MASS MARRIAGE

More than two hundred names were affixed to a petition demanding a marriage course; that, in itself, means nothing. It is possible to get two hundred students to sign anything, except possibly a Crimson poll. But a course on marriage has its serious aspects. Harvard has already experimented in this field with the Birth Control hoax and a course called Hygiene I. The former was discontinued because the doors were locked, the latter because the students seemed to be well aware of the purely sexual problems involved. Recently several institutions instituted subjects dealing with the sociological elements of marriage; all have proved popular, even at Vassar. Harvard now offers an excellent study of large and small familistic relations, Sociology 13, but this is perhaps too far on the institutional side for all but a few grinds. The view should be personalized.

It is becoming increasingly important from reading the above paragraph that mature men and women should have some knowledge about birth control and the many causes of divorce. Also they should know something of the effects such differences as age, class, grade, religion, occupation, politics, hobby, color, and sex have upon marital relations. Since every one of these factors has a great bearing on the success of failure of a marriage, expert information on such subjects ought to be available to college students. End.