The Virginia enterprise. [volume] (Virginia, St. Louis County, Minn.) 1893-19??, 1914-03-27

From Mondays Daily.
The ambitious juvenile presidential
possibility, the logy boy whose ma
ture absolutely units him for high
estate and the trifiing Office boy who
will either be jailbird or captain
Of industry according as he is handled
these are the three great classes of
wage earning boys in the United
States, according to C. C. Robinson,
Of New York, the international secre-
tary of the Y. M. C. A., for wage
earning boys.
"The great evil visited on wage
earning boys in this country in the
critical period between IA and 16 has
been the tendency to put them all in
one class instead of recognizing the
three great divisions and providing
specific training in the continuation
schools suited to the special BEND"
declares Secretary Robinson.
"There was never anything more
absurd than the idea every American
boy may become president of the
United States. There is a great class
Of logy, unambitious boys in this
country absolutely unified for presi-
Dental timber. You can't make silk
purse out of sow's ear. All we can
do with this class is find out their
special bent and develop them in it
as far as possible. This class is sus-
ceptible of certain amount Of cul-
ture but they will never arise to
high estate.
Need Careful Handling.
1.-The class that requires the most
delicate handling is the 'trif1ing' class
of boys. They are the class of smart,
alert youngsters from which the great
army Of Office boys are recruited The
destinies of such boy lie largely
with the employer. The trifling boy
will either rise in the business world,
drift aimlessly, or go to jail. 1t was
from this class that the $4,000 aimless
boys recently found in Massachusetts,
were recruited.
"The continuation school ideal to-
Eward which we are working in this
county is that Of Munich, Germany,
where 80 per cent Of aHwage earning
boys are accounted for in the contin-
uation school. There they first get
foundation of general instruction
and are later brought into vocational
training best suited to their natural
bend, sought out from the start.
"Your technical high schools never
will meet the needs of the great mass
of wage earners until you have found
means of bridging the critical gap
between IA and Is with proper con-
tinuation school training for all wage
earning boys. They have about the
best continuation school method that
I have thus far observed in this coun-
try in the city of Milwaukee. There
two half days week in the continu-
alton school is compulsory for all
wage earning boys and girls as soon
as they get their working papers. In
these Milwaukee schools the German
idea of first giving general instruc.
ton and then gradually linking the
pupil to the special vocation best
adapted to him, is carefully followed
Every half day at school missed by
the wage Garner means the loss of 9
half days pay.
Children Like to Stay.
"In Gary, Ind, they have caught
the idea of making school so attrac
tive that children are held just 81
long as family conditions will allow
Each child is given personal part il
the management of the school room
The teacher appoints different pupils
every day to maintain the rules O.
. operation and takes a back seat her
self.
"The employers of child labor il
this country must be taught that tn
) function Of youth is growth and de
velopment of body and mind; that
is criminal for them to attempt t.
coin material wealth out of human
lives. The advance we are making il
this regard in this country is YER