The Times WEDNESDAY, MARCH 15, 1944. A “Sissy” Idea

Manawatu Times, Volume 69, Issue 61, 15 March 1944, Page 4

The Times WEDNESDAY, MARCH 15, 1944. A “Sissy” Idea

At the recent dahlia show conducted by the city’s Horticultural Society there were on exhibit over 300 entries from pupils of the Intermediate School. Mention of this was made by the school principal, Mr. J. C. Wliibley, in his report to t-lie school committee. It was advised that the entries were all in the decorative section and Mr. Whibley declared that “in a civilised community the decorative use of flowers in the home was as important as the arrangement of furniture and the choice of pictures.” Some people may with a sigh—or a snort—demand to know: “What are our schools coming to?” They view .education as a matter strictly to be confined to the three It’s. The public generally, however, to-day contemplate education as possessing an infinitely wider appeal. This modern idea is inherently sound. It might be summed up as viewing education as providing the future citizen not alone with a means of gaining a livelihood, but of how to live in the broadest sense of that term. We should welcome, therefore, the entrance of Intermediate School pupils to a dahlia show as exhibitors. This, however, with one criticism. It appears that only the girls of the school were encouraged to participate. Would it not be sound policy to have encouraged the boys also? Now it is probable that very many people who hold a broad view of education will not agree with that suggestion and some would condemn it. It might be dubbed “a sissy idea.” Probably those same people would think the great Duke of Marlborough “a sissy” if he were to stroll down Broadway this afternoon in the costume he affected two centuries ago. That greatest of English generals was befrilled in laces, wore a powdered wig surmounted by a large felt hat of the most decorative style, and his calves were encased in fine silk stockings. But the Duke of Marlborough was made of stern stuff, as were his compeers of that age who wore similar clothes and whose daring deeds on land and sea largely developed the British Empire. As a part of education there could quite well be inculcated in the minds of the hoys of New Zealand a realisation that a love of beauty docs not make one less a man. The. tendency to feel that way does too often breed an apathy towards, if not intolerance of, anything artistic. That is an attitude of mind to be deplored, for artistic appreciation in both sexes should be equally encouraged.