The Bismarck tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, N.D.) 1916-current, 1930-08-30
Whv Go to School!

WAY
rh,s is the season when the question arises In many
families as to whether one or more children shall con-
time In school. Regardless of what the answer may DC
In any particular case, 1t is to be hoped that most lam
flies will see their way clear to giving their children as
much education as it is possible to get.
MANY factors will affect the decision but few will be so
,owerfu, as the financial ability Of the family to keep the
children in school, the aptitude OF the cMio ior scnooiAs
and his desire or lack Of 1t and the views winch Tue
parents may hold regarding the value OF eouca'on'
It is to be hoped that every child who desires 10 90 SO
can continue with his school work. re" 'faseues ~
more real than those of children who want to lit them
for better things in life and who are denied the
opportunity.
The n,,h,,c school system in the United States pronaoly
a. the hest In the world. The investment In this nation
IN education is larger than the investment IN any single
industry, with the exception OF farming. Inc facilities
are available if the individual can avail himseA OF tneln'
When the question of the value of schooling Is raised
one often hears the comment that THOMAS A. Eolson'
Charles M. schwab and numerous otner leaders "
science. industry and commerce MADE tnear way 70 'e
front without the aid of education; that Lincoln was un-
educated and that the merits OF education are over-em-
nn..,,sd Add Ia this the designation of some individual
in the community who has received the BENEFITS OF eou-
cation and whom everyone regards as a fool and 1t would
<eero that the anti-educationi have made a pretty
fair case.
But have they7
ret MS look at It from another angle, and one based on
cold statistical studies rather than on opinions ana
isolated cases. The boy who quits school at the age OF
"A wears makes on an average Of 5000 while his fellows
continue their school work: at le he gets an average OF
s25o YEARLY. When he is 10, he faces the competition OF
bows Of the same age who have been going to school. AND
what happens is this: The boy who left school at IA
makes $3.50 while the boy who continued school until he
was 18 makes $500. The first lad has been working Tor
four wears. For the second it is his first year out.
At 20 years of age the unschooled lad is getting $475
q wear and the schooled youth $3.50; at "a, the comparison
is s575 to 81, 900 and at Is the comparison Is 1868 to
$l55o!0o.
When the two youths reach that age the first has
been working II years and has made a total OF $o,ll2.5o'
The second has been working seven years and has made
$7.3375o. And from that point, the disparity in income
grows greater as the years roll on.
And the educated lad has a greater chance OF becoming
"boss" in his particular line. Gentlemen with sharp
pencils estimate that the unschooled boy has one chance
in 10000 Of attaining distinction: the boy with an ee-
mentary education has four times that chance; the one
with q high-school education has 81 times that chance
and the one with a college education has 900 times the
chance.
Startling figures these. but figures which every resident
Of the Missouri Slope country should consider when the
question Of his childrens schooling Is raised.