All My Children

There are a number of venereal diseases in America and Western Europe. Those which most people know about are called syphilis and gonorrhoea. Another of these diseases which has become increasingly common in Britain is known by the rather long name of non-specific urethritis. There are a few other rare venereal diseases and other minor conditions which can be caught by contact between the sexual organs, but which do not have effects on health nearly as serious as those resulting from syphilis and gonorrhoea.

In the old days a lot of people used to think that you caught V.D. just by having sexual intercourse with somebody to whom you were not married. Some people had superstitious ideas that marriage conferred immunity from venereal disease. Until the last few years it was in fact the case that venereal disease was unusual and caught mainly from prostitutes. But now, owing to the changes in sexual practices which have taken place recently, gonorrhoea at least is the second most common infectious disease in Britain, and a person is unlikely in fact to catch it from a prostitute, prostitutes being particularly well aware of how to avoid gonorrhoea. Continue Reading »

In adolescence in both sexes the skin texture coarsens and the pores (hair follicles) enlarge, more so in boys. Adolescent skin becomes susceptible to acne—more in one individual, less in another. In acne the wax from the sebaceous (wax) glands, which are connected to the hair follicles (to keep the skin and hair oiled), collects in the follicles and hardens there. The top of each plug of wax, mixed with dirt, becomes a ‘blackhead’, which can be squeezed out with the fingernails, with some difficulty and pain. When the pores become plugged, it is easy for ordinary pus germs, which are usually on the skin anyway, to work down and cause infections under the plugs. These first show as red pimples, which later get white tops on them (`whiteheads’) as the white blood cells collect to try to destroy the germs. Continue Reading »

Adolescence Body Odour

Body odours become much stronger in adolescence—partly as a result of glandular changes and skin changes, partly as the result of axillary (armpit) hair on which perspiration collects and is decomposed by bacterial action. It is essential that teenagers, in a society like ours which considers body smells offensive, take a careful soap or shower daily and follow with an underarm deodorant.

Adolescence Hair and Scalp

Sweat is more profuse and oily in adolescence, which means that hair on the head gets to look greasy and straggly in a shorter time. Dandruff appears in winter and may become profuse. The hair should be washed once a week, more often if necessary. If dandruff is troublesome, a dermatologist should be consulted. Continue Reading »

There are more offences committed per capita in late adolescence and early adulthood than at later age periods, for several reasons. Youths feel a rebellious rivalry with parents, teachers, police and other people in authority. They have a compulsion to prove their courage and independence. Their sexual and aggressive impulses are now fully grown but are not yet fully controlled by the caution that comes—fortunately or unfortunately, depending on how you look at it—with experience.

If we want to understand the various kinds of offences for which youths can be charged, we should separate them. First I’ll mention mild delinquencies, of which a good example is petty larceny, which is snitching an apple from the stand in front of a fruit shop or a few pieces of timber at a building site. Continue Reading »

Children Conscience and Punishment

The first thing to realise about juvenile delinquency is that it’s not one type of misbehaviour but an overall term for everything for which an adolescent may be haled into court, from parking offences to murder. It’s as if everything that an adult could do wrong were called adult turpitude, a label which would certainly hinder rather than aid the understanding of different types of adult offences. The reason why all juvenile offences have been lumped together has been to get young people into special courts where, it was hoped, their difficulties could be understood and dealt with constructively rather than punitively; if they had to be removed temporarily from society, they would not be jailed with confirmed adult criminals but placed in rehabilitation institutions. Continue Reading »

Alcoholism is a disease, usually progressive, in which the person has an almost irresistible craving for drink, either in episodes or daily. In each episode he is incapable of stopping voluntarily, so he drinks to the point of incompetence. A great majority of alcoholics eventually lose their jobs because of failure to report for work or reporting drunk. The social disgrace of joblessness and of drunkenness at home and in the neighbourhood, and the tendency of many alcoholics to be abusive at home play havoc with family life. Alcoholics are usually contrite after an episode and full of promises which are never kept. The best record for cures is that of Alcoholics Anonymous, which provides sympathetic companionship, group discussion and a member to keep constant vigil with an individual who fears that an episode is coming on. Continue Reading »

Gaining their Confidence

It’s the nature of young people to be critical of their parents at times and to feel that most of the misunderstandings between them are the fault of the parents. (A critical attitude helps young people to leave home eventually.) They have always complained, with more or less justice, that parents are out of touch with modern ways, that they are possessive and bossy, that they lack confidence in their children’s ability to cope with social and sexual crises; that they harp unnecessarily on certain issues, that they lack a sense of humour, at least in regard to parent–child relationships. Continue Reading »

Some schools have a policy of placing twins in separate classes, others feel that whatever the relationship between twins, they should always be together. Most leave it up to the parents.

This may be the most important decision that parents make. Often otherwise trouble-free twins may have problems at school caused by unequal ability, unequal division by the twins of educational tasks, language difficulties and unequal teaching, to name but a few.

Sometimes there is no choice, particularly at first schools where there may only be a single form entry. Continue Reading »

The ‘plus’ in ‘five-plus’ probably stands for ‘at last I’ve got a bit of time to myself!’

Twins are expensive, no hand-me-downs and two of everything, so mothers may now start to look for a part-time job if they have not already found one. Not only does this help the household budget but it also offers the opportunity to spend some time with adults to whom they are not ‘the twins‘ mother‘. It’s unlikely that colleagues will be left in ignorance for long!

If there are no younger children, the absence of the twins can feel very strange at first. Parents who have been waiting longingly for the first day of school may find themselves waiting equally anxiously for school to finish at the end of the day. Continue Reading »

One of our twins is much less clever than the other but it wasn’t until they started school that it really showed. The teachers have kept them together in the same group so that the brighter twin can help the other one, but it is holding her back and not really helping her sister to stand on her own feet.

Separate classes and possibly separate schools may be the best answer. One may move ahead of the other and they will probably quite happily accept the situation if they can make their own friends at their own level. It will make it easier for you to praise them both when they do well, without any comparison with their twin. Continue Reading »