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Show f i ii I Home and School League I i ti . . f I H "MANKIND IN THB MAKING." ' (A n address delivered, before the Par- I n rut - teai iier h ssocin t ion or' the Oouin h t school, Krirlny, Mnrch "23, by J. Oh a lion t. Smith, iiiliicipnl of the Sumner school.) f It is win Ins to he recognizee! pretty .j veil t hat t he issue between tlio nations 1 of Kuiupo now rapplintc with each other M In the ki'ch' war is damoeraey vs. aov- I I ereiuuty. Naturally, A inert cans sym- I i pathtze with that aide contending: lor thfi 1 (j principles mulc-rhinc: Uielr own form of v.j government. 'But a democracy, of all forms of poveirnment, demands an intelli-f4pnt intelli-f4pnt and moral citizenry. A strong pa- " tenia) pnveinnvnt may keep an ignorant j ?! people In eoinitarative peace and happi- j a ness: but an ig.iorant populace exercising ! the francliiso v'Jll run into unrest and I y, anarchy. Mexico is an example at hand. 1 .' II. I!. Wells, in one of his many readable ' 1 hooks, in "Mankind in the Making," 0 posiis the thesis tfiat tlio one thing worth j while for t he moji and women of the I h pri'sent generation their one great object in life is :;o to live, f,i to strive, so ro i a ' i i , iik' ;!i myitis at t h-Mr d Isjioal. in ord'"T tii.iT tin: ift-p t ion ff.miim ai!-r n.a v f.. a In tie ,--: a little liiui.rr in ihzatioii, than tlio piv-nt. !(: Mii:iks th:il lii'-re fi i-f- two uas oji.-m to triO'ii- C piish this, first, by having .-inldin bett.-r horn. L-;vii:- tn.-.-fi a -ood start with vb;cn t(j ii.-- Htr'iL.'L:l'' of lir.-; and. n-'-ond, hv hniisin' up pru"T! the rtilldren ai-rcaiiv ai-rcaiiv horn. Tne hist has to do with the f-o-'-allf-d Kriein of eii'-o-ni'-.S and the ond viilk the qt-neral theme of education. A- I eaeht-i s m-.'i pa ren is. we are intt.-r-cst.;d with both of th'-s- siii.jt-'-'tfi ; but at this mi melius our at t'-n Mon snail ne dl-rr-.-terl toward some tlnnKii connected with ed ii' .i t ion. 'IVa.diers are striving to strengthen, develop de-velop and dlS'-iplin the growing mtnil in hi I'll way and to sic-h extent that thp lid 'r pent.-rat ion may take care of itself intidli-o-ntlv. p.-a''.--al.lv and happily, in a en iiizatioti a hitle better rhnn I he pn;s-ent. pn;s-ent. S-' ondarilv. teiodieis aim to inform t lie child -m i rid, to pive it a content of er-rlain suhjects. which ehall furnish the lia.sis of future progress in whatever line of work life mav demand. Teachers, however, consider that this phase of their work is sc. ond in importance to SlvlnK pupils certa In principles of conduct a -liscipMne of head and heart and hand of such nature ihat, when puptis leave the . S'-hool room, thev wilt lie able to gain ' the content of any subject with which iht-ir vocation mav connect iheni. To do this work successfully, therefore, teachers mav reasonably expect.' if not demand, that parents send their children to the si hootroorn fullilhrig certain conditions. condi-tions. ( 1 Pupils should come to the teacher .sound in body and clean. A bath once a week Is a Mood thing. The eyes, the ears, the throat, the nose, the teetn should be in a healthy condition. F it glasses to the maladjusted eyes; cut out adenoids and unhealthy tonsils, for these are often a source of inflammation of the inner ear. of heart trouble and of rheumatism; rheu-matism; take care of the teeth; do not pull them unless absolutely necessary they are worth hundreds of dollars but do not allow pus pockets to form around them (the pus being- swallowed and absorbed ab-sorbed in the system), for the pus la a toxin which is very detrimental to the health. CJivc children fresh air at niRbt; the sleeping porch has more health than all the pills and nostrums on the drug market. Headaches often are caused by the eves being out of order, or they may be due to constipation. Parents should know something of the private morals of their children. Have you anv idea what language your children chil-dren use when In the general gang? If vou were behind a thin partition and could bear them talking, doubtless you would bo shocked. There is a language of childhood not put down in the books: it Is carried forward from generation to goneratlon unwritten. We call It vulgar, i o., common. It is often worse than that; it Is obscene. Parents are closer to their children than teachers; they have them eighteen hours out of the twenty-four. twenty-four. 1 o parents live close enough to their children to have their confidence'.' Can they talk sympathetically and confidentially con-fidentially with their own flesh and blood to the end that they may have clean minds, as well as clean bodies? "Idleness Is the devil's workshop." I envv the countrv boy and the country parent. Tn the country there is always a task at hand. There are not so many diversions; there is time for meditation and growth. In the city we have to contrive con-trive artificial tasks. We must have manual training and domestic science and other things. We must find something for the children to do when not in school gardening. flower raising, keeping chickens, rabbits, pigeons, running errands, er-rands, selling papers, etc. Rut too often parents have few or no tasks at all for their children. They allow them to run the streets from morning to night during the vacation season. As a consequence children gather in gangs wherein the seeds of vice and bad habits are sown to their future detriment. Some day the school will he open the year around of course, not the hard and fast system now in vogue, but a school winch, during the summer months, will go the hills or to the seashore, or to the river bank or to the countrq. The teacher will take her class on a "hike" for a week or two at a time, studying nature at first hand. Walking, swimming, wrestling, horseback riding and other physical accomplishments ac-complishments will be sandwiched in with "hook learning" and will constitute part of the new vacation curriculum. The Great 'Master took his disciples (learners) with him as lie walked over Gallilee, Samaria,. Sa-maria,. Judea and the regions round about the Jordan. He talked to them about the sower, the seed, the soil, the air, the water, the storm, the birds, the animals. Thev went boating and fishing. fish-ing. m They studied nature. The disciples learned the principles of a higher life through his guidance. Pome day, also, the "continuation school" will come, wherein a pupil may go to school in the forenoon, say, and work in tlie afternoon, Joining with a fellow pupil in a common job and occupying occupy-ing a common seat at school. The task of "mankind in the making" is so great, so precarious, so divine, that It demands the thought and the work, both of teachers and of parents, in a programme of co-operation as perfect as it is possible to make. ANNOUNCEMENTS. Owing to the fact that next week is spring vacation for the city schools there will be no parent-teacher meetings held. As the regular monthly meeting of the Home and School league will fall during the spring vacation the executive com-mittee com-mittee deems it advisable to postpone the meeting to Tuesday, April 10, when it will be held in room 032 city and county building at 4:ln p. m. The feature film of the boys' and girls' matinee to be given Saturday. April 7, I at 10:10 a. m. at the Paramount-Empress I theater will be Marguerite Clarke in "Silks and Satin." |
