Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1921-12-12

intelligence in order to evade the law
sufficiently long to be able to earn the
title. This is 4 phase OF education
that many of as have not considered
and one that should be borne in mind
in the educational evolution of child
from the grades on through his or her
school career. Too much Importance
c;.nnot ne attached to correction Of
evil tendencies exhibited by children
either through unnatural immoral
purposes or through inherited traits.
Prison reform would not be necessary
and vast sums Of money spent By our
government and our states would be
saved for better purposes than con-
Wet maintenance, if The present gen
Grafton, their children and their chill
dren's children, can be intslligently
and carefully taught and trained,
with view TO cultivating the moral
as well as the intellectual side OF a
child's nature. The careful husband
man sees to it that his young trees
grow straight.
Our school system in Virginia is
good ana better now ;nan in the past
few wears. There. is TO reason why it
should not be as good or better than
that OF any state il the union. Our
state board Of education IS made up
Of men of intellectual ability and high
integrity. Much Improvement has
been made in The pas: Few years n
methods Of instruction and in the
physical condition Of school build
ings. tending to promote health and
comfort to teacher and students. Our
schools, great city structures, medium
sized ones, down to the one room
school house, with thousands Of chill
drcn may be said 20 be great factories
and the children lilicned unto factory
workers. Day IN and day out they
Come and go, toiling in warm bright
rooms, well ventilated and comfort
able. You may well ask What tools.
do these youthful tpilers employ and
what material do they turn OUT" In
reply, We say, Their tools are things
Of nastcboart and paper with printed
pages. and the material turned out
with these tools in the concentrated
force Of the mind, body and soul Of
these youthful ;oilcrs when they have
departed from the factory and have
reached yirulent man and woman
hood" Upon this concentrated force
hangs the destiny Of our state and
nation.
This means much, in fact, every
thing. The youth Of today is the man
&C tomorrow and we must turn over
to him the rcins OF government, the
roHduGt OF commerce, the burden OF
business, the management Of manufac-
turing and the production of provision.
Virginia OF tomorrow will depend on
his training, ability and brains. IS it
not the duty Of every citizen to take
an interest in education in Virginia
and to inform himself o. the subject
of our school system and the means
employed in the schools Of this state
in turning out such material as has
been heretofore referred to? All
mothers and fathers know that Fir-
Ginia does not furnish Tree text books,
nut few, ] dare say, know what books
their children use. Should we not
familiarizc ourselves with these books,
these tools that we buy FOR our chill
drcn but which VIC have no choice in
selecting? While we may not take an
actual part in the selection>~'f books
we may, as citizens, and have the
right to, and should in duty bound,
investigate those now in use in Nir-
ginia schools and determine whether
they are the best books that can be
procured. Ii they arc not, the best,
why not, and should VIC not bring our
influence, the influence Of the rank
and file Of men and women voters Of
Virginia, to bear upon our state school
board in 4 mighty effort to demand
thc correction OF existing evils in the
list of books now required for use in
Virginia schools.
Educators and teachers throughout
the state have condemned some books
now in use, books that have been used
too long, that are out of date, that
have not kept abreast of the times.
These arc some of the reasons and OBJ
jcctions for their condemnation, but
the prime reason for RELOCATING them
for all times. is that there are far bet
ter books, from every standpoint,
available and yet we who pay for
them, may not have them for our chill
dren iii Virginia public schools.
The pitiful struggle of the small
farmer and laboring man to get to-
gether the means with which to equip
his numerous children for the short
winter term Of the cross roads school,
is nothing new to us who are familiar
with some of the rural districts of
Virginia. Nor, in such districts is it
unusual for the father or mother of
such children, to reluctantly admit
their inability to maks aught but