"We Like Parents Who . . ."

One place and another, 31-year-old Headmaster Eric Johnson* of the Friends' Central School in Philadelphia had known many a badly behaved parent--the selfish, the complaining, the foolish. But there were some parents he and his teachers thought were wonderful. Last week, in his own Parents' Bulletin, he told what sort they were.

"We like parents," he began, "who do not make unreasonable demands upon us." They decidedly do not include the parents who once told him, "Johnny is a very sensitive boy. If he misbehaves, please spank the boy next to him"; or the one who "wanted to know what the school intended to do about her child's studying with the radio going." They do include "parents who make possible for their children quiet, concentrated study . . . It means radios and television sets are OFF.

"We like parents who . . . communicate enthusiasm for books and learning by their own conversation . . .

"We like parents who are objective about their children . . . Some parents consistently underrate their children, not realizing that their progeny may surpass them. Others . . . insist that their children must plan to go to a certain 'big-name' college, either because the parents attended there, or because they wish that they had . . . We like parents who let their children be themselves."

*Not to be confused with Hollywood's Eric Johnston, since 1945 president of the Motion Picture Association of America.

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