Evening star., 1925-04-12
What Is the Matter With Our Schools?

the teaching of scientific evolution is
anti-religious and anti-Christian, feel
very strongly that the Dartmouth re-
quirement. that every student shall
study evolution in his freshman year,
.is particularly to be condemned. When
one recalls how many people of this
conviction there are in the country, as
evidenced by the moves in various
State Legislatures to forbid the
teaching of evolution, it is easy, l
think. to understand why college
which seeks to make it's men justify
the beliefs they hold shall be assumed
by the unthinking man to be attack
ing or perhaps destroying belief.
Moreover. this principle applies
through the whole curriculum, and
our theory is that a man who has no
understanding of the belief which he
holds and no ability to defend it
against attack is very little benefited
by possessing it.
Consequently, no attention is paid
by our critics to the fact that a larger
proportion of the men going out of
college are actively interested in re-
ligious affairs than formerly, but
rather attention is focused the
fact that for given period of prac-
tically every mans course he Is ques-
tioning his old basis of belief without
either having acquired a firm founda-
ton in new OF a basis of confidence
in the old
Faults of Modern Youth.
Q. What do you consider the chief
fault of modern youth?
A. Its unwillingness to subject it.
self to. or accept. discipline in any
form. and its shrinking from the kind
of hard work that used to be taken as
matter of course. AS a matter of
fact. my only real question about this
generation Is at this point. The effect
is one which might have been antici-
pated, however, from the different
types OF homes from which men come,
as compared with former generations.
and If 1 might add without offense, 1t
might even more be assumed from the
present generation has as compared
with those of former days.
@. What do you consider the chief
danger of modern youth?
A. Its failure to think. Its tend
| ency to follow the machine system,
to be just like the other fellow, to
| conform to type. This is particularly
| dangerous because we need leaders.
Men who strive to pattern themselves
after the other fellows never lead.
They all attain dead-level. Our
schools and colleges have a tendency
to initiate our factories. Their nm
ished product is too standardized
too similar-like Fords.
Real Thinking Very Rare.
These days real thinking is very
| rare. / remember the first time that
/ ever understood that it was neces-
| ssry to think. / had been travelling
| on the Pullman with an older man
for almost a day, when he went off
| to a ghboring section of the car
! saying that he wanted to be undis-
| turbed for couple of hours, because
| he would like to think. 1t was an un-
| heard-of phenomenon to me. had
never thought steadily for two hours
in my life. and / do not doubt that
! other people have had like experience.
Q. Why have people quit thinking
A. Because they don't have time
| VI ldhc n & en-
Grafton ago our fathers lived out
on farms where they were by them
| selves all day, and sat at home read
ing in the evenings. They had no
radio or phonograph to do their
| thinking for them, and no sutomo-
| biles to take them away from home
| Theirs was essentially home life.
1 sometimes think that the hard
common sense which Coolidge dis
plays comes from working in the
| great open spaces when he was a boy
The Hsme Endangered.
| Today we are more crowded
People live close together To think
requires solitude and space. Also we
are on the go from morning to night
| The home has disappeared. The
father comes home at night tired out
| Continued on Third PRge1