SEX EDUCATION.

Press, Volume LXIX, Issue 20789, 24 February 1933, Page 8

SEX EDUCATION.

DR PHILPOTS'S LECTURE. Parents should study sex facta, in order that they might bo able to answer intelligently and in simple language the questions asked in this respect by their children, stated Dr. Geo. E. Payne Philpots in the course of a lecture given by him last night in the Jellicoo Hall. The simple but at times ombarrassing questions asked by children were evidence of child intelligence, continued the lecturer, and % child was entitled to an intelligent answer. If parents told lies to their children, they would be guilty of erecting a barrier between themselves and their families for life. No matter what tho age of the questioner was, an evasive answer should never be given. If the parent were unable to answer the question he should say so. 11 should be remembered that many children at 12 years of age were better developed, both mentally and morally, than many adults at 30. Because of this it was wrong to hinder their nieulal development '— withholding the information to which they •«> a ri"ht. To answer such questions .uiully meant the building up of a child's confidence in a parent's integrity. A child's curiosity on such subject? indicated natural and healthy brain development. The lecturer said that to-day persons were able to marry without consideration for. any disease which they might transmit to their offspring. If they were wise, however, they would secure a medical certificate before entering matrimony. : Dealing with the number of. cases of young girls who went wrong, the. lecturer said that in' the great majority, of instances the trouble, could be traced to prudish mothers who would

not discuss openly and frankly sex facts with their daughters. Ho believed that in the past a mistake had been made in fighting social evils with ignorance. New Zea-. land had been blessed with some of the finest stock from the British'lsles, and care should be taken that foeble-mindedness was bred out of the nation. This could be done only by know-ledge. In conclusion, the speaker said that it was unjust to believe that most flappers were bad. The great majority were in fact good young women and would make good mothers. At the same/ time many of them used alcohol and tobacco to excess, as a result of which they were seriously undermining their power of motherhood. A cat entered the lists at the greyhound racing track at Wembley, London, one night recently and upset an event, in addition to losing its life. As' the doys wer« running on the far .side in a race, the cat suddenlv appeared oil. the track. Three of' the dogs stopped to investigate, and, as, in the opinion of the stewards.' tho race was not a ..truly run one. it was nhandoned. The cat attempted to escape, from the track, but was caught by the arm of the mechanical, hare and killed. . ' The winged lion of St. .Mark which ndorm a wnl| at Trail, an ancient Venetian seaport on the Dalmatian coast of Jugoslavia, has been wantonly damaged by vandals.. Italy is angry at the destruction of an emblem ..which stands for the great davs of the \ onetmn Republic, and Signor Mussohas vehenientlv protested in *he bennte in Koine; declaring that sue!* acts arc part of the policy of Jugoslavia. .-,.'.<