The Bismarck tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, N.D.) 1916-current, 1932-09-06
Member Of Audit Bureau Of
Circulation
(Official City, State and County
Newspaper)
Foreign Representatives
SMALL, SPENCER, BREWER
uncorporateO
CHICAGO NEW YORK BOSTON
Off for School

Off for School
School bells rang in earnest this
morning after the foretaste given
Monday by assignment to classes and
other procedure.
Hundreds Of little tots today had
their first real contact with the vast
and complicated machinery of edu-
cation. Throughout the nation the
number will run well over million.
There IS something encouraging in
the millions who are tucking books
under their arms and turning their
bright, young faces toward the school,
rooms. To them the classroom rep
resents the prime interest in life and
it is proper that it should.
Nevertheless, the rest of us, with
more experience and the scars &C
quired in the harder school Of expe-
rience, often wonder If the impor-
lance of the educational system is
not little over-rated and if too
many things are not expected of it.
We hear much Of the schools as
character builders. It is true that the
school influence should be directed
toward character improvement and
children may learn many sound les
sons in behavior there. Nevertheless,
it should not be considered a major
agency in this regard. In building
character there is no real substitute
for the home.
We hear education spoken of "a
the key which unlocks every door,
particularly those which lead to ma
terial success. At the same time we
have thousands Of well-educated per-
sons who are not doing as well in
these times as others who received
less formal education.
If the will to learning existed
among the population in large meas
ure the school system as we know 1t
would have a comparatively short
lease on life, for means Of education
outside the classroom are so plentiful
that many willing pupils could escape
the routine which sometimes makes
school boresome and still acquire the
same essentials Of knowledge which
may be obtained in the classroom.
This is not to be expected Of children.
however. and it IS improbable that
we shall see any changes in the rou-
tine Of the primary grades.
The boy or girl who Is denied OPP
portunity Of obtaining a higher edu-
alton, however, could take advantage
of the facilities offered by CORE
spondence courses, extension univer-
stiles and similar agencies. Then,
too, the benefits to be received from
the reading Of weu-chosen books are
considerable. The best educated per-
sons, frequently, are those who are
self-educated, even though they have
that peculiar humility which comes to
those who lack a sheepskin as evil
dence of erudition.
II these times prove anything Of
Importance to the educational system
1t Is the need for laying stress on
those aspects Of the educational field
which deal with other than purely
material things. It is necessary to be
able to read, write and "figger," Of
course, but the man who knows only
those things lacks education. Beyond
the primary grades, the real purpose
Of education should be to prepare the
student for active participation In
the life about him In all its phases
He should be taught to appreciate
that man does not live by bread alone
and that there Is great ocean Of
knowledge which no one ever has
explored.
The boy or girl who realizes that
the formal instruction Of the class.
room only scrapes the surface of rea
education, has gained something yer,
valuable indeed. The one who see.
in education not merely the way t.
earning livelihood but a means o.
seH-improvement in other ways Il
still more fortunate.
Il we can appreciate the beauties
Of the world in bad times as in good
| II we can adjust ourselves to chang
ing situations. ever alert to the won
ders which are continually manifest
Ing themselves In the world about Us
II We can acquire the qualities o.
mind which give us understanding
4 and tolerance. we shalf have soml
small claim to education.
We think Of these things Is We ses
boys and girls, clad In new shoes and
stockings and with new books under