COMMERCIAL RADIO ATTACKED

Dominion, Volume 31, Issue 70, 16 December 1937, Page 6

COMMERCIAL RADIO ATTACKED

A Force “Out Of Control”

SCHOOLMASTER’S BLUNT REMARKS

The effect on children of some of the items put "over the air” by the Commercial Broadcasting Service was the subject of outspoken comment at the Wellesley College breaking-up ceremony last nj,ght by the principal, Mr. W. H. Stevens. “Moralists on every hand tell us that education has failed, that the Church is a spent force, and they indicate the general deterioration so obvious in public and private life. I do not think that the school and the Church can be blamed for all this,” said Mr. Stevens. “The fact of the matter is that other educative forces, chief among which are the cinematograph and the radio, have been allowed to get out of control and exert an evil influence which cannot be overcome, no matter how efficient teachers and preachers may be. “Just reflect for one moment on the kind of thing that the teacher is up against. He gives a lesson, say, on Shelley’s ‘To a Skylark.’ He succeeds in communicating to his pupils some of the ideas which inspired the poet to write this beautiful poem and he sends theiq home to write an appreciation of ,it which they attempt to do while listening to that salacious classic from 2ZB entitled ‘Sandy at the Nudists’ Club’ 1 or possibly another instalment of that bloodcurdling epic ‘Crashed in the Jungle,’ featuring Ching Li, desperate killer and ‘tough egg.’ “Again, what can Church and school do to raise the moral tone of communities when Governments vie with one another in breaking every decent moral and ethical principle?

“I can see only one way to .counteract the rot which is attacking public and private morals, and that is for parents to take a more active part in the education of their children. It is the moral training of children that to-day is so very important—even more important than physical training. You will remember that the Latin tag, ‘Mens sana in carpore sano,’ puts the mind first. The external forces of evil are so great that the influence of Church and school are no longer sufficient to counteract them —these institutions must have the active assistance of the home.

“The Bishop of Wellington, Rt. Rev. H. St. Barbe Holland, stressed this point in an address recently, when he emphasised that the home was the kindergarten which enabled us to get hold of the principles that would guide us in our relationship with our fellowmen, and fit us for the rough university of the world.”