Rural Problems of TodayGroves, Ernest R. (Ernest Rutherford)
Science
Rural Problems of Today
Groves, Ernest R. (Ernest Rutherford)
Rural conditions; Social problems
A much greater effort must be made in many localities to lift from the
rural family the burden of the feeble-minded. The possible harm that may
be caused by a high-grade feeble-minded boy or girl in the country can
be appreciated only by one who has come in contact with such a problem.
The close contact, free association, and common interests of rural folk,
with the added difficulty of segregating one's child, even when the
menace of a feeble-minded associate is fully recognized, make the
presence of feeble-minded boys and girls in the country a more difficult
and more serious matter than is the case at present in the city. The
school and the state, that is, the state by means of the opportunity
provided by the schools, must take more effective measures to handle
this problem. Until this has been brought about by public education and
agitation, many rural families will be required to encounter serious
moral dangers and problems for which society is itself responsible.
The rural family needs to be taught to be more just and more generous in
regard to other families. The clannish spirit ought to pass, for it is
without excuse in these days. The family interests a generation ago were
altogether too narrowly conceived to make a wholesome social life
possible. Greater cooperation is necessary if rural people are to make
progress, and this cooperation is impossible when families are jealous
and suspicious. This obstacle in the way of wholesome rural culture,
made by selfish and petty family motives, it is useless to ignore.
Unless the obstacle can be pushed aside, other efforts to inspire
country people to a realization of their social opportunities must
surely fail. Family life in the country can be saved from its besetting
sin when rural leadership undertakes this task with the seriousness its
importance justifies.
The rural family must be led to adopt a positive morality. This is
imperative. The age of prohibition as an expression of ideals has
passed. Emphasis must be placed upon what we should do, and must be
removed from a trivial and legalized code of "Don'ts." Here and there in
the country we find a firmly entrenched negative interpretation of moral
obligation. Nothing is so dangerous morally as this. Nothing can so
certainly drive out of the community the broad-minded, fine-spirited
youth. The family must interpret morality with good sense and with a
full regard for the proportions of things. The parents must teach a
better moral standard than they themselves were taught. The home
morality must have the flavor of kindliness and sweet reasonableness.
Morality, to be true to its essence, does not require that it be made
disagreeable. Goodness is beauty expressed in human conduct and,
therefore, deserves freedom to disclose its winsome charm as well as
its stern pre-eminence.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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