Mrs Dufek Glad To Be Away From Television

Press, Volume XCVI, Issue 28371, 2 September 1957, Page 2

Mrs Dufek Glad To Be Away From Television

The idea of living in a country which has no television pleases an American mother, Mrs George Dufek. She does not like television or its effect on , children. The wife of Rear-Admiral George Dufek. offleer-in-charge of United States Antarctic programmes, has brought her two young sons to live in .Christchurch for some time so that they will all “see more of the admiral” while he is stationed in Canterbury. “These two boys have been glued to the television set at home in Washington for the last three years,” she said yesterday “You can’t monitor what they are watching all the time, and too much on television is not fit for young children. Mind you. we did see a lot of ’Daddy’ on television last year. That was a big help. There are some excellent programmes by Walt Disney tor an hour daily between 5 p.m. and 6 p.m., which calm the children down before supper. In these, they learn a great deal about traffic safety regulations and children of other lands. But taking it on the whole, I don’t like television.”

Mothers Complain All mothers in the United States complained about the effect of television on children, she said. Many women had formed groups in which to discuss suitable programmes for very young members of the family to see. ’’ln the summer, we usually go to the beach for our holidays to get away from the telephone and the television set,” said Mrs Dufek.

The estuary view from the windows of the Dufeks’ present home on St. Andrew's Hill has taken the place of television for the boys —george (nine years and a half) and David (nearly eight). Radio is another delight to them, and they are now enjoying the novelty of being able to listen to words or music without having to sit still, .as they did to watch the television screen. School in City

The Dufek boys will go to school in Christchurch while they are living here. Mrs Dufek has not yet decided on a school. She likes the idea of a boys’ private school, where the classes are smaller and there are no girls as pupils. “In that kind of school, boys seem to do better,” she said.

Admiral Dufek and his slim, animated wife, also have two grown-up daughters. Both are married. Barbara has two small children afid Mary Ellen is a journalist on the "San Francisco Chronicle.” Mary Ellen may visit •New Zealand while her parents are here. Married at 18 Muriel Dufek, who looks much too young to be a grandmother, married her husband at the age of 18. When they met he was revising Nayy regulations in Washington, with the rank of a commander. She was doing a job as a home decorator, having completed two years’ studying for a degree in fine arts at the Pratt institute. New York. Until recently, Mrs Dufek had interior decorator’s shop in Washington and decorated several homes. “It was an interest while the admiral was away, and did not m *down,” she said“ After all, the cmldren came first.”

More fortunate than many naval wives, Mrs Dufek, with her family, has been able to follow Admiral Dufek to many countries on his tours of duty. They have been to Honolulu, the Marshall Islands, Europe and Africa. But Admiral Dufek has only managed to join his family twice for Christmas since David was born. The family hopes to have Christmas together in Christchurch this year.

Mrs Dufek has no thought of going to the Antarctic while hei husband is there. “I can’t imagine why any woman should want to live in such discomfort,” she said. “But I’d never get the. opportunity to visit the place because the admiral thinks «it is difficult enough in the Antarctic without having women there. “All I would want to do would be to make a flight down, look at the place from the air and fly back again,” Mrs Dufek said.