Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1892-11-30
Educational Column.

CONDUCTED BY SUPERINTENDENT j. o. HAHN
1.-The educational column is intended to ben
ef1t the schools of the county, by helping espe-
cially the teachers and school officers. We So
school subjects. Come, let us reason to-
gether"l
The superintendent counts for the past week
visit to each of the following schools, viz ::
District No. 10, 16, AZ and 2s. We saw some
thing to commend in each school visited.
-
The report for the last school year shows the
number of children of school age in Barber
county to be 3,032; while the total enrolled in
the various schools of the county is but 2,57G'
and the average daily attendance for the year
is only 1,653-a little more than half the whole
number of pupils.
These figures indicate state of affairs which
is not as it should be, and we very much fear
that there are in this county considerable
number of parents who do not appreciate the
advantages of the public school. nor realize the
necessity of keeping the boys and girls in
school as they should. The public schools cost
the people large amount of money in the ag-
gregale. Comfortable buildings are provided
often at considerable sacrifice on the part of
taxpayers, and fitted up with furniture appa-
ratus and appliances. Teachers often the best
that can be found in the county, are employed,
and in many ways great care is taken to pro-
vide for the intellectual welfare of the resi-
dent youth of the various districts But If. af-
ter all this has been done, a parent is SO indif-
ferent to the facilities thus afforded as to keep
his boy or girl cut Of school on some merely
trivial pretext, it has all been for naught so far
as this boy or girl is concerned, and the object
of the educational system of the state, which is
to educate every boy and girl at least in the
rudiments of the various common branches. is
defeated SO far as applied to that girl or boy.
There are, of course, cases of young men
and women. of Is and 20 years of age, who are
Justified in spending their lime in some other
way than in school. and occasionally it is nec-
essary TO keep at home pupils even younger
than this, but our observation shows us that it
is far too common to keep them out of school
when arrangements could be and sh Iuld be
made for them TO attend and attend regularly
And we are persuaded that if the parents of
these children could be led to see the matter
as 1t really Is we should see marked improve
ment. Many are not aware Of the disadvant-
age to the pupil of a single day absence from
school, but as only a little was learned in any
one day at school such a parent is likely to
reason that only little Will be missed by alb
sence. He fails to take into account the fact
that the pupil falls behind his class and will
ind IL difficult If not impossible fully to come
up with it, the encouragement likely to re-
suit to the pupil from his inability to keep up
with his class under such Interruptions, the
loss to other members of the class OF their
share of the teachers time which must be
spent on the pupil who has beer absent in ex-
planning 10 him some essential point which
has already been explained to the balance of
the class. Then the simple fact that the
ordinary work at home is considered of such
relative Importance as to require the pupils
time in preference 10 his studies at school
stends to impress him with the idea that school
- as s,nl aritiyely valuslsss and Of