Evening star., 1927-03-06
EXPERT DECLARES
YOUTH BANS SNEAK
Leaders in Education Find
No Retrogression-WouId
Make Gain Over Past.
By Consolidated Press.

]
| DALLAS. Tex. March Sin spite of
! greater opportunities for wrong doing
and the greater freedom granted the
youth of present-day America, boys
and girls are no worse than they
| were in the generation when the edu-
| Gators of today were school boys and
girls. But the home and the school
should make it possible for them to
be better because of the greater op-
portunities of all kinds.
This is the general result of ex-
change Of opinion Of men and women
who represent all branches of educa-
ton, through the national convention
Of the department Of superintendence
of the National Education Associa-
tion, which was held in Dallas this
week.
Whatever semblance of more youth
full crime and immortality there is
comes from the new openness of the
youth Of today, these authorities
said, and the blame for the misdeeds
must be laid in great part at the
door of the parents for the loosen1ng
of family standards and of home dis
cipline.
Views of Association Head.
Francis G. Blair of Springfield, ILL.,,
president Of the National Education
Association, was one of those who
came to the defense of youth.
THE boys and girls of today are no
worse than when l went to school,
he said. 'They do have greater free
dom of opportunities and need greater
attention from the schools"
There are few "sneaks" among the
youths of today, according to S. Mon
roe Graves, superintendent of schools
Of Wellesley, Mass.
Modern youth is out in the open"
said Mr.. Graves. Their impulses,
whether for good or bad. are straight
forward This spirit Of frankness can
be made a powerful factor for good.
with the right influence OF home ana
school. or it can become bold fiaunt-
ing of moral and spiritual misbehav'
ior."
There is no reason. however. to
accept complacently the youthful de-
linuuency Of today on the ground
that it is no worse than that of pre-
vious years, according to Walter NJ.
May, deputy commissioner OF educa-
ton for New Hampshire.
1.-THE actual number of youthful
delinquents is all too large" said Mr..
MAY, "and constitutes problem
which challenges the best efforts of
the three institutions concerned with
character development-the home.
the school and the church. 1t should
not be accepted with thankfulness
that it is no worse, but all forces
should unite to improve 1t.
Solution of Problem.
James NJ. Glass, authority on junior
high school work, now with the State
department of public instruction of
Florida, offered a solution of the prob
lem of the bad" boy or girl.
THE majority of students who are
classed as bad are merely boys and
girls who are being forced to do
things which they do not like" he
said. 1.-The introduction of occupa-
tional courses into Junior high school
courses gives these problem students
an opportunity of finding their indi-
vidual interests. MiSfit courses will
mean students bad in conduct and
bad in grades. The modern educa.
ton tendency is to eliminate the mis-
fits
Mental deficiencies should be taken
into account in school coursese, and If
this situation is properly handled,
many bad" children can be made
good, according to John Franklin
"Ccl VI dSauCALat NdiAA.s
junior high school authority.
"It is a crime for an educational
system to permit any boy or girl to
fall" he declared. ''The system
should provide facilities for every
grade of intellectual ability. A fail
ure In this means a crime against
society, for the less mentally gifted
boy or girl whom the public school
system fails is handicapped through
life."