THESE CHANGING TIMES

Press, Volume LXIX, Issue 21034, 9 December 1933, Page 21

THESE CHANGING TIMES

Difficulties for Child Mind (By Miss J. M. Aiken, President, Canterbury Women . Teachers' Association.) Out of the flux of changing chemical conditions something very rare and precious often appears; and to-day the social and economic cauldron is seething and simmering—to what end, even the wisest would hardly dare to forecast. The world has never been more fascinating and never more .difficult for the child mind. Many thoughtful people are of the opinion that most of our troubles are due to the fact that our material civilisation has outrun our spiritual growth, and the rapid changes of to-day have affected children very noticeably. The individual has become submerged, but human beings still retain their age-old characteristics. How to train and develop children's minds so as to enable them to meet such rapidly changing world conditions and adjust themselves to them is no light undertaking; and many parents have still to realise that the State alone, through its teachers, is powerless to reach a true understanding of the child's problems. All teachers would welcome a closer co-operation with parents: it is the privilege as well as the responsibility of parents to see that the children receive the very best that the State can offer, so that they may worthily enjoy their heritage.