Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1921-09-10
The School as a National Asset


School days have come again. Ac-
cording to custom and by reason OF
the proprieties which we have come
to regard as essential, the children
are all being sent back to school:
Some of them are going with glad
hearts, and some Of them are not hap
py. Just how the proposition in
each class would divide up is mat
ter for speculation. Mother has been
troubled with the children all sum-
mer and possibly she is glad to have
them go back to school. Father also
feels that for a part Of the day at
least he will be relieved OF the noise
and confusion they make and the
responsibility of looking after them.
The children-the most precious as
set Of the state-have now been turn
ed over to the discipline, control,
teacher. There is no class Of citl-
zens in our country in whom we
have the confidence we place in our
teachers because we turn over large
- 10 them the making Of the issues
Of life for our children. Are we Sc
lecting them with care; are we see
ing that they are. trained to that
high state Of perfection which can
make them competent foster moth
ers and, in rare instances. fathers
to our children? Are we paying them
enough to make them feel an interest
in their work? Can they devote their
lives Fundamentally to the task as
signed them-that of training the tu-
ture generation Of children for lie,
for service, for humanity, for God
are still badly underpaid. They are
not in a class with our artisans in
this respect. Is there rebellion in
their hearts? Do they feel a lurking
sense of injustice being done them?
Do they think that the community
mo-
1ected them? If so, are they in a
desirable frame Of mind to safeguard
the welfare of our children? Can
they put as much sunshine and In
spiration. and whole-souled devotion
into their work as is either desirable
class of human beings from the rest
of society? Should they be expected
to sacrifice and serve for less than
the balance Of society? These are
some Of the pertinent questions to
which we should give consideration at
the lives of our children; the time
when they are to receive those i'm
pressions which sink more deeply
into the mind and inner conscious
life. This is the age when the chill
think in an orderly manner; to as
certain and correlate fundamental
facts; to learn self-control; to es-
tab1ish and fix the moral standards
which it will follow through life; to
learn to evaluate people and estab-
1ish social relationships with its as
sociates. If these things be true,
and I think they are, has the time
not come when the people OF the
town and the open country alike
should rally to the support of the
school and the teacher in manner
which they have not done UP to this
time?
We talk very glibly and entertain
ingly about the necessity of educa-
ton; about its enlightening and re-
icent effect. it will exercise on the
future destiny of our nation. We
boast that our civilization has been
stable and. successful even in the
face of a world revolution because
1t Is based on broad educational
principles and the superior organi-
cation and instruction offered through
the agency of our schools. IN fact,
we are so wells satisfied with the
existing situation that we have large
~ turned over the discipline and de-
velopment of our children to the
state through the medium of the
further responsibility in this direc-
ton.
For the most part, the parents of
our children are about as well &C.
quainted with what goes on in the
school as if it were located in some
far-distant town or city. Possibly
they may know the teacher; in thou
sands of instances they do not. The
school is supposedly the very center