The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1957-12-12
The Hoover Suggestion

The Hoover Suggestion
When former President Herbert
Hoover talks he never wastes words.
Always, he goes to the heart OF
things. Always he knows what he is
talking about. If his advice had been
more often taken this would be
far better nation ANA we would have
avoided many of the basic mistakes
we have made.
A few days ago he made a speech
before the American Society of En-
gineers, of which he has been presi-
dent, in New York City. His subject
was the superiority in numbers of
engineers, techlicians and scientists
of Russia over US. In the first place,
he said, it just was not so, as he
had long ago learned not to believe
III RuSSia'S claims. In the second
place, even if it were so it would be
very little trouble for us to catch
up and pass them at no real cost if
we would make one change in our
school system. The point Mr..
Hoover then made was one which
seemed to be editorially ignored
generally in the discussion about
the public high school which has
been going on for years.
81
Conceivably, had it been made
some years ago and then become
applicable to the nine little Negro
applicants for entrance to the Little
Rock High School, there would
have been no incident there and
the nation would not have been
rocked as it has been for so many
months. The point is a simple one
and Mr.. Hoover did not try in any
way to connect it up with Little
Rock. But others did. What he did
suggest was that there would have
been a good many more scientists,
chemists, physicists, engineers,
ETC., in this nation now had not
the choice of what studies he or
she should pursue been left to the
child-even to the child of 14-as
the oldest of these nine were.
&**
For under the new modern level
of higher educational freedom, the
children of high schools in general
choose for themselves what studies
they like best and want most to
pursue. The new doctrine is to
leave everything to the child; to
give the child perfect freedom to
map out his own course without
any guidance from parent or teach
err. That was the idea-perfect
freedom for the child to follow the
line which most attracted him with
no pressure from any source; sim
ply to express himself, to do what
was most attractive to him or her,
what is natural for him to do and
nothing whatever that he is forced
against his will to do on the theory
that that is good for him physical
". mentally or morally. That is
the new doctrine of higher educa-
ton.
The result is that the normal
child of IA and after chooses to
study the courses that involve the
least work and give opportunity
for the most play. This, of course,
is the natural way for the undisci-
plined child-even of IA years
20 feel. More than 80 per cent of
the male and female students, left
to their own selections, do not
choose algebra, or geometry, or
higher mathematics, chemistry or
physics, or philosophy, or even
arithmetic or any other subject
upon which it is necessary to con-
centrate and really work. Rather
they pick English literature, or
history or poetry Or some soft
subject" which requires less effort
70 master and less time for worry.
The result, Mr.. Hoover thought, &C
counted for the vacant seats in the
classrooms Of those high school
teachers who teach any or all
branches of science.
Now a great deal has been writ
ten and talked about the necessity
for complete freedom of choice"
for the student as to what he shall
study in the high schools before
and since the Arkansas affair. But
no one has put the reason so clearly
why there are SO many undisci-
plined students who are called upon
20 make their own decisions with
out guidance or pressure of any
sort from those competent and eX-
perienced TO advise or direct them.
In brief, Mr.. Hoover advises a