A Disturbing thought
A disquieting tale of
mistreated babies has resulted
from research on teen-age
parents, conducted by Dr.
Vladimir de Lissovoy, professor
of child development and family
relations at The Pennsylvania
State University.
His three-year study of the
problems of 48 teen-age married
couples, 46 of whom were
expecting children at the time of
their marriage, shows, says the
researcher, “that it is evident
that these. young parents were
not familiar with developmental
norms of their children.
“It is my conclusion that the
children of many adolescent
marriages have a high risk of
joining the number of battered
and abused babies.”
Dr. de Lissovoy’s study
involved mothers who averaged
16 l A years of age and fathers
who averaged just over 17 years
in age. Forty-one of the mothers
and 35 of the fathers were high
school dropouts, and they came
from families described as “rural
working class.”
Dr. de Lissovoy points out
that each of the couples was
visited and interviewed at least
five times at specific intervals
during the three years.
“There is little question that
these young parents were
undergoing severe frustrations,”
he says. “Their lack of
knowledge and experience, their
unrealistic expectations of child
development, their general
disappointment in their lives and
their lack of economic resources
served to raise their irritability
and lower their threshold of
tolerance.”
“To the question ‘How often
do you spank?’ the mothers’
replies included, ‘When he
duenet it,’ and ‘Vlhen 1 can’t
take it any longer,’ ” reports Dr.
de Lissovoy.
The effects of this situation
were often alarming.
Rockin' at the Plaza
Last Saturday saw the birth
of a mini-festival at the
Olmstead Plaza parking lot.
Rained out the previous week,
Saturday’s sunshine brought out
a crowd of about 2000 people
with 700-800 being there at its
peak.
The first note was struck at
11 a.m. when Shanghai took the
stage and started the first set,
playing until early afternoon.
Picking up where Shanghai left
off, the Legends came on and
had the crowd hand-clapping
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Answers to some other
questions -- like asking the
mothers when they expected
their child to sit up for the first
time without support, how often
did they think the baby would
cry for no reason, or how did
they plan to feed the baby food
he needed if the baby did not
like it showed poor
comprehension of normal child
development, says Dr. de
Lissovoy.
Marital problems concerning
finances, in-law relationships,
and social activities were also
problems for these young
parents.
“The parents’ personal, social
and economic frustrations,
which contributed to
disenchantment in their marriage
relationships, also affected their
behavior toward their children,”
advises Dr. de Lissovoy.
One of Dr. de Lissovoy’s
criticisms is that people who
should have been helping the
teen-age parents were not doing
their duty. Parents of the young
couples too often advised them
to “Let the baby cry” or told
them “you’ll find out (for
yourself) soon enough,” he says.
Doctors, too, were often at
fault he adds. Many times the
doctors would try to solve the
problems of the young family by
handing the mother a
mimeographed list of things like
formula preparations and food
supplements.
Dr. de Lissovoy cautions that
generalizations cannot be made
about all teen-age parents from
this study “Because the sample
was a typical one, the
results must be noted with
caution,” he warns.
“Nevertheless, the findings merit
the attention of those who work
with adolescents in schools or in
community agencies.”
** * *
The research done on this
project has been reported in the
July-August issue of “Children
Today” magazine and in the
May issue of the “Journal of
Marriage and the Family. ”
** * *
and foot-stomping to their hard
rock beat. It was at this time
that the crowd was at its peak
and everyone was in the festive
mood. Both Shanghai and the
Legends are products of
Harrisburg and are among the
better bands in the area.
Incidently, the Legends are
breaking up and will play their
last set at The Lodge in
Dillsburg on Halloween.
Saturday’s happening was
sponsored by the Olmstead Plaza
merchants and WKBO radio with
WKBO’s Alexander serving as
M.C. Both should be
commended for providing some
good entertainment to the
people for free.
Is Nothing Sacred, a Danu
from State College, was the third
and final band to play and
closed out the days’ program.
Any one of the bands could have
headlined the bill as all three are
equally talented. Next spring
should see another concert of
this type but with club type
bands headlining the bill.
It was a relaxed crowd that
heard the music and they were
either very young or else part of
the older crowd. Occasionally
you’d see a parent stop and
listen for a few minutes. The
absence of any police posed no
problems as everyone was there
to listen to the music and have a
good time. As with any outdoor
concert, there was the usual
litter of bottles and cans to clean
up afterwards.
All in all, it was a good way to
spend a Saturday as everyone
there seemed to be having a
good time. Next spring’s concert
should be just as promising.
** * *
‘New’
Course
Evaluations
University Park, Pa., Sept.
The University Council on
Thursday accepted from its
subcommittee on student
evaluation a general format for a
University-wide surveying
instrument from student
evaluation of courses.
As now developed, the
surveying instrument will be a
three-part questionnaire. The
first part will contain questions
to be asked of every student
throughout the University. The
second part will be prepared by
Colleges and Departments to
meet their specific needs, while
the third part will be prepared
by individual instructors to assist
them in course improvement.
Although the Council has
recommending powers only,
members hope the questionnaire
will be widely adopted
throughout the University. In
the preparation of the new
surveying instrument, the
University Division of
Instructional Services drew on
more than 90 separate
questionnaires in use within the
University. UDIS is assisting the
Council sub-committee in
preparing the questionnaire.
The Council is expected to
make its recommendations on
student evaluation to University
President John W. Oswald in
October.
Meeting with the Council was
Dr. William L. Harkness,
professor of statistics, as
representative of the Senate
Committee on Academic Affairs.
The council subcommittee will
meet with representatives of the
Senate committee in preparation
of the final surveying
instrument.
Others present at the meeting , W ,,,I| I ,, H || IU |
were Dr. Robert E. Dunham, I §
vice president for undergraduate H §j
studies; Dr. Eugene R. Meiander, 1 r > kA / 1
assistant vice president for = ra 9® r $ N\arket 1
undergraduate studies; Leslie P. | ~
Greenhill, assistant vice 1
president for academic services; s
and Dr. David W. Stickell, I
supervisor, examination services ~~
UDIS
Charles J. Smith, director of
the Ogontz Campus, was
designated as vice chairman of
the Council to preside in the
absence of Dr. Russell E. Larson,
University provost, who is
chairman.
The Council will hold its Nov.
1 meeting at the Berks Campus
at Reading.
** * *
Take a leave
of absence
At a time when students seem
to have a growing desire to stop
and then restart their college
studies, The Pennsylvania State
University has adopted a leave of
absence policy to make possible
such interruptions.
The plan, developed by the
University’s Division of
Admissions, Records and
Scheduling, will go into effect in
the Winter Term, 1974, which
begins December 6.
It is designed to allow
students greater flexibility in
their programs of study and, at
the same time, provide faculty
and administrators the means by
which to plan for a student’s
return to the University.
At present, the leave of
absence option is available only
to associate and baccalaureate
degree students and carries a
four-term or one-year limit.
However, under special
circumstances, it is possible to
extend the leave period to a
maximum of eight terms or two
years.
The option is available at the
University’s 17 Commonwealth
Campuses and the Behrend
College of the University in Erie
as well as at University Park.
Under the procedure, a
student wishing to take a leave
would simply complete the
required form and submit it to
the Records Office at University
Park.
The dean of the student’s
College at University Park or the
director of his campus will
determine a student’s eligibility
to take a leave of absence.
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Generally, any student who
would continue in his program
for the next term if he remained
consecutively enrolled would be
approved for a leave of absence.
The student would then
return for registration for the
term indicated on his request
form.
If a student returns earlier or
later than he had specified, he
must apply for readmission. If
degree requirements change
while a student is on leave of
absence, he would be held to
those requirements in effect
prior to his taking leave.
It is expected that the new
option will be helpful in
encouraging students to attend
Penn State under a flexible
attendance pattern.
According to Warren K.
Haffner, director of the Division
of Admissions, Records and
Scheduling, department
personnel will be able to project
course offerings and requests,
based on the number of students
who are returning for a
particular term.
At the same time, he said,
administrators will be able to'
plan for students’ returns as far
38 . .University planning and
facilities are concerned.
“Through use of this new
leave of absence option ,” Mr.
Haffner added, “the University
will become much more flexible
to the needs of many types of
students. In addition, the
groundwork will have been laid
for some facets of the extended
degree opportunities program.”
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