The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1919-09-01
TOPEKA STATE JOURNAL
INFORMATION
BUREAU
FREDERIC J. HAsK1N. Dtroetor.
Wsshingt@. y. q
GOVERNMENT AID IN GETTING A
START.
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expert in solving labor problems. to
whom labor unions are willing to
listen. and who is confidante OF
newsboys and telephone operators,
should be of some use in Strengthening
out that tangle of excited self-interest
and mutual misunderstanding known
as the labor problem.
Such a person evidently has in some
degree the respect and confidence of
all parties to the controversy-of the
employers, the unions and individual
workers who are WITHOUT organized
protection.
Such a person is Mrs. Anna Y.
Reed, head of the Junior section OF
the UnitedfStates employment service.
who is now engaged In organizing IN
various American cities branches of
the employment service which are to
work in connection with the public
school systems. Their primary and
immediate purpose is to find satisfac-
Just out Of school. Their secondary
and more constructive purpose is to
help the schools find out how to
make education more of a real prepa-
ration for work than 1t generally is at
present.
This is to be a service to employers
as much as to workers. In Mrs
Reeds own words. she intends to ''tie
up the source of labor with the agen-
cies that place and use it," and TO
see how education functions outside of
the school room"
educational work for many years, and
may be said to have made a life study
of the relations between these two
factors in our national life, which
should be friends and partners, but
as a matter of fact seldom see each
other Mrs. Reed, thru her Junior de-
partments, intends to introduce them
to each other and to see il they can't
be induced to work in harmony.
According to Mrs. Reeds explana-
ton, the trouble is not SO much that
the schools teach the wrong subjects
ones which are of no use to the
pupil in after llfe-altho they often
do that. The fundamental trouble is
that the school usually has the wrong
viewpoint. and is not able to recog-
niZe and develop good industrial ma
terial when it gets 1t.
To illustrate this. Mrs Reed told of
a study she once made of several thou
sand newsboys, who were making
their own livings and going to school
at the same time. She asked each
boys teacher for an opinion of his
character and ability, and asked the
same questions of the wholesalers OF
newspapers and others with whom the
boy came in contact in a business
way. In a surprising number Of cases
the opinions were in conflict. The
prize scholar and teachers pet was
often a failure at selling extras and
did not command the respect OF his
business connections and competitors
On the other hand, a good aggressive
little street merchant was often a
Ecapegoat in the school room.
Has too much self confidence, and
Is unruIy. Would be better off out
Of school," was the report that a
teacher made on one boy.
~ 10 m
bought his papers told Mrs Reed that
''the little chap must be given a
chance to get a good education. He
has real business ability"
That incident tells more about mod
ern education than many long books
on the subject.
Mrs. Reed believes that school very
seldom does much good for the excep-
tional youth. The mediocrity gets
along well enough, but the unusually
energetic pupil finds outlets for his
energy that meet with the teachers
disapproyal, and the talented young
ster is bored by his dry lessons. If his
parents are wealthy or well-to-do, he
may be taken out of school and edu-
Gated by tutors or sent to some special
institution. But if he is poor, as about
90 per cent of all youngsters are. this
unusual one generally ends up in re-
form school.
Mrs. Reed has verified this fact by
studying reform schools. She says
| that about sixty per cent of the in
mates are mental detectives and about
forty per cent are gifted Individual
above the average in mental endow-
ment and generally having some spe-
| cial talent, such as music. drawing.
expression, or invention. This talented
! youth often is afflicted with some ner-
vous or mental trouble. But he is
1 Ss-.sl =
be made valuable to society if prop
| erly handled. - Our school system
| throws the idiots and the geniuses
into the same discard.
Mrs. Reed believes that this prob
lem will eventually be solved by pro-
viding special classes for the excep-
| tional children. Some minor attempts
along this line have been made in this
country, and it is done successfully in
France and Germany. In those coun-
tries youth showing artistic gifts,
for instance. is imm ediately placed in
a special class where he has a chance
to develop them.
In this country, the problem of the
exceptional youth is for the future.
We must do the broom and shovel
work before we go in for decorations.
The immediate need is to train the
average child to do his work in the
world and then to help him find that
work. We must eliminate the I'M
mense waste of human power which
Is caused by creating misfits.
This work the local bureaus of the
| junior section propose to do. Nine
| junior sections have been established
| already in Washington, Boston, New
York, Philadelphia. Chicago. Pitts
burgh, Providence and Cleveland. and
| a state bureau in Indiana, In each of
| these a man. usually an associate
superintendent of schools. is placed in
| charge. He has several assistants.
one of whom is usually a business
man. This bureau takes in hand each
| boy or girl leaving school. studies his
record. his needs and his abilities. and
helps him to find a job. If the
youngster needs more schooling, an
effort is made to persuade him or
| enable him to stay in school. And
| interest in him does not end when he
has been landed in a job. Follow up
work is a regular part of the bureaus
duties, so that the individual is not