Parents Alerted to New Sch
ool Te
rm
‘Drive Carefully’ is Warning Broadcast to Motorists
Must Undertake Great xl
Share of Responsibility
For Youths’ Education
Preparing Children Now, for Return|j
To Classes, Firs
;
Ww
ages this year.
The situation derives from the complexity of life in this fast
moving modern era with its unique tensions, its glowing
t Important Step
Toward Speeding Learning
ITH the opening of a new school term scheduled for just
a few weeks hence, there is an exceptional burden of
responsibility confronting parents of all of the children of all| §
opportunities, and also, its many distractions.
On the one hand, the demand from all areas of
P
Synchronize to School Time!
activity for more and better educated youth, has mounted and
will continue to mount during the coming years, to the point
where those with the right kind of training are virtually assured
of successful careers.
This is as true for today’s beginners as it is for yesterday’s
college graduates, what with knowledge paying bigger dividends,
even on television (witness the quiz programs) than does
brawn, in any field.
On the other hand, existing facilities for furnishing education
to the hordes of young who will be knocking at the doors of
grade schools, high schools and
colleges this fall, are severely
strained because of shortages
of both teachers and class-|
rooms.
There is hardly a community
in the land in which these) g
problems will not be made
more acute this fall by the
greater number of children to]
be enrolled in schools.
Home Counts More
Until such time as educa-
tional facilities at all levels of
learning catch up with the re-
quirements of the growing
number of school age children,
parents will have to shoulder
a greater share of the burden
of preparing their children for
the opportunities and needs
that lie ahead.
The home itself becomes an
important case in point. A Pur-
due University study, dealt
with elsewhere in this section,
reveals that teen age students
somplain their homes lack ade-
juate provision for them to do
their home work in peace and
privacy.
Is the problem duplicated for
youngsters going to school for
the first time this fall? No one
tnows for certain, but here in-
ieed is a problem for parents.
While school authorities are
surrently preparing to receive
ihe greater number of children
who will be clamoring for
slaces in classrooms this fall,
parents must turn their atten-
ion to getting the youngsters
ready, mentally, physically and
naterially for the return to
earning.
What They Need
In addition to making sure
hat essential study facilities
ire provided in the home, this
equires concern for their
wealth, their clothes, their
chool equipment.
Pre-school health examina-
lons can thwart the onset of
tinesses that would interfere
as conducive to the kind of
learning.
!
IT’S IN THE BAG, this budding
romance between these charming
beginners, who display the latest
fashions in essential carry-alls,
with hers boasting an outside
pocket for carrying snacks, and
his sporting two-tone leather.
Plenty of room in both for books,
pencils, crayons and what have
you.
schooling. Need for such simple
standard items such as brief
bags in which to carry books,
pen and pencil sets, even per-
haps a typewriter in the home,
can be anticipated now.
Planning and selecting the
child’s back to school wardrobe
— permitting even the young-
est to participate in the selec-
tion — will work wonders to-
ward sending them back to
class with assurance, pride,
and self confidence.
Good Grooming
And happily, the trend to-
ward neatness in classroom at-
tire gains momentuimn this
year. This is a trend recognized
by educators and parents alike
good behaviour which stimu-
lates a better attitude toward
proof models are available at low
Critical Shortage of School
# Rooms, Nation
: fj Parents Urged by Hecht to Work with PTA,
Civic Groups to Expand Facilities
By GEORGE J. HECHT
Publisher, Parents’ Magazine
Millions of American children]
re going to school only part-
ime because of the critical
shortage of school buildings.
This creates a tragic lost bat-
talion badly needed in the re-
morseless brains race with the
Soviet Union for scientists,
engineers, technicians, and
doctors.
To solve this problem maxi-
mum effort has to be made at
local, state and national levels.
Education has traditionally
been primarily a local respon-
sibility. About ninety percent
of the money needed to main-
tain schools must come from
local sources. A majority of
have wealth enough
to bu needed schools. But
local apathy often stands in
the way.
Action must be stimulated by
the people who care the most.
for procedure helps, apply to
the National Citizens Council
for Better Schools, 9 East 40th
Street, New York 16, N. Y.
In nearly every state some
local school districts do not
have the taxable wealth from
which to raise funds for schools
they need. Others have the
financial ability but are ham-
pered legally by unrealistic
legislation.
vith the continuity of their
Specially for
Ie Back to School Section is brought to you by this news-
paper through the cooperation of Metro Associated Serv-
ces, Inc. and Parents’ Magazine, a nationally famous monthly
vhich deals with the problems of rearing children from crib to
ollege. On its Editorial Advisory Board are many of the coun-
ry’s leading authorities on ch
nental hygiene and parent education. The magazine is pub-
ished by The Forents’ Institute, Inc.
Thus the staff ¢f Parents’ Magazine which devotes its full time
© writing for and counseling 1,700,000 American families every
Parents. . .
ild rearing, education, health,
Some states still cling” to!
this section.
In addition this newspaper h
preparation of this special sect
welfare of our school children.
business people outlining their o
proaches.
ginners to college students. The
GIVING HIM AN UNDERSTANDING OF THE IMPORTANCE of
time is a part of his education today, which teacher managers with
the help of a demonstration clock shown on the wall above. It’s
up to dad and mother to provide the wrist watch. Sturdy, water-
great for their combined finan-
for the building of roads, hos-
pitals, mental institutions and
for some 35 other Federal pro-
grams, it is needed now as
never before for schools.
month on raising children, rgakes its advice available to you in
local school, health, traffic safety and civic organizations in
The articles are supplemented by announcements from local
to serve parents and children alike,
All of the articles in this Section wer
These articles discuss the needs of s
as the physical aspects of getting the ¢
i
cost. This one by Westclox.
’sBig Problem
obsolete small school districts
where schools are neither ade-
quate in educational services
nor efficient in, fiscal manage-
ment. Every state has some
form of state aid, but often it
is not sufficient or is not dis-
tributed to help Jocalities most
in need.
Better schools in your dis-
trict may be possible only
through better laws and in-
creased educational appropri-
ations in your state. Stimulate
your PTA or civic group to work
on this matter.
In spite of maximum efforts
made by many localities, class-
room needs seem to be too
cial resources. Poorer states
have proportionately more
children to educate. This
creates need for Federal aid to
help equalize educational
facilities.
Interstate migration of
people, in addition to consider-|
ations of national defense,
makes education a national
problem.
Just as Federal aid is given
as enlisted the cooperation of
ion, which is dedicated to the
wn preparations and readiness
as the new school term ap-
e specially written for it.
chool children, from be-
with the mental as well
y deal
Better Safety
Record is Aim
For This Year
Signs will Remind All
Motorists of Their
Responsibility
Announcement of the open-
ing date of the new schoo
term is accompanied this yea)
by a special warning to al!
drivers of motor vehicles thai
they must assume a
share of the responsibility foi
the safety of children in traffic
They will be reminded of this
frequently by signs, soon to ap-
pear in profusion — proclaim-
ing that “School’s Open —
Drive Carefully.”
The special warning is pre-
dicated on a recapitulation of
progress toward assuring the
youngsters’ safety of life and
limb as they go to and from
schoo!.
This progress has been sub-
stantial, to date. Over the
© |years, death rate among school
age children as the result of
traffic accidents has been cut
one half, in comparison with
a doubling of the rate among
other ages.
Cooperative Efforts Work
Cooperation between school
authorities, police and such
civic minded organizations as
automobile clubs, in providing
children with education in
traffic safety, and in setting up
precautions against the haz-
ards of traffic, are credited with
the gains, now jealously
guarded.
School Safety Patrols, man-
ned by white Sam Browne
belted boys and girls; crossing
guards enlisted from among
the ranks of mothers, special
police patrols, all have con-
tributed to the safety record.
The one hazard against
which no combination of offi-
cialdom can insure the young-
sters — and this is especially
true of those in the lower
grades — is their own play ex-
uberance which leads them to
unpredictable accidents such
as darting suddenly into the
street after a loose ball, or oc-
casionally trying to beat a car
to a crossing out of sheer
deviltry.
“Motorists must take into
consideration. these unpredic-
table actions of children at all
times,” says Harry I. Kirk,
president of the American
Automobile Association. “The
boys and girls in the white
Sam Browne belts are on duty
to help keep you from acciden-
tally striking a child. Give them
all the cooperation you can.”
- Alertness Essential t
Alertness on the part of the
motorist is especially necessary
in areas beyond the reach of
School Patrols. Similarly, those
who participate in car pools
organized to take children to
and from distant schools, are
urged to use extra caution.
All motor vehicle drivers
should make sure now, before
school opens that their cars
are in good mechanical con-
dition so that they may cope
with the need for quick and
safe stops.
Car pool drivers have an
added responsibility of so con-
ducting themselves while driv-
ing the youngsters to school,
as to set a good example to the
younger generation.
IMPORTANCE OF READING
75 per cent of all study activ-
ities in elementary school and
hildren ready for school.
[require reading ability.
80 to 90 per cent in high school