LEAVING SCHOOL

Evening Post, Volume 148, Issue 148, 20 December 1923, Page 7

LEAVING SCHOOL

CHOICE OF OCCUPATION

WORRIES QF,PARENTS

ARTICLE BY ROTABY' CLUB.

Following is the first 1 of a series of three articles prepared by the directors of. the Eotary Club, dealing with the question of the right choice of an occupation fqr boys who are about! to leave school. "The njpderii somewhat harassed parent ha,s HioiNe than pne difficult ,prpbloai to face; but probably there is none, 60 bristling with difficulties, so bestrewn with pitfalls, so. fraught with the perplexity of alternatives, as that of 'directing a youth in his. choice; of an occupation. Yet the difficulty of the problem is no good reason for ignoring it, and noitchalan.ee in such a matter is far _f rom engaging.. Nor can the vague aspirings of , youth wholly absolve the parent from an urgent responsibility. "So much depends on the right choice of an occupation; so much for all parties—the coming man himself, as well as the, society of which he is a member. The choice incomes a part of his destiny, a cause in the determination oE his'later life, Froni right choices come individual happiness' and social gain ; from wrong choices individual loss and social waste. It is true that most parents desire to serve their children well in this matter; but it is questionable whether but a few appreciate fully the, complexity and insistence of the responsibility placed upon them. • And many are'inclined to place the whole bjirden upon the shoulders of the school-teacher, who already carries more responsibility and suffers more anxiety than most other memhers. of' society. The teaoher oan dp much, and, whether properly appreciated or ncjt, does, very much; hut not unaided can lie be jua^ly- expected to gauge aright the developing faculties, the emerging hopes and "fluttering- aspirat jons pf $ hundred chijdren as well as to be conversant with the multiplicity of competing opportunities presented'by complex modern society. - .. ," BOT'LEAVING SCHOOL,

''This is a plea,-to. parent^ to' worry themselves badly about that boy wfho i? just about to leave school. What stuff is h.e majle off What are. his talents? What are. his hopes? ' Whevo can he fit in?. What alternatives, offey? What fine thing will die witjhi.a hir^'if you hend him to your unc'aleulaiyig VfilU These few among- $ l&Qiisaijd queries to arrest yp.u! The. world js not bounded by your small circle. "Jour hpy is like ypu, but iiqV the . sa.m.<j>.-as yo.n. What was gop4 enough'fpjry®l ip not necessarily gopd. engugh for Jtiim. These fe.w among a, thousand - tjwvi'glrti to stay your hand.! The \vor\d. warms men in the right place, nP.i in any pjaoe: Just aa earth in the wro«g-pla.ce is. #£ so roan in the wrong "place is waste, apd poverty, and unrest,, - *Wa.ste of EUill^o£ Nature's. nqb}e gift, of craftsn\ar\ship^is. ahaut the post gtupidly tragic :\w}l . tragically stupid '. eivtraYagance'.^Jhat misguided wan can contrive for his <?>v^i industrial mPrtification.' -■'■'-'"/•;; MISPIRECTEP ABILITY,.", :: "The social waste from misdirected ability is enormous. Much of -thja wastage is inevitable \in our pre'se'ot order of sooiety, and is therefpve good reason for pur . closer inspection ~of-*tMs order. '■' But miuoh also is!avoidabte'/ ah"d is traceable either to unforgivably parental carelessness,:or to unnecessary' ig> norance or to oheap snobbishneES, 6i -tb dull habit, or, lastly, to comniqn stupidity. There are always more poor jobs going than good ones, and into these are 'guided' (sic!) the potential statesman, lawyer, farmer, dustman, poet, and the rest of that strange.fellowship whiph witnesses while life lhets the incompetence of counsellors and'the ■ poverty of social wisdom. Apart- from this : consideration, however, it-is true that fe\v realise the extent.of th.e;T_angß: of oocupations from which a d rational choice may be.madei How many parents ever made a list of possible occupations, or thought p{ a trade directory,' or investigated a telephone guide? And. too, are tfyere not a. few unhappy inea to-day who are the victims of the modern objessign of ihe. 'white cpllar' -.. occupations? What emqncipaiipat.rof ideas as well as gain of bodily comfort if we could but be bjave e^pugli-'tb abolish that ■ vestigial embloro. of-seVv.i-tude—the cpllar! It remains one sign among others of our irrational, -falge, social judgments of the value of'-hvimah' worl?. Tho biggest reVptution in-thoUght will Ije achieved when we come liQnest-. ly to believe that only that lab'our'-^is worthy and honourable which; i-ejid^rs .^ service to society; and. the biggest revolution in social practice when we are ready to make our rewards jn sppie wiiy .commensurate with the service rendered. But the dimmest perception of this philosophy now would save that wholesale slaughter of ambit-ion and talent which is the present sacrifice to false social valuations. Finally, it may be pointed out that one mo^t'powerful influence in deciding the selection of an occupation for .a boy is the size of" the initial remuneration. No more dangerous guide than this! Jlqre will ■ be said in a later article of the' lure pf high initial earnings to blind-alley occupations. Just here it is to Be said that the sign marked £ s. d. that hangs outside such blind-alleys should often more properly be interpreted 'all hope abandon, ye who enter here !'" '.