Evening star., 1941-12-01
Advocates Education
For Active Democracy
Writer Discusses Need
For Citizenry Well Trained
To Meet National Problems
To the Editor of The Star:

| To the Editor of The Star:
Indications are that local school sys-
! tens the country over are gearing their
| curriculums this season to a more in
! tenSive study of the democratic way of
| life. This may mean a vigorous effort on
/ the part OF both teachers and pupils
! toward understanding problems currently
/ relative to the Nation and to the world
| at large. If such is the case. it will mean
action in learning not merely an eXcogi-
tation of academic arguments pro and
con. The tendency will be away from
WOrd-Splitting to an enunciation of the
practical side of learning. There will be
| little of indoctrination. There will be
much of seeing and doing In short,
the school children will be combing every
available source for a more significant
eluCiGatOn of the democratic philosophy.
Ideally. that should be the case in
classrOoms throughout the country. Dur
ing time of national emergency schools
should play their part by sharply de-
! fining the national way of life so that
/ children come to appreciate the stu
BClItlOuS IIO|tllltlII ullttI way, 81 llldl
they gain understanding of the serious
ness of the moment. Such a participa-
ton on the part of school pupils is hoped
/ for. Surely. an informed. interested, en-
thuslastlc corps of young people is as
desirable in a democracy as in a dc
tatOrshlp. More so. For here there are
no hypOdeymics injected into the minds
Of young people to stimulate and to
c0crce their Wav of thinking With us
thinking, reasoning, concluding, is inCi-
vidual. therefore all the more precious.
Actually, what IS the case? What per-
centaee Of our BOYS and girls have
achieved this desired conception of
affairs?
There are no overall statistics so that
no definltlve conclusions NAV be drawn
Last october a group Of educators re-
ported that many secondary schools were
failing in the job of educating children
for citizenship in a democracy Some
schools, it was found had superior pro-
grams In the main most of them COM
pletely neglected this important issue.
OF 900 pupils examined. it was disCov-
cred that tWO-thirds Of them were bound
br a narrow conception of the meaning
Ct democracy and had little understand
ing Of their responsibilities in a demo-
cratic state. The whole problem was
being tackled nationally, it was affirmed.
but progress was slow.
Other studies on the subject have
been MADE and causes and cures have
been discussed. Dr. Paul r Mort of
Teachers College Columbia University.
in report published in April, found that
50 per cent Of Americas schools were
being financed Al 1900 level and that
5O-year lag existed between the good and
the poor schools Of the country. An ap-
parent contradiction existed between
the theories for improvement suggested
By educators and the failure TO take anv
action on the theories. DR.. John w.
Studebaker. Federal commissioner of
education. has declared that We must
give our boys and girls feeling that
they are needed and wanted in this
democratic organization, needed not only
IN time of war crisis. but under peace
time conditions as well. Such is the con-
Germ of democratic leadership
Indeed, the problem is broad one
and concerns more than the schools
themselves. For one thing, there is as
great responsibility in the home with the
parents as in the schools with the
teachers. As the supreme educative force
IN the life Of a child, the home still is
prime, above the school, above anv other
agency. But the unfortunate tendency
has been for parents completely to forget
this aspect of family living. Training
for citizenship has been given only the
slightest consideration by parents. More
and more they have transferred the
burden to other institutions, the church.
the school, clubs in the community, AS
result, there has been a decentraliza-
ton Of effort And the boys and girls
are not able to vision for themselves the
picture OF democracy as a whole. They
acquire conceptions piecemeal. in some
cases distorted. 1t makes for the con-
dltion that the group of investigating
educators found last fail. The reasons
for responsibility on the part of par
PXITdOrOl-
nary and complex One cause may be
sheer ignorance of pertinent facts. On
the other hand, the parents may have
the information. but may lack the in
CllnatiOn to use it for the benefit of their
youngsters. They may underrate the
needs, the interests or the intelligence
of their children, Perhaps they do not
wish to assume a responsibility which
they feel belongs elsewhere The fact
remains that too many of our homes are
institutions for the feeding and clothing
of children and for little else Physi-
cally, such homes are adequate store
houses; mentally, they are vacuums.
1t is plain that if we are going to help
children to grasp a full understanding
of democratic processes, we must turn
our attention in the direction of helping
adults likewise. Some one has suggested
that if We kept boys and girls out of
school for year or two and sent their
parents to school instead. it would be to
the great mutual benefit of both DR..
Alexander J. Stoddard, superintendent
of schools in Philadelphia has proposed
that every secondary school and college
in the country become a citizens study
center, without in any way interfering
with the regular school program. He
calls for the organization of teacher
groups, for the scheduling of buildings,
for the use of Libraries as supplement