Custer chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, Black Hills, D.T. [S.D.]) 1880-1890, 1884-09-20
Newspapers in our Schools.

| place OI the sCIOOl TeducTs, Has hSNc'
been accomplished is something that
enters our mind as very peculiar. TO
leave ont Of the schools all readers from
the third TO the highest and substitute
therefor the daily papers containing the
worlds news and each DAYS history of
all news that would tend toward the
education Of either the young or the old,
would be an advance in the mode of
educating our children never before
equalled by the introdu,ion Of any sys'
TEN. 1t would not only be benefit to
the scholars but also to the teachers, who
would cause the recitation by scholars,
Of the reading of the previous day news
gathered from San Francisco on the east
coast of the Pacific, again to San Fran
cisco on the west boundary of the Unit
ed States The time has been with us
for many years that the newspapers of
the great cities have been favored with
the facilitiers for acquiring news from
| the greatest to the remotest parts OF the
world, whether social intellectual, polit-
| ical, disastrous or criminal. The mar
kets of the principal points in the
world are also contained therein. In
our mind it would not be policy to teach
the scholars OF cause them to read those
things contained in the papers that
| would not be the means Of the advance
ment and development Of their mental
faculties such as suicides, murders, exc
cu,ions. or anything that would cause
them TO shudder with sympathy or turn
their faces for shame. After boy or
girl advances SO as to read fluently in
the third reader they are thoroughly
| capable of reading, with an understand
ing our daily papers. The probabili-
ty is that "A very large majority Of our
school attending children have access to
their daily paper at home but compara-
lively few take any interest in it or
even pick it up to glance through, and
if they do glance through it they merely
read a few little squibs that it may
contain. All school rooms contain
charts of the world if there are any
that do not they are very deficient ot
one OF the most necessarv articles for
the education Of our children. With
the u"e OF ,hese charts, as articles Of in
lcres, are read such IA Arctic expidi-
tons, African explorations, English and
ECyp,ian wars, ranco-Cninese wars,
South American, Central American. and
Mexican ins9rret'ions Indian raids on
our own fr0atier. he advancement of
railroads etc. etc. The points can be
shown bv he teacher AID explained To
'he lest cf his or her |biity. In this
manner rradily apd geography classes
can so hand in hand and the teacher,
as well as the sch lars, gather informa-
ton THAT In the fIture would be OF great
benefit to them and would teach them
to keep informed through the medium
Of the news papers all their lives. Had
this been the policy of our schools in
years past we would find to-day. many
more young men thoroughly posted in
the politics Of our country and thorough
ly capable Of judging for themselves
their choice Of the many political as
pirantS now in the field for national
honor, hut whose votes this year will be
controlled through the influence of
money, or by the shrewd politician who
will disregard honor to secure vote.
In this remote region it might be said
that we have no daily papers and how
can we introduce them? We would not
advance the idea Of the introduction Of
those papers published in the small or
medium sized cities in our schools but
only those, regardless Of political favor,
published in the large cities, for these
contain detailed accounts from the
world and the more news contained far
better the information. Biographical
sketches Of men of all stamps from the
highest in royalty to the New York
thievirg Aid srm n details of state and
municipal governments; electrical sci
ence as shown by our great world scien-
fists, assembled together for the evolu-
ton Of that great factor in the revolu-
ton of the earth; sermons from the
mouths of the greatest pulpit orators.
Such papers as these are the kind, even
if they are few days behind their date
when they reach their destination, the
| news is there and has the same effect as
! if received on the day Of publication.
There are seven Of all the large dailies
published every week, and being only
five school days in a week, il one or two
should be missed in transit those that
had not been received or those following
could fill their places. Without it being
shown to us, we can see no good reason
why the daily papers should not take
the place Of our higher readers in
schools. Scholars get tired re-reading,
going over and over time and again one
reader after another while with the
papers each days recitation would give
them something new, something inter
esting and entertaining that they had
not before exhausted all energy and am
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