New-York tribune., 1908-05-10
THE NEW NIGHT SCHOOL.

The night school long a pitiful refuge for
newsboys, truants and the overworked. is about
10 become the centre and pivot of our whole edu-
Cational system If some very modern apostles or
the New Psychology are allowed TO order Things.
Naturally in being so nightly transformed. the
night school will have to undergo extensive al
teratfons some of which, according to the
architects plans are SO radical that the I'M
proved institution Will be unrecognizable ira
dition makes the night school group of dusty,
stuffv rooms dimIy lighted. filled with roughs
and ambitious immigrant children and presided
over hy weary teacher. who manages the III
favored establishment because he needs the
money Thanks though. 10 the wonderful po-
tpncv of suggestion. the new night school will be
relieved of all these drearr features tontem-
plate the plan submitted to the New York Public
School kindergarten Association the other day
The minister presenting It said that he WAS
merely applying we'll established laws OF sug-
gestion to the veXed problem OF child training.
After relating that Brooklyn mother Is IN the
habit Of conversing with the subconscious Souls
of her children while their ordinary. workaday
egos are asleep he said
The suggestion Of the right things to the child
is the fundamental principle Of child training
The best time for such suggestion Is Just oetors
the child goes to sleep. The lnnuence OF th4S
fifteen minutes or half hour Is in1measura BIZ
1t ia the great golden opportunity for reaching
the chiids suhconscicous self-in other words.
its real soul. In these few precious minutes We
can make TIE child any kind OF man or woman
that we like. But 1t IS an opportunity mat -
usually lost We busy We are tired. We
are going out for the evening. and we haven't {
time to talk TO our children .
Never suggest to a child the thing You don't
want him to be Talk to him as II he were z
saint and a hero. Let the last thing ne hears
before falling asleep be the thlng you want ila
SIDE and talk him if he were awake
The new night school will he dormitory Il
this plan is accepted Parents being too tired
or too busy to teach their offspring in this ideal
manner the public schools must tackle the job.
Although the cost of equipping schoolrooms with
cots and bed linen will be considerable, 1t will
he more than offset by the saving on teachers,
fuel light and textbooks. For, remember, in the
few precious moments just before and just
after child has fallen asleep the new night
school teacher can make of the child any kind or
man or woman he likes: if the last goal of all
education can be reached in this brief period,
day schools no longer have any excuse for exist
ence. Furthermore as wearied youngsters on
the road TO Sunderland are much easier to
manage than the 10 a. III. variety, the new ngh5
school ought to prosper with less than half the
staff of day school teachers. And. of course,
with teachers working only half an hour or SO
daily the Board of Education's payroll would
shrink TO a mere trte.
Before commencing this glorious scheme to
Mr. Metz however, should like to see few
live specimens Of children educated under the
new night school methods. We have met several
persons from time to time who have made us
suspect that they had picked up all their knowl-
edge and opinions when asleep. and they have
not filled us with profound admiration.