The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1918-06-08
TOPEKA STATE JOURNAL
INFORM A TION
BUREAU
FREDERIC J. HASKIN, Director.
n
SUMMER SCHOOL
Washington. D. c.

SUMMER SCHOOL
Washington, d. c., June 6.-This
summer thousands Of American chill
dren will remain in school. The long
summer vacation, in which they
roamed the streets and forgot all they
knew, is fast becoming a privilege OF
the past For the summer school is
no longer an experiment.; it has come
to stay. Over 200 American cities
now have su nj m er elementary
schools; 100 cities have summer high
schools, and it is expected that many
more communities will establish sum-
| mer schools this year
After a careful study OF the ques-
ton, the bureau OF education has re-
Gently announced itself in favor of a
summer school term for children.
Commissioner Claxton points out that
the annual school term in most OF our
cities is not more than $50 days,
which means that children who are
never absent attend school less than.
half the days in the year, or a little
more than one hour in every ten. II
! is apparent that the rest of their days
represent a great waste OF time ana
energy.
The need for a longer school term
| has been urged by prominent educa-
tors ever since the beginning of pub
lie education in this country, although
| in the beginning the school term was
| much longer than it is now. In most
places it was divided into four terms
| of IL weeks, with a vacation of
week at the end of each term. Then
gradually holidays were added, and
| the school day shortened, until in 1915
| II was estimated that the school term
| in the average city had been short
| ened 1000 hours a year. 1t was re-
- n n
| this shortening could not go on. and
educators began to agitate the ques-
| ton of summer schools.
Immediately a number of objections
were raised. The health of the chill
! dren would be ruined, people de-
| clared If they had to remain In school
all summer. Municipal authorities OBJ
| jected on the ground that all-year
| schooling was an unnecessary expense,
| and said that it would also be difficult
| to procure teachers to teach thruout
| the summer. As matter of fact. all
| of these objections have proved I'M
! rea sonab1e.
The health of the children attend
| ing summer schools has not only not
| been ruined, but 1t has been I'M
proved. This is not surprising when
you compare the housing conditions
in the tenement districts of any city
with the city school room. The tene-
ments are overcrowded. badly venti-
lated and hot; the schoolrooms are
! filled only to a comfortable capacity
| and are light, well ventilated and fair
| ly cool.
| Moreover, in cities having medical
and nursing service in their schools,
this service is continued turnout the
summer, SO that the health of the
| children attending summer schools is
| well cared for. In some schools they
continue to receive physical training,
| and good health habits formed during
| the regular term are not forgotten in
a long summer vacation. Reports from
physicians and nurses show that chill
dren who have been away from
return ia poorer physical condition
than those who have remained in
school. Even those who have spent
| their vacations at summer resorts are
| in no better physical condition than
| those who nave stayed in school, be-
| cause their recreation is likely to have
been of dissipating nature.
One school physician told DIR. w. S.
| Deffenbaugh. who made a study of
summer schools for the bureau of ed
! ucation, that II children could go to
the country every summer and live a
healthy, normal life with plenty of
exercise, he would be in favor of clos
ing every summer school, but that
| since these ideal conditions did not ex
list he considered the best place for
| them was in the schoolroom or in the
| school gymnasium or Fairgrounds. AS
to the effect of summer school on the
child's nervous system, there are con-
flicting opinions. DR.. Charles L. Dana,
| professor of nervous diseases at Cor
| nell university, who has made study
| of the effect Of school work on chill
| dren, declares that "the mental fatigue
of children has been greatly exagger-
ated mental fatigue is often
| mistaken for the effects of Door ven
| tlat1on or undernourishment and that
| children could stand a longer school
term without injury to their health.
The children themselves are surprfs-
1ngly enthusiastic concerning summer
school courses. Ambitious children, of
| course, arS interested in gaining a
grade or two by the time they are old
enough to secure their work certifi-
Gates, but even unambitious children
like the summer school. In many
schools representative of the burea Il
or education asked the children to
write compositions, explaining their
reasons for attending school during
the summer. TT keeps you from
hanging around the streets and saves
liyou from trouble " wrote one boy. An
tother boy said: I'm my home it is not
very comfortable during the summer.
| as the sun SHINES IN, making II very
warm, and In the streets it is warmer,
SO go to school rather than get heat
ed-up.'
A girl wrote: zone DAY / heard nv
mother say to friend of ours. when
sne said that children ought not to go
10 school during the summer, Why
not! AT home they sit around ask
ing me every now and then what they
should do. In school they have plenty
OF work to do"
This illustrates the attitude of most
parents interviewed by the representa-
tive of the bureau of educatton con.
corning their opinions of the summer
school One mother explained the at
ttitude OF the other women in her
neighborhood toward the summer
term when she said: THE children il
LETT to run the streets. would be fight.
ing and learning bad things. Some
parents take up the quarrels of their
children, and then there Is a general