Evening star., 1937-05-21
Duty
By Schools
q ca S t S
Courses Should Be
Provided to Aid
Them Later.
BY ANGELO PATRI.

THE people of the United States
support the public school. They
pay heavy taxes for them. They spend
large sums of money to build schools,
equip them and pay teachers, all in
the hope that this institution will
serve the children, all the children.
When I think of the hard-working
men and women, the sacrifices they
endure and the high hopes they hold
for their children, I want to do my
full share toward realizing their
ideals. am deeply distressed when
one child, however difficult, has tc
be sent out of the schools unprepared,
undeveloped, unsettled. 1t seems to
accounted for by the schools of the
country.
Adolescent children present grave
problems to the schools. No two of
them develop alike or to the same
degree, but we manage to get the
most of them through high school
and headed toward purposeful lives.
oup OAlNlC ulC ol"oyo cCIllC SlAuk ~ G
sent out unprovided for, and it Is
about these outcasts that school and
society should be concerned. and deep
| ly concerned.
There are children who do well
in school up to a certain grade and
there they stop. Now it may be that
they have reached the end of their
o1nyu thn 1iroc tho cphnol ho
developed. But it is certain that they
have not reached their fullest all
round development. No provision is
made for such children in most of the
Nations schools. The idea seems to
be that if a child does not At into
the scheme as set then he is no good
and out he goes. But where does he
go when he goes out?
These boys and girls cannot go
to work because there is none, or
because the law does not permit.
They are turned loose to wander about
the streets and make trouble at home
and abroad for themselves and the
rest Of us. AS long as We know that
these children are helpless, why not
try to provide place for their further
growth, more complete development,
more understanding discipline?
Many an adolescent boy and girl
is too sick to go on in school along
the set lines of the curriculum. One
cannot get up on time in the morning
and skip first class. That is bad
mark to begin with and the teacher
ntC q u-riffaY1 frnrro hnpon
The day wears on and the child
grows more and more weary His
aching body finds no ease in the
benches. His fatigued mind closes
against the lesson. Maybe he skips
the last period and is found smoking
in the basement. Throw him out?
What then? What has been settled?
How can the school be content with
that final washing of hands?
1t is the duty Of the school sys-
TENS of the world to care for the
last child in the community as long
as he needs care. We ought to know
what is happening to every child who
has been entered in school. It is
not enough to graduate those who
eahC AAlQAy w COuCdt1OA. ~
is imperative that We take care of
those who cannot take it and who
fail in trying. We must provide for
them.
Make flexible program for them
so that their hours are adjusted as
well as their curriculum. Provide
courses to suit their needs. Link the
schools with industry so that business,
craftsmanship, the professions, the
arts, all labor, are in cooperation
with the ideals Of the people whose
schools We run. We are not doing
our full duty while one child remains
an outcast without purpose, without
hope.
Mr.. Patri will give personal at
tention to inquiries from parents and
school teachers on the care and de-
velopment of children. Write him In
care of this paper, enclosing Scent
stamped, self-addressed envelope for
reply.
(Copyright. 1877