Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1925-04-15
KIDS OF TO-DAY
WILL AVERAGE
WITH FORBEARS
DOudna Talks to Kiwanis
On EducatiOn.-Pans
High-BrOw Clubs.

Queen Victoria's tutor wrote in his
diary that children in his charge did
MT mind as we'll as they did when he
was boy. In Plutarch's lives a
Greek slave instructor bewails the
impertinence of the generation as
compared to his childhood. And Adam
used to take Abel off to one side and
lecture him on how he failed to meas
ure up to what the old man did when
he was a boy"
S.. E. G. Doudna, secretary of the
Wisconsin Teachers Association, in an
address before the Kiwanis Wednes-
day, capped lot of modern fuss over
how the younger generation is going
down hill" Other older generations
have done the same thing since the
dawn of time, the speaker concluded.
Mr.. Doudna used Education" as his
main topic, saying it had mo begin
ming and no end" but he interspersed
the address with a lot of good sense
and humor. 1t was one of the best
talks the club has listened to in it's
year of existence.
Drifting along by easy stages to the
subject of an understanding of liter
allure and good English as the common
bond of all Americans, Mr.. Doudna
raped the highbrow "lit." clubs
sharply on the knuckles when he said
that Browning and Shakespeare would
turn over in their graves if they could
hear how their product was being in
terpreted by people who didn't under
stand it and were pretending to be
something they are not. Me. Doudna
evidently believes that true culture be-
gins first with sincerity and with
first knowing common things we'll.
Then approaching the finer things of
the world with an open mind and an
! humble heart. "Some things need de-
bunking," he said.
More Sympathy Toward Schools
Mr. Doudna asked for more sym
pathy and a desire for first-hand in
formation in the part of the public to-
ward the schools. He traced in de-
lightful vein the things modern edu-
cation is trying to do with the pupils
and said methods were vastly different
as compared to a generation ago. He
spoke of how the knowledge of letters
and word forms were inculcated and
said that pupils learned to read much
quicker and better than they did in
previous times Instead of having the
pupils learn how to speel a lot of stu
pendous words, the modern way is to
have the child become thoroughly fam
iliar with the thousand or so words
they will use in ordinary life. And at
that, he offered to pit the 9Th grade
against the Kiwanis club in a spell
down.
Parents Shift Responsibility
Mr. Doudna said one of the evils of
modern life was the shifting of res
possibility for the child by the parent
to the teacher, the parent turning over
the child in it's tender age and num-
Der of years later expecting a fine
specimen of manhood or womanhood
If the teacher fails she gets all the
blame. If she succeeds the parent
says, "the laws of heredity are still
working"
Mr.. Doudna claims the fundamentals
of education are receiving more at
tention today than ever before and
the methods of imparting instruction
are vastly better and more practical
! than formerly. Teachers control
through kindness and reason, Mr..
| Doudna claimed, asking if one heard
of the teachers nowadays were beaten
up or smoked out of school by rebel
! lious pupils as the custom in the hap
! by Gays or long ago. he asked Tor
closer relation between the adults of
the community and the school. He
received round of applause as he
closed and caught the noon train for
Madison.
Native of Richland Center
Mr.. Doudna is a native of Richland
Center and formerly was superintend-
ent of schools there. He spoke here
about ten years ago when the present
community building being talked of.
He has held various responsible posi-
lions in the state and ranks high
among Wisconsin educators as for
ward-looking and very human sort of
man.