My Mother Alfred A happy child’s drawings are free. If he wants to, let him draw a picture of two little boys walking over the rainbow. Fun is what counts. Figures and stars by Mike D., age 7: “My Mother,” by Alfred B., both from Falls Church, Virginia National Art Education Association proper behavior according to their own lights. Those who agree form secret clubs, to convince themselves through their solidarity that they must be right, and to bring group pressure to bear on the nonconformers. In other words, they are hard at work practicing social organization, the relations between the individual and the group, which hold society together. As he strives to become independent of his parents' supervision, the child feels the compulsion to be more conscientious as an individual. He enjoys rules and turns to games that are all rules and strictness like hop¬scotch and mumblety-peg. His conscience is working overtime, and makes him step over cracks in the side¬walk. Underneath, he still looks to his parents for his basic security and morals. Nevertheless, he is certainly ready to be influenced strongly by the school, the church, the Scouts, especially in these new areas of group stand¬ards, social acceptance and responsibility to the group. In the olden days it was thought that the job of the school was only to see that the child learned a cer-tain amount of subject matter. Now we realize, through research by educators, psychologists, psychiatrists, that the child is learning much more than this whether for good or evil, whether the school thinks it is teaching other things or not. In the olden days it was often assumed that children are chiefly motivated in their learning by competition for high marks or fear of failure. To be sure, these motives exist, but when they are accentuated they make for hostile rivalry among the top scholars and for a deep conviction of their own inadequacy among those who cannot make the grade. Now we know that chil¬dren are eager to learn if the work is suited to their ability, and that there must be flexibility in the work of the classroom to give each child his chance to achieve and mature. In schooling, we are knowingly shortchanging our children. Our schools are too few and too small. Much of the equipment is antiquated. Most classes throughout the country are shockingly large, so large that the best teachers are frustrated. There are too few teachers. Not enough effort is made to select only those who by tem¬perament are suited to help children. Their training in many colleges still slights the nature of childhood which should be the very core of their preparation. It is futile to talk about selecting the best people for train¬ing when too few of any quality are applying. Salaries of competent teachers are too low for the important work they are doing and they are seldom accorded the respect and prestige they deserve. Can we afford better schools for our children? The proportion of the national income going to public edu¬cation has been falling in recent decades. America spends a smaller proportion than Great Britain, than Russia. America spends less for public education than for tobacco, than for liquor, than for cosmetics. We pay for what we want. In adolescence the boy or girl, with an almost new body and new feeling, must find himself all over again. His grown-upness brings out his rivalry with his par¬ents. One side of him aspires toward an idealized ma¬turity. The other side, frightened by its inexperience, clings to childhood dependence. This latter side can¬not admit its own timidity and loudly protests that it is the parents who will not trust him or let him grow up. Friendship and crushes have a new importance and intensity. Many educators and others who work with ado¬lescents feel that our society has done less to solve the needs of this age group, even on a theoretical basis, than it has the needs of other ages. Anthropologists who have seen how the adolescent is helped to find a proud place in the adult community in many other parts of the world agree. With our justified belief in education, we keep them pupils at least until the age of 16 or 18 years (in the case of psychiatrists till 35). Usually, how¬ever, we do this in a fashion that denies them an ade¬quate sense of acceptance into the grown-up world and of dignified participation in it. They are forced to con¬solidate with each other instead of with us. The more exaggerated manners of the bobby soxers, the zoot suit¬ers and the Joe Colleges are not harmful in themselves but they should be reproaches to us that we have di¬verted so much energy and desire to belong away from valuable channels. Emotional disturbances are unfortunate enough at any stage of life. In adolescence there is a greater likeli¬hood that they will be "acted out" in anti-social, delin- 9