a family affair . the flood of facts and opinions lately released from the conference season may at times seem indigestible to the layman . perhaps this is particularly true at this time of year when many conferences have been dealing with education in its various forms . yet there are few subjects more vital to the future of the nation and ourselves as individuals , and a great many of the discussions are at a level which is readily understandable to the layman . the truth is that every layman ( and woman ) owes it to himself and his children to take a greater interest in education , for the basis of all education is the family . this is a point which has been made many times before , but it can not be overemphasized . and it should be more widely appreciated that the family influence for good is not necessarily related to a high level in income . Miss M G Green , headmistress of Kidbrooke School , London , and a member of the Crowther committee , made this clear when she addressed the north of England education conference in Newcastle the other day . the best parents are not those with high incomes or from the professional classes , she said . they are those who are prepared to put themselves out and make sacrifices to see that their children have advantages which they themselves lacked . indeed it has always been so . and for those who believe that the family is a waning influence because of declining moral standards , the distraction of television , or some such modern menace , real or imagined , there was heartening re-assurance from a speaker in Glasgow . Mr John A Mack , Stevenson lecturer in citizenship at the University of Glasgow , speaking on the eve of a three-day meeting held by the science masters &apos; association of Great Britain , told his audience that although family ties were weakening , the family was the toughest , most flexible , most adaptable , most ineradicable institution in the history of human society . such intensive studies of family life as had been made indicated that this ancient and formidable institution was standing up well to the strains of modern life . yet the family unit , virtually indestructible as it may be , is often capable of improvement as an instrument of education . the means of improvement are available to all . only the will is sometimes lacking . true comprehensive education can be achieved only when parents , teachers , and children , work as a team - with the senior members occasionally exercising the veto of authority . merger moves . the bargain struck with shipbuilding workers to help improve the competitive power of the industry in return for an immediate wage increase is by no means one-sided . reorganization of the yards may have an important part to play . one of the most experienced shipbuilders on the north-east coast , Sir William Gray , chairman of the West Hartlepool shipbuilding , repairing and engineering company which bears the family name , said recently that more integration of shipyards would achieve economies and lead to better planning . his view was that larger units , operating more closely together , could undertake research aimed at producing ships which are technically more advanced . there are two schools of thought about the advantages of consortiums - one believes that they lead inevitably to cheaper ships and engines : the other , that they can become administratively top heavy and out of touch with what is happening in shops and ships . the experience on Wearside of grouping of shipyards is that efficiency improves without the loss of the family ties which have established the river &apos;s reputation for good ships and good relationships at yard level . exploratory talks are now about to begin into the possibility of a closer link between William Doxford and Sons and the Sunderland shipbuilding group ( which includes the North Sands and Deptford shipyards ) . a statement issued by the two companies uses the phrase increased co-operation , thereby inferring quite accurately that the two concerns already work together . a check of the ships launched by Laing &apos;s and Thompson &apos;s shows that in recent years a high proportion have been fitted with Doxford machinery . and there could be no clearer indication of the Sunderland shipbuilding group &apos;s faith in the Doxford product than its decision to equip the 20,000-ton Deptford-built tanker Montana with the first Doxford P engine . the talks are confined at this stage to a full and frank exchange of views and any speculation is premature . nevertheless the companies have announced their intention to the London stock exchange . it may be some months before a further statement is made but one has been promised when the position is clarified . meanwhile the second ship to be fitted with a P engine will be launched next week on the Wear - and the builders are Thompson &apos;s . relaxing a ban . Wear shipbuilders , experiencing difficulty in engaging skilled platers , welcome the decision of the district committee of the boilermakers &apos; society to allow a limited number of boys to train as platers . so , too , will all others with an interest in Sunderland &apos;s basic industry . it is more than two years since the society imposed its embargo on the entry of apprentices into the yards because of unemployment among its adult members . although the number of boilermakers who are out of work has been reduced steadily during the past year , the society does not consider that the time is opportune to relax the ban so far as welders , riveters , burners and heaters are concerned . the shipbuilders , however , put forward an irrefutable case for resuming apprenticeships in the plating trade and here the Wear district committee of the society has given ground , although the intake will still be strictly limited . the society has stated that it is watching closely unemployment among its members so that the ban can be raised as soon as possible . the Wear shipbuilders &apos; association considers that full recruiting of apprentices should be resumed immediately if the best interests of the industry , the union and the boys are to be served . if the level of shipyard unemployment continues to fall on Wearside , the society will find itself hard pressed to justify its action in depriving upwards of one hundred boys a year of the opportunity to train in the town &apos;s chief industry . striking appeal . the 58,000 people who saw Sunderland defeat Arsenal at Roker Park last Saturday included probably a preponderance of trade unionists . yet very few of this majority could have regarded the game as a combined operation between fellow trade unionists . there were occasional delicate demarcation disputes , it is true , but for the most part mass partisanship recognized no boundaries , and certainly did not easily concede equal rights to the white-shirt workers . all that , however , may soon be forgotten if the threatened footballers &apos; strike kicks-off on January 21 , one week before Sunderland are due to visit Liverpool on urgent business . the T.U.C and the ministry of labour have already become involved , and now an emergency resolution is being sent to the north east federation of trades councils from the Jarrow and Hebburn branch urging moral and financial support designed to keep crowds away from any game which might be arranged , other than by the players themselves . ( hitherto the problem has been to get the crowds in . ) in the name of working solidarity the good trade unionist is asked to change his leisure habits in support of players who may cease to play , and , for good measure , to give up his chance of an overnight fortune by boycotting football pools , too . there is a danger that even the white ball will be declared black . whatever the rights or wrongs of the dispute , the impartial spectator - if one can still be found - will surely agree that rarely has trade union loyalty faced a more baffling test . cold war front . the announcement by the medical research council that experiments at the common cold research unit at Salisbury are having to be postponed because of a shortage of volunteers is not to be sneezed at . apparently people who are quite prepared to take a 50-50 chance of catching cold during the summer shrink from the risk in the winter months , notwithstanding the promise of a free pint of beer each day and 3 s pocket money . in view of the importance of the experiments and their potential value to suffering humanity this seasonal lack of guinea pigs is , of course , regrettable , but is the explanation quite so simple ? could not the shortage be due to the grip the common cold takes at this time of the year of places and people far removed from Salisbury ? Wearsiders , for example , may reasonably reflect that there is not much point in making a sacrificial journey to Wiltshire if the object of the pilgrimage overtakes one at Newbottle , Shiney Row , Pity Me or Cold Hesledon . come to think of it , any of these places - and others whose names contain less cold comfort - might well claim to have common cold research units of their own at this season . the problem is that a common remedy is uncommonly difficult to find . in fact , the only discovery to which most of us would subscribe is that established long ago by an American sufferer . a cold is both positive and negative : sometimes the eyes have it and sometimes the nose . home and safety . few men would covet a constantly nagging wife , though many may have difficulty in escaping occasional one-sided exercises in the ungentle art of feminine raillery . yet it seems that in certain circumstances a nagging wife can be an asset . according to coal board officials who made 1960 a special safety year for Yorkshire miners sharp tongues at home may have helped to reduce the number of deaths and serious injuries . at the start of the year 120,000 miners each received a letter from the divisional chairman urging them to be more safety conscious . it was sent by post to the men &apos;s homes so that wives could also read it - and perhaps nag their menfolk into taking extra care . now provisional accident figures for the year suggest that wifely strictures were by no means ineffective since rates for both deaths and injuries were reduced . seriously , however , it is doubtful whether miners &apos; wives ever need prompting in their concern for their men &apos;s safety in the pits . an efficient pit is a safe pit , is the slogan in the Durham division , and the fact that the accident rate in this coalfield is lower than the national average is at once a measure of progress and an incentive to further improvement . it may also fairly reflect the good influence of naturally anxious wives . enter the unknown . unlike his two predecessors in the American presidency , Mr John F Kennedy will take office this week at a moment when the world is , technically , at peace . President Truman took over during world war 2 . President Eisenhower assumed office during the Korean war , a conflict which to the Americans ranked close in importance to the world war itself . the surest way of winning a war is the relatively simple one of building up physical strength , which both Truman and Eisenhower achieved . Mr Kennedy , however , takes office at a time when problems are more subtle and the answers are harder to find . in wealth and physical resources America is still the world &apos;s strongest nation , but she no longer holds the position of world dominance which was hers when President Eisenhower took office . over the past decade Russia and western Europe have recovered from the devastation they suffered in the war . China is developing towards the status to which her vast population entitles her . new nations emerge in Africa and Asia which are less willing than were the west European countries to regard American economic aid as part of a pattern of political and military co-operation . thus the United States for the first time in her history finds herself playing a major role on the world stage without being the sole centre of attraction . other stars have joined the cast . that the growth of the other stars has been largely a result of wise American statesmanship in the past does not make the present situation any easier . 