"PENNY DREADFULS."

New Zealand Herald, Volume LX, Issue 18519, 2 October 1923, Page 7

"PENNY DREADFULS."

CURING BOYS OF HABIT.

NEW- SUBJECT SUGGESTED.

THE, AND LITERATURE

>-»-,. , ',-■; [ FROM; OT/R OWN CORRESPONDENT. J

London; Aug. 1.1 <. j Speaking 'af : the.-7 Teachers? Vacation ■■.';/'''••.'.; ■■.•.: [Course in. London, Mr.- '. Frank':?'' Jones | made a suggestion for curing ."Penny % I Dreadful''habit among boys. He pro- ; [ posed that " Tim the -Tireless "; and other j" favourites''-, should be made',a -kind of '~. J-.-.' classr subject,'- anil that teachers'should' 1 7 point out' to the boys the stupidity: of this ' , stories. , , ''■''■' ' • !..'•-A. good deal of : aon'Bense,'.lio*Vsaid,' was talked about pernicious literature. When a "joy found 'hirjself. in the Children's Court be. often explained - : that he ,- 77': ■:; had been reading pernicious; literature, orhad been to the pictures. -Both these excuses he thought -were.very; clever, because he did not himself. believe :.-. at all " v '■■:.:'■ | in this pernicious literature story. . -When.. - ■ ■■■■■■■■-,: I they* came to,. the " twopenny blood cut. " ~- : it'used tA'be a penny, 'but if was now r :=-..?•■-.. I two-pence,-, thank Heavens -{laughter)—* there was only one real difference between it and "Treasure Island," for in- ;■■■ i stance. This difference'' wasthat the '. | writer of the " ':." had -little ■■/:'■ ' imagination, and ;he had to make up by throwing . ~'away all sorts :of restraint which the -good 'writer exercised. j .s ' It was no: good telling a lboy'4fchat yon *•; ',' did not caro for a' "blood-cut," and thaß he ought, to ' read 7 improving" .Uteratute; There was7no , better -. way of turning «» - -,£*'. boy away from literature than telling bins * lit'would do hini good, " What you want -to do/': .said Mr. Jones, "v" ia" to let the / boys buy, their! favourite ,V blood out,' lefi ■';"<; them buy: then''' 'Tim, the -Tireless,' ■ and '■ - '' i ' so on,, and study it in class-: Try ito *.--' -. / ! wean ' them.;,rom;it',.not" by pointing out • .'"- V | any grammatical errors, but by pointing < ; v \ j cut the stupidity of the Btoryi" - , - The ' old-iasinoned. ; teacher 7 • was " too much afraid ot joy, said Mr. . Jones,.' bu«b he was afraid , that the. modern -'.teacher , ; was too. much afraid of work—on the ,7 .-; part of the .child. , Ho hoped he was'no ' . ' kill-joy," but ..the . child who left school '.•:.-- without- having)done, something that he : . • ' did. not -find : altogether acceptable would . have a, veify strange" view of life. ;Ifi» ' . ' j child were always- allowed to-do exactly , what if wanted it would have - a very rough - awakening when, it left school.., ' 7,i '■'-'.'He advised - Ins hearers, 'so v far as poetry was ; concerned, not .to,' be satis- > ' : fied with"-Walter Scott. Scott was a very ( poor poet indeed. He was a great story- ' ;..r) teller and 'novelist, \ but except ;/• for his ; ' lyrical i work bis i poetry , ; was almost neg- ' ligible. The poetry -a'-; boy learned ;} at v" ;. : , school was a possession for ever. ,It was . probably the only time the ordinary boy ,f * was going to ' learn. poetry. : Therefore • they wanted him to learn Chevery best. • Nothing showed bad teachings so much as the howler, and : Ilia responsible ; par- - j ents of all howlers was the teacher. 'If you have 'howlers made in your j^ class, : ?; declared; Mr. Jones,_ "you ought to sit - in . sackcloth and ashe?,. '-. ; .': - .-'. ,' . Referring to meaningless-poetry, so - • much of which ;: Mr. Jones 4_i said is» : pub- y ?:; lished nowadays, ho would hot allow any author to* publish a poem until lie had obtained a, licence by making clear.; roughlv what -his: meaning was. -A great,: deal of modern poetry would, he thought, never have been printed ■ ifisach a condj- „ - . tion bad been imposed., .>- - , : ; There was '^certain.; type of boy who was ' interested in sociological questions.. Even Ruskin was appreciated by barbarians: of ; fourfeen. Mr. ■ r 5 membered chastising ..a - .: , Serial; he quoted a passage . &,$ fro* KuskmVhir-h at tbe fourteen he learnt in the lecturer's class. ~