Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1909-02-04
WHICH SCHOOL FOR THE BOY.

TO the ordinary parent, confronted
with the task of picking out a boarding
school for his son, the abundance of
such schools seems at first sight to lie
most encouraging. With many to
choose from. tho choice should be easy.
Yet when he comes TO nearer view
the choice proves not 50 easy after all.
These schools vary almost as much in
kind and quality as they do in name
and location. SAYS a writer In the Fohr-
uarv Appletons. What test shall he
apply in order to be sure that the school
he selects is really good one? They all
teach substantially the same subjects
and prepare boys to enter the same col
leges How shall he look beyond the
mere matter of scholarship to tho far
more important ones of preparation for
life and formation of character? It will
be small gain to his son to be well pre-
pared for the college examinations If
he has not at the same time been we'll
prepared FOR the freedom and responsi
bilty OF college life.
In New England. twenty or thirty
years ago, such a parent would have
had TO choose between two types of
school-if We may omit the purely mill
tarv type from consideration. on the
ono hand We're the old academies. prac-
tically little colleges so far as Internal
discipline was concerned. and on the
other were what may call for want
Of better name. the private boarding
schools. exercising the closest suporvi
sion over their pupils and surrounding
them with rules and restrictions which
kept them ont of mischief perhaps but
took away the opportunity for self-con-
troll
Neither % these two types. If Judged
by the character and conduct Of their
graduates at the various New England
colleges seems to have successfully
solved tho problem Of college prepare
! ton. The graduates ot the boarding
schools were notorious at that time for
running wild in college: they had been
so closely guarded at school that they
were lost in tho freedom Of their new
surroundings; they were children face
70 face with the responsibilities Of men.
| Compa red with them the graduates Of
, the academies behaved like Erandfathers
| They We're neither bewldered nor swept
| off their feet by the opport unities Of
their new life. fo- 4 was not really a
new life for them. Except for n greater
latitude in their choice Of studies they
! found no substantial increase OF free
dom at college over what they had been
used 10 at school. and from the very
beginning Of their freshman year they
were we'll noised. sclf-contained. self-re
! l,ant men Yet they We're not wholly per
| feet either: they lacked something that
I n young man ought to have: they gave
. one the impression Of being ovcrwell
acquainted with life; nothing surprise i
them. nothing shocked Them nothing
excited them very much: thov had the
air Of being little men Of the world
which IS not pleasant thing in a
youth In short the trouble seemed to
be that tho private boarding. school boys
on the one hand had had too little free
dom. too little chance to take care of
themselves. and that the academy bows
on tie Other. had had TOO little over
sight too little restriction. and had
therefore lost something of the bloom of
youth.