The Caledonian-record. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1920-current, 1922-10-14
Respect Our Mother
Tongue Urges de Visme
(Continued from PAGE II


We should be impatient with
all systems or combinations of
methods that serve to discourage
mental effort on the part of the
student. The futile physical flut-
terings called "extra-curriculum
activities" have become so promi-
nent in our educational program
that the pupil believes it natural
to elect only those subjects con-
sidered as snaps, along with the
teacher who offers them. The easy
road, the easy course, the easy
life are the locutions one hears all
too frequently today Languages
cannot be mastered by this bone
less process. And how many eX
cuses there are for Interruptions of
work. Listen to Commissioner
Dempsey of Vermont who says:
"a thorough study of the sub
iects of Interruptions Of regular
school work would ESQ reveal fire.
quent individual or personal calls
upon the time of teacher and pu-
pills, covering a wide range of ac-
tivities; recovery Of lost articles;
use of children for special church,
commercial and social work and
errands; dismissal of pupils for re-
hearsals, excursions, trips; demand
on teachers for preparation of
public and society programs and
the like.
Within the school itself there
are not a few activities that, while
valuable, interrupt more or less the
regular work of the school. Such
are experimental and research
work, educational studies and CUES
tionnaires, competitive athletic
sports, secret societies, special
dramatic, musical and other enter
tainments, extended prepara-
ton for graduation exercises, class
day and field days, teachers meet
ings and conferences in school
hours, interruption of school pro-
grams for non-scholastic purposes
(reading notices, collecting pen
MES, selling school photographs,
candy, soap, etc.
Which activities should be en-
cour2ged allowed or rejected? How
much time and energy should be
assigned to such calls? which CON
tribute to and which subtract from
real education? Is . given activity
worth more than the regular work
it supplants?"
A potent answer to these Ques-
tons, which are most timely,
would be this true story: A college
girl active and alert of body and
not dull in mind, used to arise fire.
quently at five O'Clock in the
morning to make sanwiches which
she sold after chapel for the bene-
fit of some organization. She was
so tired that she could not listen
attentively in classes, cut them as
often as she could and dared and
did poor work generally. But her
sandwiches were excellent.
Does it occur to US that one of
the reasons why school children
and college students use such in
sane slang is that they have no de-
cent English words at their com
mand? Their vocabulary is so
poor that its poverty would make
old Job shiver. One student re-
marked: 81 can think but | can't
find words to tell what | think, so
| stop thinking"
We respect that which we value
Our sense of values depends on
our standards. Democracy does
not necessarily mean that we shall
adopt low ideals or none at all for
fear of being called aristocratic.
Democracy means, rather, high
standards and lofty ideals for
everybody. There are those who
aver that good language, the
chaste, dignified and exact ex-
preston of thought breeds class
distinctions and erects social bar
rierS. There was a time when Ian
guage, music, old age ana women
were respected and hedged about
with honor.
Why not then speak out fear
lessly and confess that there are
no standards or that we have low
cred them in order 10 conciliate the
masses? The English tongue as it
is spoken generally in America
has been bolchivized. ANY one who
treQuents the Movies will admit
that the screen puts popular lam
guagc into the mouths of the &C
tors, who arouse enthusiasm when
they speak like Bowery toughs or
thugs from the slums. If our stan
dard is at the level of the streets,
then let Us have the honesty to say
so.
The youth of the present day
consider it unmanly to res ect any
thing or anybody. Independence,
individualism and license with their
consequent chain of diSrespect and
contempt for the rights OF others
have brought this country to the
verge of dissolution.
What are some of the causes of
this laxity in regard to English,
either spoken or written? Let Us
examine a few of them, not in the
order of their importance but as
they occur to Us.
One great weakness i'm our cdu-
cational system is the small space
accorded to the teaching Of Eng
fish grammar. When students af-
ter student, many OF them of the
senior cla,~c-, stand up and de-
clare that they do not know what