The public ledger. [volume] (Maysville, Ky.) 1913-1968, 1919-08-15
A CHANCE FOR THE BUSY
BOY TO GO TO SCHOOL

On the one side, stand educators
and legislators insisting on compul-
sorry attendance of children at school
even II parents must be fined and
hailed before magistrates to enforce
the right of the child to an education.
On the other side, stand parents and
puzzled magistrates who see fields of
berries and cotton and tomatoes that
must be picked If the parent is to be
able to make living for his family
Everywhere we face scarcity of
farm hands, and great financiers tell
us that we shall have a shortage of
labor for the next five years. II the
Bells and Milan, Tennessee, neighbor-
hoods could not use children on truck
farms, If Robertson county could not
use children on tobacco farms, IL Fay
cite county could not use children to
pick cotton, THE income of the mer-
chants and farmers would suffer in
those sections.
lily needs the help of his older chill
dren. If compulsory attendance laws
forbid his using his children, then
race suicide will come in the. rural
sections just as it has come in the
cities. One elderly city man told me
that it had cost him $4,000 to rear
each one of his children; and that
they had never been able to contrib.
ute to the family income or to carr
any part Of their own expenses. He
said that at the age of twelve he was
full hand" on his fathers farm be-
| fore he came to town, and that he haC
| supported himself and been help t
his father in rearing the younger chill
dren. He further said that work wal
| itself a means of education to him
because he learned to be practical a
pillow boy. He learned from natur,
the very nature study that a cit,
teacher taught his children out O.
books.
| The compromise between these two
sides, the educator and the father, hal
been worked out in many places: il
Texas, in Denmark. at Monoville IL
Smith County, Tennessee, severa
years ago. 1t is becoming a frequen
custom in city schools; and every
where 1t is tried 1t Is success. l
is called the part-day school.
In many places in Texas, the fathe
needs his children to pick cotton; blu
the dew is on the cotton in the earl
morning hours, and the children coul
not work In the fields with much sue
cess until about ten o'clock. The worl
could readily be done by using tn
older children the afternoons of eacI
day for the whole week, If only tn
school program could be arranged 8
that they could go only In the morn
ing and could be released In the after
Moons to come home and work. ]
does not take any legislation to d
this, for any accommodating teache
with the consent of his county super
intendent can agree to arrange hi
program to accommodate the needs G
the parents and other boys. In Texa
in some places, the older boys an
girls go to school only in the morning
recite their lessons, and then go HON
for lunch. In the afternoons the girl
can aid their mothers, and the. boy
can go to the fields. Either of tw
plans is followed with the children c
the lower grades. They can stay q
home with their mothers in the morn
ing, this saving the poor mother tha
rush to get the little folks off t
school. They can stay at home for
hot dinner and then get to the schoo
house by one o'clock. Many a child
health is injured by eating cold, sogg
lunches at school; and in many elite
the school cooks hot lunch In tn
middle of the day and sells 1t to- tn
children for bare cost The other wa
l
to deal with the children of the pr
mary grades is to send them to schot
in the morning with their old brotf
ers and sisters who can care for thel
on the road. They can be given fe
classes in the morning, but be allowe
to spend most of their time In pla
In the afternoon when the older ST.
dents have gone, they can be give
e close attention by the teacher and ca
: do the main part of their recitin
a Wherever the country is thickly Sc
tied. prefer the first plan.
PROF, HARRY CLARK,
In Southern Agriculturis