Cumnock School - Chronicle Yearbook (Los Angeles, CA)

Page 95 text:

Children are very aggravating. They ask questions, oftentimes repeating the same words fifty times or more. When these above points have been brought out, it becomes evident that children should not be born or reared. Every thinking person must agree to that. What is to be done with them is an entirely different question, and need not be dealt with here. It is sufficient to say that in the future more and more people should have and will rear fewer and fewer children. VIRGINIA PETERS ODE TO THE SEASONS Leaves of gold on earth and tree Thoughts of Autumn bring to me. Of cold, clear days with skies of blue, Of morning grass with sparkling dew, Of rocky cliffs and roaring sea: All this does Autumn mean to me. Snow flakes falling from a height- Winter with this blanket white Comes bringing with him old jack Frost And barren trees wild, wind-tossed. Cold, white day and freezing night Belong to Winter by all that's right. Racing rivers, hills of green, Singing birds do Springtime mean. A little plant bursts into flower, Roses blossom in the bowerg Daffodils so gay are seen- All of these do Springtime mean. The time of boats and trips and fun- Summer brings the golden sun, The skies are blue, the days are long, On joyous lips there is a song. All the days are gaily run, Summer is the time of fun. ROSEMARY BROWN 85

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SHOULD CHILDREN BE REQARED, OR IUST GROW UP? There have been lengthy and heated debates over the question of whether the child should be reared in an institution or in the home. However, it seems that this is missing the point altogetherg it is shooting off on the wrong angle. The primary question is not WHERE to rear children, but WHETHER to rear them. People are too prone to overlook this issue, and the results have been tragic. It will not be until a few enlightened souls assert themselves that people will perhaps realize the folly of the thing. Now that the point to be debated is clearly understood, we may proceed with the resolution and work the matter out scientifically. Resolved: children should not be REARED because: There is less noise. For some unaccountable and distressing reason chil- dren like to scream. There are some who have been known to lie in the mid- dle of the floor and scream until their faces turned blue. This is all right, but when they start kicking it becomes rather difficult to concentrate. Some children are very contrary and have adopted the custom of running toward a wall and banging their heads against it. After a few hours this continuous dull thudding becomes positively monotonous to a parent. lt is more economical. lt is useless to deny this point. One must keep the little things alive and going, and the upkeep is sometimes tremendous. Of course, many people rear children with the object of being supported free in their old age, but it really is not worth the battle as one may learn if he goes at the problem mathematically. Children fall into things. There have been cases where they have fallen into fish ponds, killing and scaring to death some rare and prize species of tropical fish. Sometimes children fall into open manholes through sheer care- lessness, and are either very badly banged up or are killed. ln either case it is very expensive for their families. Children scare people. They seclude themselves in dark closets, hallways and corners, and at the proper moment leap out shrieking and imitating ma- chine gun fire. To the scholarly mind this is disconcerting. Also, children place themselves all over and one is continually stumbling over them. Children break things. They very often have been known to take screw- drivers and wor-k on clocks, watches, automobiles, electric washing machines and similar objects. Some of them have little shot guns, which destroy much faster. Children eat things. There have been cases where children have eaten hardware, family pets, and things that they have found lying around outside. Valuable articles are lost or destroyed in this manner-extremely annoying. 84

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TEDDY AT FEEDING TIME Deep black eyes looked sorrowfully at me, A large brown tail thumped expectantlyg Silky brown ears drooped to the floor, A saucy pink tongue begged for more. I thrust my feelings of pity away And told my pup No more todayg l was courageous to be so rude But Don't spoil pup was the family rule. Sh . . . don't tell, shamefuland crude l fed the pup and fled to school. CHARLOTTE GOTTLIEB THE VIOLIN MAN The strings crash forth a melody Stars glisten in his hand The cry of a wolf in the darkness A woman's sigh to a man. He sings the song of the ages lvloonbeams cluster the bowg Savagely the music rages Into a scarlet glow. Then to a softness dreamily blue He lulls and he charms with a hand: A wind comes out of the violin The breath of a distant land. Enchanted fingers drift toward your heart As only moonbeams cang This is the king of the land of dreams Melodious monarch .... The violin Man. IACK RICHESIN