RADIO FARE ATTACKED

Waikato Times, Volume 125, Issue 20990, 18 December 1939, Page 13

RADIO FARE ATTACKED

EFFECT UPON CHILDREN f HOME STUDIES PUT ASIDE l s ———. ' An attack upon the unsuitability of the serial fare provided by thf l commercial radio stations of New “ Zealand was made by the principal of the Hawera Technical High School, Mr J. Dash, at the annual s breaking-up ceremony at Hawera. ” “ Recent years have seen the entry into the home of what constitutes for s the school child a menace to educaE tional progress,” declared Mr Dash. B “ Few, but extremely fortunate, are . the homes where the commercial radio stations’ serials fail to claim their e young listeners, who rapidly become e j serial addicts and to whom the miss--1 ing of a single instalment would cons stitute a disaster of major magni- '• tude. Home studies are put aside while someone pursues the villain, 1 penetrates the fearsome jungle, or r circumvents some wily Oriental. The 1 toll levied upon the time required to be devoted to home study is considv erable, while the matter, the diction 1 and the vocabulary of the majority of these serials have an influence harmful to a degree. ■ “Is it too much to be expected that a national service could give more consideration to the welfare of | our children and less to its revenue?*' , i asked Mr Dash. “It is admitted that ’ 1 this testifies to the drawing power of the advertising fare offered; it is p | certainly no testimonial to the good j ; sense or good taste of the sponsors jor of the controlling authority. The _ I child is at an impressionable age, J ! they say; therefore let us fill his r mind with a liberal application of rubbish and his vocabulary with for- | eign collogualisms in the hope that t ; his mother will recognise the out- _ j standing excellence of someone’s j j groceries or wearing apparel.” □ 1 -r