TieratZT Official
an Of the Slavonic Benevolent Order Of The State Of Texas, Founded 1897.
BENEVOLENCE
VOLUME 56 ,-- NO. 39
BROTHERHOOD
HUMANITY Postmaster: Please Send Form 3579 with Undeliverable Copies to: SUPREME LODGE SENT, FOB 100, TEMPLE, TEX 76501
SEPTEMBER 25, 1968
FROM THE EDITOR'S DESK THIS, THAT, AND THE OTHER "HOW'S That Again?" This was the response of a careful reader (Bro. P. P. Baron) in Fayetteville last week when he read in this column that, "With a straight life policy, he can't keep it in full force the rest of his life at the same premium rate he has been paying." Brother Baron is absolutely correct. When a tiny little apostrophe and the letter "t" creep in after the Word "can," then you've got a completely different statement. That's what happened last week. Our original cop s had the word "can," but minor things like this arc very hard to catch in proofreading. We take full responsibility for the "goof" and apologize to Bro. Baron and others who just could not believe what they were reading. Thanks for calling it to our attention. 0
Family Unit Thing Of The Past? Sister Evel y n Mattes of Galveston and District Youth Director of District V, makes an interesting observation in her letter this week when she states: "Our s p ,isT is one of the few organizations that encourages family participatirm, and believe me, the family unit is almost a thing of the past." There arc no doubt two sides to this
problem, but there is a widespread feeling by a lot of people that many of our problems started and then got worse when mama decided to go to work. Professional opinions are still divided on whether mama should or should not work. There are those who say that when mom leaves her role at home to work, the country starts to fall apart. According to the US Dept. of Labor, there are 27,609,000 women in the US who have children under 18, and 34.5 per cent of them (9,527,000) are working. There is evidence that a large number of these feel guilty about it. A Miami, Florida doctor believes that the effect of the working mother is indeed bad. "The disintegration of the family as the basic unit of our family structure has not come about overnight," he states. "It has been a gradual and insidious deterioration. The roles and relationships of mother and father have become confused, and in the process, each has lost his identity and place. There are many legitimate reasons for the mother working, but whatever the reason, the effect . has been the weakening of the family unit." There are those who take the view that some mothers are "absent" even
while they are phySically present. They claim it is very frustrating to have a mother present physically but "missing" in other ways. Children need supervision and control and love, but they claim this does not have to come from the blood mother herself. It can come from a, mother-substitute. Of course, economics play a far greater role in this problem than some of us would like to admit. A large percent of working mothers will tell you that they are compelled to work to make finanCial ends meet. Others admit they don't have to work, but like the financial independence their job affords. Juvenile court judges will tell you that a majority of the cases that come before them stem from domestic sit-, nations where there is little or no parental control over the lives of the children, roost often in eases where the mother is working outside the home. The trouble starts when the mother takes work during the formative years of her children's lives, roughly ages 3 to 14. If a good family foundation is laid during that period, the chances are remote that the children will get into serious trouble after that.