The Norfolk weekly news-journal., 1906-06-15

'H'l' 10 hp uohbI lliht buc man WIZ
Is educated has deeper appreciation
Of good books and good plays and good
living than he who has not.
Many a man Is educated who thinks
he is not He has educated himself
But he will spend a lifetime in getting
at the fundamental features which
college ought to give him in four years.
The tendency to break away is
shown by the O'Neill Frontier as fol.
lows:
Local educators complain that there
are so few boys who finish the high
school course. Boys are scarce in the
| high school graduating class, 1t gener-
ally being the sweet girl graduate who
| lsps with fervid eloquence, Beyond
the Alps lies Italy" Educators are
inclined to believe 1t is the fault or
the high school course, as the boys,
| who realize that they must soon be
wrestling with the practical problems
Of every day life, object to spending
weary months pouring over Latin and
Greek when they should be acquiring
something OF some practical value.
The attitude the boys take Is causing
those engaged in educational work to
advocate the introduction Of the bust.
ness course into high schools, thus
giving the student his choice between
1t and the classic. There are several
boys in the O'Neill high school, 1t is
said, who would graduate next year II
they continued in school, but who say
they will not do so, for reasons above
stated.
There can be no ironclad rule, Of
course, regarding college educations.
Some men are handicapped with the
four years they put in at college. This
is not the fault of the college but Of
the man, who fails to make good and
spends his time in idleness, which
proves a curse the rest of his life.
The man who has had just little Of
the course provided Is not fair speci-
men, though he is frequently set up
as an example of the college man. "a
| little learning Is dangerous thing"
we are told, and the man who told
Senator Allen, in the United States
senate, that an egotistical and yet H.
logical speaker who had just ended
his oratorical effort, must have quit
in his sophomore year." pointed to a
very we'll defined fact that to give a
superficial coating of study to many
men is damage.
Many fool has gone to college and
come out only to more positively play
the part. But it is unfair to Judge of
the value of the training by the ex-
ception. The average result is all
that can be used for a test
A grammar school student or even
a high school boy, is rarely old enough
and experienced enough to Judge for
himself the comparative arguments for
going to work or going on to school.
He is a good deal like patient under
a doctors care, who thinks he wants
to eat when eating would kill him.
And so older heads-fathers and moth
ers-should talk the matter over with
him and help him to decide.
Where there is no inclination to
study nor ambition to do this, then
it Is surely a waste of time and money
to put a boy in college, Or where
there is a tendency to stroll with the
girls or watch the ball games rather
than to dig out of the course the true
worth that is to be had only by hard
constant and systematic work, then
putting the boy in college will hurt
him, and he had better start out by
keeping busy, though he has to work
on the street.
It all comes in the end to depend
upon the individual. But If young
man is ambitious and diligent and
knows how to work, and on top of that
wants to learn things that will build
his foundation, do him no harm and
which are available only while he is
young, no mistake can be made by
sending him away. If he is made OF
the right stuff he will be benefited
His comrade who left school and went
to work may pass him for time, but
the one with the foundation will wir
in the long run. On the other hand
just because a young man goes away
to school and passes with his class, Is
no indication that he will come away
better off. For many a keen loafel
gets through examinations without any
work. And it is the plodder, rather
than the brilliant student, who gets
most from his course.
Practical tests are wnat count wher
the student gets into real life. The
. fact that he has a diploma may ge
him a job, but will never hold it, Blu
if he has honestly earned his diploma
he ought to stand a better chance o