Henderson Daily Dispatch

The first in a series of five sessions of the Parent-Teacher study class was held Monday evening in the Henderson high school library, with the Rev. E. Nortfleet Gardner leading the discussions. Five students of the senior class, E. C. Hunt, Jr., Austin Cheek, James Knight, Priscilla Parham, and Dorothy Harrison, assisted in the presentation and defense of the subject, "Charges Brought Against Our Youth".

Refusal to assume responsibility, restlessness, holding one's word lightly, inability to make decisions, participation in too many activities outside the home and the school, and living in too fast a tempo, were among the 15 or 20 charges that had been given to Mr. Gardner by specialists in guidance, industrialists, students and the general public. He presented them to the group for general discussion. It was apparent from the onset that those present were real champions of youth, feeling that elders in many cases set the examples for youth to follow.

In summarizing the charges brought against youth, Mr. Gardner said that one must differentiate between youth in general and individual young people; that youth is naturally more carefree, with caution and conservatism characteristics of maturity; that nevertheless youth problems are acute; that the way in which youth meets its problems determines character and success; that the highest idealism is to be found in young people, offsetting their failures; and finally, that adults should avail themselves of the opportunity to study youth with open minds and sympathetic hearts.

In a brief talk welcoming the group who represented the various schools of the county, Mrs. Laurence Wall, chairman of the study course, reminded those present that serious questions, realities, none of which can be ignored must be faced today. To fit the oncoming generation for a life in which they must inevitably participate is the impelling purpose of the Parent-Teacher program. In presenting Mr. Gardner to the group, Mrs. Wall called attention to his unusual fitness as a leader of young people, and to the enviable position he holds in the community, especially among youth, and his sympathetic understanding of young people and their problems.

The meeting was well attended and a lively interest was attested to by the ready participation of the group in the discussion.

Mr. Gardner will continue these studies next Monday evening at 7:30 o'clock in the high school library, his subject to be "Developing Christian Personality Traits in Youth". The public is cordially invited, and especially the teachers in all of the church schools in the city.