The transition to a new age is always a difficult one, and we are facing a transition into the atomic age. What's next? One of the first groups of people to feel the responsibility of this transition is, of course, the teachers. Teachers are confronted with the problem of preparing the child to live in a world which is changing as rapidly as ours is today. In 10 or 15 years, if we develop atomic energy for peace time uses instead of for destruction, one of the first results will be that the world will shrink. Therefore, our children must know more about their neighbors throughout the world and they must realize that in this new era we must have the advantage of having gone through a period of mechanization and development whereas many other nations will have to jump from using a crooked stick for a plough to a highly developed age where atomic energy is used extensively. The obligation of leadership is, therefore, apt to fall upon our children and they will have to decide the methods by which this situation is to be met. Teachers, therefore, have a much more complicated educational process than if they were just giving the young people the tools of learning. They are actually giving students an understanding of a new era and preparing them to fill their places in this new period. They must know the value of our economy, the history of peoples everywhere, and the art of appreciating their cultures and their values even while cherishing their own. Teachers, therefore, have a much more complicated educational process than if they were just giving the young people the tools of learning. [Excerpts from this article are reprinted from "Childhood Education" v32 n1 1955 in celebration of "Childhood Education's" 125 year anniversary.]