Show Dix OF US B RESENT PRYING HATE TO BE QUESTIONED WE WE J JINTO INTO OUR PRIVATE AFFAIRS AFFAIRs BUT BUT REMEMBER PAR PAR- THIS FEELING IS 1 INTENSE WITH YOUTH SO 30 DONT DON'T DRIVE THE YOUNG PEOPLE FROM HOME HOM WITH FAMILY PAMILY CURIOSITY other day a young oun girl tried i- i to commit suicide de by jumping r into L a river When she was VoU pulled out as aa she went vent for tOr the last lut time the explanation that she save rave for her ber desperate du rAte deed wa was Wu that she couldn't stand any longer loncer being nagged by the aunt with whom she lived V IL ee I I dont don't want WaIst to d do S wrong she he he saId Mid I only want a aF F little Independent I want to ct 4 I- I what I want to do without being t asked every Ivery v ry time tim I start atari out of the tIe thedoor thedoor tIey y 44 door whir where I am going and arid who I Iam Iam am im going with and why I am m going and arId how hew long am ann I 1 going to stay ay arid and when am I coming back And Ad Id ld Id Idly ly rather b be dead dud than thin to te bt be b to so wah and 4 spied pled upon r TO ro WHICH the aunt replied that thai she be bad had 1 n no Idea Jd why the girl felt at U she lb did and that she hadn't intended d to p persecute her hr but was ws s merely trying to do her duty and UV uke DOROTHY DIX care cars of her I do not riot knew know hew It strikes you but to me this semis as a a apathetic pathetic a little story aa a. you could read rud In Irs a days day scanning of the newspapers For here hire on en one aide you have hay youth with He It It I eagles eagle's heart hurt panting throbbing and ad yearning for fer freedom for a chance to stretch Its Ita wings wing and arid fly and on the other ether hand you have age ge pushing It back to the cage and arid locking the door upon It for leer fear It might fall fail and get hurt It If It escaped for a moment Into the open epen AND A ND between them they make tragedy For F r in its exasperation nu at r- r b bolog hampered ham er d and thwarted at t every turn youth forgets torrell t it owes oes to age are It U forgets that the baud band ban 1 that retrain it i is 1 Iso also the hand band that fed and succored it In childhood that has hal nursed and tad nur nur- nurtured tuned it and aDd that has hu bs red to-red upon it a thousand kindnesses u So youth Is ungrateful and nd age 0 resentful for age also alto has h. h ss forgotten many thing meng among them youths youth's passion for per personal liberty and the almost fanatical fanatic I ual with which It 1 guards the privacy of ef Its soul loul V nI COURSE this girl gill who preferred d death to pr V F catechized about everything she he did and didn't do la Is an m. m example of the revolt of youth against the the- questionnaire But there Is I. probably pro bly no other one 01 thing that thet so alienates parents puenta arid and children or that does do ao so much mud to t drive tho the young ou people away sway from home aa u does dOli family curiosity PR R it is true that in the average ar home borne no one ose ea em or ora CO o r a without furnishing an a alibi aUbi for every minute of th their r t. t No Noone Noone Noone one can make the slightest move mO without having to make elaborate explanations about why he be or she Is going olne to do it No on ont one can Un make the smallest purchase without giving a reason for it and its cost and nd where It was wu bought ought and why wh they didn't buy bu it somewhere else No one OM can eat or fast tut go CO to bed 1 ed or sit lit It up u without it becoming be a a. matter of debate In time we gro iro grow r more or less callous to th the pinpricks pl of this eternal questioning but it never ceases to irritate us and to youth which is thin skinned and sensitive it is maddening Later on In life 0 we learn lea that thit t bondage la Is the Inevitable price that we pay for family life and that very vory often ofte It t It is warth th the freedom It cote costs us 11 But youth does fl not know It Is love lovo which makes Its Ita every Ivery thought and arid act of mo momen men men- tous interest and Importance that It Is I. love which trembles tremble for its safety and seeks seek to protect It that ove loVe It Is at the bot bet bottom bottom tom torn of most of the tho nagging that asks uka ceaselessly Where are you going 1 Whom are you going with r Whom do you expect to see What Whet are you going to do dor When Whon a sr are you coming home SO S o YOUTH gnashes gnashes' its teeth sad and flings back b ck a bitter retort and slams slama the door behind it and makes kes up its Hs mind to marry many the first man man that asks it or get a a. lob job in another city so as to get Jet away way from mothers mother's and fathers father's fa questioning so 10 as u to to have a little liberty lI and be able ablO to do what it Jt wants without having hating to give live an a of its Us every action And mother and father bewildered at the Irritation of their chIt chil children dren at being ask asked d a few simple questions stabbed subbed to the heart burt by their childrens children's cruel Impatience wring their hands bands in helpless grief over ver the situation and nd believe b the worst wont of the youngsters 1 and pessi peasi- pessimistically wonder what the present generation 1 Js Is coming to This little tragedy of misunderstanding this dally daily friction that rubs the tempers and the nerves of both parents rent and children ras nT goes Joes on In virtually every ery household in which there are young youn sons ons and daughters and it is none the th less Ius sad because b ause it is 11 so es sary The remedy lies in parents punt recognizing the futility of put put- putting putting ting their children through the third degree about everything they do when hen it Infuriates the youngsters youngster and do does no good For if Mamie Mamle and Johnny are merely going to the corner drug drugstore drugstore store to get an Ice cream soda oda It Is I. not necessary that they should tell father and mother where they are ara going If I they get an an particular kick about doing It on O their own Initiative and an without question And And If thy they are going on en a booze boole party to a questionable resort they are certainly not going to t toil ll II the truth when asked about their movements BUT I OUT UT I have a right to know where my children go and nd what hat they thai O are doing doln say the parents Surely Sure But the only way ay you can find nd out Is for tor the children voluntarily to confide In hi you ou You iou cat wring the information out ot of them by high handed methods method nor noe nag ut It out of them by questioning nin them I r know one wise wile mother mather who says lIya that she ahe has hu bitten off off the end of her tongue in her hr efforts to t prevent herself helf from questioning her children and ad her reward Is I. that her he children invariably tell her where thy they are going when whon thy they kiss ku h her h. r goodbye WHY ty II-ty we e should s all hate so much to be questioned nobody k o v-v v but it Just seems natural to resent reseat having any on pry ry into our private affairs We all have bare this tbs feeling and in youth youth- it is most mot in in- Intense tense tente Which is something parents would do well j to bear in i mind DOROTHY DIX PIT Copyright ht by Public Ledger |