Originally published in National Parent-Teacher Magazine 29 (February 193 !

" 3#$ %ducation today is not purely a &uestion o' the education o' youth( it is a &uestion o' the education o' parents) because so *any parents) + 'ind) ha,e lost their hold on their children$ One reason 'or this is that they insist on laying do-n the la- -ithout allo-ing a 'ree intellectual interchange o' ideas bet-een the*sel,es and the younger generation$ + belie,e that as -e groolder -e gain so*e -isdo*) but + do not belie,e that -e can ta.e it 'or granted that our -isdo* -ill be accepted by the younger generation$ /e ha,e to be prepared to put our thin.ing across to the*$ /e cannot si*ply e0pect the* to say) 1Our older people ha,e had e0perience and they ha,e pro,ed to the*sel,es certain things) there'ore they are right$1 That isn2t the -ay the best .ind o' young people thin.$ They -ant to e0perience 'or the*sel,es$ + 'ind they are per'ectly -illing to tal. to older people) but they don2t -ant to tal. to older people -ho are shoc.ed by their ideas) nor do they -ant to tal. to older people -ho are not realistic$ /e *ight 3ust as -ell accept things -hich are 'acts as 'acts and not try to i*agine that the -orld is di''erent) *ore li.e -hat -e idealized in the past$ + ha,e a letter 3ust the other day 'ro* a *other -ho told *e that she had brought up se,eral daughters) and that they ne,er did certain things -hich are ,ery co**on today a*ong young people$ 4he -as sure that i' -e ne,er countenanced or spo.e o' certain things in our ho*es our children -ould ne,er do those things$ /ell) it 3ust so happens that + ha,e a nu*ber o' boys and they happen to .no- the *other2s girls$ + ha,e) there'ore) seen a good deal o' the*) and they did e,ery single thing that their *other told *e they ne,er did$ + thin. it -ould ha,e been 'ar better i' she had established a type o' genuine relationship -ith her children -hich -ould ha,e allo-ed the* to be honest -ith her$ Then she -ould ha,e had an opportunity to put across her o-n ideas -ith so*e .ind o' hope that they -ould at least be considered$ 5ut i' the relationship is such that youth has no desire to tal. to older people) then) + thin.) it is entirely i*possible to help the youth o' today6and they need help badly$ + thin. they are ,ery glad to ha,e it) too) -hen it is gi,en in a spirit o' help'ulness) not sel'-righteousness$ /e don2t need to idealize things that are past( they loo. gla*orous) but perhaps they -ere not so gla*orous -hen -e really li,ed through the*$ My o-n 'eeling -ould be that the *ost i*portant education is the education -hich -ill enable us) both in our ho*es and in our schools) to understand the real proble*s that our children ha,e to *eet today$ +t is easy enough to i*part boo. .no-ledge) but it is not so easy to build up the relationship bet-een youth and older people -hich is essential to the -or.ing out o' their proble*s6,ery di''icult proble*s on -hich young people need our leadership and our understanding$ /e cannot pass o,er the 'act that the -orld is a hard -orld 'or youth and that so 'ar -e ha,e not really gi,en their proble*s as *uch attention as -e should$ /e s*ile6+ s*iled *ysel' the other day -hen one young boy said that he hoped to go in and clean up politics$ Politics need to

be cleaned up) o' course$ %,erything that is hu*an needs that particular .ind o' enthusias*$ 5ut -e older people .no- that -e don2t al-ays succeed as easily as these young ones thin. they can$ 7et + doubt i' -e should s*ile$ + thin. that -e should -elco*e their help) and 'ind places -here this tre*endous energy that is in youth6i' it cannot be used i**ediately in *a.ing a li,ing6 *ay at least be used -here it is so greatly needed today$ + should li.e to lea,e -ith you this one idea -hich + ha,e been thin.ing about a great deal o' late" the necessity 'or us as parents) as teachers) as older people) to put our *inds on the proble*s o' youth) to 'ace realities) to 'ace the -orld as it is and the li,es that they ha,e to li,e6 not as -e -ish they -ere) but as they are6and) ha,ing done that) to gi,e our sy*pathetic help in e,ery -ay that -e can$