The frontiersman., 1955-11-10


 agree in those things they would have a child taught, both with re spect to the improvement in vir- tue and happy life; nor is it clear whether the object of 1t should be to improve the reason or rec tify the morals. From the present mode of education we cannot de- termine with certainty to which men incline; whether to instruct a child in what will be useful to him in life, or what is excellent; for all these things have their separate defenders"
 But the kids today are different
 Another theme often heard to- day is that the kids today are different" To put that another way it becomes the kids are going Cor have gone) to the dogs" That has been a common phrase for long, long time. Back 235O years ago, Socrate, whose death came about because of his teach ing something new and different, evidently gave up hope for the younger generation because he said: "The children now love lux urY: they show disrespect for elders and love chatter in place of exercise. Children now are tYrants. not servants. of their households. They no longer rise when elders enter inc room. They contradict their parents chatter before company. gobble up dain- ties al inc table. cross their legs. and tYranize over their teachers"
 This does not prove that young people, by nature are chronically inclined to give us trouble and concern. Rather, it indicates that older people of all ages, in all climates, under all conditions, are impatient with youth. Let's be fair youth is not perfect, and never has been-but there is evidence to support the belief that the younger generation of today is generally serious, cap able, and courageious in spite of rather discouraging world condi- tions. TODAY'S YOUTH IS OUR ONLY HOPE FOR TOMOR- ROW.
 A Few Facts to Remember
 As we recognize that the pub lie school is only ONE of the edu- eating agencies in our society and one of lesser importance to the home, let us consider a few facts. Looking at modern youth let us remember that with three world wars in one generation; \ with one-third of our marriages ending in divorce; with more than half of our women between the ages of 20 and 40 working outside inc home; AND. in a na- lion which spends three lines as much on gambling and twice as much for alcoholic beverages as if spends for public education. ii is a fact that today more than 98 percent of our youth never get into any serious trouble (staYing out of trouble doesn't make news. furthermore. many auth orative tests show that todaY's public school students are learn ing inc three R's better than ever before in historY.!!!
 We should readily agree that the public school has much ground left to oain and that there are many unsolved problems con fronting public education which may never be resolved into com plete and final solutions. We should also readily agree that public education need not be apologetic for the job it has done, and the ground gained. Recogniz- ing our weak spots and working to overcome them, we should con- tinue to be resolute in our de- termination to keep striving to do an increasingly better job of the already good job of teaching we are doing
 Taken from material found by Howard Matthews in From Adams to Atom" a publication of the California Teachers Asso-