Newark post., 1912-04-24
EEG}? SCHOOL PROBLEMS
.,,ffrI.r.. rom page >

,'.-iti'lI'f., II ''i4i lfiSS
I,rn,& States Commissioner Of
rInrati"u fortN-one boys will not
r4urll ,hr second Year: sixty-two
# thr orjginal hundred will not re-
tnrn the third. and seventy-six will
not return the fourth year. Of the
twont> -four left. somewhere from
Ave- t. ten viii 90 to college. Here
tbpn are the American Beauty
rs,S. for which we have pinched
If ninety to Minety-fve buds. And
after all ou?' trouble the college
tolls u> that Of these only one is
r.oIIv il rose and that the rest are
rpaIv ~unhower>.
Ia = $ - 81 Il -
"Plra>v. Professor Virgil. NAV [
lrop Latin and algebra? When |
mtN"G | expected to go through
,rhooI and 90 on to college: but my
father ,N"d last summer. My
mother says that if | will sell pa
op,> his winter she will try to
keen M. in school until June. Then
T mast ret Il job and help support
my yotlu@rr brothers and sisters. |
would like to take something that
will nrp me next June.'
Then YOU gave the boy a nice
mthc.iy talk, wherein YOU painted
picture Of the beauty of culture
and the mysteries Of mental diScip-
line en- canvas already filed with
ronl,Itutions Of rent. potatoes and
coal. N0u ended Your dissertation
with It casual remark that YOU
could Mot think Of letting him drop
these Subjects. anyway, because
YOUR fir>t official duty is to uphold
the Standard Of the school. Maybe.
under your breath. You We're ours
ing the whole culture. mental dis
ciplinc. and upholding the stand
ard fetish. and wishing you could
rive the boy what he needed TO
help him meet his problem: but if
YOU were diplomatic YOU held your
pearo-and your job.
The high school is failing to
solve it> social problem for two rea-
sons: first. because it is too mar
row: second. because the method
and scope Of its teaching is cramp-
ed into the Chinese shoe Of tradi-
ton. The one thing it is trying
hardest to do is to meet the en-
trance requirements of the colleges.
Thouwh the college has br0adened
its own curriculum So as to meet
all the varied demands Of our com
plicatrd social and industrial or
der it is only beginning to accept
for preparation anything but the
old SuhjectS-language, mathemat-
les. science and history. Until the
college hroadens the scope of their
entrance requirements. the high
school will he greatly narrowed for
hundreds Of thousands of pupils
who will never see the inside Of col,
lege halls.
= :. Il
The first essential of any pro
gram Of studies is proper provi
sion for the mother tongue. Al
present. under the guidance of the
college professors. We are dlssect
ng under our pedantic microscope
a few of our great literary master
pieces. classifying their qualities OF
style. writing learned dissertations
in school boy English on questions
about which no school boy cares
pegtop. learning some facts abon
the lives Of their authors. and rem
dering most Of our pupils immune
to any appeals Of noble sentimen
IN prose or verse they might rul
across in their journeys III tn
world. If on the other hand, w
began with the boy who, as Lowell
says is occasionally
Known Ia unbend or to revel one
In base hockey, marbles. or klcl
up the devil once
We should perhaps read Sherloc
Holmes first: but we should eel
tanly find short road TO Shake
spcarc and Scott. Then. instead O
classifying qualities Of style o
Smothpring the author with phll'
logical rXegesiS. We should try
develop in the boy an unfailing az
4 petite for mrpat literature that WI