nile world: "Don't be a square!" "You're chick
en!" "Join the crowd!"
But teen-agers who have a strong set of
standards to fortify their native intelligence do
not fall prey to the smut merchant, the narcotics
peddler, or the rest of the rodent swarm which
fattens commercially upon the inexperience and
natural curiosity of youth. These young people
have developed, with parental aid, the moral
restraint to rise above temptation, to turn their
backs on the "smart set," and to remain true
to their ideals.
Today, too many young people are developing
neither the moral standards nor the restraint
necessary to get along in a free society. Every
community has its share of these youth. They are
members of teen-age gangs who belligerently
roam the streets in search of "a rumble"; the .
school "drop-outs" who waste endless hours in
unproductive idleness and, often, wrathful de
spair; the juvenile thrill seekers whose early
delinquencies inevitably lead them to progressive
ly more serious crimes.
These are unhappy youth. Their arrogant defi
ance of authority is a pitiful pose that seeks to
conceal the tragic fear and insecurity which they
feel. This fear, this insecurity exist because we
have failed to prepare them to meet the personal
demands and responsibilities of life in our Amer
ican republic
The way out of this dilemma is for youngsters
to acquire a sense of discipline. But before a boy
can practice self-discipline, he must learn dis
cipline from others. We must establish for him
standards of acceptable behavior and we must
enforce those standards.
"I tried to do the best I could, but I can't
control him . . ." This was the weak lament of a
doting mother whose 15-year-old son had been
arrested for assault and robbery. How familiar
her words are to every law-enforcement officer.
Children need guide lines. We owe it to them
to spell out what they may and may not do. We
must hold them strictly accountable when they
breach the rules of decent conduct. When we are
weak or inconsistent, when we pamper or over
protect even in the preschool years we set
a pattern of confusion for our children. In the
years ahead, our mollycoddling can lead only to
their resenting and despising authority.
- A youngster also must be taught to have a
pride in hie heritage. Theodore Roosevelt, a man
of great strength and discipline, had boundless
love for his country and her ideals. "Ameri
canism," he said, "means the virtues of courage,
honor, justice, truth, sincerity, and hardihood
the virtues that made America. The things that
will destroy America are prosperity at any price,
peace at any price, safety first instead of duty
first, the love of soft living, and the get-rich-quick
theory of life."
Knew the Enemy of Freedom
President Theodore Roosevelt knew that Amer- .
ica was born of adversity. He believed that her
people have risen to their greatest heights in the
face of grave challenge. He knew also that soft
ness mental, physical, or spiritual is the mortal
enemy of all who cherish freedom.
Has a "softening process" begun to set in for
this generation and its elders? I earnestly hope
not Still, the danger signs are clear. They signal
the growing need for all of us to increase vigil
ance against this disease that eats from within.
Finally, I want to stress the importance of
challenge, which is the indispensable compatriot
of free men. It is a wellspring of alertness and
vitality for nations which find themselves tempted
to grow complacent and slothful.
Our youth need challenge. We must destroy
the false conception which today increasingly
saps their spiritual stamina with the lie that life
in a democracy is a mere jumble of rights and
privileges without responsibilities. From their
very early years, young people should have in
dividual chores, specific goals, constructive proj
ects to help sharpen their capabilities and develop
strong character.
Above all, our youth need our help to insulate
them against the negative forces immorality,
overindulgence, apathy, neglect which prevail in
so many areas of modern life. For doing this vital
job in a way that will last a lifetime, there is
nothing like a healthy home.
By no choice of our own, we Americans find
ourselves facing a deadly situation the most
critical in the nation's history. Communism, a
treacherous international conspiracy which now
controls nearly one-third of the earth's peoples,
challenges our very right to live in freedom under
God. Coupled with it is the menace of a growing
crime problem, one that flourishes in is, in fact,
largely caused by the prevailing atmosphere of
adult aloofness and indifference.
Today the bright burden of freedom rests
squarely in our hands. Tomorrow we must pass
it on to the new generation to the boys and girls
I have been talking about here. It is up to us to
make sure that we hand It over to strong young
citizens capable of meeting the test that lasting
freedom imposes daily.
ItlUJTIAtlOH IT LAWMNCI MALI WITH, COUtTItT Of AUOCIATID AMEtlCAM AITISTS
family Wnkiy. July 14. IM1
S