Ipswich High School - Tiger Yearbook (Ipswich, MA)

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4. Think of this! Do you, os a parent, hove the right to serve intoxicating liquors to someone else ' s chil- dren? If you do servd them, or have alcoholic beverages available, then you, as an adult are responsible. 5. Do not allow your children to have or attend parties which run into the small hours of the morning. Please insist that your boy or girl call you if he or she is to be out later than has been agreed. 6. We feel that boys should ask the parents of their girls what time the girls are expected home and comply with the parents ' wishes. They should also advise parents where they are going. These rules, which were adopted and supported by a large majority of the city ' s families, have worked to the mutual advantage of both parents and children. Al- though, at first, party crashers had to be ejected bodily, and parents at teen age parties were forced to guard the light switches, there has been a great drop in the number of wild parties staged in the city, while drinking and wild driving are practically non-existent pastimes for West Hartford youngsters. Moreover, the young people profess to enjoy themselves now more than they did in the previous wild days. West Hartford, however, is not a typical American community. Most of its inhabitants are in the upper financial brackets, and a large proportion of its young people attend private schools. What was accomplished there would be impossible to accomplish on a universal basis. Perhaps the most critical areas in -our country, as far as lawlessness and wildness are concerned, are the slum sections of our large cities. Here the Y. M. C. A., and the Y. W. C. A., Boys ' Clubs, Girls ' Clubs, the C. Y. 0. and other religious and civic groups have done much in aiding young people and in influencing them to pass their spare hours in constructive recreation. Most cities, however, are in desperate need of brooder and more inclusive civic recreational programs for youth. It seems to me, moreover, that material recreational innovations are superficial. I believe that mental and spiritual changes, changes in attitude, must take place in young people and adults as well. Certainly the young need to take a more serious and mature attitude toward their responsibilities and obligations. They are, however, so besieged with publicity about themselves in every periodical they read, they as a group, are so used to being publicly pampered one minute and censured the next, that many young people have come to consider themselves as a group set apart from the rest of the human race. On the other hand, parents, in many respects, are more in need of a change in attitude than are their children. Certainly any mother who would write an article in a national magazine, as one mother did in a recent number of McCall ' s, criticizing her children because they have become spoiled through her indulgence and lack of dis- cipline, is more deserving of criticism thon are the children. ' Perhaps the adults ' responsibility can best be summed up in the words of Bishop Fulton J. Sheen; If youth is accused of being delinquent or of being resentful, it may very well be that they are rebelling against the older generation which failed to bequeath to them their just heritage, strong loye of neighbor, of country, and of God. - I believe if these standards can be restored, there will be no need for anyone to label this the beat generation. ■ “I ' m Fed Up With Teenagers — McCalls. -Television Program Bishop Sheen — Tuesday, January 27, 1953, 8 P. M. GRADUATION HONOR SPEAKERS Elizabeth Nelson, Bruce Quint, Ann Kelleher 126 ]

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inated, more cities must follow the examples set by Cleveland and New York. We have come this far in trying to prevent juvenile delinquency, but it is apparent we must go still farther. It is cities like our state capital, Boston, that are for behind in curbing this social disease. The city blames delinquency on public apathy and ignorance. Whatever the cause, little has been done to counteract it. Vandal- ism among school children alone costs Boston schools around $150,000 annually. The school bill for broken windows alone runs between $70,000 and $90,000 a year. In the year 1952 juvenile cases in Boston jumped an unbelievable fifty-four per cent. And only recently the front pages of our newspapers were darkened by the report of such enormities as the vicious beating of a Boston College professor by a teen-age gang and the ruthless murder of a respected Jewish rabbi. This is certainly concrete proof that Boston, our largest, most dignified, and most cultured city, leaves much to be desired by way of controlling its youthful crime problem. There are several steps which, if taken, would help to end juvenile delinquency. For instance if all parents concentrated on a better environment for their children, a huge portion of delinquency cases would be reduced. If through our citizenry, we support a better equipped and more efficient police department, better results will be forthcoming. The community must also play its port in the liquidation of this evil by offering more recrea- tional facilities and opportunities to its younger popula- tion. We all know the serious problem that lies ahead of us, and knowledge is the first step in correcting it. If all cooperate, we can eliminate delinquency. It is time the people of this country face the cold facts and take positive steps to eradicate an evil which, if allowed to grow, can only result in social disintegration. THE BEAT GENERATION by ANN KELLEHER During the last few years we have been constantly confronted on every side with articles, stories, and discus- sions pertaining to the youth of today. Much of this publicity has been unfavorable and, in every group, there is someone who is ready to proclaim the moral and ideal- istic degradation of this younger generation. This situation is certainly not unique. During the period following World War I the same conditions prevailed. Then, however, the flapper, instead of the bobby-soxer, ond the open roadster, instead of the hot-rod, symbolized, that younger generation. Like their famous predeces- sors, the lost generation, today ' s young people are imbued with a restlessness and nervous tension common to adolescents whose childhood is disrupted by the stress and turmoil of a world conflict. Clellon Holmes, writing for the New York Times Magazine, in November, 1952, called this the Beat Generation. This term, in my opinion, casts a dark shadow of hopelessness and despair over the future. It seems, moreover, that while their predecessors in the twenties lowered their moral and idealistic standards in a spirit of disillusionment, today ' s young people participate in debasing activities to satisfy their curiosity. No generation can be labeled by the actions of a few individuals. The boy whose widowed mother confessed to authorities that he stole from her in order to procure money for the purchase of narcotics cannot be considered o typical teenager; neither can the girl, described in a recent magazine article, who helps care for her fatherless brothers and sisters, works in a drugstore, maintains honor marks in school and arises at five o ' clock each morning to work on a science project. Neither of these is typical, and yet both seem to typify the spirit of this restless generation. Practically every community in America is, to some extent, plagued by teen age wildness and recklessness. Party crashing, drinking, rowdiness, and wild driving are some of the most common manifestations of the desire to try something new. West Hartford, Connecticut, for example, was confronted with this problem to a very serious degree. In that community, every family contain- ing a teenager was acutely aware of the seriousness of the situation. The parents in that city, under Parent Teacher Organization leadership, adopted a set of seven principles evolved by Merrit A. Hewitt, headmaster of Kingswood, a private boys ' school near West Hartford. In explaining the set of principles, Mr. Hewitt reasoned that young people, utilizing automobiles, range over a greater distance than ever before and thus escape many parental controls. Moreover, they are given more priv- ileges, without being required to accept the attendant responsibilities. What is needed, said Mr. Hewitt, is not a code of conduct for young people, but a set of principles to guide parents so that the young people will know precisely what is expected of them. ' The suggested principles for parents are these; 1. Insist that your boy or girl go to no parties to which he or she is not invited, and insist that no one be allowed at your party who is not invited. 2. Have no parties at your home unless- you are there. Every party of teenagers should be adequately chaperoned. 3. Impress upon your son or daughter that when he or she is driving someone in a car, he or she is responsible for that person ' s safety. 1 This Is The Beat Generation — Clellon Holmes. New York Times Magazine, November 6, 1953 — page 10. 1 Connecticut Tomes Its Teenagers — Hortzoll Spence, Satur- doy Evening Post, October 4, 1952 — page 24. 125 ]

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ClASS HISTORY by ELEANOR BLAIR As we seniors sit upon this stage today, eagerly looking forward to our graduation, let us turn back the pages of time to review the many memorable experiences of our high school careers. We will go bock first to that bright, sunny morning of September, 1948, when we arrived to take our respective places in the ranks of students at Ipswich High, leaving behind our childhood days in the various grammar schools. This transition, however, was not easily accomplished, for to our amazement we were canfronted with innumerable complexities to which it seemed impossible to become accustomed. During our first few days in this new at- mosphere, we felt so strange and nervous that we jumped every time a bell rang, and between classes we hurriedly produced our little schedule slips and dejectedly asked, Where do we go from here? Of course, the seniors in turn had an hilarious time giggling when we unknowingly opproached the Study Hall chairs from the wrong angle, then, blushing furiously, made that endless journey down the aisle for a left turn to our seats. Having pity on us, however, were the teachers who cordially welcomed us by piling on homework the like of which we hod never seen before. They also made us feel quite grown up by addressing us by our last names. In time we were slowly but surely familiarized with the complicated ways of high school life. To prove this fact and keep up with tradition, we held our eighth grade social, which was successful even though the boys lined up on one side of the auditorium and the girls on the other. Came the spring of 1949, when our spirits were lifted to a high degree as many of our eighth grade boys signed up for baseball and proceeded to win their first game, defeating Manchester 13-6. Speaking of baseball, Mrs. Lord was very well equipped to join the team that year, os she came into possession of one of our boys ' gloves. Strange nobody ever claimed it! Thus we turned one page in our book of memories at Ipswich High and left the school to enjoy a hard-earned summer vacation. When we returned the following September, our pride swelled as we took our rightful places in Ipswich High as full-fledged freshmen. We found, upon arrival, that we had acquired many new classmates from Rowley and the parochial school, thus having the distinction of being the class with the highest enrollment for the year, 1949. Now that we were duly established members of the high school, our eagerness to participate in all extra- curricular activities increased as the year progressed. Our achievements in the sports world were particularly noteworthy, especially when we found one of our own classmates, Eddie Sklarz, starring on the junior varsity basketball team. With the first portion of the school year spent in a wild and merry mood, we finolly decided to get down to the more serious side of life, and with the aid of three teachers we were able to keep the class still long enough to hold our first class meeting at which we elected our class officers for the year: John Killam, president; Robert Lang, vice-president; Edward Sklarz, treasurer and Patsy Cogswell, secretary. At this point in the year we welcomed Donald Crowe as a member of our class. Donny made friends quickly and throughout his four years with us has always shown an ardent love for fun. With the coming of March also came our St. Patrick ' s Day dance, which will be remembered by all for the fine array of talent we presented. Shirley Horsman, accom- panied by our class musician, David Mullen, sang one of the song hits of the day, Dear Hearts And Gentle People . Following this fine performance, Tanya Vlahos appeared on the dance floor with her skillful interpreta- tion of a Spanish tango for which she received several encores. The night proved to be a huge success and $17.31 was dropped into our class treasury. We passed into the fourth quarter to find Mrs Lord still dangling her super-human key chain and relating more of her fascinoting tales about birds and her journeys up the mountains. When she produced her little yellow number cards, however, the knees started knacking, and all was back to normal again. Shall we ever forget how one day of this routine was more than enough for a few of our noted classmates? Even at this early date Flip Davis, our class clown, was up to his usual antics in the science lab. He tried an experiment to see how strong the hinges were on the door by jamming his fingers in it. The experiment proved the hinges to be strong enough to get the better of Flip ' s hands, which have never been the same since. A climax to a wonderful school year in the girls ' cook- ing class was a journey to Crane ' s Beach for a cook-out under the direction of Miss Whitney. The menu for the day was sandcakes, sandburgers, and sandy cocoa all of which were prepared over homemade stoves, a meal not to be forgotten. So ended our first year of high school life. We had put our fingers in many pies while making our climb towards the third floor of I. H. S. and, as we liked to think, the distinction of becoming upperclassmen, even though this title was not to be conferred upon us until we reached our junior year. Now we turn to the years 1950-51 for which our chosen leaders were John Killam, president; Rabert Dort, vice-president; Edward Sklarz, treasurer, and Patsy Cogs- well, secretary, all of whom did on excellent job in steer- ing our class on to success. Glancing about our homerooms this year, we find Peter Seakas had left us to work with his uncle, and Bill Hayes 127J