The Jackson standard. [volume] (Jackson C.H., Ohio) 1847-1888, 1883-02-15
IN. Y. Daily Tribune, January ISL
A National Evil,

Seml-annual eXamlnaIlOuS. "A very
simple and commendable thing upon
the surface. The boy or girl is ex-
amined upon the textbooks which be
Or she has studied during the last five
months. In June there will be an
,ther examination, and if both are
satisfactory the student passes into a
i higher class. Within the last five
years, however, parents have begun to
suspect that there is something inhe-
rently defective in the system of edu-
cation and the inexorable examina-
tions and ''passings" to which their
children are subjected. The Tribune
and other journals have tried to rouse
! them to consciousness of this defect,
| and if what we say on the subject now
seems only hackneyed repetition it is
because the errors and their conse-
quences are still unaltered, while the
danger to the children increases with
every day. What is the matter? Let
| US see.
The range of study required OF the
child of well-todo parents fifty years
ago was comparatively small, and was
mastered leisurely and with ease. 1t
comprised knowledge of the classics,
of French, of English and American
history, of geography, rudimentary
study Of algebra and geometry, and
very scanty measure of science. Every
year in that half century has immeas-
urably widened the scope Of each OF
these branches of knowledge, while
the brains Of boys are no stronger nor
larger. Let any parent who has chill
drrn to educate make, for example, an
estimate OF the advance which has
been made in the sciences alone, and
the hard, faithful, unfagging amount
of study required of the student who
would thoroughly master even one Of
them. Not only has discovery in
creased the amount of knowledge open
to us on every side, but the nations of
the world have been brought close to-
gether, and hints OF their philosophy,
thoughts and inventions press upon
us in every mornings newspaper and
published work, and insult our ignor-
ance. Now the mistake of the Amer
lean system Of education is that it in
sists that every lad, no matter what
his natural capacity, no matter what
his intended profession or business,
shall master each, and all of these
branches Of knowledge. The well
educated boy must have studied the
classics, modern languages. the sci
ences, the higher mathematics, histo-
ry, philosophy, religious systems, ply
sidlogy, metaphysics, art and music.
We will cite the curriculum Of no one
school or college, but let any father
take his boys list for this year and see
the work laid out for him: He, the
father, at mature age, gives his mind
to only one pursuit in life If he means
to succeed. He is a tranesman, an
author, a lawyer, chemist or math-
ematician; he finds one line of study
sufficient for his brain. But his son
or daughter is expected to crowd into
an immature brain the rudiments of a
dozen mental crafts. Of course, moth
ing could be more desirable than that
each of our children should thus be-
come an Admirable Crichton; there
are only two difficulties in the way
the time given for the examining of
their brains, and the capacity Of the
brains themselves. It is physical
impossibility to make lad thorough
ly acquainted with any of these enor-
nous fields Of knowledge in the time
allotted for his education. Hence. the
present expedient of cramming him
with the condensed rudiments of ALL
We have before US. for example,
General History. used in one Of the
first colleges in the country, in which
the reigns of ten English sovereigns,
with dates and principal events, are
condensed into a single page; and
Lesson in an Introduction to the Nat
ural Sciences intended for girls of
twelve) containing twenty laws of
primal Importance without line of
explanation. What real knowledge
or love of the subject can any child or
young man have after this unnatural
examining? But the examinations
on which they are 'to pass" do not
test their real love or knowledge of
any subject, but only their acquaint-
ance with the words Of the textbooks.
Education, in brief. is reduced to
huge task of memorizing. The pre-
paratory schoolsare forced to fall into
the same system. Here and there a
teacher or school or college has pro-
tested. But it has been swept into
the current The ambition Of our in
stitutions of learning is not to inspire
all of their students, no matter what
their natural capacity, with zeal for
learning, to ground them thoroughly
in those studies which will be neces-
sary to them through life, but to be
known as ''having the highest stand
ard; that is, to make the require,
ments of study in their four years
course so difficult that only the phe-
nomenal boy can satisfy them.
'There is no place for lame ducks in
my classes" said an eminent teacher
lately.
Now what is the effect of this sys-
tenn? The boy who passes through
it successfully chooses single line of
study with which to earn his living,
and adheres to that, and the great
mass of undigested facts drop out of
his brain. For one such successful
student there are hundred who are
thrown back, from their inability to
perform a task which was uniustly
and cruelty made too hard for them
They may not initiate the poor lad in
Philadelphia last week, who, after
years Of successive failures, took lau,
danum and ended it all; but they are
discouraged for life, and written down
as Ounces, when it is not they who
are to blame, but the inexorable sys
tenn which has ground the vitality out
> of their brains. Reform in this mat
+ viii not come from schools o.
= teachers, because their ambition ran