Custer weekly chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, S.D.) 1890-1931, 1916-06-03
TEE PROBLEM OF EDUCATION.

tomorrow, aud as the boy is, 80 shall the
man be. The man whose early educa
tion has been neglected, or directed
along wrong lines, is worthless anc
dangerous member of society. Accord
ing to Gods designs he was to accom-
plish purpose in life
Today there is noticeable a healthy
awakening to the seriousness of the
problem of educating our boys, and pro
moters Of social reform are eagerly seek
ing for means of safeguarding the youth
from the baneful influences that sur
round him, and which interfere with the
molding OF his character along lines Of
uprightness and truth They have dis
covered that the wrongly educated boy
constitutes one Of the most prolific
sources of the evils that threaten society.
The Indifference of parents will al
most Of necessity be reflected in the
| child and if the lives of those boys who
| have gone astray were carefully looked
| into, it would be found that in the ma
jorlty of cases the parents are to blame,
Through the selfshness of parents, who
deprived their boys of moral and relig-
ious training in the home and by refus-
ing to send them to school, these boys
have gone forth into the world to strug-
gle uuarmed against the temptations
that abound on every side. This i'm
portant problem Of the education of our
boys demands then the attention of
every conscientious loyal citizen. Edu-
cation demands moral as well as intel
lectual development, and both are in-
dispensabe to individual or national
prosperity Wonderful opportunities for
physical and intellectual development
are afforded the boy of today, and we
are proud of our public school system,
and by developing the boys body, mind
aud. will, we will have being who re-
fleets the beauty Of God and is an honor
to his race, obedient to authority and
respectful Of his own dignity and of the
rights of his fellow man.
The world today needs men of moral
training, men trained in honesty and
virtue. Thinking men, realizing how
few Of these noble characters are to be
found tremble for the future of society
In this glorious couutry of ours, equip
ped with system Of widespread educa
ti,, tbara ;a gr,y,at d 80, ,..,,,,yr 80
where as is evidenced by a deadened
sense of duty and responsibility by con
tempt of religious obligation, by lack of
respect for the enactment of civil law,
by immortality as displayed in art, by
moral degeneracy as portrayed in daily
conduct, by the terrifying records of the
Divorce court, and by inuumerable other
crimes with which this world is teeming
Our deficiency arises, not from litter
acy, but from defective system of edu-
cation in the home where moral and
religious training are neglected.
Today our own boys, who viii be the
men of tomorrow, are standing on the
threshold of tempting but treacherous
world, filled with pitfalls and dangers,
and il is the parents duties to now pre-
pare them for the struggle that lies be-
fore them, or prove recreant to sacred
duty. Ii is therefore foregone conclu-
sion that parents shall give to both boys
and girls an education that will enable
them to cope successfully with the con-
stantly growing demands of modern So
cial and commercial life-even to make
sacrifices in order to afford them every
advantage in an educational way.
Social position and wealth are mutable
things; and every girl should be pre-
pared to earn living, if she must.
While high school education can be
said to be sufficient for all practical pur-
poses, it is just as certain that the girl
with more than a merely high school
education has an advantage, the value
OF which must not be underestimated.
Communication with fellow men aud
women calls for power of expression,
oral or written, simple or direct, force
full and fascinating, which she must pos
sess if she is to be useful, intelligent
member of society. In our complicated
life today every particular of school
training is bound to tell, and because of
the democratic spirit of our country, the
American woman Of the future will have
more opportunity to exercise that power
sphere is becoming more and more ex-
tended, aud in consequence, her inAu-
ence has much wider range. One edu-
Gated woman in community raises the
standard of that community.
How shall we educate our girls?
wonder if parents realize the profound
| significance of this question, and if they
| fully realize the Importance of the ans.
wers given. We, who give our lives to
the work of educating girls, are not un.
| mindful of the legitimate demands that
the world and human society will make
on them. We know only too well aud
it is for this reason that the parents aim
should be, to equip their girls and
strengthen them SO that no matter into
what position they may, in the natural
order of things or by force of circum-
stances, be placed later in life--they will
] be always a credit to them and glory
to womanhood. Our girls destiny is in
our hands. She will not always remain
girl Womanhood, and that may also
mean wifehood and motherhood, as in.
deed it does perhaps IN the majority OF
cases, will claim her in due season. One
| education, therefore, should aim 10 take
! her safely through the period of girl
hood, while equipplng her for whatever
state of life she may choose. The intlu-