The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1912-03-24
PLANS TOEDUCATE
. CHILDREN OFPOOR
Something Must Be Done to
Eradicate Ignorance From
Young Who Must Work.
WHAT STATE SHOULD DO
New York Teacher Would Ex-
tend Compulsory Educa-
ton by State.
WHAT STATE SHOULD DO
Especial to The Times. Dispatch.)

whose parents cannot afford to keep
them in school, and for those in
dustries which claim that they must
have these children or 20 TO the wall?'
This is the problem which a clear
eyed, thoughtful, look-ahead teacher
has set himself to solve. He is
Arthur ID. Dean. chief of the Division
of Vocational Schools of the Educ;,-
tion Department of New York State,
DR.. Dean believes that the time has
come to meet this all important uucs-
ton squarcly.
Il would amend. develop and extend
The present compulsory educational
law he says, so as To include much
more than age maturity. Ch.ldhcn
Under sixteen should not We employed
iii trades and Industries Unless their
employer Is ready and willing TO CO.
operate with the school system so that
pupils may attend the day school for
few hours each Week where they
may receive further instruction i'll
reading arithemetic and citizenship, as
Wei as vocational training"
Problem Can BE solved.
The knotty problem, Dr. Dean be-
lieves, can he solved, and solved
economically, by having local schools
join with local industries in such Il
way that boys and girls may earn
money in shops and stores where they
set practical instruction., and at the
same time get in the schools for few
hours each week such work as relates
directly TO their vocation. Schools
that shall do this work he calls Co
operative or continuation schools"
The schools OF yesterday" says DR..
Dean, trained the boys and girls for a
Job; the schools of to-day are begin
ming to train them for vocation: the
schools of tomorrow will not only
train our youth to get the best posi- /
bic job, but will make provision for
them to continue the cducativc process.
In the tomorrow the State will have
the right TO say to the employer: This
boy is still in his teens. He needs to
grow mentally ind physically. His
present work is coniinnS and narrow
ing. You want his services. He needs
your money. We recognize these mu-
tual relations. However,. still more
does the state need him a useful
and efficient citizen. For this reason
we require you to release him from his
work and allow him TO attend a part
time school in order that he may cx-
pand."
I'm the ideal condition, asserts DR.. !
Dean. mo child should be allowed -
go To work until he has the elements
OF a fundamental education and some
knowledge acquired by training ana
school experience in the vocation he
enters. At present the State says tina
youth may go TO work at fourteen
years of age If he can read, write and
figure. 1t does not ask what he is go
ing into. how long he is going to stay
~ II. what he knows about the voca-
lion he enters, or what preparation he
has had Tor II. Competition for daily
bread drives immature youth into the
labor market.
Eyes are fixed on the necessities of
the moment and the dollar sign IS
foremost Few have the good fortune
to get Into the store or shop which
offers means for acknowledgment. In
dustry Ia asserted to require young
people who shall perform the same
manipulation day after day. But in
dustry Is not the aim of human So
clety. The aim of society is the tn
crease of human wealth. II industry
continues recklessly to disregard this
aim II becomes :. danger not only for
the State. but also in the end for it
self The aims of industry and Of the
State sometimes appear TO BIO antag-
onistic. They are not really so. The
former profits by the use of economic
forces, the latter should profit by the
development OF moral and intellec-
tuGl forces"
Stntc Must Exercise Right
II is pr. DR.. Deans prediction that
within five years provision Will be
made in New York State for such con-
tinuation schools" He stands square
ly on the proposition that the State
should exercise the same right 10
oversee the mental conditions under
which immature children work. and to
apply Co operative measures for their
benefit as well as for the benefit of .
the employer as 1t now exercises over
hours of labor, factory sanitation and
the use of dangerous machinery. The 4
vocational school has pointed out the
way for still further development. and (
employers can well afford to aid tho
forward movement. The State has use
for her citizens for ali time and the
proper spending of the years between
fourteen and seventeen Is worth more
TO the State than it Is to any indus /
try. Some good people would keep
children In the present schools until I
they are eighteen. but school men
know that many a child Will not drink
at the educational watering trough !
Others would provide preparatory In I
dustr training to enlist the interest |
of parents and pupils. This idea comes |
nearer the mark. but does not fully
meet the situation.
Summing IT all up. DR.. Dean says:
IN hrlet, IL is proposed that no child
between the ages of fourteen and
seventeen years is to he employed in
the trades and Industries unless the
employer Is ready and willing to allow
him to attend for six hours week n
public day continuation school. This
plan would work comparatively little
hardship on the employer. He would
not be denied the privilege of en-
ployinG children between the ages OF
foM ri
themselves would not be denied tho
| opportunity Of earning money. For
the privilege Of employing these chill
dren tho employer must make some
| sacrifice. and this sacrifice Is for tho
| public good and In tho long run must
| necessarily rebound to the benefit OF
| all manufacturing interests"
Accepts Call TO LynchburE.