Crossville chronicle. [volume] (Crossville, Tenn.) 1894-current, 1917-01-10
WHAT EDUCATION
MEANS TO A CHILD
Failing In That Chances for Success In
Life Are Very Poor, Compared
With a Person Whose Mind
Is Well Developed.


We sometimes see boy who has hat
practically no educational advantages
outstrip numbers of other boys wht
have been we'll taught and have enjoy
ed large opportunities to learn. Some
times, again. we see boy who has
had the best of educational advantages
grow up into complete failure.
From such individual cases as these
we are sometimes led to think of the
child S opportunities to get an educa'
ton Rs a matter of secondary import
tance. to argue that, as we commonly
say, ''If he has it in HIM 1t Will come
out" whether he goes to a good school
or a poor one, whether he quits at the
end of the primary school course or
goes on through college.
This idea that the kind of school he
attends Is a minor factor in the making
of a PERSONS lite is strengthened in
many minds by the stories SO often
told of the "self-made" men who have
done great things without having had
much opportunity to acquire an educa-
tlon while young.
LAW OF AVERAGES.
1t is always unsafe to draw general
conclusions from an individual case.
II ~ especially no when the Individual
case which ID CONSIDERED y unusual and
not typical. And this il just what
these cases of self-made men are. II
they we're typical cases they would not
attract 50 much attention.
The tact OF the matter is that ths
position the boys and girls of any
county or state will occupy when they
become men and women depends di-
rectly upon the school advantages they
have while young.
This is not true of every individual
boy or girl, but whenever sufficient
number Is considered to bring into play
the law of averages it holds good IN
every case.
KENTUCKY AND ALABAMA.
We know that the boys and girls
growing up in Kentucky to day will be
richer. on the average. live in better
homes, occupy higher places in lite,
have among them greater number OF
men and women of unusual attain
ments and success, than will the boys
and girls who are growing up today
in Alabama. We know this Will be
the case simply because we know that
the Kentucky children are attending
school more regularly, have longer
school terms, more educational oppor-
tunities generally, than the Alabama
children.
GENIUS NOT AN AVERGAE.
There may come from out the poorest
family IN the county, boy who will
grow to manhood untaught and iliter-
ate, and yet become the country's fore
most citizen. This we cannot foretell.
Genius IS not subject to the law of
averages.
But we can fcretell with all assur-
ance that a larger per cent of the
boys and girls now growing up in Ala
bama, than Of the children now grow
ing up in any other state, will live and
die poor men and women, that larger
per cent OF them will live IN ignorance,
do hard work for poor pay, be classed
with what we call the failures.
We can say this with surety because
Alabama is providing poorer schools
tor It's children than any other state.
CUMBERLAND COUNTY.
Or we can make the unit of compar-
ison smaller. We can say with all GER
tainty that the children now growing
up in Wilson county, Tennessee, will
be more prosperous more enterprising.
more important men and women in
business and society than the boys and
girls now growing up IN Cumberland
county, Tennessee. We know it sIm-
ply because we know that Wilson coun-
ty has better schools than Cumberland
county, and that the children attend