The Red Cloud chief., 1882-09-29

XUW 13
Al the recent meetinx of the New York
State Tescheu' Associas'oo the report
Of the Sanding COMMITTEES On the Con
eiton u Educaf on showed that not
w~ifhstanding the steady increase in the
population q our State. the number ri
Oh idpn in daily attendance upoa the
public schools Is declining. The do.
! erase was at.r. buied BY the Chairman
| Of the comm tiee q .'the increased de.
mand. made by manulsctnr nZ inter
ests," By which MAS meant. we pre-
sumo. an increased employ men' Of chiL
dren in factories
The Icssening number Of children In
school il not peculiar 10 New York State
or to factory towns Al other TEACHER
gatherings this summer the same con-
dition Ut Z h'ngs has been noted and va
riou.ly commented upon - beng more
or less visible throughout the country.
and more Of less to be deplorcd-
The general feeling seems to Be- that
the schoolmaster is losing his grip. and
th.t the country il likely 20 suffer in
consequence. That the schools are or
can be in any way TO blame for the de-
Ching popular interest in schooling.
the school authorities are naturally not
disposed 10 believe; nor does il seem 10
occur 70 them to think that their sppar-
emit loss of influence may really be an
indication Of the spread OF juster views
than formerly prevailed OF what Is prop
er for youthful culture.
To say that fewer children ''of school
age" in proportion 10 the school Popu-
lafion, are now to be found any day in
school than was the rule twenty years
ago. is very far from saying that proper
~tionally fewer children are being proper
ly educated now. The legal SCHOOL
age begins In this State at three years
Formerly the custom was 10 send little
boys and girls three and four years old
10 the public school; and such is largely
the custom still among the poorer class
es- With well-tO-do-people, we are
happy to believe. the sending Of such
small children to school is becoming
more and more the exception. The
growing feeling is that. even when the
school house Is kept in q condition san
itarily fit for the reception Of infants
which. we fear. is rarely the case-the
beginning Of school lie had better, for
the children's sake, be put Of until they
are six. eight, or. when home conditions
are right, ten years old. For this rea-
son q vast multitude of children. whose
educational prospects are the brightest,
are now kept from school. II the school
work were differently planned and reg
ulated, it might be better for some Of
these children 20 be in school a little
every day: but pot under present con-
dit:ons. The fact that they are not in
school, however. must not be taken rs
ogidence that popular interest in educa-
ton is declining. or that popular edu-
cation Is likely to suffer for it. As a
rule children who begin serious school
work ut eight or ten years Of age are as
far advanced in their studies at twelve
as those who begin ut three or four, and
usually they are both physically and
mentally in better condition for instruc-
ton.
Not SO satisfactory is the frequent cut
ting OF Of the other end Of the period
spent in school; and yet even that is not
an unmixed evil. as the schools are
usually conducted. When the free
school system was first developed. the
belief was general that schooling was
the one thing needful to enable young
people to get on in the world; and il
was . common thing for parents to
make great sacrifices to keep their chill
dren year after year in school, only to
find in the end that their sons were too
Old to do boys work. and too proud to
begin ut the bottom of any trade or 9TH
Industrial calling and work up. They
must do something o. genteel. and
crowded into the towns and cities in
pursuit Of clcrkships and quasi profess
SiOnal engagements, in which a little
present salary was accompanied with
expectations seldom or new
or to be fulfilled. Others rs unwisely
pressed on in their school course, mort
their future to prepare them
for learned professions. vainly
seeking To win fame and fortune in
for which they had no real fitness.
The condition of much schooled but i'll
educated girls was, if anything. still
A natural reaction against this mis-
direction of youth and natural result of
uO A"AaoiC VI suC puoiiS SthpO.S W su1pc
their work to meet the practical wants
Of the multitude. is the disposition to
cut short the school period early to be-
gin in earnest what seems to be the real
business Of life. Though ninety-nine in
every hundred youth canno; hope to go
10 college, their educational needs are
sacrificed to make the school u
tributary to the college. Time
which the majority of youth need for
practical preparation for their life's
work is thus very largely given to stud
les Of value only in their relation to a
college course which is
never to be enjoyed. It is no evidence
d popular unw.slom. as most teachers
to think. that there is an increas-
Ing popular indisposition to surrender
10 much of youths precious time to
such impractical work. There is moth
ng so valuable to youth Is education,
put unhappily schooling and education
ire yet far from being synonymous; and
{ the schools are declining in favor. it
5 because the intelligent public see this
act more clearly than the mass of
Achool officials do.-Scientifc American.
|