“CAN'T WRITE, TALK, OR THINK”

Evening Star, Issue 19764, 14 January 1928, Page 5

“CAN'T WRITE, TALK, OR THINK”

EMPLOYERS OH SECONDARY SCHOOL BOYS RU3BIKG IT til [SrECUL TO THE ‘ STAlt.*] CHRISTCHURCH. January 13. Tt is not only that they can’t write; they can’t even read or talk or think. Thev come from the secondary school nrimed with algebra and geometry and Latin, and goodness knows what, but, nobody seems to have bothered to teach them to think straight or talk docent English. As for their writing, von should see some of the applications I’ve had. In the first place thev don’t know what to write; in the second they can’t write legibly what they do know The modern secondary school boy enmo in for a very solid time to-day, when a ‘Sun ’ reporter visited the leading employers and bank managers of the city, inquiring after his bandwriting, which, rumor Nid it. was not quite as good as it might be. Rumor was right, and tho reply quoted above seemed typical of tho general feeling of Christchurch business men, although most confined themselves to a few explosive remarks about handwriting alone.

The early new year is the time when employers are pestered with written and personal applications for- work from hovs who have left the secondary schools. According to most of them, “pestered” is the right word. “If only they would take some trouble in writing their application, both as regards composition and style, and realise that the impression given by the letter may make or mar their chances,” said the managing director of a bank. “As it is they jumblo a lot of words together, write them anyhow (sometimes oven in pencil), and post them (usually to the wrong address). The public and school teachers don’t seem to realise what utter tosh these boys are capable of writing. They seem to contract these had habits at the secondary schools. At any rate, on the average boys coming direct from the primary schools show a better hand, but those from the “ high ” schools come with no idea of neat writing, and in its place a smattering of bookkeeping that is no use to anybody. Good handwriting is the basis of good bookkeeping. You can never make a good bookkeeper of a bov who writes all over the place. Yet the schools seem to concentrate on teaching him the art of keeping books, and leave the question of handwriting to his own sweet, easy will. The result is that when ho comes here w»' have to begin from primer 11. and teach him how to write. Wo don’t mind teaching him the art of keeping books, but it is an unfair waste of time to teach him to write. If only boys realised what great store is set on a good “ hand ” these days, I am sure they would try to better their writing. Why, often we engage a boy solely on his qualifications as a good writer I”

The manager of a loading bookshop said that he had hardly a single boy in his employ who could write decently and legibly. He produced “the proof of the pudding ’* in the shape of an order book, parts of which were indecipherable. “If the secondary schools can’t or won’t teach them how to write, they might at least try to improve their talk. Wo employ here only boys who have had eorno 'secondary education. Yet such expressions as “You didn’t ought,” ‘We was,” “What was you looking at” (apart from the ordinary slang), are always floating round the place. What we business men do want is the boy who can write well, think clearly, and talk fair English. If the schools only turn him out like this, wo’ll be pleased to supply the bookkeeping and commercial training; but wo must have good writing.”