Omaha daily bee., 1908-09-21
SCHOOL AND COLLEGE WORK
Do Women Teachers "Efeminize" the
Boys in Public Schools9
WAR ON HIGH SCHOOL SOCIETIES
Offensive Conduct OF RebelliOus
'Frsts" I'm CbIcago-ProEressive
Educational Activities East
and West.

The gradual submergence Of men as a
teaching force In the public schools OF the
country occasionally brings to their rescue
some heroic soul with a life preserver.
only one make of life preseryer is regarded
with favor, and is lung far out to sea
with feeble hope that II 1t does not save
a life now and then It will delay the
drowning. The athletic director Of the
Cleveland public schools, realizing the un-
certainities Of the future, is the latest 10
cast the life preserver to his Imperfect
associates. He says the women effemln-
ize the boys" DR.. Maxwell, superintendent
OF the city schools OF New York City, does
not go as far as the Cleveland athlete, but
adjusts his spectacles to the necessities Of
his environment, where men teachers still
hold. numerically, a dominant position in
the schools. Children, girls as we'll As
boys" he says, should in their school
work come under the influences of the
mind Of the man as well as of the mind 5f
the woman Men teachers are particularly
needful in the metropolis, where the diverse
elements Of the population require master
full hands to direct and mold the mass.
with women only as teachers says the
New York Times, "the boys would inevlta-
bAg BNA AAAC AiDNiVA NAaNN
self ef~feminate-not for men,
Men educators are not by any means a
unit on the assertion that women "effem-
lnize the boys" The Boston Globe prints
the answers Of five educators to the ques-
ton. DO women teachers make boys less
manly?' Four of the number are men
connected with state or city schools, and
the fifth is a retired woman teacher. The
remarkable feature of the SYMPOSIUM lie
the fact that the four men answer the
question in the negative, while the woman
afflrms it in part. Her reasons are hlum-
mated by years Of experience, and are well
worth reading. She writes:
II all women cache were like one whom
l had in my school girl days in a country
town years ago this symposium question
would scarcely have been p~ropounded. That
teacher-peace TO her ashes-was not an
amazon. She was not a shrew, She was
a gentle, kindly soul. But she was ener-
getic, and she was a disciplinary artist
We girls adored her. The boys, after one
memorable event, respected her.
There was a gang Of young ruffians, from
IA to II years old, in our class, who took
as many liberties with decorum az they
dared take. They we're not quite certain
noon the order OF the schoolroom was
suddenly broken. TWO OF the larger boys
| sprang from their seats and began fighting
In the aisle. All was confusion In an In
slant. The two savages were pummelinB
each other viciously. Her face as white
as chalk and her eyes blazing, the teacher
came down the aisle from the blackboard,
and before either pugilist was aware of her
presence she struck the larger one, almost
a man In size, a singing blow en- his check
with her palm. The boy has doubtless
heard the reverberations Of that smack
ever since. Are you not ashamed OF your
selves she said, ito be fighting in the
presence Of girls and yourg ladiesT' That
was all, but 1t was effective. and the boys
skunk bach to their seats.
Nature has not endowed every woman
teacher with the physical and moral cour-
age and with the tact which that teacher
| possessed. Most women teachers arc averse
to the practice of the manly art" They
seek rather to govern by kindness and by
developing the gentler Instincts. They en-
deayor TO repress the savage and to awaken
the humane nature in their boy pupils.
They are not only the ideal instructors,
but they alone are fitted for the task OF
teaching boys under ~ years OF age. Until
that period every boy needs the influence
VI WOiilNA-Ol bOOu ohh AACAb OhAS ~
home and school. Consequently the ques-
ton will have to be answered in the mega
tive, II II refers to boys under II.
Boys In their teens present an entirely
different problem. In the period Of adol-
essence, when all the powerful subterran-
can forces in the youths spiritual and
physical nature begin to awaken, he stands
in dire need Of the right sort Of masculine
Influence in the schoolroom. Woman Is
too much unlike man fully to understand
his ideals. Some feminine influence is
doubtless necessary to soften and modify
tthe young savage. but the controlling
forces around him should be masculine. ]
do not think there is even a remote danger
that the influence of women teachers will
tend to make boy pupils in their teens less
manly. The apparently rapid growth OF
hoodlumism among boys in recent years
would seem to indicate that they have not
been made etfemlnate by the influence OF
women in the school room. The alarming
spirit OF lawlessness that seems prevalent
I'm so many places among boys is surely
not traceable to the feminiZing Influence
of women teachers. 1t Is due rather to
lack of proper control Of boys by their
fathers. And unless we are to relapse into
barbarlsm something must be done to check