OCR Text |
Show HEAL SOURCE OF VICE. The real source of vice among the young people is in the home. The constant cry against the theatre, the dance hall and other places of amusement amuse-ment Is unjustified. They may act as second causes but the greater part of the blame Bhould never be placed upon thorn. The fault lies in the home. That young man, that young woman wom-an who has enjoyed the privileges "of good home influences and goes es-tray, es-tray, is the exception, not the rule. Family ties are not as strong as they should be. In the mad rush for money, parents and children have no time to become acquainted. There is no real friendship between them. The father has no interest in the companionship and recreations of his son; the mother does not enter into the associations and amusements of her daughter. What is the consequence? There is no exchange of confidence. The' young people choose their own friends and pastimes ,vith no regard to the advice and suggestions, which the riper experience of the parents might, give them. By such confidence and companionship compan-ionship parents can quietly and yet decidedly influence the characters of the young people for good. They can avoid rebuke, which is always disagreeable dis-agreeable and often disastrous to the best development of character. There will be a mutual sympathy between them. The young people will always confide in the parents. Let father and son be chums; mother and daughter sympathize with each other; and the greater temptations of vice have been overcome. over-come. What the mother and father care about is what counts with the children. chil-dren. Not what they say, when they are "laying down the law," but their own standards, are the questions. Unfortunately, within recent years the pleasures and pursuits of young people have changed. The change has often been for the worse. Many amusements that were once shunned by respectable people now have their approval. The reason given is: "Everybody's doing it." But such disgraceful dances, such immodest attire as obtain ob-tain today, would have shocked even the least fastidious of other days. Mother thinks, "My daughter shall be in style with the other girls. If others do it, it's all right." Without With-out thinking of the danger, she approves, ap-proves, and then when the crash comes the mother wonders "How ' could she ever do it?" It is high time that parents and children should learn that popular fashions are sometimes some-times vicious. The most important thing to be learned is to develop real companionship; companion-ship; a companionship growing from intimate family intercourse. Then the great problem of ' vice among young people will have been solved. San Francisco Examiner. |