The evening leader. (Tarpon Springs, Fla.) 191?-19??, 1918-05-22
EFFECT OF THE WAR ON
SCHOOLS IN GERMANY

/ III NSILIetL1S, Tic UuISdu vi 6QuccI1GIl5
department of the interior, has made
public the following translations from
an article by DR.. Paul Hilderbrandt
in the Vossische Zeitung, Berlin, Jan
uary %, 1918 After reciting the ear
! ly enthusiasm of German youth for
the war, and their activities in behalf
of war measures, the article contin-
ues:
"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 war our
children exhibit signs of change? Too
many of the restraints have been re-
moved which should shape their de-
velopment-the loosening of family
ties, the father at the front, the moth
er employed away from home, and in
the lower ranks of society doing the
work of men; the omission of school
discipline. Of the teachers of the Ber-
lin public schools, for instance, two
thirds have gone into the army. The
remainder are overworked. Dropping
class periods, or combining classes to-
gether are the order of the day. In
the higher schools half of the teachers
are in the army. Furthermore, stand
ards in the higher institutions of
learning 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 per-
sistence, since they see that they can
attain scholastic standing without
effort that formerly demanded the Sc
verest application.
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 of higher institu-
tons, and particularly in the towns,
the hardship of inadequate nourish-
ment appeared. 1t is the unanimous
judgment of medical specialists that
the children of the middle classes suf-
lfered most in this respect. General
attention was attracted to the fact
that the children were less sensitive
to reproof, that they paid no more at
tention to threats, because the school
authorities had directed that they
should be treated with every leniency,
and since promotions no longer rep
resented any definite standard of ac-
complishment. This special considera-
| ton for the children was most obvi-
Gus in the schools of the large cities.
Was not harvest work and the coun-
try vacation necessary to maintain the
health of the coming generation, and
was it not necessary for great many
to be set back in their studies so that
they required repeated concessions to
maintain their rank and thereby con-
tinually lower scholastic standards of
their classes?
"That spirit of voluntary service
which at the beginning of the war re-
vealed itself in it's fairest aspect has
now disappeared. Everywhere we
hear lamentations over the increasing
distaste shown for military service.
Pupils collect articles now for the re-
ward, not from patriotism, and the
older pupils have their struggles.
Shall they take advantage of the OPP
portunity to leave school with half
completed education where they will
have to enlist for their country? What
an unhappy indecision even for the
best of them, those who really think
about the matter.
Furthermore, in these ranks of So
ciety which are less influenced by ira
dition, discipline, and education, we
find increasing violations of the law.
At the first this manifested itself
merely in an increase in theft. More
recently it has taken a decided turn
toward personal assaults. 1t is true,
the latter are still negligible in pro-
portion to the total number of juve-
nile 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. Ev-
cry disciplinary influence, every effort
of the still fundamentally sound Ger
man nation must be exerted to oppose
this tendency, and to lead the children
back to the path of rectitude"
NOTICE TO CREDITORS.
Public notice is hereby given that