The Londonderry sifter. (South Londonderry, Vt.) 1883-19??, 1892-08-26
The school Year.

The young ones who have been count
ing ON their fingers just how many
weeks and days would pass before they
We're caught and flung into the school
routine again have come to the end of
their tether. School begins. For the
country children the vacation has been
one of pleasure and profit. They have
had opportunity to live outdoors in the
pure air and sunshine and study with
wide eyes and receptive souls the grand
secrets nature opens to all her students.
Those fortunate enough to be farm
children have had chance to work
some, too, and so give reason why they
should live. Oh, yes, the country chill
dren have the best of it every time, and
it is from the country that the young
men and women who grow famous
nearly all come. They go to the city
after they have had their grand country
bringing up,
Whether the long vacation is helpful
to city children is doubtful. The boys
run the streets, and the streets are not a
good school, The girls must be dressed
in abominable fine clothes whenever
they step outside the house. They get
no chance to run or shout or exercise
the fine strong muscles that nature gave
them. On the whole, it is not strange
that the ordinary city girl is pale wisp
of thing, with little independence of
character and little strength to endure
strains of either mind or body. She has
not a fair chance. Part of the educa-
ton of all city children should be to
spend at least the months of July
and August in the country, not run
ming wild in idleness, but having sys-
tematic instruction in plant lore and
knowledge of live stock, with object
lessons to hand, gaining royal health and
strength meanwhile. Undoubtedly in
the more advanced civilization which
the Twentieth century will usher in
this will be done.
But for good or ill, vacation is ended.
The schools begin. From time to time
the course of study ought to change to
keep up with the needs of the age. At
present there is crying need for two
notifications. One is for more thorough
and emphatic instruction, not in gram
mar books-heaven forbid-but in the
correct, practical everyday use of the
English language. 1t is fact that with
all our boosted progress in education the
average twelve-year-old child does not
speak anything like as good English as
the pupil Of that age did thirty years
ago. Why? Because of the tremendous
influx Of foreigners into America. The
average young workman or mechanic of
today in the large cities who does not
say "yous" for you or "wid' for with is
the exception. This is fact, and our
school teachers ought to be ashamed of
themselves.
The young mechanic is the son of for
eign parents, and the mixture of Ian
guages has resulted in d patois in all our
large cities which will be as difficult to
break up as to make the negro break
away from the old plantation dialect.
In the very face of the public schools
this corruption and deterioration of the
English language has been going on for
generation, and we have yet to hear of
the first energetic effort the teachers
have made to stem the tide. Practical
exercise in English speaking, not wretch
ed rules of grammar, are the only thing
that will do the work.
Then there is one more branch Of in
struction particularly to be commended
to the public school teachers at the be-
ginning of this new year. With all the
emphasis we can employ we remind
them of the fact that the percentage of
paupers and criminals in this country is
increasing much faster than the per-
centage of population. Here is another
black tide that must be stemmed, and
nobody can stem it like the teacher.
Once more, it is not dry rules and
printed words that can cope with this
emergency. 1t is living precept and ex-
ample; the story drawn from real life;
the practical daily illustration of the
golden rule; its actual application to the
life of teacher and school child alike.
1t is not sectarian teaching or theol-
ogy that we want. Leave that to the
church. There is morality taught alike
.n the New Testament and in the writ
ings of Plato, Socrates, Solomon, Bud
dha, Confucius and Zoroaster. On the
common ground of this sweet, world-old
morality teachers and pupils of all ma
tons may unite in the public schools
and the nobler, better n>tures Of both
be aroused and made permanent. For
as the teacher is, so will the pupil be.