The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1910-10-02
MANY LEAVE
SCHOOL TOO
EARLY IN LIFE
aoc;ATloN INSTITUTES ls DE.
SIGNED TIC. AssE THE YOUNG
MAN WHO DESIRES TO ACQUIRE
MORE EDUCATION.

In these days Of higher education.
with the emphasis upon specialized
training. there Is danger lest the boy
leave the public school before he has
finished the eighth grade and go to
work with the idea that an apprentice
ship or correspondence course in
something Or other by some special
short cut may win him nice job.
Even parents sometimes fall into the
same error.
1t is true that the man who knows
and can apply himself Is in demand.
IT is true that the man who is tech
nically trained earns the high wage.
1t is creditable that man desire TO
better himself, and recognizes the value
of study to do SO. But it is not wise
for the boy to leave the foundations
Of knowledge to, leap into the upper
story without some connection be.
tween the two.
More than two-thirds OF the boys or
Pensacola, between the ages Of Il and
IS, are not in school, the majority OF
whom have not had the equivalent of
even a sixth grade education; some
are hardly able to read and write and
yet their future earning power and
| their value as citizens depends largely
/ upon their education.
| During the past week, the educa-
tional director Of the Young Men s
| Christian Association visited many OF
the offices and shops in the city speak
| ing to men and boys about future pos
| sibilities and the preparation for the
same. He found some who We're not
interested; they had left school be.
fore the ambition and power of con-
centration had been stimulated and
are now drifting, whittier? Many
however, were very much interested
and had an earnest desire to get
ahead. A few Of these, and there are
many of whom record cannot be sc,
cured, had undertaken courses in
shorthand and in technical subjects
but because of their lack of reading
writing and arithmetic could not carry
these courses though they had been
paid for, because they could not grasp
the problems Of the special studies.
1t is difficult for boy to take dicta.
| ton in shorthand Of arother's English
! when he does not understand the prin.
ciples of the English which he speaks
1t is well nigh impossible for one to
take a course in draughting and
higher mathematics, when one has not
mastered fractions. There is no short
| Cut mere can De no leap from the
lower grades to responsible position
1t is absolutely essential that the prin
ciples of the three RS" be thoroughly
mastered.
Consequently, the Association Inst
tute, while offering to those who are
capable of carrying them, studies along
commercial and technical lines, aims
especially to give an opportunity to
the boy or man to commence his
studies where he is in educational I'M
Outstanding, whether that be in lower
grades or not, and to carry the student
from that point as far and as fast as
his ability will permit.
! The Institute does not seek to stand
as a substitute for the public school,
but in every way encourages the re.
turn to school on the part of the boy
who can do so. On the other hand,
for the boy who cannot go to school
it affords an opportunity for him to
show the stuff that is in him by de-
veloping his intellectual powers and
increasing his knowledge, with first
things first.
Regular class work, in subjects ad-
vertised in another column of this pa
per, begins Monday evening at 1880.