of men and women \\'ho wrote the doggerel or drew the cartoons would have been able to express his gratitude so well in any high-

flown speech.

The

doctor says this scrap-

book means more to him than any medal or citation he could ever win. Creative activity tends, also, to

make

the barriers to other peoples, other lands,

and

other

Children

ages

less

insurmountable.

who have used

bright colors

something familiar in the brilliant colors the Central Americans use in their pottery and weaving. Clay figures from the African jungle are less will find

are "pretty,"

he

can admire the strength and freshness in a primitive artistic effort.

Ruth and her

friends

a play of their own.

had been

"What we

she finally told her father,

"is

strug-

on

need,"

somebody

to stand out in front and tell the audience what is going on sometimes."

"Oh, you mean

safety \'alve.

graceful

and shapes

a

Greek chorus,"

said

Father with a twinkle in his eye. "W^hat is a Greek chorus?" asked

Ruth

eagerly.

Father explained that

when people

began to make plays they were faced with the same difficulties Ruth and her friends faced now. The Greeks worked out a way of having someone tell the audience what had happened between acts or what the characters \\ere thinking. Ruth was delighted with first

After

thinking

awhile, she said,

"Nobody

the

idea.

it

over

for

ever told

me

the Greeks in those far-away days had troubles like ours."

One

Art Introduces Another.

ing of at-homeness with

all

A

feel-

the arts can

grow out of even the most elementary experiences with any one of them. Children do not set up boundaries between drama and painting, or between literature and dancing. One evening when the family was sitting around the fire, one of the older children read aloud Vachel Lindsay's poem, "The Congo." It was entirely

new to the ten-year-old who listened. The swing of the rhythm took her fancy and she started to dance to it. It was a fierce little dance inspired by the primitive meter of the poem. She had really

Creative Activity in Daily Living caught the

spirit

of

the poem,

even

though she didn't understand all the words. Nobodv said her dance was nonsense or that she was too young to know what the poem meant. To her, poetry and dancing were a part of everyday living and something one could use in one's

own

ver)^

direct

a little girl, there

into

carry-over

Even though she

is

adult

life.

not an expert, she

Pazticipant or SpectatoT? Lasth', crealiving richer

is

of \alue in

and more

making

satisf\ing. In

present-day world each indi\idual necessity something of a specialist.

can hope to field

in

women

all

our

is

of

Each

know

which this

only about that small he works. For manv

may mean

the running of

household, the bringing up of children, and participatmg in some commua

For manv men, it probably means knowing one small aspect of how something is made,

nit\'

organization,

perhaps.

marketed, administered, or taught. Many people think that because people in a

complex

society are limited to

a relatix^elv tinv bit of skill

and knowl-

have lost the satisfaction of well-rounded living that men and edge,

they

women

in simpler societies enjo\-.

But

need not be true. There is a certain virtue in being a jack-of-all-trades. There is a definite virtue in being an amateur, one who does something for the love of it. By this

pleasure in creative activities will find

more

life

One

can be a

can take part, or look, or listen as the occasion arises. Naturallv, she will not be equally enthusiastic about all the arts, nor equally skillful in judging their worth, but at least she will never find herself in the state of the timid lad\' at the picture gallery who inquired, "\Miat pictures am I supposed to like?" tive acti\ity

encouraging the mere doing of things "just for fun," children may be given that many-sidedness that makes for the complete personality. The individual, young or old, who can take part with interesting,

more

satisfying,

and, probably, less fatiguing.

wav.

For such

M3

day

is

of the strengths in the world toalso a weakness.

Movies, radio,

books, and accessible exhibits bring to

manv

families the \'erv finest

the best

work

of

\\Tiat the individual

artists.

can do pales beside this. are apt to be discouraged

Many

parents

o\'er their chil-

dren's efforts or their own.

Some

look

do^^n upon amateur theatricals, "home-

made"

choruses,

and quartets which

people in pioneer communities. Recognizing this difference is all ver/ well, but emphasizing quality to such an extent that the jovs of participation

satisfied

are lost, It

may be

a distinct disadvantage.

has given Americans as a people a

complaint which might be called "spectatoritis." Too many people would rather watch than take an acti\'e part themselves. Unconsciouslv, the children acquire this point of view and follow the same behavior pattern. From the standpoint of a balanced personality and mental health, participating with zest and relish, however awkwardly, is far better than always being an onlooker at even the most inspiring performance. Certainly one of the truly valuable traits parents can develop in their children is the abilitv to do something for the love of it with the conviction that the doing feeling if

is

more

likely to

is

good. This

be de\"eloped

parents encourage and help their chil-

dren engage in a variety of ities in their everyday life.

creati\'e activ-

Childcraft

244

SOME THINGS TO THINK ABOUT 1.

List

some

of the \\a\s your o\\n children have expressed themselves through motion,

language, or materials, ^^l^at additional stimulus for such activities could be provided without o\erstimulation or the development of a "lesson-learning" atmosphere.

Obser\e the creative activities of your own children to see if you can determine what needs are being met through them. Can you recall anything you have said or done that might discourage a youngster's attempts to express himself through some creative activitv? What concern led vou to do this? 2.

3.

Watch

some evidences

for

of the significance of creative activities in the li\es of

adults around you. What kinds of creative acti\it)^ have you enjoyed, and what keeps you from trying things you think you might enjoy?

some

what ways do you think some group interests of a creative sort might be developed? Talk with your friends and neighbors about the leisure-time acti\ities they and their children enjoy. What relationships do }'0u see between adult interests and acti\ities and those of children in the same family? 4.

5.

As you look

^^^^at are

dramatics,

art,

at

your family

some

activities

of the questions

and

interests, in

you would want

to ask a teacher of music, dancing,

or the simpler skills before entrusting her with a child

who

thoroughly

enjoys that acti\it}?

How

did an}^ creatixe interests }'ou or jour children ha\'e get started? \\niat general suggestions on the basis of this could }ou make to a parent who wished to encourage 6.

such interests in his children?

BOOKS TO READ Coleman,

Satis

N. Your Child's Music.

Deering, Ivah E. Creative PJay.

New

Garrison, Charlotte G., and Sheehy,

Henry Holt & Co., Strang, Ruth.

Waterman,

An

New

York:

The John Day

Co., 1939.

York: Smith Publishing Co., 1938.

Emma

D. At

Home With

Childien.

New

York:

1943.

New York: The Macmillan Co., 1938. New York: A. S. Barnes & Co., 1936.

Introduction to Child Study.

Elizabeth.

The Rhythm Book.

I