The Nevada County picayune., 1922-01-19
GOOD CITIZENSHIP
Prize Essay by Martha Lou Eyer of
 DeQueen.

right thinking person should cultivate A good citizen must not only obey the laws of man but also those of nature and of God. If everyone followed, as fas as possible, the rule, Love thy neighbor as myself" there would be d great deal less of sorrow and suffering in the world. We are trying to make better citizens, who will strive for this goal.
 The children of today are the ones who will make the citizens better or worse in the future. They are the ones to whom our attention should be directed The grown people have al- ready formed the habits that make them good or bad citizens-habits which will be hard to change. But many of the habits of the children are yet to be formed.
 One of the institutions of this coun- try which influences the lives of the children very much is the public school system. makes them better and more capable mentally. physically and morally. There can be no doubt at all that the school increases the mental ability of children That is its pri- mary object They not only learn many useful facts. but they learn to think. to concentrate. to assimilate facts. and so they are able much more satisfactorily to solve the problems of life which they later need to solve. They learn independence of thought. In the classroom they have q chance to discuss many things to learn to eX- press themselves, and to hear the opinions of other boys and girls; on the playground they learn to take de feat or victory, to cooperate i'll games and to think quickly. There ones and experience are made broader and he learns 10 respect the views. privileges and properties of his associates.
 Children are made physically strong or. They play strengthening. health fu games. They receive careful eN by doctors so that any dis ease or weakness may be helped in time. They are taught to practice Il oy l,xt uh teach them to keep themselves strong and healthy.
 Children are made morally better by going to school. hi most schools there is helpful. wholesome spirit which they cannot help but catch. A great many learn to be less selfish and to give up their own wishes for the good of the school or teams. They learn to cooperate in work and in play. All of these things make them better citi- ZenS
 Another big factor in making people better citizens is the church with its religious education. A college educa- ton with a course in hte Bible iS very desirable to give well-rounded edu- cation. More and more young people are going to our colleges. Many col leges now have atheist teachers, and they have a big influence on the young people who will soon be our leaders But the church schools are also grow ing They will do much toward giving our citizens a stronger and firmer faith in God. A person will not be Il really good citizen unless he does have faith in a Supreme Being Though the church schools are making strong lead CTS, the majority of people do not go to college For this reason the church of their religious educat ton. Every where they are growing. They edu- cate the children religiousll. interest thehm in charitable work and in fol- lowing the great Master. A person trained in the Sunday school will not only he good citizen in obeying the laws of the nation that he iS forced to obey, but he will be good from the heart and he promoter of the true spirit of citizenship. which is the only true obedience, The fact that the churches. the Sunday schools and the colleges are growing shows that the people are most interested in training than ever before. Therefore, we may