The daily morning journal and courier., 1906-03-03
IN HIGH SCHOOLS.
Moder Tendencies That Lead People $. Away From the Simple Life.

| NAOoSe III tile ellTOllHeLL OL pupllS-ItlI- dering them far less narrow and far more democratic in their appeal to the l general community than in former days-it is surprising to find them in the clutches of evils that tend to an- tagonize the good effect of their popu- lar qualities. It is enough, almost, to throw a poor man into bankruptcy to nave hls daughter graduate from some hlSh schools-What with new gowns, gloves, bouquets, hacks, photographs and class rings, to enable the girl to hold up her head with the classmates who set the pace on graduation day. mother in a neighboring state, who had Just been through this awful experi- ence with her daughter was hetrd to say, somewhat racily, that if she had not been dressmaker herself the fam fly would literally have gone broke" as the result of the strain to get Ethel through the final stages of the high school with the social eclat now deemed essential in that small city. It was too true.
 The high school experience of Ethel, indeed, are worth considering as a whole The gentle miss began to have them long before the eliminating agen- cies and tlutter of the graduation peri cd. Did Ethel belong to sorority" with fees of two or five dollars a year? Was she asked to join frat at five or ten dollars a year, with more money required for the pretty pin? The chances are that if Ethel was not asked, she moped over her exclusion, or had several good cries. There have been Ethels and Dorothys in high schools who withdraw altogether, throwing aside their educational oppor-
 tunities because of the wretchedness into which they were cast by the so- cial snubs forever implied in their fail ure to be elected to the very select P Tis or the ultra exclusive Rho Rhos. Or If they tenaciously remained on
 deck without being welcomed into some grotesque little frat" circle they very likely came to entertain a new bitterness concerning the social classes.
 And all this in our public schools, the schools of the people for hte support of
 which no one would consent to pay
 taxes if they were not founded on democratic principles.
 Ethers experiences are also the expe-
 riences, although less crucial, of John.
 He, too, may get into no solemn secret
 order. Ask him what he belongs to-.
 If you are a foolish parent, it may please you to learn that the young
 hopeful belongs to certain high school society that sports Greek letters for name, which has & grip" pin
 with mystic symbols, and place for secret meetings in some back room in a
 downtown block. Some parents are
 said to like it. But that Is because
 they can see nothing of the stiffness of a juvenile parade of secret ritual nor
 the harm that comes from the training of infantile snobs, nor the injury to the
 schools, in creating little rings and
 cliques of pupils which often obstruct } proper discplines and certainly are hostile to that democratic atmosphere
 which the taxpayers as a whole will
 insist upon having In schools main
 tained for the good of democratic state.
 It is not easy to treat with proped
 solemnity a subject of this, character the drollness of secret orders in high
 schools constantly appeals to the
 grown-ups' sense of humor. It is un-
 derstood, however that these mystic
 organizations are now considered se-
 rious matter by high school principals
 and school superintendents throughout
 the country. The subject Is annually discussed by our leading educators at
 the conventions of the National Educa- tional association. The bound volume ; of the proceedings of that association,
 at Asbury Park last summer, contains
 an instructive report on secret frater-
 mites by a special committee of five high school principals from different parts of the United States; and their
 conclusions, drawn from an exhaustive
 study of the data, appear to reflect the substantially unanimous sentiment oi public school educators in this country l The view thus brought to focus is the view of experts. whose Judgment car , ries overwhelming weight, and which parents everywhere should accept as conclusive. It is worth while to quote the committees concluding words: ; Therefore your committee submits | that
 2 Whereas, The sentiment of supern- t tendents, principals and teachers - against secret fraternities is almost 1 universal be it therefore Resolved, That we condemn these secret organizations, because they are
 subversive of the principles whicf s should prevail In the public schools
 because they are selfish and tend tC f narrow the minds and syanpathies oi the pupils; because they stir up strife and contention; because they are snob- bish; because they dissipate energy , and proper ambition; because they sci
 wrong standards; because rewards are not based on merit, but on fraternity z vows; because they inculcate a feeling of self-sufficiency among the members
 because secondary schoolboys are too young for club life; because they arc
 expensive and foster habitJ of extrav, { agance; because they bring politics s into the legitimate organizations Of tho r schools; because they detract interes l from study, and because all legitimate l elements for good-social, moral ant s ntelIectual-which these societies claim . to possess can be better supplied to thu , pupils through the school at large ir :, the form of literary societies and clubs t under the sanction and supervision O 3 the faculties of the schools"
 O In promoting the simple life in thu ? highschools the parents can play al l important and perhaps decisive part I The Encouragement of these immatur'