The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1893-09-27
Make Study a Business.

The public schools are now fairly under
way. The teachers are i'll their places,
plans for the years work have been made,
and efforts to carry those plans into eXecu-
ton have begun. Until summer comes
again study will, or should be, the order Of
day for all children of school age. For
teachers salaries for school books and for
incidental school expenses a very large
sum of money will be expended. A tax
which bears with greater or less weight on
every citizen has been levied to provide for
these expenses. Every memb of the com
munity should be interested i'll means for
deriving the largest possible benefit from
the expenditure of this money. In one
sense, strictly business view should be
taken Of the large investment that this or
any other community makes in public edu-
cation. Its schools will cost Montpelier for
the coming year some six thousand dollars.
This is a very large sum of money. Any
single individual would give the most seri-
ous consideration to the expenditure or in
vestment of this sum. He would desire
not merely the safety OF the principal, but
the largest attainable income from 1t. What
the individual would do with So 600 the
community, an aggregation OF individuals,
should seek to do. An individual vino in
vests money in manufacturing enterprise,
for example, designed to employ one hun
dred men, must as a rule, steadily employ
force Of one hundred men in order to reap
satisfactory returns from his investment,
and he must have the steady and undivided
attention of his wOrkmen or his Investment
will not be profitable. 1t is very much the
same with schools. If buildings are erected,
teachers engaged, and other expenses in
Cured for the instruction of five hundred
pupils and only three hundred attend, the
advantage of the investment is very much
lessened. There is a large loss to the com
muuity II the attention Of those pupils
who do attend school is distracted from tn, IL
I. IL, .g,1
there is another large percentage OF
loss The benefits that should be derived
from the large expenditure Tor school pur-
poses are not realized in any reasonable de-
gree, in any such degree as manufacturer
of average thrift would expect TO realize on
an investment of similar sum. Now the
practical application Of this discourse Is
right here: Montpelier has provided school
facilities on very liberal scale. large
sum of money is annually raised and eX-
pended for school purposes but the advan-
tage that should be derived from this ex-
penditure is very unreaSonably lessened 10y
the existence of distracting influences out
side the school room. The months OF the
school year, particularly the winter months
are very apt To be filled up with entertain
ments or exercises that should either be de-
ferred to the periods OF vacation or should
be banished entirely during the continuance
of the months of school. Dancing schools,
card parties, social entertainments OF any
kind that consume the time OF pupils and
engross their attention, are utterly incon-
sistent with study. The two cannot exist
side by side, and, when they come in com
petition, the school and school duties are
very apt to 50 to the wall These side at
fractions mean not only such preoccupa-
ton of the minds of pupils as excludes profit
able study, bat they mean late hours at
night and lessened strength and diminished
energy. The young must have relaxation.
The pleasures of youth should not be en-
tirely abolished during school terms, hut
they should be put under reasonable re-
stricton and enjoyed with that temperance
that should prevail in every well-ordered
life. We commend to all parents a serious
consideration of these matters. Along
these lines they can render assistance to the
principal of the school and his assistants
that will be of the highest value, and the
happy results will appear in the advance
the children will make in the work of the
school room