Education by Radio (1933)

Who is to Blame? Some time ago, following the sensational murder by a young schoolboy, one of our Chicago dailies carried an editorial laying the blame for such conditions on parents and teachers. Of course we are the custodians of children, but are we wholly responsible for their actions? Often a broken home is responsible, because it creates an emotional unbalance in the child deprived of the love and security it needs for normal development. For instance, that particular boy was deprived of his mother in childhood and the evidence showed that he was “shifted from one relative to another” during his childhood when he needed love and secur¬ ity. Then too, there are people who should never be parents. But how often the community is to blame for conditions it permits outside the home and school. This morning I read of a school boy who killed a policeman, and to my amazement the blame is put on the movies he saw just before committing the crime. The accusation was considered, seriously enough, for theater owners were actually called in. That boy did not see crime in his home, but he was shown all kinds of crime in the movies, sponsored by the community. We are one of the most backward countries in the world regarding the safeguarding of our youth. Not even Turkey and Russia allow their children to witness films of crime. And even our newspapers, do they set a good example? At the time of the murder mentioned above, I wanted to get my son’s reaction to what he was reading in the paper that came to our home every day. I was amazed and oh, so pleased with his answer. He said he had not read any of the details. “For that matter,” he added, “there is very little worthwhile to read in the paper.” Are you, Mr. Editor, pleased with that reaction from a four¬ teen-year-old boy? Again, I noticed an article recently by the radio editor of the Chicago Daily News. He said: “Crime and horror have be¬ come a large part of broadcasting — and mothers don’t like it. That stuff over-stimulates a child, and if improperly or poorly done, may give him the dangerous idea that the gun is the answer to life’s problems and the laws of man and nature not important.” That sounds as if mothers were on the job, and fighting the people who have charge of the recreational hours of youth. This brings vividly to my mind the fact that I called up this same newspaper one evening, protesting against a hor¬ rible crime story that they had just sponsored over the radio. Perhaps someone else besides parents and teachers is re¬ sponsible for the crimes of youth.— A Chicago Mother. Group Listening So far as is known, some 168 listening groups have been formed in various parts of the country to follow the series of addresses on “God and the World thru Christian Eyes.” The method of listening is varied. In some cases the groups hold their discussion immediately after hearing the broadcast; in others it is held after a day or two’s postponement; while in yet other cases the actual listening is done individually, but the group meets for discussion during the subsequent week. Since some of the talks are closely packed with ideas and are not easy to absorb at first hearing, this latter method has some¬ thing to recommend it. . . . In one case, at St. Cuthbert’s Parish Church, one of the principal churches in Edinburgh, the aver¬ age attendance at the group meetings has been 300. We believe that there are many listening groups of which no record has yet been received, and the British Broadcasting Corporation would be grateful if the organizers of any such groups not already in touch with a regional station would communicate with Broadcasting House. — The Listener [London], March 29, 1933, p483. 1933-34 Debate Topic Resolved: That the United States should adopt the essential features of the British system of radio control and opera¬ tion. — This statement has recently been adopted by the word¬ ing committee of the Committee on Debate Materials and Interstate Cooperation of the National University Extension Association. It will therefore be the subject in the national con¬ test and will be debated during the year 1933-34 by the ma¬ jority of the high-school debating teams thruout the United States. In view of the increasing amount of dissatisfaction with the present American system, it is expected that the nationwide debate of this subject will bring out a great many facts with which few people are conversant. The most important thing in America is the youth of America. Don’t help railroads and neglect boys and girls. Save the railroads; save the banks; save the insurance com¬ panies; take steps to save the building and loan associations; do anything to save the farmers, but always keep in mind the little generation. We can rebuild anything that is lost in America except the lapse of interrupted or denied education. Give attention to the one greatest need of our country — the need of education. — Aaron Sapiro, attorney-at-law, New York City. Education by radio is published by the National Committee on Education by Radio at 1201 Sixteenth Street, Northwest, Washington, D. C. The members of this Committee and the national groups with which they are associated are as follows: Charles T. Corcoran, S. J., director, radio station WEW, St. Louis University, St. Louis, Missouri, The Jesuit Educational Association. Arthur G. Crane, president, the University of Wyoming, Laramie, Wyoming, National Association of State Universities. J. O. Keller, head of engineering extension, Pennsylvania State College, State College, Pa., National University Extension Association. Charles N. Lischka, 1312 Massachusetts Avenue, Washington, D. C., National Catholic Educational Association. John Henry MacCracken, vicechairman, 744 Jackson Place, Washington, D. C., American Council on Education. Joy Elmer Morgan, chairman, 1201 Sixteenth Street, Northwest, Washington, D. C., National Education Association. James N. Rule, state superintendent of public instruction, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, National Council of State Superintendents. H. Umberger, Kansas State College of Agriculture, Manhattan, Kansas, Association of Land-Grant Colleges and Universities. Jos. F. Wright, director, radio station WILL, Univ. of Illinois, Urbana, HI., Association of College and Univ. Broadcasting Stations. Everyone who receives a copy of this bulletin is invited to send in suggestions and comments. Save the bulletins for reference or pass them on to your locallibrary or to a friend. Education by radio is a pioneering movement. These bulletins are, therefore, valuable. Earlier numbers will be supplied free on request while the supply lasts. Radio is an extension of the home. Let’s keep it clean and free. [24]