Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1918-05-21
WARS EFFECT IN
GERMAN SCHOOLS

nation on present educational con-
! ditons in Germany, the bureau OF
education, department of the inter
ior. has made public the following
transIations from an article by Dr.
Paul Hildebrandt in the Vossische
Zeitung, Berlin, Jan. %, 1918. After
reciting the early enthusiasm OF
German youth for the war and their
activities in behalf of war meas
ures, the article continues:
The sixth grade pupils of 1914
are now about to be promoted to
the upper third. They have become
accustomed to the war. Who can
wonder, then. that now, in the
fourth year OF the war, our chill
dren exhibit signs of change? Too
many of the restraints have been
removed which should shape their
dovelopment-the loosening of fam
lily ties, the father at the front, the
mother employed away from home
doing the work % men; the omis-
sion Of school discipline. OF the
teachers Of the Berlin schools, for
instance, twO-thirds have gone into
| the army. The remainder are over
worked. Dropping class periods or
| combining classes together are the
order Of the day. In the higher
schools half of the teachers are in
the army. Furthermore, standards
| in the higher institutions of learn
! ing have gradually been lowered
until the final examination has been
pushed back fully two classes. All
| these conditions have Influenced
our students and have weakened
| their persistence, since they see
/ that they can attain a scholastic
| standing without effort that for
merly demanded the severest appli-
| cation.
Young people follow the law of
their nature They are guided by
| the impressions of the moment and
they cannot permanently resist
them. In addition, as time went on,
| especially in case of the students
VI lllSliCi lllSllbAIlCLAo, anu PAL I'LL
| larly in the towns, the hardship of
! inadequate nOurishment appeared.
1t is the unanimous judgment of
medical specialists that the chill
dren of the middle classes suffered
most in this respect. General at.
tention was attracted 70 the fact
that the children were less sensi-
tive to reprOOf, that they paid no
more attention to threats, because
the school authorities had directed
that they should be treated with
every leniency, and since promo
tons no longer represented any
definite standard Of accomplish
ment. This special consideration
for the children was most obvious
in the schools of the large cities.
Was not harvest work and the
country vacation necessary for
great many to be set back in their
studies so that they required re-
peated concessions to maintain their
rank and thereby continually lower
scholastic standards of their class
es?
That spirit of voluntary service
which at the beginning of the war
revealed itself in its faiTest aspect
has now disappeared. Everywhere
we hear lamentations over the in
creasing distaste shown for mill
tary service Pupils collect articles
now for the reward, not from pa
triOtsm, and the older pupils have
their struggles Shah they take |
advantage of the opportunity to !
leave school with a half-cOmpleted |
education, or shall they avoid plac- !
ing themselves in a position where |
they will have to enlist for their |
country? What an unhappy indie |
cision even for the best of them, |
those who really think about the |
matter,
Furthermore, in these ranks of !
society which are less Influenced /
by tradition, discipline and educa |
ton, we find increasing violations |
of the law. At the first this mani |
tested itself merely in an increase
Of theft More recently j. 1as taken !
a decided turn toward personal as |
sauIts 1t is true, the latter are |
still negligible in proportion to the |
total number of juvenile offenses, !
but they are increasing every year. /
Already the number of violent |
crimes committed by youths in the !
city Of Berlin is more than three /
times the number reported in 1914 |
Thus, dark shadows are falling
over the brilliant picture of 1914.
Every disciplinary influence, every
effort of the still fundamentally
sound German nation must be ex-
erted TO oppose this tendency, and
to lead the children back to the
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