THE SCHOOL AGE.

Marlborough Express, Volume XLI, Issue 96, 25 April 1907, Page 3

THE SCHOOL AGE.

Dr Luther Burbank, the famous Ijlant specialist, has been turnlr.g his attention lately to the training o-f the human plant, which he declares begins too early. Something of a sensation has been caused by his -assertion that the public school is no place for a child until it has reached the age of ten or twelve, years. It should - not be sent there before its mind is definitely, formed. Tho assertion was, mad© in the course of an address given by Dr Burbank, in which he discussed the similarity between the-raising of plants and children, and it- has' provoked a perfect storm of- protest and.approval from the leading Californian teachers and physicians. The. supporters of Dr Burbank say that the-primary school of to-day educates the children along a set groove, arid that the individual temperament- receives to© ljttle attention. They believe that until the age ef ten years is- reached the child should bo taught- a little by its parents or a special teacher, and given as much exercise and sleep as possible. Dr William Fitch Cheney/ an eminent children'specialist, agrees strongly ivith this view. Under the present- system ho declares, "the little brains are often fed too- fast for mental digestion, and th© result is a weakenng of the organ. "The primary teacher naturally makes the work of the best child the standard for tho rest of the children to follow. ' The children are taught much more than is necessary during the time they spend in the" primary gradgs. They will develop faster after they are ten years old if they have not had too much brain cultivation beforehand." Those who oppose Dr ■ Burba rik's theory admit that the school system is not perfect but on the whole they think it has. a good developing influence, and that individuality is not destroyed. City children are much better off in school than on the streets. The teachers of primary schools and, it is interesting to note, most of the principals of high schools, think that Dr Burbank is alarmed for nothing. Several high school principals find, in direct contradiction of1 che plant specialist' g theory thai the children who go earliest- to the primary schools show a larger mental capacity at ..the secondary schools than those who start later,- while their bodily development is equal. Eminent names are ranged on both sides,of the controversy, so that parents who' are troubled with the same question will do well to follow their own opinions.