YOUTHFUL HORIZONS

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXIV, 29 March 1930, Page 11

YOUTHFUL HORIZONS

HOW PARENTS MAY HELP "There Is no doubt that boys and girls in their oarly teens are inclined to be self-centred and a trifle self-seek-ing, and if they are to grow into the typo of man or woman we would like them to be —broad-minded, large-heart-ed, taking an intelligent and sympathetic interest in tlw world's affairs—wo must not leave their development entirely to Nature, but must do what wo can to widen their horizons, to enlarge their interests, and to quicken their sympathies," says a correspondent of "The Times" Educational Supplement. Acknowledging that much is being done in the schools to give children an insight into conditions in their own and other lands, the writer says there still remain ways in which parents can help. Ho suggests visits to factories as an introduction to the work that others do, and to appreciation of the skill in doing it. Every child should understand something of the public services. He should not be ignorant of tho way in which his necessities, in the shapo of water, gas, electric, light, and sanitation, aro supplied. In tho same way, children can tako an interest in tho local government of their own particular district, and the best way to teach them about this is not to teach thorn at all, but to let them go out and make inquiries. "But tho most telling influence in tho lives of the children," the writer adds, "is the conversation they hear and take part in with their ciders, and the general atmosphere of tho home. Which do wo discuss most in our homes—national or local affairs, other people's interests or our own, international questions or merely personal ones? When we speak of other people's troubles, do we do so sympathetically or only critically? Do we talk as though the interests of one section were the only ones of any consequence, or as though other sections of the community may perhaps also have points of view? It is these influences which are the really formative ones, and affect our children's habit of thought as they grow older, but the time is short for this awakening of their interests."