Face of youth

[Music] la a [Music] youth has a face a soft face smooth skin a certain roundness not quite fixed or final later the lines of experience cut in deep and the features set High in the mold but now when the skin is smooth and the features are soft the patterns of face and of spirit are not quite definite or permanent this is the face of Youth and the Troubles of Youth are often not so serious as they seem because they can be be handled with warmth and understanding before they have been woven into the permanent pattern that's one of the most important features of a public health nurse's work she sees so many babies and young children she looks so long and steadily at the face of Youth her understanding and sensitivity can help so much can help ensure that the pattern as it does evolve will provide in its design for happiness confidence and maturity [Music] [Applause] [Music] the public health nurse is The Uninvited but welcome guest her services are freely offered to those who need them and desire them for a diaper rash that's fairly common not too serious it might be the type of soap used or the method of laundering whatever it is it's comforting to have the calm reassurance of someone who speaks from considerable experience and training and who has visited many other mothers and [Music] babies for a nurse it's not only what you've come to see that you take note of sometimes there are other things that make you wonder just a [Music] little like why a mother should be so upset by a plain everyday squabble between two [Music] boys it's the sort of thing you notice quietly and decide perhaps to find out just a little more about [Music] [Applause] [Music] a nurse and a teacher have a great deal in common they both work with children they may work in slightly different ways but they have the same aim to help children grow up easily and happily and this is a subtle task it requires a gentle hand and a sharp eye an eye that can see how a child feels by the way he acts the way he plays or the way he draws a picture Bobby Wallace for example how he wishes he could have a bicycle but Bobby had rheumatic fever last year and isn't supposed to be as active as the other boys for and this one this was drawn by Ralph Lor Ralph well Ralph isn't as happy a child as he should be not that he isn't a good boy oh no as a matter of fact you almost get the feeling sometimes that Ralph is too good [Music] [Music] always unable to fight back can't let himself get angry at anybody just can't seem to let himself go then there are the spell Downs kids seem to love spell Downs that is most kids but not Ralph somehow it seems as though every time there's a spell down Ralph gets a stomach ache and he's really an excellent speller then it's not just when he's with Alex no Ralph's troubles are his own no matter whom he's with but how about Alex what kind of a boy is he Alex that's Alex [Music] Alex doesn't mean any harm but it's as though his energy spilled over from time a time he doesn't particularly like to be scolded but he's rather pleased that the other kids notice him and say ah smart Alex Oh yes Alex is a headache but not only in school because a person is himself wherever he is at home at school at work or at play that's why Miss Anderson felt she should visit Alex's home maybe Alex needs more attention but when you have meals to get ready clothes to wash other kids to care for sometimes there just isn't any time left Miss Anderson can understand that she can also understand what Mrs lundborg feels that Ralph is a fine boy a decent well- behaved boy but that something is not quite right with him and that for a mother who loves him that is disturbing a community has a natural interest in its children not only to protect them from physical danger but also to protect them from unhappiness and adult life that could have been prevented in youth one of the first things planned for Alex was that he be a member of the patrol squad a good chance to use some of his Surplus energy and be important but in a Cooperative way which didn't get him into trouble with the people around him sometimes you can even be destructive in a Cooperative way Alex's father found he could spend more time with his son and he enjoyed it a few little things of that sort ease life a good deal for Alex and at home and at school and they made Alex a happier boy because no boy wants to be bad not if he can get just as much attention when he's good with Ralph unfortunately it was a bit more complicated oh not that there weren't things to be tried Mrs Reynolds decided when the next spelldon was held that Ralph would be the one who asked the words this way he could participate but not be upset by the pressure of competition it worked fairly well the first time would probably be all right once or twice more but sooner or later the other children would wonder why Ralph was always the one and for Ralph himself it was an escape from the problem rather than a solution at best it was a stop Gap Arrangement and could hardly be continued Mrs lundborg wanted to help but it was hard for her being alone so much while her husband was away on business hard particularly because she didn't really know what was wrong and nothing she tried seemed to help that's why she decided after talking to miss Anderson again to go to the Child Guidance Center it's not me of course I understand but Ralph says he's heard this this is a place for crazy kids and what did you think Mrs lunor well I didn't know exactly I I tried lorg came to realize that a Child Guidance Center is not a place for crazy kids not at all it's a place for normal parents and children who have problems which they are not quite able to work out a place where people are helped to help themselves Mrs lundborg came here on the recommendation of one of the city nurses my first impr in a Child Guidance Center social worker psychologist and psychiatrist work as a team at this staff meeting it was decided that the social worker would see Mrs lundborg and the psychiatrist would see Ral yes we have an appointment for 9:00 all right Mrs lundborg will you have a seat in the waiting room please thank you Mrs Carol Mrs lorg is here [Music] what we going to do mom oh you remember I told you to see Hello Mrs lundborg hello Ralph well Ralph what would you like to do today I don't know look around Ralph this hour belongs to you and you may do whatever you'd like where's my mama but what good will it do for them just to play in there how can that help how do you think it might help to play together well I suppose you can tell quite a bit about kids by the way they play yeah it's often difficult for children to say in words just how they feel but they show their feelings by the way they act [Music] during his weekly visits to the Child Guidance Center Ralph did show his feelings oh you thought like this I think I'll TR oops I'll pick them all up you want everybody to think you're a good boy don't you Ralph you're sort of feel that you have to do everything just right yes anxious to please so anxious for everyone to think he was a good boy and when his hour was over he was quite careful to pick up the toys he'd played with pack them properly into their box and return the box to its place on the shelf and he said goodbye to Dr ganet just like a little man but gradually Ralph began to be less of a little man and more of a boy see this is my house H who's going to live in your house me and my mother anyone else my daddy will drive home for supper every single night and I mean it how about the baby no baby sensing that Dr ganet accepted him not because he was good but just because he was himself Ralph began to be free about expressing his feelings I'm ralar I want to see Dr Ganon all right yeah I've been here since a quarter twoo that makes you angry doesn't it Ralph yeah you're angry because I've kept you waiting yeah Ralph had become so free in fact that his mother was rather troubled at finding her good boy growing difficult and unmanageable she talked about this with Mrs Carol the social worker trying to understand what it might mean in terms of Ralph's development and her relationship with him she too had become Freer and was now able to talk to Mrs Carol about many of her feelings as for Ralph he did become difficult even Wild but he always understood that he was at the center for a purpose and that there were definite limits to his behavior even there once Ralph had grown accustomed to expressing his feelings to being a little wild when he felt like it his energies began to flow into constructive efforts which could be made in cooperation with other people rather than at the expense of other people having become a boy again Ralph was now able to grow up as a boy should for and so the time came when Ralph was able to face a little difficulty without any longer being afraid of his own feelings just face it calmly for what it was not as Mrs Reynolds said that she wanted Ralph to become a prize fighter but she was pleased even delighted to see him able to hold his own and that after all is Our Hope and intent in whatever Community we live those of us who work with children nurses teachers doctors social workers and those of us who live with children parents that we all work together that by love and knowledge with a sharp eye and a gentle hand we help children to the happiness which is Health that we help them now while they're young while there is time e [Music]