Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1910-02-02
,hoice. 1t is surely unreasonable tc
oil, for GOOD reSultS undor these cir

| choice 1t is surely unreasonable to
cumstances: there must be the closest
adaptation Of the man to the position
he fills if the result is to be happy. No
ORC would EXPECT successfully to NOW
q lawn with safety razor, yet the ra-
2or is much better adapted to that
work than are some people for the jobs
they holl.
We take some degree of paternal
care for our children up to the time
they leave school, and then as they APP
preach what the valedictorian is so
fond of calling the "untried and I'M
chartered ocean of life" we leave them
absolutely without guidance to sink or
swim as best they may. Why do We
without protest allow the near sight
Cd hoy to become a chauffer, the dull
cared girl TO become a Stenogapher,
the chemically careless youth to be-
come druggist, and the intellectual!
lightweight to become a preacher? OR
why is not some effort made to guide
the 10y of constructive mind, artistic
bent and mechanical skill into some
thing which will afford wider range
for his powers than the clerical
position in candy shop which may
happen to be the first opening he
finds:
Modern industry is exceedingly COM
pieX and il is difficult process for the
boys and girls from fourteen to eigh-
teen years of age. or older, to find out
IN what lire they are most likely to be
successful
Few homer have the equipment eth
cr physical or mental, to give proper
advice to their own outgoing children.
Our public schools, however, are or
Ganized specifically to fit children tor
the duties of after life. and there would
seem to he every reason why the
Gchoo1s should undertake to help the
child in an intelligent choice of voca-
zion. 1t would undoubtedly be possible
10 maintain information bureaus
which could serve the purpose of vo-
cational direction in connection with
our high schools and upper grammar
grades. The thousands of boys and
girls who come yearly out of the
schools seeking employment might,
through SUCH buTeduS, W dIuCu ~ Iii't
employment best suited to their indiv
ual capacities.
Let me emphasize what I believe to
De most important This task of voca-
tiollal suggestion is SO great, and may
be of so mrc!, value, that it should be
undertaken by specially qualified per-
son who may be able to devote his
whole time and interests to the work.
A vocation bureau, either under pri-
vate management or as branch of
the public school work, ought 20 be es-
tablished in every city. Such bureaus
are in operation iii Boston, New York,
Cincinnati and in other American cit
les, some of them under the direction
of the school department; others con-
Quoted by the Y NJ. G. A.; others un-
der wholly private management In
Germany, where educational probiem2
have been so successfully studied and
SO wisely solved, work similar to this
suggested has been carried on for u
generation: in Scotland, too, this Kind
of work is being most successfully
done. Industrial conditions in Amcri-e
ca make intelligent vocational counsel
much more important than in either
Germany or Scotland. Here is o fruit
fuE field FIR the public school and for
private, social and philanthropic agen-
cies 49, ~ :