Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1913-05-29
WHY GIRLS LEAVE SCHOOL

The idea that children leave school
to 90 to work, because their parents
need the money, is vigorously combat
ed in a bulletin just issued by the
United States bureau of education.
The authors of the bulletin have made
a careful study of trade and labor con-
ditions among girls in Worcester,
Mass, preliminary to the establish
ment Of a trade school for girls They
find that from one-half TO three-fourths
/ OF the girls at work in the factories
could have had further schooling if
they had wanted TO or if their parents
| had cared to insist upon it.
! The survey showed that the number
of girls between II and 16 years of
age who leave school is constantly in
creasing During the past five years
many more girls between those ages
left the Worcester schools than can be
accounted for by increase in popula-
ton. Only about II per cent of them
had finished the grammar schools:
most of them left in the sixth and
seventh grades.
Why did the girls leave school? Var
ious reasons were assigned by the girls
themselves. Some thirty girls said
they did not like school," could not
get along with the teacher" were not
promoted, or wanted to go to work.
Two were working to help pay for z
piano. One Of these was a cash girl
or IA years who had left the ninth
grade TO go to work in a department
store for 81, later $3.50 a week. An
other was a girl of Is from the eighth
grade, who went to work in a corset
factory for 81 and rose TO S4.S2. Still
another girl was taking music lessons
and contributing to the payment on the
piano
Twenty-seven girls were found at
home. In some cases they had left to
help in homework. while a few had
left at time of temporary stress and
then had not returned TO school. Four
girls had changed places with the
mother, who worked in a corset fac
tory. laundry, or some other place,
while the girl. whose wage-earning
power was small, kept house for the
mother OF the children.
Curious differences as to what the
parents thought they could afford were
discovered. The mother of a family
Of eight children. living in apparently
direst poverty, would have been glad
TO have sacrificed and pinched still
further to have had her daughter stay
In school longer, If she would. The
mother of another family of six, living
In comfortable apartment house. with
hardwood floors, piano. and other lux
p uries, said her daughter wished 20 STAY
: in school longer, but the burden o.
supporting the family was too heavy
b for the father to bear alone: so tho
girl was taken out of school to go tc
work. A visit to a Swedish family re
vealed a carpenter and his wife. &
washerwoman, who had just built anC
owned a new 3-story apartment house
Yet the 15-year-old daughter with z
seventh grade education had been sen
10 work in a paper goods factory at s:
week. The question, Why did vol
p leave school?" was put to some 3St
mere mature workers in the ccrse
trade. Ninety-one per cent Of thes,
women had left school between IN,
ages Of - and Is, and fully 80 pc
cent because Of their dislike Of schoo
+ or because they wanted to go to work
, OF a workers in a clothing factory. s.
, per cent had left school between tn
ages of 10 and 1G, IS per cent of thei
own volition.
In the opinion of the authors of tn,
bulletin. conditions such as were fount
, in Worcester emphasize the impera
tive need for special training of
practical sort for girls between tn
. ages Of Is and Is. In the main. tn
: children left school simply becaus
they disliked the school work. No
, getting the kind of training they nigh
have liked and would have profited by
, they blindly joined the army of shift,
! ing. inefficient. disconnected girls tha
4 go from one monotonous factory TO an
! other, and, because Of their lack O
Z training. rarely rise above the class O
! iow-paid, unskilled workers.