The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1920-09-22
Wednesday, September %, 1920
THE BAPTIST HIGH SCHOOL.

preparatory schools, both to enable
pupils from this state to enter the
the colleges in other states, and to
enable the colleges of this state to
maintain entrance requirements
which will give them like standing
with the colleges in other states. For
some years all of the colleges in the
state have been doing more or less
work which should have been done in
the preparatory schools. Some OF
these colleges have done more of this
work than others. The result has been
that the standard of the colleges in
South Carolina has suffered. With
the possible exception of the College
of Charleston none of them has been
ranked as a Class "a" college.
The people are awaking to the fact,
we hope, that it is necessary that our
own institutions take rank with those
in other states. But in order for them
to do so it is necessary not only that
a standard be announced but that it
be lived up to. 1t is necessary that
students be required to offer a GER
tain amount of completed work be-
fore they will be admitted into the
colleges, else our colleges will con-
tinue to be in measure, not colleges,
but, high schools.
The Baptists are forward-look-
ing people, and they have seen these
facts, and they are determined that
Furman University shall be a class
"a" college. In order that it may be
this, the Baptist denomination in
South Carolina has made plans for
the establishment of five preparatory
schools in the state which schools, it
is expected, will give students work
equivalent to the.work done in schools
of twelve grades, thus fitting them to
enter any of the schools of the coun-
try.
The schools proposed to be estab-
lished, while under the jurisdiction
of the Baptist denomination, are to
be open to students of all denomina-
tions, and no effort will be made to
have students enter one college 'rath-
er than another. The object is to pre-
pare students for good college work,
and to promote the cause of Christian
education in South Carolina by so
doing.
AbbeviIle's Opportunity.
One of the schools to be establish
ed is to have the military feature, and
Abbeville has chance to have this
: school located here. That we should
bend every effort towards securing It
goes without saying.
In the first place the school will be
open to boys only. 1t was stated by
Rev. Mr.. Jones who was here few
days ago that the boys do not sue
ceed in the high schools of the coun-
try along with the girls because the
minds of the girls develop more rap
idly, and they are enabled to do bet
ter and more satisfactory work. For
this reason the boys get behind AMI
become discouraged and finally drop
out of the high schSels without OBJ
tanning the benefits there offered.
We all know from observation that
it is fact that more girls are finish
ing i'm the high schools than boys
Whether the reason assigned by Mr.
Jones is the correct one or not, we dc
not know. We rather suspect that the
ZEAL reason why the boys drop out
of the high schools is that the teach
ers in these schools for the most part
are women, and boy from the age
of 13 to 18 feels humiliated from be
ing taught by a woman, whatever hel
accomplishments as a teacher. Th'
women teachers are not able to Sc
cure the interest of the male stu
dents, nor are they as successful a
men in the matter of discipline. Gu
observation in Abbeville has been tina
when we had male teachers in tn
high school here, the boys took NOR
interest in their studies and accom-
plished the work as we'll as girls.
But whatever the cause, it has de
veloped that in order to train boy
oo11a-o rooaccor1y RI how