The Clio messenger. (Clio, Mich.) 1907-current, 1913-06-20
GIRLS
QUIT GOING

Washington.-The idea that chill
dren leave school to go to work be-
cause their parents need the money,
Is vigorously combatted in bulletin
issued by the United States bureau Of
education. The authors of the bulle-
tin have made a careful study of
trade and labor conditions among
girls in Worcester, Mass, preliminary
to the establishment 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 in
sist upon 1t.
The survey showed that the num-
Der OF girls between IA and 16 years
Of age who leave school is constantly
increasing. During the past five years
many more girls between those ages
left the Worcester schools than can
be accounted for by increase In popu-
lation. 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?
Various reasons were assigned by the
girls themselves. Some 80 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 a piano. One of these was a cash
girl of ID years. who had left the
ninth grade to go to work In a de-
partment store for 50, later $3.50 a
week. Another was a girl of Is from
the eighth grade, who went to work
in a corset factory for 81 and rose to
S4.82. Still another girl was taking
music lessons and contributing to
the payment on the plano.
Twenty-seven girls were found at
home. In some cases they had left to
help In homework, while 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 such place,
while the girl whose wage-earnins
power was small kept house for the
mother of the children.
Curious differences as to what the
parents thought they could afford
were discoveries: The mother of a
family of eight children, living in APP
parently direct 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 fam
lily Of six, living in comfortable
apartment house, with hardwood
floors, piano, and other luxuries,. said
her daughter wished to stay in school
longer, but the burden of supporting
the family was too heavy for the faith
er to bear alone; so the girl was Ia
ken out of school to go to work. A
visit to Swedish family revealed a
carpenter and his wife, a washerwo-
man, who had just built and owned a
new three-story apartment house. Yet
the 15-year-old daughter with a sew
enth-grade education had been sent to
NOIh III paper SOOuS ldCtOTy at %
week THE question why did you
leave school?' was put to some 1886
more mature workers In the corset
trade. Ninety-one per cent. of these
women had left school between the
ages of 13 and 16. and fully so per
cent. because of their dislike of school
or because they wanted to go to
work. OF "A workers In a clothing
factory S5 per cent. had left school
between the ages OF 13 and 16, 25
per cent. Of their own volition."
In the opinion of the authors of the
bulletin, conditions such as were
found in Worcester emphasizes the
imperative need for special training
Of practical sort for girls between
the ages of 13 and Is. In the main
the children left school simply be-
cause they disliked the school work.
Not getting the kind Of training they
might have liked and would have
profited by, they blindly Joined the
army of shifting, inefficient, discon-
tented girls that go from one monot-
onous factory job to another, and, be-
cause of their lack of training, rarely
rise above the class of low-paid,. un-
skilled workers.