The Washington herald., 1913-10-28

Vocational training is on every
tongue. It sounds impressive. 1t is i'm
pressive, when we understand what it
actually means. The words carry this
fine idea-"Teaching boys and girls how
to md their place in the world"
More than half OF the readers Of this
sentence wasted years after they left
school The key to the worlds stored-up
knowledge was theirs through the priyi-
lege of reading. But how and where to
find the door to their own place In the
world was beyond them. They fioundered
in uncertainty. They turned this way
and that; only late did they find the
right place. Some have not yet come to
this joy. Some never will.
Not one Of US but that protests against
this waste, this dready, fruitless Sahara
in our lives. Not one of US but that
knows our eager youth could have been
shown q better, shorter cut to where
we are. Some of US declare with urgent
emphasis that it is up to people of vision
Of this generation, in memory of our
wasted years. to build a monument to a
happier world in the lives Of the chill
dren OF today.
Rights of Children.
We must agree as to certain rights
of the child. No two children are ex-
actly alike in powers; therefore. no
two are absolutely equal But after
the figment OF equality Is disposed of
there remains a conviction of greater
mportance-every normal child has a
right to come up to maturity. and there
taste the Joy OF knowing that in the
worlds vast machinery 1t is one little
right-placed cog.
Why so urgent? Because. for every
person life is only one very short
speech between siiences For each
living human there is just one throw
at life, no trying over, no turning back.
This clear truth reaches some of us
and produces selfshness. We pine over
the relentless, forward drive, but do
nothing to make 1t less distressing for
those who come next But some who
haye suffered by the stupidity of blum
dering around are alive to declare that
the whole educational system. ccnserv-
atism. contentment with things as they
are, must of necessity, be jolted out
Of placidity in order that the average
world with 1T hands, alert mind, eager
spirit Such is the spirit of the insis-
tent call for vocational training"
Changed Demands ON labor.
Things have changed in the world
since the time of our grandparents An
Industrial age has succeeded an agricul-
tural and professional age. The coun-
try child learns much by doing; the
city child has but little chance. yet
nearly half OF all the scholars Of the
nation are found in cities and towns.
Ninety per cent Of them will never go
to high school All such must earn a
living, and to do so the majority will
work with their hands Yet We force
them through eight years of studies
leading toward high school and college
which they will never reach
1t is an absurd and altogether i'll
directed effort. Reading: Yes. because
IL opens doors to knowledge. Writing?
Yes, because 1t provides an outlet for
ideas Arithmetic? Yes. in some de-
gree, because its simple elements enter
into much of daily life The vocational
idea insists that there shall be added
other essentials-how things are made
what things are made in our town.
what chance there is for a boy in this
or that line; the teacher and parent in
the meantime eagerly trying to catch a
glimpse into the child-mind through the
thing or the process that seems to
arouse the greatest response As the
years 20 by with the normal child and
its stay in the grades comes near an
end. It may have given some indication
of what II wants to do. Either that one
opening should be striven for. or the
child should go to work at anything
experimentally, still under the watch of
the educational forces OF the nation so
as to insist that IL a clerk II may
through continuation schools, come to
efficiency; of IL in q factory, IL may