A NEW SPIRIT

Evening Post, Volume CXI, Issue 75, 29 March 1926, Page 9

A NEW SPIRIT

■ — —♦-^ — THE PUBLIC SCHOOLBOY

TENDENCIES OF THE TIMES \ •

i 1 (From Our Own Corraspbndent.) LONDON, 4th February. 1 Dr. Cyril Norwood, who has just I taken up his duties as the new. i headmaster of Harrow, has give*n '.his views in the "Sunday Ob- : server" of tho modern public | schoolboy and the developments in i his character in recent times. -He ; shows how changes iv our social 1 order have reacted upon the boys. '• To-day there are fow boys who are I looking forward to positions on the for the simple reason that tho ,'great landed families are giving up 'their big estates, and the old social i position in tho counties is slowly ' but surely changing. "On the other hand, therohas been an increase in the number of boya who will eventually inherit largo fortunes made in' commerce. The great temptation to these boys is to look forward merely to tho enjoyment of that wealth, without rendering any equivalent service. I think, in fact, that this is the great danger to tho modern boy of the wealthy classes. While boys are always open to tho appeal of service', and are most anxious to equip themselves for some caTeer in commerce, industry, politics, or local -Saffairs, we must remember that he who inherited tho county tradition had a much securer position [than tho boy who is to como into a quar>to. of a million of money unattached, ffhis, I think, is one distinguishing mark between tho old boy and the new—the 'inheritance of wealth and position with tho consequent demands upon social sorvice, and tho anticipation of great wealth without its corresponding responsibilities. •'The modern schoolboy demands far more variety and a greater width'of interest than, his predecessor, and is more ■ imaginative. By splitting his interests, it is true, ho does not roach that level of knowledge in any particular study attained,by his predecessors, who concentrated on a narrower field of work. MANY LINES OP STUDY. ''A groat deal has been said of public schools turning out boys of one pattern. . So far as that is tho case, it is without doubt due to the action of the boys themselves, who make rules which are sometimes absurd, but which must not under any circumstances be broken. This important movement shows itself in tho fact that there are many more typosof advanced education to be found now than was ever the case before. The' general principle in any big school to-day is that tht boy over 16, and up to the avorage mental_ development of that period, has a choice of between seven and eight different kinds of special study, all recognised and equipped, whereas forty yoars ago he would have been lucky to have had more than two. "An. interesting fact, however, is that this phase of modernity has had no serious effect on the study of tho classics. Since compulsory Greek was abolished at Oxford' and Cambridge, a period which marked "the low-water mark of classical study, there has been a slow but steady revival iv the study of the classics, particularly Greek. This, I believe, is not peculiar to tho public schools, but is a general development noted throughout all the secondary schools. It is not a great increase, but is a very definite one. ATTITUDE TOWARDS RELIGION. "-Another interesting feature.of the new ,|yp_o of .boy is that he takes an earlier, and certainly more individual, interest in religion. It is, I believe, quite a natural development, due to the general atmosphere of discussion prevalent throughout the country, '"which boys and girls reflect very quickly. As far as my own experience goes, however, there is definitely less agnosticism among the clever young men and boys than was'the case ten or twenty years ago. My own belief is that there is a reaction among young men at the moment against revolutionary and unorthodox ideas which havo, perhaps, been overdone as a result of the war and the troublous times which'havo followed. "This profoundly important eh; nge, which I havo personally observed, though I have no evidence to justify me in saying that it is general, is one of the most remarkable experiences I have encountered, for tho cleverer people have always been expected to disbelieve a great many things. It is not, however, an indication of a lack of interest in tho' boys themselves, or a tendency to accept rather than to find things out. Bather is it that the bias with which they approach the more important subjects is to defend rather than to pull to pieces, to conservo Tather than to destroy." 85, Fleet street.