The herald and news. [volume] (Newberry S.C.) 1903-1937, 1922-12-01
TEN ...... -. e.. .,...
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e, s:
(: DOUBLE DAILY SESSIONS, {:
3 LONGER SCHOOL DAYS .

W. H. Hand, superintendent of the
: Columbia city schools, in a discussion:
of "The Longer School Day." has the
following to say:
. One, Aesop, tells US of certain
fox that gravely advised all his
| friends in convention to have their
tails cut off because of the alleged in
convenience and danger which said
tails entailed upon their possessors.
Somewhat likewise city folk and city
teachers are given to commiSerating
and patronizing the rural schools.
Now the rural schools need a great
! deal Of attention and Improvement,
but there are rural schools and rural
schools. Many of them have good
school houses, good teachers and rea-
sonably long terms. In rural schools
of this class are to be found some of
the best prepared pupils in the land.
! They know much from studying
books and they know much from
studying things about them, and one
of the agencies which has contribut-
ed to their advancement has been
their school day Of sensible length
not from sun to sun, but from $3.50
in the morning to $3.50 in the after
noon. In these schools the supervi-
sion of the chiidren's study has not
been ideal, but there were SCI apart
regular periods for study under the
eve and direction of the teacher. The
children of these schools carry their
lunches and eat them, though not
warm, at a seasonable hour in the
day. Then during the longer recess
periods the teachers are the conpan-
ions of the children to degree rare
ly reached by city teachers with city
children.
Does Its Work Deliberately
After all, is it not possible for our
highly organized city schools to learn
something from the better rural
schools? The rural school opens its
daily session early, runs through its
schedule deliberately, intersperses
recis: tons with study and relaxation,
provides time for the needed lunch,
6css its school work chiefly at school
anl-is through. In contrast, the
city school opens its daily session
late, runs through its daily schedule
Ike an express train, almost every
minute of the teachers time Is as
sisned to recitstions, The tea, her and
her pupils meet only in t:2a class
room, the school ~clo-es early and
the children go home to 'e taught by
their mo;ilers, because the t'echer
has had little or no time to give as
sistance where it was needed and
when i was ncc&ed. TIE close OF
tae schoo! day fads the teacher more
CT lrss fatisn d sh, csTri: home WITH
her an arnlfui Of written exercises,
many of which should never have
been written, she is hungry and de-
pressed. Ravenous,y or languldly
she eats after her fust, then she sits
down to read and correct that arm
full of exercises. It IS in such mo-
ments that she feels that her work IS
hard and that she is underpaid.
! How is it with her pupils? At !h;'
close of the school day they snatch
I'D a few booEs, rush home as hungry
as young bears to gulp down their
food, rush out to play or to the
movies or for JOY ,;de, stay out un-
til dark or later, rush in 20 cat agala,
sit down in the noise and confusion
of the family fireside to go through
the form of studying for a pir.od'
then fall asleep Wit, lessons un-
learned. Day after day this routine
i: gone through in the name OF edu-
cation ard being educated. Waat a
Iudicrous performance! Any business
enterprise or industrial plant that
would undertake to run on such d
schedule would be in the hands OF a
receiver in short order, and its man
ayers would be objects of ricicule.
In the industrial world we nave
left behind us the II hour work day
Us are trying to reduce the eight
hour work day. All this is in the
world of machinery in which one ma
and the ten hour day, and many OF
chine does the work of ten men, ~
men, so men. In the intellectual
world things are a little different
There is yet no patent process where
by j group Of children may be edu
cated by attending schoo! few hour:
q day, Ave days in the week, st
weeks in the year for six or sever
,,r. +bo +;.oa Of which the ma iOritN