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Show Uncommon Sense By JOHN BLAKE I . Bell Syndicate WNU Service It has been a long time since parents par-ents believed that it was the duty of a school teach-er, teach-er, entrusted with Teachers the education of young people to "lick 'em, an' larn 'em." I am told that corporal punishment punish-ment is nonexistent In the schools today. In my time It was pretty prevalent, preva-lent, too much so for the happiness of myself and my fellow pupils. But I do not believe It ever did any good. Today, the teachers' profession, while still not paid as highly as it should be, is the most important calling in any civilized country. The teachers themselves have been taught scientifically. They know better how to gain and hold the attention of their pupils. They are more tolerant with dullards, dul-lards, who, from no fault of their own, are slow to learn. School teaching Is a highly Important Im-portant business. It is important because It arouses In the minds of young people a desire de-sire for knowledge. Convince a youngster that the more he knows, the happier, and, probably, the more successful he will be, and more than half the battle bat-tle Is accomplished. The teachers In this country are very well paid, according to the old standards. But they are not as well paid as chauffeurs, or horse trainers, or baseball players, whose value to the world Is very much less than their own. Today, fortunately In this country, coun-try, education is compulsory. But compulsory or voluntary, you must want It, or you will not get It. You must be interested and ambitious, ambi-tious, and determined to get out of yourself the best results possible. Otherwise the time you have spent in learning will be of no possible pos-sible use to you. In these days of colleges and educational ed-ucational Institutions of all kinds it Is getting harder and harder for a half-taught boy or girl to get any position at all. This has been especially evident in the last year or so. But those who suffer the least from the conditions out of which we are now passing are those who have used their opportunities to stock their minds. If every young man or woman, starting out In life knew exactly In what direction What to go, there would Women Do nt be nearly so many failures In life. But unfortunately, what one wants to do, and what one can do best, are not always the same. If you asked the average high school girl today what her chosen walk in life would be, she would probably tell you that she would rather be a motion picture actress than anything else. And one time out of a hundred, a motion picture actress' life might be open to her If she worked hard. In the other ninety-nine cases, If she persisted and got as far as Hollywood, Hol-lywood, the result would only bo disappointment, perhaps tragedy. The pepple who do not know what they want to do are still in a majority, and they are to be pitied. They may have real Intelligence and ability, sometimes actual talent tal-ent But If they try this thing and that, and are hoping that some new opportunity will turn up to give them a chance, their whole life may be wrecked. Today conditions of this kind are not so serious as they used to be. There are wider opportunities for women. Indeed, In many cases, women are doing the same kind of work that men are and gaining fame and fortune. But these are exceptions. What the average girl ought to do Is to get married and have a family fam-ily of her own. And that Is what she usually does. If she has the chance. But If the chance doesn't come along, and It often doesn't, the future fu-ture looks very dark. But the clouds are not so menacing menac-ing as they were. You find shops of all kinds, once operated only by men, with women wom-en at their head, often the owners of the place. One of the largest chain of restaurants restau-rants In New York Is run by a woman, with great success. Women have wide opportunities when fhey go to work In big department depart-ment stores, and often earn salaries sal-aries that would put some of their male workers In the shade. And all this has been accomplished accom-plished within the last twenty or thirty years. And as a result man is beginning to find out that the words "superior tex" are an anacronism. Women at last are quite able to look out for themselves, and many do. |