The Rock Island Argus and daily union. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923, 1920-12-04


HaNatf. no less than California. has
. Japanese problem, is the neport
hsonkht back by DR.. Frank Bunk-
Or and other representative Of the
bureau Of education. who have
been studying conditions there.
According to the new census fig
ures, Japanese make up nearlyhalf
Of the Isl. 1000 population Of Hawaii.
and In = few years they will besable
to control the vote Of the islAnds.
This would not be such disturb
Ing prophecy except for the fact
that the Japanese in Hawaii. es-
pecially the school children. are
being pulled two ways. The Emit
ed States government ID there try
ing to educate them, hoping, that
those born under the United sbtates
flag will make satisfactory Ameri-
can citizens. At the same tfmesa
japanese influence II being exert
ed so that the children villa not
forget to celebrate the emperor's
birthday or grow up id ignorance
Of Japanese ways and traditions.
Foreign language schools, .presid-
ed over by teachers brought from
Japan, are set up all over the is
lands near the territorial public
schools. japanese parents a1s urg-
ed by Buddhist priests to send their
children to these schools, alad be-
cause the influence OF the priests
with the older generation Is very
great, the parents almost always
comply. Twenty thousand children
are enrolled in over ITO japanese
schools.
The children, as a rule, DO not
wish to attend these schools. And
no wonder. The regular public
school opens at 8. To attind the
foreign language school first, there
fore, they must rise at or even
o'clock. They have to walk some
times five miles, eating breakfast
as they go. or leaving 1t oQt en-
tirely. At the foreign language
school they spend an hour or an
hour and a half learning the Jap
anese language-to speak, read and
write it-and studying the, history
aid geography of Japan. Ihstruc-
ton is given in the approved JAP
anese style, the children studying
noisily and reciting in parrot like
singsong.
Two Schools Too Mech.
Tired already, both in mind and
body. the pupils troop oveEs to the
/ public school at 9 o'clock. to sit
stupidity while an American teach
er, OF one trained in the Hawaiian
normal school, tries to tea Oh them
to speak English, and to give them
a modern education.
Even after the public school work
ends at 2 O'Clock the oriental child
may not be at liberty. Some Of the
foreign language schools teach the
lolder children in the morning and
the younger ones after 2. Others
insist on the attendance OF. all pu.
pills at both sessions.
The complaint made universally
by teachers in the public schools
Of the island is that these children
are overtaxed, and so tired that
they cannot learn the lessons pre-.
scented in English. Many of them
live in Japanese colonies, and
speak English only at the public
school. Others hear at home a
pidgin English that is worse as a
foundation for the language thar
no vocabulary at all.
One teacher writes: There is 9
sample Of the English we get from
Japanese children of the frs
grader Little Red Riding Hood
oh! Big teeth grandmother eal
Little Red Riding HDod-oh
Grandmother big eyes see littl,
Red Riding Hood"
I Another says, Il have found il
my experience in Hawaii. that i
any school work is to suffer it vii
be the work of the American
school. The children try enough
their efforts to keep up the wsrl
Of both schools are often pitiful-
but the japanese schoolmaster will
see that the work Of the Japanes
school comes first" -
| DR.. Bunker says that it. the ma