PUBLISHED EVERY EVENING. THURSDAY, JULY 14, 1910. LIFE AT A SECONDARY SCHOOL.

Marlborough Express, Volume XLIV, Issue 160, 14 July 1910, Page 4

PUBLISHED EVERY EVENING. THURSDAY, JULY 14, 1910. LIFE AT A SECONDARY SCHOOL.

An interesting comparison between life at the secondary schools in JNew Zealand and in England is given in the last issue of The Nelsonian, the magazine; of,, Nel^n.fotee. » * written by **** pupil of the, CMkg who is now prosecuting his studies at. one of thebig, English public schools, and deals with many points ot ditterence and resemblance between tne writer's old alma mater and his new. "On entering;.a large English Public school," he says, »"ypu feel at once that you are lost manifold— among six hundred, op,-;more, you count tor nothing, and no>, ' :i one..cares an atom about you ;• whereas in a New Zealand public school everyone immediately says: ' Oh! there's a new boy, and after that/ probably, 'Let's go and rag him. 3 The new boy ■ makes no acquaintances I for a day or two—until he has been, taken stock of—and then probablysomeone, will finally chum up and take him' all round and explain all the school-' institutions to him. From that moment he begins to make acquaintances," sbine deepening into friendship . No one knows more than thirty or forty boys in +he school, while all the rest,are as indifferent to each other as. soimanystones." Describing the various games played m England, th/e, writer states that rowing and fives are almost as important as cricket and football, while many of the boys devote themselves entirely to gymnastics. The boys are required to join in some game for two hours every week. "The school is divided into so many clubs, and _it depends a good deal on how much you turn up at the club matches whether you make many friends or not. But —'and here the writer mentions one of the greatest differences between the Home school ".and the Colonial—" no one cares a rap whether you play or not, everyone being too much occupied with fiis,own concerns; only, if you did not, you would live the life of an outcast, because you would never give yourself the opportunity of meeting anyone." Another interesting point of difference, which is all in favor of the New, Zealand schools, is the relative importance of drill and gymnastics. "In England every boy must do gymnastics unless he is in the eighth (i.e. top) form of the school; while although there is a cadet corps-p^and it is considerably encouraged by, the authorities —it is unpopular among the boys, and not at all large. In fact, it is manned to a large extent by those boys who are definitely intended for the Army, and who will continue their course in the special Army forms till they get their commissions' and go out to join their regiments." The English schoolboy pays mOTA attention to dress than does his Colpiriial cousin. "Especially in a London"; School, one learns that there are suchi things as ties, collars, starched* shirts, long trousers, canes, bowler hats, and the like; also that a polite drawl and a semblance of manners are desirable things, and have their place in the world's economy—a fact one is liable, to forget in the more breezy Colonies." ,If the youthful critic, in has reference, to " a 'semblance' of ihanners," means to imply that the average secondary schoolboy in New Zealand does not possess or is not taught good manners, he is doing the .latter and also his teachers an injustice, for it is the aim of every school to turntout gentlemen, and not boors—-or, on? the other hand, prigs. A further point of difference referred to* deals with > the great part played in iEnglish public school life by literature and religion.' - The literary and debating societies, r. to "which many of the boys belong;' add a culture and refinement that comes from knowledge of literary fields far away from the beaten track; J while it is claimed that one can understand, on hearing "the grand rush'of'the voices" joining in the hymn that is sung by the whole school at breaking-up time, "how it is that an English public school-b6y may be relied on to tell the truth at all* times and would never be known to speak a foul word or do a shameful deed." The religious element doubtless enters more largely - into the secondary schools of the Old Country than it does out here; but good work is done by the Christian Unions in the New Zealand schools, and truth and honor are held in as high esteem- as they are in England. Passing tc .points of resemblance, the writer says: "In Colonial schools esprit de corps is, I think, quite as strong as in English ones. We are all united in loving and honoring our school, wherever we' may be. Every school has its peculiar customs, its peculiar words, and is 'equally proud of them, whether they borne down from fifty years or five hundred. On both sides of the world members of schools in the main strive to do their duty and uphold their,school's honor. I think on the whole; though, that the English idea of what that honor consists in is the highest, and I fully expect that the Colonels will in time come to adopt it for ttbemselves. In conclusion, I may perhaps surprise people by saying that New Zealand schools, as I know them in things apart from the mere curriculum of work, are fifty to a hundred- years behind English ones. They ; keep up fighting and bullying and & rough old system of life, while in a^iiy.. large English school, although boxing is a popular branch of the athletics, a fight would be considered a disgrace, bullying is unknown, and there is a general modern standard of thought, speech, and conduct among all its members." This, no doubt, is a, fine peroration, but it is not according to fact, at all events so far as fighting and bullying are concerned, for these have dropped out of school life in New Zealand, or are indulged in in only rare instances, and then on the sly. New Zealand schools can claim that they are, if not fifty to a hundred' years ahead of their sister institutions in the Homeland, a good many years ahead in the important matter of military instruction. The cadet corps acre popular in all the schools, and the boys receive m them a training in discipline and the use of arms that has stood them to good stead when, arrived at man's estate, they have taken the field—as many of them did in the South African War—and will do again should their country require their services. It may be that, in writing this

article, we have estimated too highly the qualifications of the young critic to dogmatise concerning the secoiidar}' schools of the Dominion; but we givr* him credit for honesty of purpose, although his estimation of New Zealand schools does certainly appear to be tainted by some degree of bias.