Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1909-07-05
EDucAr1oN or a CHILD.

i H
upon by Superintendent Mcneil Of
Memphis at the National Council of
Education in Denver Saturday. opens
up Ii. great train of thought upon this
subject, along the lines touched upo1l
\ by Mr.. Mcneil and along others which
suggest themselves The education of
the child spells the future in manhood
as we'll as the present in childhood. II
lis altogether a subject worth much
more thought than is ordinaril y be-
slowed upon IT.. Mr.. Mcneil suggests
more co operation between parent and
teacher. This is almost SO evident
in Its application that comment seems
unnecessary; but there are SO many
parents who believe their duty is full
well done when they send their child
to the schoolroon, never inquil-ing into
the progress being mode or reasons
for delinquencies, that It is no doubt
a matter which offers n serious prob
lem to the pedagogue properly to pre-
sent to the parent.
Can there be any question upon the
tween parent and teacher? Could not
In such conferences inquiry be made
by the teacher of peculiarities OF the
child for which some special attention.
is REQUIRED? Are there not many re-
suits being sought by the teacher which.
the parent could. II he would, lend a
strong force to promote? 1t would seem
that without evidence further than the
exercise Of sound reasoning the mat.
ter is clearly proved. There can be.
only one answer.
1t Is frequently in the first years OF
childs education that he develops an
aversion for the school. If {, parent
hear such an aversion expressed, or il
the child's actions bctray his thought.
\ is 1t not a matter we'll worth Inquiry?
7 or in the school. or In the child, some
thing that thought and training might
remove. Considered in the light that
the schooldays of the child form the
foundation upon which he IS to erect
his future, is there a greater duty, OF
parent to child than to see that this
foundation Is stable?
Significant statements by Mr., Mcneil
are the following:
5"Some teaching is SO unscientfic and
consequently so spiritless that 1T would
make most any child delinquent. Par
ents and teachers often make delin-
duents Of children by falling to observe
the fundamental things and processes
incident to growth and development.
Permanent aversion TO school is the
Legitimate result of putting children
at work on studies they are not ma.
ture enough to comprehend"
4 The speaker condemned the attempt
to put high school branches into gram
mar grades or intermediate studies in
to primary grades, and said that edu-
cation agencies must look continuously
to the care of the physical and emo
tonal as well as to the intellectual
side OF education.
Society suffers from elements which.
are unstable. erratic. shiftless and in
efficient These elements corrupt
morals, lead to Irrational modes OF
living. and swell the hosts OF the
+ helpless and criminal who become the.
real burdens of society. Unless delin-j
quent classes have the benefits of the
Kind of education which is adapted to
their peculiar needs. they grow up
among us and recruit the army of
Z people who never fit anywhere. They
MI the poorhouses, the prisons. the
asSluins and the slums They produce
y and reproduce their kind and bring
about n feeling of social unrest, which
5gts growing in this complex age.
a allure on the part of the home
10 exercise even and forceful disci-
pine IS a moral sin which has put the
S su1'ae of Cain and the stamp of Satan
upon many a promising boy or girl
When %e realize the baneful work
Ing of uneven discipline growing out
! of weak-willed, inefficient parental
government we stand in the presence
of q great problem. How can we. Inn
press fathers and mothers and teachers
with the idea that weak and yaccillat-
Ing government of children blasts their
lives and makes them candidates for
the ranks of the ignoble?
The consideration of these truths ex-
pressed by Mr.. MCNEIL, many ques-
lions may arise. Chief Of the number
As that concerning the fitness of child
for certain study. The mental equip
E,,iliient OF all men is not alike The At
(! ness of a child and his inclinations are
frequent conpa Mons. And IN this
connection, inclination, is to be dis