Although the war has become so remote as to no longer afford a convenient peg upon which to hang responsibility for the frailties of human nature, the post-war hysteria is still present. Which means it must be something deeper than a reaction from the war years.
The country is concerned, and Durham is very much disturbed, over the days of many of our boys and girls. There is a natural tendency to find the old days good and the modern day going to the dogs. We recognize that. But even when we discount our natural tendency to see the present in a sharper light than the past, we still find, here in Durham as well as elsewhere, a situation among the boys and girls which is mightily in need of correction, whether it is any worse than it was 20 or 50 years ago or not.
We have been believing that the United States is rapidly becoming a moderately educated country. Here in North Carolina, blind groping of ignorance has been pretty widely replaced with intelligent understanding. If we are becoming more educated, more capable as parents as well as citizens, it would appear to follow that our children are rising to a higher general plane, taking on a better moral tone and an increased appreciation of their own responsibilities.
Yet we are face to face with the fact that our children, in many instances, are actually running wild. Without thought of right or wrong, consequence or future, they are taking the bit in mouth and picking their own paths, too often those lined with primroses.
The problem has been attacked from all angles. Some blame it upon the poor and unenlightened, believing that the dental of things which money can buy has led boys and girls to seek pleasure where they can. Others believe wealth is the curse. William Jennings Bryan reviews the Loeb-Leopold case and blandly assumes that license and murder are the natural sequences of wealth and intelligence. But Mr. Bryan becomes increasingly ridiculous when he wanders from the discussion of real estate. Wealth brings the ability to lead the gay life, but wealth is also a protection and a wall against temptation.
It is plain by the records, that the rich as well as the poor the poor as well as the rich little boys and girls are getting out of control.
We are forced back to the conclusion that the family tells the story. Not only must the family circle be wholesome, but the parents must be alert. Lack of training may prove as fatal as bad example. Only careful training, careful example and discretion as to the associates of our children, will protect them.
When the family has a sense of responsibility, moral tone and stainless background, it is not likely that wealth will make weaklings or poverty desperate and indifferent children. When the family goes in for display and mere diversion, neither wealth nor the lack of it are apt to save the youngsters.
From the editorial page of The Durham Sun, Sunday morning, May 17, 1925, John R. Barry, editor.
newspapers.digitalnc.org/lccn/sn84020732/1925-05-17/ed-1/seq-4/#words=MAY+17%2C+1925
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