Evening capital and Maryland gazette. (Annapolis, Md.) 1910-1922, 1910-10-06
THE EDUCATION OF BOYS
Extracts From Address Delivered By
Thomas StOckham Baker Al Johns
Hopkins Reading For
BOYS And Parents


The little pamphlet the topic of
which is The Education of Boys" a
reprint from the Johns Hopkins Cir
cular, should be in the hands of all
boys and young men.
The full text is that of an address
delivered at the commencement of
Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore.
last June, by DR.. Thomas Stockham
Baker, the Director of Tome Institute
for Boys, at Port Deposit. In part.
DR.. Baker says:
" A great school must have a great
faculty. This is the first and chief es.
sential. The faculty of the school
should be selected with quite as much
care as the faculty of the college. 1t
is not necessary, and indeed not pos
sible that the school master should be
continually occupied as a scientific in
vestigator, but in order to command
proper authority for the subjects
which he processes, his scholarship
must be sound and extensive, and he
should be filled with the spirit of
research. Boys cannot be expected
to gain high regard for learning if
they perceive gaps in the information
Of their n asters. 1t must b. remem-
bared that the schools are to train the
future men of letters and tre future
scientists and the boys inter -sts are
determined by the example OF the man
whom he meets at school. His teach
ers should, therefore, have a wiAe
sympathy with scholarly pursuits.
Schools, therefore should be apart
from the restless life of the world
they should discourage the growing
diversions which increase the uns, /
tlement of boys attention and d
stroy the possibility of mis- ever be.
coming a student in the real sense Of
the word. Boys should be started
on their lives calmly, soberly and de-
liberately, and no school can achieve
high success without striving to reach
this ideal.
"The greatness of the school does
not consist in the compexity of its
curriculum or the novelty of it's pro-
gram of instructions. 1t is much
better to have large draughts from a
few subjects than to slip lightly from
many different kinds of books.
THE great school must also have
traditions. We teachers are like the
alchemists of former times. We are
continually seeking the formula which
will turn the base metal of the
youthful mind into golden mental
power. We go on cropping, but we
have not yet found the magical for
mula, and we never shall. There is
no secret or mystery about the train
ing of boys. 1t is a question of sur
rounding them with the best men and
the hest influences. They must be re-
quired to live industrious lives and we
must leave the rest to some higher
power.
''In order to attain the best success,
schools should cultivate traditions
traditions of high character, courage
and sound scholarship. Such legacy
will in itself, without the assistance
of teachers or books. serve as a real
educational force 1t must be borne
in mind that only part of a boys
education is received from his mas
ters. From his teachers he learns the
lessons of books. from his fellows he
learns the lessons of life. The school
community is little world where
the rebukes and corrections which
come from its members are as sharp
as they are in the larger world. On
this account which govern the con-
duct of boys must be lofty.
Wisdom is to be sought for, rather
than learning. We must have cul-
ture, but must also attempt to teach
and improve other qualities. We must
avoid the suggestion that is convey
ed in the scriptural statement that
much learning is WEAKNESS to the
flesh. In striving for higher ideas.
we must not fall into the danger
of allowing books to rob US of our
powers of initiative. Let US be as
learned, let US be as scientific as we
can be, but above all things, let US
be Americans with all that this
word carries with it of energy,
mental vigor and independence.