This, That and the Other

Hawera Star, Volume LIII, 26 August 1933, Page 13

This, That and the Other

BY “Countrywoman” A so-called problem was recently propounded in the Educational Supplement of “The Times,” and concerned a boy who was the biggest duffer in a geometry class, with neither liking nor . ability* for the subject. His father, a builder, had been killed during an accident at work. The boy overheard a master say casually one day at dinner-time that an architect required some knowledge of geometry, and at the next lesson the pupil proved quicker than he had done before, finally coining first in his class. Ihe psychological explanation put forward is that the interest in geometry satisfied an unconscious longing to identify himself more closely with his father. Personally, 1 consider the explanation far simpler. Children invariably detest studying anything of which they cannot see the use. leach a child sewing by means of those horrible little specimens which obtained in my young days—how quickly they became grimy in moist little paws—and needlework becomes a weariness to the flesh. Let her make a simple frock or even a pinafore for baby sister (under supervision, if necessary, but “doing it all herself”) and the whole thing assumes a different aspect. The same applies to those irksome exercises known as “bills of costs” in the arithmetic book, the items of which are usually so remote from everyday life. The shopping /list balanced with the change proves much more worth while. Children like to see something concrete for their pains. Theory, we know, must be learned, but divorced from practice, to the younger fry it appears but a poor thing. The master of a school of 170 pupils in an English mining village some time ago carried out an interesting experiment. His object was to prove the possibility of the children managing their own discipline under a committee selected by themselves from among themselves, for at least twelve months. The teachers remained just to teach, checking directly no bad behaviour even in class, but simply reporting the offenders to a committee member. The fears at first entertained that parents would object to their children being punished by other children; that the committee members would become priggish and that many pupils would not accept the conditions, proved groundless. One rebel boy there was who frankly threatened dire vengeance on each and every member of the committee who dared to punish him. Finally he was sent to Coventry, completely boycotted, and became so disliked in and out of school that after brazening the situation tor a week or two ho voluntarily surrendered aiul fell into line. The experiment, however, was voted a failure for an entirely unforeseen reason. Every member of the committee, without exception, at the end of the term was in such a state of nervous tension that only holidays saved a breakdown The new duties were taken so seriously that, added to their own school worn, they proved a greater burden than they could be expected to carry. Granted that we cannot put “old heads on young shoulders,” I still think parents should endeavour, even with the younger children, to fit them for the responsibilities of later life, especially with regard to the value of money. A start can be made with a profitable hobby or small payment for extra services rendered. As they grow older an allowance can be made (while they are still subject to supervision and counsel) to /'over their own clothing and personal expenses. In this way, too, the miserly-inclined can be encouraged to do a little for others, and the naturally spendthrift to be more careful. I have nothing but pity for boys and girls pitchforked straight from schools into positions, expected without previous training to support and comport themselves creditably on the all-too-meagre salaries that prevail to-day. They should be shown just how far their money can be expected to go, and that while it is only natural they should desire to be “in the swim” with their fellows, if they cannot afford it they must wait for their fun until they can pay. Too often one reads that a youthful offender, who has betrayed a position of trust or succumbed to temptation, belongs to a well-known and highlyrespectable family, and one wonders if the duty, and the whole duty, of that highly-respected family had been fulfilled towards the delinquent.