1. TRAINING

64. A training that grounds a man in the basic principles governing the working of the media in human society, as explained above, is nowadays clearly necessary for all. The means of communication genuinely enrich men's minds if their character and function is understood. On the other hand, men who do not sufficiently appreciate their importance, may find their liberty diminished. Training should include a practical consideration of the special nature of each medium and of its status in the local community and how it can best be utilized. And this should be done with special reference to man and society.

a) The Recipients

65. Recipients need some basic training if they are to benefit to the full from what the instruments of social communication have to offer. This training is not merely for their personal advantage, but it should help them to make their contribution to the give and take of society as well as to the constructive work of the community. Such a training will also help them to discover the best way of achieving these ends. It will help them to play their part in the process of striving for justice among nations and for the elimination of glaring inequalities between the richer and poorer countries.

66. For this they require a knowledge of the media that will keep pace with their maturing. And the processs of education, which should be available to all, does not come to an end. It is to be supplemented continually by lectures and discussions, by special courses and study sessions that make use of the help of professionals in this field.

67. It is never too early to start encouraging in children artistic taste, a keen critical faculty and a sense of personal responsibility that is based on sound morality. They need all these so that they can use discrimination in choosing from the publications, films and broadcasts that are set before them. This is necessary because the young are naturally vulnerable, but this self-discipline acquired in childhood will richly serve the adult too. Generosity and idealism are admirable qualities in young people, so are their frankness and sincerity. But these qualities, along with self-discipline, will only survive if they are guarded and fostered from an early age. This is why parents and teachers should urge children to make their own choice even if the educators should reserve at times the final decision to themselves. And if they find themselves forced to disapprove of the way their children are using some aspect of the media, they must clearly explain the reasons for their objections. Persuasion works better than prohibition and this is especially true in education. Adults should realize that the psychology of children differs from that of adults. Because of this, programmes that seem meaningless to them may be useful to children and even to teenagers.

Young people can, without doubt, influence one another for the better when it comes to culture. Their very years serve as a passport to the new forms it takes and gives them an entrance to their own circle. There is ample evidence to prove how effective they can be.

68. It is useful for educators to take note of some of the broadcasts, films and publications that most interest the young in their care. They can then discuss them together and this helps to develop the child's critical powers. As for the more difficult or even controversial artistic productions, here the parent should, at the right moment, help his young to discover the human values in the production and to interpret its details within the context of the work as a whole.

69. This sort of training must be given a regular place in school curricula. It must be given, and systematically, at every stage of education. In this way, young people can be helped gradually to develop a new perception in their interpretation of what is offered them by the press, the other media and the literary publishing houses. All this should be taught in study courses planned to include special sessions where the teacher can call on the help of professional communicators for lectures and for practical exercises.

70. It is obvious that parents and other educators cannot meet these obligations unless they themselves are reasonably well grounded in an understanding of the media. Here it must be remembered that parents who have not grown up to be at home with the media often find it harder to comprehend the language used than do the young people of today. Often parents are disturbed by the frankness with which the media treat every question and these include the problems that face both the civil government and the Church. Naturally they wish their children to use the media in a proper manner. Nevertheless, let them trust the young because these have been born and have grown up in a different kind of society. Because of this, they are better forewarned and better forearmed to meet the pressures that come from every side.

b) The Communicators

71. Many are the communicators who handle well the tools of their profession, but lack a deep understanding of the art of communicating with all it implies. It is obvious that the communicators in the media who wish to excel, need a serious and specialized training in every aspect of their work. The growing trend to found faculties of social communication in institutions of higher learning, and these with authority to confer degrees, is a welcome development. For if communicators are to meet their professional obligations, they must have sound knowledge as well as experience.

72. In the training of a communicator human qualities as well as professional competence should be developed. Since the media of social comunication are for mankind, communicators should be consumed by the desire to serve men. They can only achieve this if they really do know and love their fellow man. The more communicators remember that beyond the lifeless instruments which pass on their words and images are countless men and women alive, the more satisfaction they will get from their work and the better they will help others. The more they get to know their audience, the more they understand it and appreciate it, the more they will suit what they communicate to those who receive it. If they do this, they help to make the process of communication a communion of the spirit.