Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-10-10
OUR CHILDREN
By ANGELO PATRI.
School SUPPLIES.

Children like to carry things to
school They take pride In having the
biggest school bag, the grandest pencil
box, the most books. Unless they are
! watched they will burden themselves
with supplies that they do not need.
The weight they carry wearies them.
It gets in the way Of the school routine.
It is difficult for a child marching In
line from one part of a building to an
other to care for books Little children
often fall on the stairs trying to care
for their supplies TIE less Of them the
children carry. the better.
Strip their school bags to the bare
limits of necessity. They are to carry
only what they need for the day. The
younger children need carry little or
nothing. Usually they have no home
lessons and so need carry no books, and
TIE pencils should be left in school. 1t
IS better that small children carry no
pointed instruments, not even a pencil.
The children of the elementary grades
are likely to load themselves down with
books. This they do to feel important,
to serve notice to the world that they
are busy people and cary a weight Of
knowledge. The loads Of books they
carry are likely to cause poor posture,
too big a price to pay for a gesture Of
superiority. Examine the books they
are carrying and reduce them to what
is needed.
There is little difficulty with the high
school students. They are past the
stage Of acquisition, past the stage
where they want to impress the world
are likely to err on the other side. And
also, they are likely to be careless with
their material. They mark text books
needlessly; they mar pages Of books;
they tear leaves from books. They lay
them around and lose them. They,
too, must be checked up on school sup
plies because, first. the bad habit they
are forming; next the cost of the ma
terials they are wasting
Books are rarely marred in school
time When the children are on their
way to and from school they lay their
books on the ground, they toss them
about, they hide them In damp and
dirty places At home the books often
get into the hands of the younger chill
dren and are damaged. Or they are
left on the table where food is eaten
and soiled past redemption. All theee
causes Of waste and loss can be less
ened home co-operates with school
and checks up the children in the mat
ter Of school supplies.
All books ought to be covered with
clean paper This cover should be
changed frequently enough to keep it
in presentable condition A place for
books and supplies should be kept at
the disposal Of the children, and each
child held responsible for keeping his
things in place.
Each term the books should be ex-
amined so that parents know the con-
dition Of them when received. the treat
r1ent given them by the child owner
and the condition Of them at the end
Of the term. This attention to supplies
is not only important to the character
growth of the children; it is important
to the tax rate of the community
School supplies cost money Schools
need bountiful supplies. If care is ex-
ercised money will go farther, service
will be improved and school activities
broadened. Waste hurts all concerned
children, parents and teachers.
Copyright, 1881