Bulletin of the Department of 
Secondary-School ey, 


of the 
NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION. 














Cc O: N T E N TS. 
The Plans of. the American, Youth Commission: Hi 
The Youth Problem: CHARLES W. TAUSSIG...::.. ‘is 
The Problem of Being Young: THOMAS F. NEwLETT.. Se. 


Digesté from Professional Periodicals: 
Mental Health Needs Guarding; ‘Our Magiizines: ye ‘Unbak” 
anced. ‘Ration; The Challenge’ to. Dewidoracy; Deseopend: a 
Modern Curriculum in @ Small Town... Bsc 29 


Digests from Lay Magazines: 
- Failure.in School; Soviet ‘ Bdvication Turns itt; You vee 
Crime; New York’s Child Induatrialiets va 


National Honor Socie : * 
Change in Conatitsion; Warning; “An Bineational ine Pond. 53 j 


Department Matters: 













py See LE 













































Portland Meeting . S | Seca ‘ ie eS : 59) 
Price’ Lists... awe ea Meee tie” Shatin ont tioend 59° 
Book-of the-Quarter Club. RARER AT ADS OE 
Columors Union... ree “A ahi bre: ; 65 

i eae ad 










Book Notices... 









‘ lived Bie Bay «Tee 2B 
Jame eit April, May, and December 


-*) Published by) oo.) 
Dedbinent of Secondary-School ‘Priheipals of ‘the- 
National Education Association. . 

5835 Kimbark Avenue, Chicago 


Entered as as cecond-cline matter Se Me hs 
rok: apenms.- Reeve: Ger Mt Section ee ee 


$2.00 a Year 

















wheat 








Bulletin of the Department of 


Secondary-School Principals 
of the 
NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION 


Issued Five Times a Year 
January, March, April, May, and December 


VOLUME 20 A PRIL, 1936 NUMBER 61 





BULLETIN NO. 61 
CONTENTS 
The Plans of the American Youth Commission: 
HOMER P. RAINEY 


The Problem of Being Young: THOMAS F. NEBLETT 
Digests from Professional Periodicals: 
Mental Health Needs Guarding; Our Magazines: 
An Unbalanced Ration; The Challenge to Democ- 
racy; Developing a Modern Curriculum in a Small 


SL eS aT Me OLS AAMT Ble 4 tes Ol Bee NE ae 29 


Digests from Lay Magazines: 
Failure in School; Soviet Education Turns Right; 


You vs. Crime; New York’s Child Industrialists 
National Honor Society: 
Change in Constitution; Warning; An Educational 
Loan Fund 
Department Matters: 
Portland Meeting 
Price Lists........ EE LRT ELE Oe ae ee 
Book-of-the-Quarter Club 
Warning ...... ee el ee a OT ae IETS ee EEO 65 
Consumers Union 
el 66 





THE CONTENTS OF THIS BULLETIN ARE LISTED IN EDUCATION INDEX 


Published by 
THE DEPARTMENT OF SECONDARY-SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 
OF THE NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION 


H. V. CHURCH, Executive Secretary 
5835 Kimbark Avenue, Chicago 


$2.00 A YEAR 








DEPARTMENT OF 
SECONDARY-SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 
of the 


NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION 


OFFICERS 
1936-1937 


President: WILLARD N. VAN SLYCK 
Principal of High School, Topeka, Kansas 
First Vice President: MCCLELLAN G. JONES 
Principal of Union High School, Huntington Beach, California 
Second Vice President: PAUL E. ELICKER 
Principal of Newton High School, Newtonville, Massachusetts 


Executive Secretary: H. V. CHURCH 
5835 Kimbark Avenue, Chicago 


EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE 


K. J. CLARK 
Principal Murphy High School, Mobile, Alabama 
OscaR GRANGER 
Principal Haverford Township High School, Upper Darby, Pennsylvania 
HARRISON C. LYSETH 
State Supervisor of Secondary Education, Augusta, Maine 


JOHN E. WELLWOOD 
Principal of Central High School, Flint, Michigan 


NATIONAL COUNCIL OF THE NATIONAL HONOR SOCIETY 


M. R. McDANIEL, President 
Principal of Oak Park and River Forest Township High School, 
Oak Park, Illinois 
CHARLES FORREST ALLEN 
Supervisor of Secondary Education, Little Rock, Arkansas 
L. W. Brooks 
Principal of Wichita High School North, Wichita, Kansas 


PAUL E. ELICKER 
Principal of Newton High School, Newtonville, Massachusetts 


H. V. KEPNER 
Principal of West Side High School, Denver, Colorado 


A. E. MACQUARRIE 
Principal of Washburn High School, Minneapolis, Minnesota 


Harry C. McKown 
Gilson, Illinois 


Louis E. PLUMMER 
Principal of Fullerton Union High School and Junior College, 
Fullerton, California 


JOSEPH ROEMER 
Director of Instruction, Peabody College for Teachers, 
Nashville, Tennessee 


H. V. CHuRCcH, Secretary 
5835 Kimbark Avenue, Chicago 








Secretaries of State Organizations 
Affiliated with the 
DEPARTMENT OF SECONDARY-SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 


W. L. SPENCER, 
Department of Education, 
Montgomery, Alabama. 

V. E. SAMMONS, 

Senior High School, 
Hot Springs National Park, 
Arkansas. 

HARRY G. HANSELL, 

2694 Twenty-third Avenue, 
San Francisco, California. 

J. FRED ESsIG, 
Junior-Senior High School, 
Longmont, Colorado. 

T. E. CURRAN, 

Sheridan Junior High 
School, 
New Haven, Connecticut. 

CHARLES D. LUTZ, 

Horace Mann School, 
6th and Garfield, 
Gary, Indiana. 

JAMES E. BLUE, 

Senior High School, 
Rockford, Illinois. 

JAMES M. STERRETT, 

Warren Harding Junior 
High School, Des Moines, 
Iowa. 

G. C. DOTZOUR, 

Wichita High School North 
Wichita, Kansas. 

DUKE W. YOUNG, 

Mt. Sterling, Kentucky. 

HARRISON C. LYSETH, 

State House, 
Augusta, Maine. 

WILLIAM D. SPRAGUE, 

‘ High School, 
Melrose, Massachusetts. 

O. E. JOHNSON, 

High School, 
Ishpeming, Michigan. 

CHARLES W. BOARDMAN, 
University of Minnesota, 
Minneapolis, Minnesota. 


ROBERT RUNGE, 
Senior High School, 
Springfield, Missouri. 
CLAYTON E. ROSE, 
Hamilton, New York. 
G. HARVEY NICHOLLS, 
High School, 
Bound Brook, New Jersey. 
B. C. TIGHE, 
High School, 
Fargo, North Dakota. 
L. T. POWELL, 
High School,. 
Bucyrus, Ohio. 
CARL C. CRESS, 
Harding Junior High 
School, Oklahoma City, 
Oklahoma. 
S. F. BALL, 
Franklin School, 
Portland, Oregon. 
WALTER E. HEss, 
Pennsylvania Department 
of Public Instruction, 
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. 
GEORGE M. FRANDSEN, 
Eastern High and Training 
School, Madison, South 
Dakota. 
ELIZABETH FITZGERALD, 
West High School, 
Salt Lake City, Utah. 
ROBERT N. MILLET, 
High School, 
Springfield, Vermont. 
G. N. PORTER, 
Garfield High School, 
Seattle, Washington. 
ARTHUR V. G. UPTON, 
High School, 
Morgantown, W. Va. 
J. H. MCNEEL, 
High School, 
Beloit, Wisconsin. 
CHESTER W. HOLMES, 
Langley Junior High 
School, Washington, D. C. 


a | oO 





THE PLANS OF THE AMERICAN YOUTH 
COMMISSION 


HOMER P. RAINEY, 


Director of the Staff of the American Youth Commission 
of the American Council on Education 


There has been established under the auspices of the 
American Council on Education a commission known as the 
American Youth Commission. The work of this commission 
should not be confused with the National Youth Administra- 
tion. The American Council on Education is not a govern- 
mental organization. It is composed of a voluntary member- 
ship made up of the colleges and universities of the country, 
and other educational organizations. Since its establishment, 
the Council has been a central organ of codperation and co- 
érdination which has promoted common action in matters of 
common concern. The Council devotes itself to scientific in- 
quiry, to the provision of machinery for consultation, and to 
the stimulation of experimental activities by institutions and 


groups of institutions. Through conferences and investiga- 
tions it seeks to clarify educational issues of national sig- 
nificance, to define problems, and to enlist appropriate agen- 
cies for their solution. 


In line with this purpose the Council last year organized 
the American Youth Commission. Within the last six years 
the problems of youth have become a national youth problem. 
After careful and thorough consideration it was felt that a 
major investigation of the American youth problem should be 
undertaken by a commission of outstanding American citi- 
zens, and that this commission should be given broad powers. 
Accordingly such a commission was established. The major 
purpose of this commission, as expressed by the committee 
which formulated the project, is “to undertake an extended 
inquiry into, and formulate comprehensive plans for, the care 
and education of American youth”. This commission is fur- 
ther instructed to endeavor to integrate contributions that 
have been made or are being made for the solution of this 
problem, to stimulate new contributions in fields hitherto un- 


5 





6 PLANS OF THE AMERICAN YOUTH COMMISSION 


explored, and to encourage translation of the best that is 
known into practice on a nation-wide scale. 


The American Youth Commission is composed of sixteen 
outstanding American citizens. They are as follows: Will 
W. Alexander, Resettlement Administration, an outstanding 
leader in the field of race relations; Newton D. Baker, em- 
inent attorney, Secretary of War in the Cabinet of President 
Wilson from 1916 to 1921; Ralph Budd, President, Burlington 
Lines; Lotus D. Coffman, President, University of Minnesota; 
Dorothy Canfield Fisher, Authoress; Willard E. Givens, Ex- 
ecutive Secretary, National Education Association; Henry I. 
Harriman, Chairman of the Board, New England Power As- 
sociation, past-president of the Chamber of Commerce of the 
United States; Robert M. Hutchins, President, University of 
Chicago; Rev. George Johnson, Director, Department of Edu- 
cation, National Catholic Welfare Conference; Chester H. 
Rowell, Editor, San Francisco Chronicle; William F. Russell, 
Dean, Teachers College, Columbia University; Mrs. Edgar B. 
Stern, well known civic leader; John W. Studebaker, U. S. 
Commissioner of Education; Miriam Van Waters, Superin- 
tendent, Massachusetts State Reformatory for Women; Mat- 
thew Woll, Vice-President, American Federation of Labor, 
and Owen D. Young, lawyer and corporation official. 


You will doubtless be interested to know how the Com- 
mission interprets its functions and what its plans are for the 
study of this problem. From the statement of the objectives 
which I gave you a moment ago, it is clear that the functions 
of the Commission are very comprehensive. This was done 
with deliberation. The terms, “care” and “education,” were 
chosen after long deliberation to include all the major needs 
of American youth between the ages of twelve and twenty- 
five. The Commission is taking this responsibility seriously 
and expects to study not only the educational needs of youth, 
but all of their needs. It was clear from the beginning that 
this should be done. The members of the commission were 
definitely selected upon that basis. You will note from the list 
of the members of the Commission that only six of the sixteen 
members are from the field of education; the ten others are 
chosen from other areas of American life and thought. 


The Commission is financed by a grant from the General 
Education Board. The grant is in two parts. They have ap- 





Oe ee a 





DEPARTMENT OF SECONDARY-SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 7 


propriated $100,000.00 per year for five years for overhead 
or administrative purposes, and have appropriated an addi- 
tional $300,000.00 to finance special projects submitted to it 
by: the Commission. 

It should be emphasized here that the Commission is to 
take a long-range view of its problem. It is not concerned 
primarily with relief or emergency measures. It will not seek 
to become an administrative or a promotional agency. It will 
seek to do some rather long-range thinking and planning in 
behalf of American youth. It should be emphasized also that 
its problem is much larger than simply a consideration of the 
educational needs of youth. 

In inaugurating its program, the Commission feels that 
it should in the early stages of its work attempt two major 
problems. In the first place, there is felt a need for a defini- 
tion of the youth problem in as great detail as possible. It is 
true that we have always had problems of youth, but it has 
only been within the last five or six years that a distinctive 
youth problem has emerged. The emergence of this problem 
has been so recent that our knowledge of the major factors of 
it is quite inadequate. It is our purpose, therefore, to at- 
tempt a comprehensive analysis of the factors in the problem 
and to make a composite picture of them so that we may be 
able to say to the American people and to the organizations 
and individuals interested in the problem what the major 
factors of the problem are. 

In the second place, the Commission feels that it should 
attempt a comprehensive evaluation of work that is now be- 
ing done in behalf of youth by the many hundreds of organi- 
zations working in the field. There are literally hundreds of 
such organizations. It is well known that their activities have 
little or no correlation; that there is a great déal of over- 
lapping and duplication of efforts, which results not only in 
waste of energy and funds, but in confusion and even frustra- 
tion. It is known also that there are large areas of youth that 
are not being served by any agency whatsoever. The Com- 
mission, therefore, proposes to make a series of studies upon 
at least five levels, to determine first of all how the needs of 
youth are being met on these levels, and in the second place 
to secure data upon which to plan a comprehensive program 
for their care and education. The Commission plans in this 








& PLANS OF THE AMERICAN YOUTH COMMISSION 


connection to study the agencies related to the Federal Gov- 
ernment. It plans to make a comprehensive study in a se- 
lected state. It plans a similar study in a middle-size city of 
approximately 250,000 to 300,000 population. It plans a sim- 
ilar study in a relatively small city of approximately 20,000 
to 25,000 population. And finally, it plans to make a similar 
study in a selected rural area. 

The Commission feels also that in the early stages of its 
work it should deal largely with the larger social aspects of 
the youth problem and reserve for a later date the investiga- 
tion of more particular aspects of the problem. It does not 
seem practical to attempt a series of explorations or projects 
into particular problems until the Commission has made suf- 
ficient study of the larger aspects of the problem to be able to 
formulate a comprehensive program of activity. Only in this 
way will there be unity in its work. Each project that is un- 
dertaken should have a definite relationship to the total activ- 
ity of the Commission. 

The Commission interprets its function to be broader 
than mere survey activities. As a matter of fact, it has been 
stressed from the beginning that something more than “just 
another survey” is expected. In seeking to find ways and 
means of translating into action the best that is known on a 
nation-wide scale, the Commission interprets its functions to 
include a wide range of possible activities. These activities 
will include on the one hand the discovery of successful activ- 
ities in various parts of the country and make available these 
successful techniques to other interested individuals, organi- 
zations, and communities; and on the other hand, the Com- 
mission will not hesitate to enter the fields of demonstration 
and experiment if in its judgment it is desirable to do so. If 
it attempts any activities in the nature of experiments or dem- 
onstrations, it will set up experiments only after it is con- 
vinced that a given area is not at the present time being suffi- 
ciently explored, and if there are no other agencies that are in 
the position to carry on such experiments; and in the second 
place, it will not enter into an experimental situation without 


complete freedom to determine the nature and course of the | 


experimentation. 
From what I have just suggested, I should like to empha- 
size that the Commission is anxious to codperate with every 








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the 
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find 


DEPARTMENT OF SECONDARY-SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 9 


agency and organization working in the field and that it con- 
ceives one of its major functions to be the integration and co- 
ordination of research programs and activities of all the agen- 
cies and organizations working at one or more aspects of the 
youth problem. There is tremendous need for such correla- 
tion. There is a tremendous amount of research being car- 
ried on at the present time in the various areas of the youth 
problem. The Commission, therefore, wishes to be of service 
in this connection and invites the codperation of all other 
agencies concerned. 

In this connection, we are particularly anxious to work 
in the closest relationship with your organization. Under the 
chairmanship of Dr. Thomas H. Briggs of Teachers College, 
your committee has just completed a large study on the issue 
of secondary education. One of the special problems assigned 
to our Commission is to evaluate the goals of secondary edu- 
cation. I am sure that our Commission will want to correlate 
its work in this field very definitely with the work which your 
committee has done, and to build upon the constructive foun- 
dation which it has laid. I should, therefore, like to suggest 
that we seek a definite means of relating the work of our re- 
spective organizations. I assure the Department of Secon- 
dary-School Principals that our Commission will welcome such 


cooperation. 

You will doubtless be interested to know some of the 
other plans which our Commission has in mind. In addition 
to the two major projects outlined above, the Commission i 
undertaking to make a comprehensive analysis of the charac- 
teristics of youth and an evaluation of the influences to which 
they are subject. In order to deal with this problem more ade- 
quately, we are attempting to isolate the major problems of 
youth into large areas. In a preliminary inquiry we have 
classified them as follows: (1) A Study of the Youth Popu- 
lation; (2) Health; (3) Social and Economic Security; (4) 
Education; (5) Recreation; (6) Juvenile Crime and Delin- 
quency; (7) Rural Youth; (8) Youth Among Racial Minori- 
ties. The Commission expects to isolate the major issues in 
each of these areas and to plan programs of investigation to 
find ways of meeting these needs. 

The Director and the members of the staff have published 
a preliminary analysis of the factors in the youth problem un- 





10 


PLANS OF THE AMERICAN YOUTH COMMISSION 


der the headings which I have listed above. The demands 
have been so numerous for this study that we are now revis- 
ing it and preparing it for wider distribution. From our pre- 
liminary analysis certain factors stand out in rather bold re- 
lief. I shall indicate to you, in conclusion, some of these major 


problems. 


z. 


Health—In the field of health it is clear, first, that 
studies reveal very large percentages of our youth 
suffer from physical disabilities of more or less ma- 
jor importance. For example, approximately one- 
third of all school children in certain cities that have 
been studied are revealed to have diseased tonsils, 
34% have defective vision, and over 50% have de- 
fective teeth. Second, a large percentage of our pop- 
ulation are unable to provide medical care. Third, 
the health needs of our youth are not being met under 
present conditions and it is doubtful if they can be 
met adequately under the present organization of 
medical services. 

Social and Economic Security—In the field of social 
and economic security studies of the incomes of Amer- 
ican families reyeal conditions that make it impossi- 
ble to provide the elemental necessities to a vast per- 
centage of our population. A recent report by the 
Brookings Institution of Washington, D. C. reveals 
the following data: 

“Nearly 6,000,000 families, or more than 21% of the 
total, had incomes of less than $1,000.00. About 
12,000,000, or 42%, had incomes of less than $1,- 
500.00. Nearly 20,000,000 families, or 71%, had in- 
comes of less than $2,500.00. Only a little over 2,000,- 
000 families, or 8%, had incomes in excess of 


$5,000.00.” 
Education—The major facts here are, first, that we 


have not yet made good on our original commitment 
to give every boy and girl in American life the op- 
portunities for secondary education. Approximately 
60% of the secondary-school population are now en- 
rolled in school. Second, the system of educational 
support has virtually broken down. Third, society 
cannot, under present conditions, continue to absorb 
the ever-increasing number of graduates from the 
schools and colleges. Fourth, there is need for an 





— FA eo Ook Url 





DEPARTMENT OF SECONDARY-SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 11 


extension of the period of custody of youth at least 
two years. Fifth, a much greater differentiation of 
our program of secondary education is needed to meet 
the varying needs, interests, and abilities of our 
school population. There are many who believe that 
this problem may call for new types of schools. 


Recreation—Preliminary analysis of this problem re- 
veals that our provisions for the increasing leisure of 
our people in terms of opportunities for recreation 
and a creative use of leisure time are thoroughly in- 
adequate, and that this constitutes one of the most 
significant factors in the youth problem. 


I shall mention only one other area, and that has to do 
with the needs of negro youth. They constitute our largest 
minority population and represent an area of great need. It 
is among negroes in the Southern States particularly that we 
approach nearest to failure in providing secondary education 
for all youth of secondary-school age. It is estimated that there 
are at least 900,000 negro youth of high-school age not in 
school. In some States not more than 5% of the negro popula- 
tion of high-school age is actually enrolled in high school. In 
at least seven States the percentage is below 10, and in the 
State where it is highest it is only 48.9%. Other needs among 
negro youth are equally as urgent. 

If there is any characteristic of our Commission which is 
unique, it is our humility in the face of such an overwhelming 
task. If there is any one fact which is clear to us now, it is 
that we cannot solve the youth problem. It can only be solved 
by the combined and concerted efforts of all of us. It is a prob- 
lem of local communities. It is a problem of municipal, state, 
and federal governments. It is a problem of industry and 
finance. It is a problem of every agency designed to improve 
human welfare. And it should be emphasized in conclusion 
that it is a problem of, and for, youth themselves. After all, 
it is soon to be their world. It will be theirs to mold after the 
pattern of their own desires. Those of us of the older genera- 
tions who have made a pretty sorry mess of things should not 
be too critical and too unsympathetic with their youthful am- 
bitions to re-make their world more nearly to conform to their 
somewhat romantic ideals. If we have muffed our chance, let 
us rejoice in theirs, and wish them Godspeed. 





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12 THE YOUTH PROBLEM 


THE YOUTH PROBLEM 


CHARLES W. TAUSSIG 


Chairman of the Advisory Committee 
of the Nationa! Youth Administration 


There are about 20,100,000 young people in the United 
States between the ages of 16 and 24; that is, one-sixth of the 
entire population. Of these, it is estimated that 4,000,000 are 
in school and college, 500,000 are in school on part time, 7,600,- 
000 are employed in industry, 2,800,000 are young women mar- 
ried and not otherwise employed, 5,000,000 youth are not in 
school and are unemployed, of which number 300,000 are not 
seeking work. These last include the transient and disabled 
youth. 

Now, the nearest approach to a youth movement in this 
country is the voluble (and fortunately growing more voluble) 
presentation of the case for the 5,000,000 not-in-school, not-at- 
work youth, by youth themselves. These spokesmen are loosely 
grouped into a number of youth organizations. 

What do these spokesmen for youth demand? They ask 
for the opportunity to be educated, the opportunity to work, 
and the opportunity to be heard. And let us not forget that 
through some flaw in our social, political, and economic struc- 
ture, some 5,000,000 young people have been deprived of these 
opportunities. 

The government was under no illusions when it created 
the National Youth Administration that it could solve the prob- 
lems of these 5,000,000 young people. At best it could only 
mitigate their distress and hew a path toward a more funda- 
mental and permanent cure. 

The economic aspect of the youth problem is but one phase 
of that great problem of adjustment that faces all of us and 
it is a mistake to try to set up youth as a special class. As a 
social problem, independent of the purely economic phase, per- 
haps, there is good reason to treat youth as a special group. 

Briefly, this is what the National Youth Administration is 
doing. It is helping young men and girls between the ages of 
16 and 25 years to adjust themselves to present day life eco- 
nomically, educationally, socially, recreationally, and cultur- 
ally. As a means to this end, its program provides: 


Ne lO eee 


Odes oft & 


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DEPARTMENT OF SECONDARY-SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 13 


Educational aid to high-school pupils from relief and 
other needy families, by giving them part-time jobs at 
school with a maximum wage of $6.00 per month ; edu- 
cational aid to needy college students at an average 
wage of $15.00 per month, and work for needy gradu- 
ate students at an average wage of $25.00 per month. 
Part-time labor on National Youth Administration 
and Works Progress Administration projects for 
youth from families certified for relief work. 
Job-fact-finding classes and placement work in con- 
nection with the Federal Reemployment Service and 
State Employment Services. 

Vocational and apprenticeship training in industry 
for both sexes. 

Leisure time activities for all youths in communities 
in the various states. 


High-School Students. In the case of high-school students 
who receive educational aid, the applicants must come from 
needy: families. The maximum wage of $6.00 is paid for work 
performed at school. This money may be used for essentials, 
such as books, carfare, lunches, and other necessary expenses. 
Principals of high schools have charge of the program in their 
schools and select the students who receive aid. 


College Students. In the case of college students, young 
men and girls who could not otherwise attend college without 
this aid are given jobs at colleges accredited by the state and 
organized as non-profit institutions at an average of $15.00 per 
month. Students are selected by college authorities and the 
work to be done is also determined by them. These workers 
cannot replace any persons regularly employed by the colleges. 

Graduate Students. The regulations for graduate stu- 
dents are similar. They. may obtain part-time employment at 
colleges and universities which offer master’s and doctor’s de- 
grees of a non-professional nature. The students and the 
types of work are selected by university authorities. Wages 
may average $25.00 per month for candidates for masters and 
$30.00 for candidates for doctor’s degrees. 

Part-time Labor on Work Projects. Youths coming from 
families eligible for relief work may obtain part-time employ- 
ment on relief projects when they are not the principal in- 
“come-producers of a family. These boys and girls may work 














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14 THE YOUTH PROBLEM 


on a one-third basis, not over 44 hours per month, with a maxi- 
mum salary of $25.00 per month. 

Job-fact-finding Classes. Any young man or girl out of 
tull-time school and seeking employment may attend National 
Youth Administration job-fact-finding classes set up in many 
counties throughout the Nation to give practical information 
on what vocations and professions are over-crowded and which 
offer opportunities for employment, the minimum educational 
requirements for each, income expectancy and other salient 
facts about job-finding and careers. In any given trade or pro- 
fession a youth may thus find out what his chances are in his 
chosen vocation by attending the evening session of a class 
dealing with that vocation or profession. 

Placement in Private Industry. The State Employment 
Services and the Federal Reemployment Service are operating 
in conjunction with the National Youth Administration and 
rendering a special service in assisting juniors to find employ- 
ment in private industry. 

Vocational Training. This training for young men and 
girls is being provided through two mediums: 

1. In informal leisure-time classes and courses conducted 
by various public and private youth agencies with as- 
sistance furnished by the National Youth Administra- 
tion, boys and girls are trained to fit them for employ- 
ment in various types of private industry. 

2. The National Youth Administration codperates with 
State Boards of Apprenticeship Training to make 
available under proper and legal conditions as many 
apprenticeships as possible to the youth of the coun- 
try. 

Leisure-Time Activities. Recreational opportunities for 
youth are being importantly increased by detailing to public 
and private recreational organizations extra National Youth 
Administration personnel so that the programs sponsored by 
these organizations can be materially expanded and extended. 
The National Youth Administration coédperates with but does 
not compete with existing organizations. 

Recreational Personnel. The personnel detailed to recre- 
ational activities is picked in general from the relief rolls and 
from the files of the Employment Services, from those people 
who by experience are qualified to do leadership work among 


— ee ee ee om 6a O68 ek aoe et ee ee 


















DEPARTMENT OF SECONDARY-SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 15 
youths or who can be trained readily because of partial quali- 
fications. Some youths are chosen to give part-time service. 
Ten per cent of these may be chosen for supervisory work from 
sources other than relief rolls. Wages of these workers are 
determined by the scale established by the local divisions of the 
Works Progress Administration. 

From this brief summary of the work of the National 
Youth Administration, you perhaps have already noted the 
stress laid on decentralization. We realize not only that there 
is no national way to treat all youth but also that even in states 
the administration of the work must be broken down into com- 
munity groups. 

Schools and colleges qualifying under the general regula- 
tions of the National Youth Administration are allotted funds 
to take care of 12% of their enrollment. The selection of the 
youth and the work which is given to him is entirely in the 
hands of the individual schools and colleges without any inter- 
ference whatsoever from the National Administration. 


The function of the National Advisory Committee is to ad- 
vise on the youth problem as a whole and, for the purpose of 
more efficient functioning, the Chairman of that Committee 
has appointed a number of sub-committees which treat with 
particular problems, such as education, youth surveys, rural 
youth problems, recreational problems, minority racial groups, 
etc. The more intimate problems of youth are turned over to 
State and Community Advisory Committees. These committees 
are rendering a very valuable service and I believe constitute 
the first organized effort to give personal attention to sub- 
stantially all the youth of the country. There are approxi- 
mately 1500 such committees already at work, made up of 
about 15,000 representatives of labor, industry, education, 
recreation, youth, churches, and youth organizations. The 
members of all the Advisory Committees from the National 
Committee to the local community committee serve without 
pay and are appointed locally—not in Washington. 

Probably no other enterprise of the present Administra- 
tion, with the possible exception of the C.C.C. Camps, has 
received the enthusiastic response that the National Youth 
Administration has from all over the country. The report 
which I received recently shows that we have actually given 

“work to 425,500 young people, of which 325,500 are in schools 























16 THE YOUTH PROBLEM 


and colleges. By the end of this month (March, 1936), at the 
present rate of employment, we should have well over half a 
million young people at work. 

So much for the outward aspects of the youth problem 
and our efforts to meet it. 

As important and immediate as is that phase of the prob- 
lem, the fact that within five years these same 20,000,000 
youth now between the ages of 16 and 24 will represent the 
sovereign power of our democracy is of momentous import- 
ance. What happens to the minds and bodies of these youths 
within the next five years will determine the future of the 
United States. 

I find close and intimate contact with youth most stimu- 
lating. Although in some cases, one finds them dejected and 
broken by the apparent hopelessness of their situation, in 
most instances their shoulders are squared and their chins are 
up. They state their case simply and sincerely. They want 
jobs. They want more education and, in some cases, are criti- 
cal of our present educational system. They want to marry at 
a reasonable age and have their own homes; and, particularly 
in the case of college men and women, they want to participate 
in government and to exert their influence to prevent war. 
The latter is rather interesting and significant, for I find that 
among those youth who have had an opportunity to get a 
reasonable education, once they are beyond the immediate need 
of sustenance, their major thought seems to be on methods of 
preventing war. While the youth of most of the European 
countries have gone nationalistic to the nth degree, the Ameri- 
can youth’s imagination roves the entire world and they are 
anxious to lend their weight to forward international codper- 
ation and amity. 

Perhaps a partial solution of the youth problem would be 
to make it possible for every qualified boy and girl to extend 
his period of education on an average of four or five years, 
and while preparing for enlightened citizenship be removed 
from job competition. This is not such a startling suggestion 
when we remember that even in the age group from 10 to 18, 
where there should be no controversy as to the need of school- 
ing, we find 1,558,162 young people no longer in school. There 
is another factor which points again to education. History 
shows us that substantially all social reforms have had to con- 


I ca SO i i 


DEPARTMENT OF SECONDARY-SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 17 


tend with the opposition of business. It is only very recently 
that business has commenced to take a long-range and broader 
view of things. I recall the almost uniform opposition to the 
establishment of the Federal Reserve Bank during the admin- 
istration of Woodrow Wilson. To-day, the same business and 
banking groups that opposed this measure regard it as only a 
little less sacred than the much discussed Constitution. The 
eight-hour day met with hearty disapproval; yet to-day it is 
accepted as a forward step by the business community. How 
much easier of solution our problems would be if the next 
generation, our present youth, who must ultimately take over 
our business institutions, had a different point of view than 
have we; if we could r ly on them to carry on efficiently the in- 
dividual enterprises of the nation and yet regard them as a 
part of the whole scheme of things and advocate rather than 
oppose those things that will make for a better ordered and 
more just society. If our institutions are to stand, we must 
prepare the youth of to-day for a to-morrow, which in its com- 
plex problems of society and government will make our pres- 
ent difficulties appear trivial. 

In reviewing the problem of youth and its relation to 
democracy, we cannot overlook the present trend toward skep- 
ticism, materialism, and away from religious training. The 
remedy for this, of course, is largely in the home and the 
church. The backbone of a democracy has always been char- 
acter. A classic example, of course, is Athens at the time of 
Pericles, and its subsequent decay. The basis of character has 
always been grounded in faith. True our immediate prob- 
lems are urgent and complex, and probably require some 
extremely practical and tangible remedies, but we can not 
overlook the spiritual factors which alone prevail when we con- 
sider our era in perspective, for we must remember that, on 
the long sluggish river of history, our present accelerated pace, 
our turbulent clashing of social and economic theories, our 
stupendous and revolutionary advance in science and tech- 
nology, the whole cacaphony of what we now call civilization, 
will appear but as a ripple from some passing breeze. These 
things do not change the mighty river’s course, but a man 
talks quietly in a grove in Athens; a king’s son meditates 
under a wild fig tree; a Babe is born in a manger, a teacher 
gently leads a groping youth, and the river overflows its banks, 
and finds a new channel in a fairer valley. 





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18 THE PROBLEM OF BEING YOUNG 


THE PROBLEM OF BEING YOUNG 
THOMAS F. NEBLETT, President 
National Student Federation of America 


Although I am an officer of a national college student 
organization I prefer to discuss with you as an individual 
who happens to be within that age group in America which 
has been referred to as the problem. Perhaps I might hold 
myself up as exhibit A. Anything that I have to say will come 
of my own experience and study. I am deeply interested in a 
more adequate program,—community, state, and national,— 
to help young people find the proper adjustment in our Ameri- 
can democratic system and, having done so, to contribute to its 
enrichment and perfection. I do not want to represent a youth 
group or class here. For I am told that the correct picture of 
youth coming of age is the struggle of youth against old age. 


There is no need for me to repeat a drab and sordid story 
of the present plight of youth. There has been a lot spoken 
and written by public spirited people who have become alarmed 
about the “youth problem.” Some are giving lip-service to a 
present popular cause. But you, in your to-day grapple with 
the tremendous task of helping young people find their right- 
ful place amid economic, social, and political confusion are 
keenly aware of what the problem is. It is now time that we 
get down to earth and think in terms of permanent planning. 


At the outset I must confess that I am a bit puzzled by 
the current usage of the term “youth problem.” There is no 
one problem which can be shifted upon a certain age group 
and labeled youth problem without taking into consideration 
the problem of all age groups. All of the so-called youth prob- 
lems must be seen and solved in view of the problems of busi- 
ness, education, and government for the entire nation. The 
problem of youth is the problem of democracy. The funda- 
mental principle upon which the democratic organization of 
society is based is the principle of equality of opportunity. 
There can be no democracy in America until equality of edu- 
cational opportunity, equality of economic opportunity, and 
eauality of political opportunity are guaranteed every citizen 
in America, no matter what age, race, religion, or political 
belief. Put this simple principle into practice and there will 

















DEPARTMENT OF SECONDARY-SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 


be no youth problem. Only will the individual problems of 
youth be solved when the social problems that face all of us 
are solved. 

Certain inequalities do exist in America, however. And 
these inequalities, whether in education, economics, or in 
politics, bear heavily upon certain age groups. The one age 
group which has suffered most from the burden of circum- 
stances and which has received considerable recognition of 
late is the one group which has had the least to do with the 
maddening drift into the present unhappy social scene. This 
age group includes the 20,100,000 American citizens between 
sixteen and twenty-five years of age. This is the youth of the 
land, who are soon to be the trunk of our body politics. 

As civilization has become more confusingly complex it 
has become more and more a problem of society to absorb raw 
recruits from the ranks of the young. Not only is this true in 
America, but in practically every country of the world. This 
condition became peculiarly significant in the years that fol- 
lowed 1929 and accompanied the world-wide depression. If 
the depression were given another meaning than depression in 
terms of market values, it would indeed be the depression 
of youth. Like a dammed stream the normal influx of younger 
people into their rightful positions in society has been cut off 
at the source. A dammed stream in time either becomes stag- 
nant or changes its course. 

The International Labor Organization reports that the 
percentage of unemployed persons and those not in school 
under the age of twenty-five is about one quarter of the total 
number of unemployed persons of all ages. This ratio of unem- 
ployed, out-of-school youth to the total number of unemployed 
is practically the same in every country of the world. 

Since society is either unwilling or unable to so adjust 
itself so that the newcomers are inducted into life’s activities, 
society may well concern itself with its posterity. A nation’s 
posterity should be its chief concern. Some nations have 
sought to solve this problem by broadening it. They are per- 
verting the patriotic ideals of youth and exploiting their 
healthy bodies by: dressing and drilling them in snappy uni- 
forms, sooner or later to be lead away by a pied piper into the 
bottomless sea of war. Others are attempting to solve the 
- problem by refusing to admit its presence. 


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20 THE PROBLEM OF BEING YOUNG 


The young people themselves have been unwilling to sit 
down in the stalls and admire the scene, trusting the hand of 
destiny to right all things in time. Out of impatience and 
ingenuity youth in every land have organized, proposed, and 
opposed plans for the solution of their common problems, 
present and future. So-called youth movements are the topics 
of much discussion to-day. The dramatic appeal of the expres- 
sion of youthful ideas and ideals has caught the public eye in 
practically every land. 


In each country the primary motive of the youth group is 
to make the nation and the world a better place in which to 
live. This is healthy and is as it should be. The contribution 
of each generation totals to make progress. There must be a 
steady infusion of new blood from the bottom. The expression 
of fresh ideas growing out of the ideals of youth must come 
with each generation. 


But there is another question which should be considered. 
And that is, just how much of this youth expression is really 
an expression of youth? How much is it the exploitation of 
youthful energies by pressure groups and political parties? 


In this regard, the youth of America are in a rather 
unique position. To date in practically every country, with 
the exception of Great Britain, the energies of the student and 
youth groups have been used by older leaders to put over an 
idea which has no connection with anything new or young. 
The Black Shirts of Italy are necessary if Mussolini is going to 
win a war. The Hitler Jugend is an adjunct to the Nazi 
power. But in America, fortunately, so far there is no one 
group of young people which dominates all others and with 
cne or two exceptions, the organized youth are not tools of a 
pressure machine. It would be a great American tragedy if 
the youth of America became regimented by one group or 
another to spend their energies in the same way as millions 
of Italians and German boys and girls are spending theirs. 
There are signs which indicate that the most likely direction 
from which the piper’s notes may flow is not Moscow but 
California, if they don’t enforce the income tax too soon. The 
patriotic Rover Boys of America will fall in line with the 
United Daughters of to-morrow’s American Revolution and 
parade with banners printed complimentary by the presses of 
the 110 per cent American Freedomism Commission. Or per- 





DEPARTMENT OF SECONDARY-SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 21 


haps from those great patriots who would like to swear that 
we will not feed our minds upon intellectual food grown out- 
side America. This campaign might come under the slogan 
“American goods for American men—Buy American!” 

Suffice it to say, the organized youth of this country are 
Lealthy and should be heard. Many mistakes can be avoided 
if the youths themselves are consulted. Much can be accom- 
plished by coéperating with the youth organization in working 
out the solution to the problem which so vitally concerns them. 


The burden of preparing young people for their place in 
our democracy has always fallen heavily upon the commu- 
nities. The responsibility for this continuous adjustment 
service has rested upon the state and local governments. Indi- 
vidual and private group enterprises have offered facilities to 
help our country properly and normally absorb each new gen- 
eration. There is no question in my mind that local com- 
munity and private enterprise should continue bearing the 
major responsibility in enabling youth to adjust themselves to 
modern condition from year to year. However, with the 
development of widespread economic complications during the 
last six years, the communities have been unable to care for 
this normal process. Therefore the help of the federal gov- 
ernment has become indispensable. 

It is interesting to point out here that certain commu- 
nities and certain states have never provided an adequate 
educational and adjustment program for the young people 
within its boundaries, and it is not because the people of the 
state don’t want to pay out the money. The State of Missis- 
sippi spends a higher percentage of the annual government 
income for education than does any state in the Union. And 
yet in Mississippi the average annual expenditure per pupil 
was less than any state in the Union. If all the annual income 
for government purposes in the State of Mississippi were 
spent on education alone the average annual expenditure per 
pupil would not be equal that in a dozen other states. Certain 
states do not have sufficient wealth to finance decent educa- 
tion. The only way that equal opportunity for the children 
of these states can‘be guaranteed is by some form of financial 
assistance from the federal government. 

Since 1933 the federal government has realized this prob- 
lem and has set up programs to help the communities meet 








7 SRE Pg oe 














22 THE PROBLEM OF BEING YOUNG 


the needs of the thousands of boys and girls who were idle, 
wandering, or being exploited. More than $400,000,000 has 
been spent by the present administration through subsidies to 
education and to the youth of the country. The effectiveness 
of community and private enterprise has been strengthened by 
these emergency grants. But the present dilemma cannot be 
passed off as simply a hill we have to get over. Once the so- 
called emergency is passed the federal government is still go- 
ing to have to face a problem of youth adjustment which is 
equally as important as the present crisis—if not more so. It 
should be viewed as a long time enterprise. The benefits of ex- 
perience in recent federal aid must be utilized in the establish- 
ment of a permanent federal adjustment program for youth 
closely coéperating with and assisting the local communities, 
for, in the final analysis, the control of such a program should 
rest with the communities. 

There is no question that the nation has benefitted by the 
relief measure of the present administration. The temporary 
measures taken by the federal government to meet the indi- 
divual needs of the young people have relieved us of consider- 
able stress. 3,275,000 of the 20,000,000 of us have been tempo- 
rarily cared for. 400,000 are in the CCC. 364,000 are receiv- 
ing relief grants from the NYA to stay in school or college. 
The remainder are on the work relief rolls or enrolled in 
temporary relief projects. 

A Federal Committee on Apprentice Training is main- 
tained in the Labor Department to “effect the proper intro- 
duction of young people into industry.” But this is a service 
body and with the possible exception of the CCC camps there 
is no assurance that the remaining two and three-quarter mil- 
lion young people now on relief will receive any assistance 
after July first. 

We can try all the absorbing we want to, but agriculture, 
manufacturing, and commerce, the three occupations giving 
employment to the greatest number of the 7,600,000 now 
employed, cannot give jobs to these newcomers in any large 
numbers. All other fields, except perhaps, domestic and per- 
sonal service, are shut to them. A permanent program admin- 
istered largely through federal funds must be launched if the 
nation’s youth is not to go into dry rot and stagnation. 

Simply to prolong the relief projects will be an evasion 
of the responsibility which now squarely, faces the federal, 





DEPARTMENT OF SECONDARY-SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 23 


state, and local governments. What is most needed is a pro- 
gram for the greater development of strength of character, 
self-reliance, and self-confidence on the part of the youth of 
the country. 300,000 young people, and the number is increas- 
ing, are neither in school, nor working: nor are they looking 
for work or for a chance to go to school. Those who have 
accepted high-school aid this year have been forced to the 
humiliation of going on relief. If aid is given students in the 
future this qualification must be removed. Education should 
not be considered relief. 


Anyway, instead of providing funds to give relief to 
youth, it would be far better to give them the assurance that 
their lives would be moving, not marking time. They want to 
feel that they are a part of the American scheme of things. 
As long as youth is simply relieved, there will be no solution 
to our problem. We might as well take in each other’s wash- 
ing. 

What is most needed is a program to give an opportunity 
for youth and not relief to youth. Relieve more of his respon- 
sibility. Guarantee all an opportunity. 

Community and private enterprise wherever possible 
should accept major responsibility for a more adequate pro- 
gram to prepare each individual child for life service in the 
community and to absorb these young workers on a healthy 
and long-term basis. And in such an important social oper- 
ation the federal government must pick up the loose ends, 
help the communities which are unable to finance the program, 
and to supplement what is now being done in the communities 
with an improved permanent national youth service. The very 
future of our government is bound up in the success of such a 
process. 

The first thing that such a national unit might well con- 
cern itself with is the centralization and elaboration of the 
study now being carried on by practically all the departments 
of the federal government to determine the character of youth 
problems that now exist, and as they arise; to find solutions to 
them; and issue such information as it is discovered. Special 
research should be made into those problems bearing on edu- 
cation, occupational guidance, leisure time, and employment. 
Occupational trends should be observed and recorded. The 
results tabulated should be furnished institutions to assist 














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24 THE PROBLEM OF BEING YOUNG 


them in guiding youth into those channels of work which have 
employment prospects. 

As the expiration date for the existing federal youth 
agencies approaches, the experiences and conclusions of the 
administration should be brought together and serve as the 
basis for future operations. It would seem likely that each 
department would be called upon to perform a certain func- 
tion in aid to youth. There seems to be no need to have the 
duplication which now exists. 

Recently the President indicated his desire to see the 
Civilian Conservation Corps, in modified form, made a perma- 
nent national enterprise. The CCC has demonstrated capacity 
not only for conserving the natural resources but also for 
affording young men useful experience, employment, and 
healthy contact with open air work. Whatever is done with 
the CCC should be done with the experience of all existing 
agencies. Since the War Department was asked to handle the 
organization of the corps and the construction of the camps, 
because no other department was equipped at the time to do it, 
there is current feeling that the management of a permanent 
CCC should be in the hands of another department. Perhaps 
the Department of Interior, since that Department is chiefly 
concerned with the two aims of the CCC, education and con- 
servation. 

It seems necessary that the permanently useful portions 
of the present National Youth Administration and the Federal 
Apprentice Committee should be put together and used as a 
nucleus for a continuous service unit on youth affairs. Several 
youth and student groups, including the National Student 
Federation of America, have gone on record as firmly sup- 
porting the plan of federal grants to needy students and 
strongly urge that this practice be continued. At a meeting of 
student body officers from over one hundred leading colleges 
at Kansas City in December, it was unanimously agreed that 
funds should be made available for this and additional youth 
services when the NYA expires. The American Youth Act is 
now before Congress and is backed by many different organi- 
zations. It would provide educational opportunity and employ- 
ment for all young people between the ages of sixteen and 
twenty-five. Other expressions indicate general endorsement 
for a more centralized and definitely directed national youth 
program. 





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DEPARTMENT OF SECONDARY-SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 25 
A hasty, appraisal of the present program will show that 
service to meet the needs of the unemployables, the female 
unemployed, and recreational needs of youth in general are 
apparently lacking. Therefore, these three things should be 
kept in mind for any future planning. 


The problem of the unemployable youth, resulting from 
idleness and physical and mental handicap deserves special 
consideration. There is a large new group of young people 
who have become unemployable because of idleness. This 
group has gradually increased since 1930. 


According to the census there were approximately 12,000,- 
000 young people between the ages of 16 and 24 gainfully 
employed in 1930. The American Youth Commission esti- 
mates that between 1930 and 1935 this number of gainfully 
employed decreased 35 per cent. There are about 7,600,000 
gainfully employed to-day. A large number of the unemployed 
to-day have never had employment. They have been idle. 
The idleness itself is a problem enough for us to figure out. 
But in addition to the problem of furnishing the opportunity 
to put the hands of these young workers into productive tasks 
there remains the problem of rehabilitation before a great 
number of them will be fit for employment. Every day a 
young person remains in enforced idleness, his ambition, his 
‘desire to even get a job sinks heavily within him. 


Mental delinquents are increasing in number. The state- 
ment is made that, “of the 7,000 children born every 24 hours 
in the United States, one in every 26 who reaches maturity is 
destined to become insane.” 
In spite of the rapid strides in the development of medi- 
cine, the country is benefitting relatively little from scientific 
treatment. One of the chief problems of youth is the problem 
of staying alive, to say nothing of staying in school or getting 
ajob. The American Youth Commission reports that less than 
7 per cent of our people have physical examinations each year 
and less than 5 per cent are immunized against disease. Forty- 
two per cent of all deaths in 1932 were postponable through 
_known preventive means. Sixty-five to ninety-five per cent of 

the school children examined in six selected cities had more or 
less serious physical defects. It is a sad commentary on our 
democracy that medical care is not distributed according to 















































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26 THE PROBLEM OF BEING: YOUNG 


need but according to ability to pay. The cost for living or 
dying is still what the traffic will bear. 

Special health camps, clinics, and health centers must be 
organized in each state. Each unemployable boy and girl should 
be carefully protected from being forced into the labor market. 
Care for these persons is a charge of government and should 
not be left to the noble, but haphazard private charities. 
Rehabilitation studies should be made and a program launched 
on the basis of these studies. 

It is significant that there is a higher percentage of total 
unemployment among women than among men. Only about a 
third of the 7,600,000 gainfully employed are girls. Although 
there are a few camps and centers for girls only, the problem 
of unemployed out-of-school young women is sufficient to 
warrant special consideration. 

The entire field of recreation has been left largely to pri- 
vate enterprise and initiative. The communities have not met 
the increasing demand for the constructive use of leisure time. 
A work program could well be launched by the federal gov- 
ernment in coéperation with the local governments to provide 
recreation. At the same time it would offer a new field of 
employment to the young people who must soon find jobs. It 
would encourage the trend toward culture and the arts. 

In any program for the future, early employment should 
be guarded against and carefully supervised, Short-sighted 
measures for young persons between fourteen and eighteen 
will only complicate the general problem of unemployment 
among youth. Any plans for persons within this age limit 
should seek primarily to keep them in school and at home. It 
is easy for a person fourteen to eighteen to get a job. There is 
little difficulty in getting employment at this age level. But 
this employment is inevitably in blind-alley jobs, to say noth- 
ing of the social and economic consequence of child labor. The 
1934 Annual Conference of the National Union of Teachers 
found that in Great Britain seventy per cent of the boys who 
leave school at fourteen go into jobs that neither lead to better 
positions in life nor prepare for another job. 

It would thus appear that if special consideration could 
be given to this age group between fourteen and eighteen that 
the problem as a whole could be attacked more effectively. The 
minimum age for leaving school and being admitted to employ- 





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DEPARTMENT OF SECONDARY-SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 27 


ment should be fixed at not less than sixteen years. Juveniles, 
that is persons under eighteen, who are over the school leaving 
age and are unable to find suitable employment should, where 
the organization of the school allows, be required to continue 
full-time attendance at school until suitable employment is 
available. Maintenance allowances should, if necessary, be 
granted to parents by the competent public authorities during 
additional periods of training. If this age level could be given 
additional instruction in practical vocational training, in a few 
years the labor market would be relieved of the blind-alley 
occupational groups among youth and the cumulative bad 
effects upon youth of this age would be avoided. 

A study recently completed in the State of Connecticut 
and covering 43,106 unemployed young men and women under 
twenty-five years of age who had applied for work in the fifteen 
state and federal re-employment offices in Connecticut during 
the period of one year, revealed these facts: 

Over forty, per cent of them were untrained for 
any kind of work. 

The few persons who had had employment, 
obtained it by chance method rather than by any 
planned selection of occupation and careful training 
to enter it. 

Such occupation, selection, and training should not be 
regarded as a complete solution of the problem of unemploy- 
ment of youth. For more than fifty per cent of those in indus- 
try work at more or less routine jobs. But it is significant 
that in the midst of all this unemployment there is work for 
young people prepared in trade schools. The State Board of 
Education in the same State of Connecticut reports that each 
year since 1930 the Hartford Trade School has placed eighty- 
six per cent of its graduates in their trades or related trades, 
within three months after graduation. Within six months 
ninety-six per cent of the students had been placed. 


Prolonged general education simply as an alternative to 
unemployment will do little good. School attendance is not 
always a good thing. School attendance is only desirable if 
the student is interested in his school work. Simply to enforce 
attendance at school where students have no real interest in 
the program or have anything to which to look forward in 
the nature of a job, tends to reduce the degree of employability 











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28 THE PROBLEM OF BEING YOUNG 


of the young person involved and their prospects for future 


success on the job. 

The social benefits of a program to protect this age group 
both in an economic and community sense would very. quickly 
be felt in American life. There would thus be created a better 
balance between juvenile and adult labor employment. A direct 
result would be the protection of labor standards by blocking 
the flow of cheap juvenile labor into the labor market. 

As a part of a national plan for the future development 
of our human and natural resources a youth program can be so 
administered that a genuine recovery. service for the whole 
nation will result. It may well begin a permanent work for 
American youth which will directly aid them in making a 
living and in being responsible, participating members of 
society. 

The present emergency needs of youth in America are 
plain. It is necessary for the emergency programs of the local, 
state, and federal governments to put first plans to meet the 
material needs of the under-privileged youth. But in all the 
plans it is of great importance that the long-time view of youth 
in industry and education and community life in America be 
considered. Studies show that the problems of under-privi- 
leged youth were serious before 1929. Simply to provide a 
present need in an emergency period may soon lead to com- 
plications in future work for youth, and, in some instances, 
may merely delay an adequate national program for youth. 

Whatever is done, youth should be considered a period of 
training and education for community citizenship, and not 
simply as fresh recruits of labor supply. A wise and generous 
provision for vocational training, for special work projects 
for youth, for continued directed relationships with the public 
schools, colleges, teacher-training institutions, and technical 
schools, would not only be sound social policy but its total cost 
would be far less than the economic cost of demoralized youth. 


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Digests 


from 


Professional Periodicals 


MENTAL HEALTH NEEDS GUARDING 
By GARRY C. MYERS 


Condensed from The Journal of Education, March 16, 1936, 
pp. 172-173 


Published by: the New England Publishing Company 
Six Park Street, Boston, Massachusetts 


What do we mean by mental health? “That person has 
good mental health who manages himself well, gets along 
agreeably with other people, and seldom worries. He makes 
his feelings his friends, not his enemies. He builds in himself 
those habits he knows to be most useful to him as an individual 
and as a member of society. He works hard when he works, 
and plays hard when he plays. Others like to work with him 
and play with him. When he has a job, he does it wholeheart- 
edly, and never seeks excuses to postpone it or to run away 
from it. He has the courage to face tasks he knows he ought 
to face. He is not a quitter or a coward. He doesn’t try to 
fool himself or others, nor does he pity himself. He is ever 
ready to accept the consequences of his own shortcomings and 
does not blame others for his failures. 

“Mental health is not a measure of how smart or intelli- 
gent a person is—some very brilliant persons become mentally 
sick, and some rather stupid persons enjoy excellent mental 
health. But it is a measure of how well a person uses his 
mind to get along with himself and others. A better word for 
_mental health might be emotional health.” 

Several years ago E. K. Wickman made a notable con- 
tribution to mental hygiene when, from his careful in‘estiga- 


29 














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80 DIGESTS FROM PROFESSIONAL PERIODICALS 


tion, he concluded that what the teacher is likely to consider 
serious behavior problems often are the least serious ones, 
from the standpoint of mental health. He found that the per- 
sonality and behavior problems which rank highest in order of 
seriousness are: unsociableness, suspiciousness, unhappiness 
and dejection, resentfulness, fearfulness, cruelty or bullying, 
being easily discouraged, suggestibility, being overcritical of 
others, sensitiveness, domineeringness, sullenness, stealing, 
shyness, and physical cowardice. 


The teacher interested in the mental health and person- 
ality of her students will upon observing such traits get in 
touch with the parents concerned. In many instances she will 
urge these parents to contact a competent psychiatrist. The 
National Committee for Mental Hygiene will be glad to name 
cne or several mental hygiene experts in or near any neighbor- 
hood. The teacher will be especially interested in the lonely, 
timid child at school and will find ways of helping him adapt 
himself socially, to his schoolmates, encouraging him to par- 
ticipate in some of the extra-curricular activities. To this end 
those students who evince good social adaptations themselves 
will be induced to help the comrade who is weak in this respect. 


OUR MAGAZINES: AN UNBALANCED RATION 


By JAY MCKEE AND R. E. HEIGES 
Teachers College, Clarion, Pennsylvania 


Condensed from The Social Studies, March, 1936, pp. 149-156 
Editorial Office: 204 Fayerweather Hall, Columbia 
University, New York City 


Practically every magazine found in the average library 
or home is used in some way as an agent of propaganda, fur- 
thering the specific interest of some individual or group of 
individuals. This is usually done without regard for, indeed, 
often contrary to, the interests of the readers. The instant 
reaction of disagreement which will greet the above statement 
is illustrative of the factor whieh, above all others, makes the 
magazines an effective instrument of propaganda. 


Many. methods are utilized by the periodicals in their 
efforts to control public opinion; the more important of these 


DEPARTMENT OF SECONDARY-SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 31 


may be summarized under four headings: 1) Space and omis- 
sion; 2) Perversion; 3) Editorializing; 4) Miscellaneous tech- 
nical devices. The amount of space which is accorded an 
event is usually quite independent of its importance. An 
cecurence detrimental to the interests advanced by the maga- 
zine will be confined to a small article, if mentioned at all. On 
the other hand if the occurrence will create an impression 
favorable to the principles for which the magazine stands, it 
will be emblazoned in long articles and will probably be given © 
space in several succeeding issues. Another effective method 
of molding public opinion is simply ignoring the facts and 
publishing nothing which will lead the reader to accept a view 
contrary to that which the publisher desires him to have. 


Since most magazines are journals of opinion rather than 
bulletins of information, that is, agents of news interpretation 
rather than news presentation, the importance of the editorial 
as a vehicle for magazine propaganda cannot be overstated. 
Another method employed by the magazine to aid in creating 
the desired impressions in the mind of the reader is the con- 
stant use of a number of technical devices such as the regula- 
tion of the size of print or the wording of headlines. Shade or 
size of print is juggled to fit the desires of the publisher. The 
relative position occupied by an article is often fixed by the 
impression it is likely to convey to the reader. If the probable 
reaction of the article will be favorable to the editor’s policy, 
it will be emphasized by a position among the front pages. On 
the other hand, if a reaction subversive to the magazine’s 
theories and interests is likely, the article will be buried in the 
last few pages. 

Three important motives, operating independently or in 
combination, play a part in determining the bias which will 
be exhibited by a magazine: 1) The views of the publishers 
and editors; 2) The influence of sales or circulation; and 
3) The reaction of the advertisers. It is impossible to believe 
that a magazine will not be affected, consciously or otherwise, 
by the desire or necessity of catering to the interests of the 
advertisers, who, after all, are the chief source of income to 
“the publisher. The problem presented to the publisher is 
not a question of abstract theory but the choice between 
material success and failure, a matter of bread and butter. 














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32 DIGESTS FROM PROFESSIONAL PERIODICALS 


Significant in the study of magazine propaganda is the 
fact that no one has ever felt that the problem merits the 
investigation necessary for a book or even an article upon 
the subject. In the college or public library of from fifteen 
to twenty thousand volumes there probably will not be a 
book devoting a paragraph, much less a chapter, to the con- 
sideration of the influence of periodical literature upon public 
opinion; the Reader’s Guide to Periodical Literature does 
not, in the last ten years, list a single article under that 
heading. These facts are illustrative of the factor which 
makes the magazine an important vehicle for propaganda. 


The two solutions proposed are: 1) Education; and 2) A 
state-owned press. The last mentioned plan would have the 
result of standardization rather than elimination. Careful 
consideration of the situation leads one to the conclusion that 
the only plausible method of escape from the present condi- 
tions is through education of the rising generation in the 
facts of the publishing business. Emancipation comes in part 
from being on one’s guard. 


THE CHALLENGE TO DEMOCRACY 


By I. L. KANDEL, PH.D. 
Professor of Education and Associate in the International 
Institute, Teachers College, Columbia University 


Condensed from School Management, March, 1936, pp. 173-174 
Published by School Management 
9 East 40th Street, New York City 


Democracy, it is charged by those who seek to justify 
dictatorships or the totalitarian form of government, has 
failed and for the following reasons. Democracy is based 
upon the cult of individualism and the subordination of the 
state to the individual. The state instead of having a mission 
or destiny of its own thus becomes an agent to carry out the 
wishes of the individuals who make it up. This means that 
the emphasis is placed upon the rights of individuals with- 
out exacting corresponding obligations, duties, and willing- 
ness to sacrifice self for the state. Hence the democratic 
state merely exists to fulfill the selfish interests of individuals, 


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DEPARTMENT OF SECONDARY-SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 33 


groups, and parties. Government by majority is only a sham 
and a delusion in which the majority in power for the time 
being seeks to get the most that it can for those who consti- 
tute, with the result that graft, corruption, and exploitation 
are rampant. The boasted equality of opportunities and high 
standards of living are mere illusions and have no existance 
in reality. 

This is a real challenge to those who have been brought 
up and still have an abiding faith in the ideals of democracy, 
and it is reasonable to ask what the critics have to offer. 
Their answer is the totalitarian state under the control of a 
dictator or of a party. By totalitarianism is meant that con- 
dition in which the whole life of every individual in a state 
is directed and regimented in the interests of a particular 
ideology. It is immaterial from this point of view whether 
that ideology is communist, Fascist, or Nazi. Fundamentally 
and despite certain differences from the economic, political, 
and cultural points of view all the recent revolutions have 
this concept in common. The state is above the individuals 
that make it up; the state represents the conscience and the 
will of the people; it has a mission and destiny of its own 
and, once it is established, no individual has the right to 
criticize. The totalitarian state subjects the individual to 
its will; it represents a complete negation of the right of the 
individual to self-determination or self-expression; the inter- 
ests of the state are above the interests of the individual, and 
duty and self-sacrifice on the part of the individual are more 
important than Ms rights, which come from the state to the 
degree that its interests determine. 

Such a concept is fiametrically opposed to the ideals of 
democracy and liberalism. It represents a retrogression in 
history. For, if one’ examines the history of mankind, it 
may briefly be summarized as a slow movement for emanci- 
pation from the thraldom of fears—fears of nature, personal 
slavery, political tyranny, and external controls, and coercion 
over life. On the positive side the history of mankind rep- 
resents a struggle for personal freedom, for freedom of 
movement, freedom of opinion and expression, equality of 

“opportunity, tolerance, and justice. In order to secure this 
freedom under constitutional government the individual has 
learned to accept certain responsibilities and obligations. 


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34 DIGESTS FROM PROFESSIONAL PERIODICALS 


The question that those who believe in democracy and 
its ideals must ask themselves is whether the causes of failure 
which are alleged by the defenders of totalitarianism are 
inherent in democracy itself. And this is a question that 
should be of particular interest to all who are interested in 
education. Is there not some justification in the charge that 
we have taken democracy and liberalism too much for 
granted? Is it not true that in our schools we have not given 
enough attention to the development of “that American pas- 
sion for democracy”? Has there not been an overemphasis 
on rights and freedom and too little attention given to the 
cultivation of a sense of duty and responsibility? 


In this task of developing positive convictions about 
democratic ideals and in spreading that knowledge which 
alone can be the basis of sound judgment the modern edu- 
cator has the support of the recorded statements made by the 
leading statesmen and publicists of this country on the relation 
of education to democracy. Thus wrote Washington, “Knowl- 
edge is in every country the surest basis of public happiness. 
In one in which the measures of government receive their 
impressions so immediately from the sense of the community 
as in ours, it is proportionably essential.” “It grieves me,” 
wrote President Adams, “to hear that your people have a 
prejudice against liberal education. There is a spice of this 
everywhere. But liberty has no enemy more dangerous than 
such a prejudice.” Of the two great measures that Thomas 
Jefferson had at heart one was “that of general education, to 
enable every man to judge for himself what will secure or 
endanger his freedom.” And so runs the ideal of American 
leaders—to protect democracy through education. Were they 
living to-day they would agree that one of the best methods 
by which our faith in democracy and its ideals can be con- 
firmed and strengthened is by contrasting it with the sub- 
stitutes which have been adopted elsewhere and which kill 
the identity of the individual by hiding it under the drab uni- 
formity of a shirt—be it red, black, or brown. 








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DEPARTMENT OF SECONDARY-SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 35 


DEVELOPING A MODERN CURRICULUM 
IN A SMALL TOWN 


By. ROBERTA LABRANT GREEN 


Condensed from Progressive Education, March, 1936, 
pp. 189-197 


Published by the Progressive Education Association 
310 West 90th Street, New York City 


This report concerns the introduction of a progressive 
program into the six-year high school in Holton, Kansas, a 
county-seat town of three thousand population. 


Because the change in program began in the English 
department, an attempt will be made to trace those changes, 
and then discuss the various new practices which developed. 


As a basis for the work in composition in the seventh and 
eighth grades, the staff proposed to set up a simple social 
studies program closely related to the lives of the students. 
The pupils were told that they might choose between studying 
English composition from a text in the customary way, or 
basing their composition upon a study of their homes and 
home community. The vote was unanimously in favor of 
the newer plan. 

It was agreed that the students should begin with their 
own homes, and that the first step should be making a list of 
all the materials that went into their homes. Perusal of any 
list showed that certain materials fell naturally under the 
same classification: brick, cement, plaster, marble; tin, cop- 
per, chromium; cedar, plaster board, pine; trees, shrubs, 
grass, bulbs, etc. So came the idea of classifying for conve- 
nience of study, and the following six groupings emerged: 
landscaping and grounds; woods and wood substitutes; 
metals; finishes; lighting and plumbing; and materials: of 
masonry. Lighting and plumbing, the students decided, 
would be a bit too complicated for anyone but a science teacher 
to direct, so that list was laid aside; and woods and finishes 
were combined, leaving but four groups. Each pupil was 
then invited to choose the group of materials he preferred 


to study. 








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36 DIGESTS FROM PROFESSIONAL PERIODICALS 


When the masonry group assembled as a unit to begin 
their study, they agreed, since they had no text, that each 
person should keep a written report of all his work, and fur- 
ther that because. brick and cement were the most used 
masonry materials, study should begin with them. First 
came an examination of all library materials, which included 
an account of the Egyptian sun-dried brick made from sedi- 
ment along the Nile; the Biblical account of the making of 
brick by the Israelites; the art of tile-making as developed by 
the Dutch, and present-day brick manufacture. Students also 
turned to local contractors and to old residents of the town, 
with such questions as why the town had so many poor and 
old brick walks; the different kinds of brick commonly used, 
their special uses and values, and relative costs; and what 
were the advantages of solid and veneer walls. All these 
topics presented occasions for oral and written reports as 
well as for interviews and class discussion. A similar pro- 
cedure was followed in studying cement. 


The study of marble and granite took a different turn—a 
trip to a local monument firm. Here the group learned about 
the quarrying and mining of stones, their texture, durability, 
relative costs, the wide variety of their colors, and the extent 
to which they, are found, especially in the United States. The 
question of engraving the stones introduced students to a 
first-hand examination and trial of the old hand-hammer and 
chisel, the compressed air hammer, and the sand blast. A 
discussion of these led to two weeks spent in a study of the 
Industrial Revolution in England and of the modern machine 
and its effects upon civilization to-day, with special emphasis 
upon its effects in the United States. 


Stone as a building material prompted a survey of all the 
buildings in town in which the materials of masonry were 
used. During this survey, the class became conscious of the 
extensive use of stucco, Kelly stone, and cement blocks for 
building, and of the small extent to which the beautiful and 
plentiful native stone was used. This led to discussions of 
relative values. 

The 1934-35 program grew out of the work done the year 
before. The students decided to make a study of housing, half 
to study it from the standpoint of architecture and city plan- 


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DEPARTMENT OF SECONDARY-SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 37 


‘ ning, and half from that of utility and convenience. It is the 


latter group whose work is here summarized. 

A list of requirements for decent, comfortable living was 
made. It was decided to make a house-to-house survey of the 
town to find out how nearly the homes came up to the stand- 
ards set; then to see what could be done about it. 


Some surprising facts were discovered: half the families 
in town had only wood and coal stoves for heating; a third 
had no city water; more than a third had outside toilets; and 
there were no sewers in one whole section of the town—facts 
probably no worse than those of most small towns, but worse 
than anyone had realized. 

The class was asked to report its survey before a club of 
the leading business and professional men of the town. These 
fifty men were at first interested in the facts which the young 
people had uncovered and, from this, they became interested 
in the kind of school work that enabled students to make such 
a survey and report. Even the most casual observer could 
see the wide variety of legitimate English activities that were 
involved. Students answered questions and led discussion 
without hesitation, and assumed complete responsibility for 
the report. 

The town mayor and the local housing committee asked 
for detailed copies of the findings of the class and a committee 
of students to work with them on the local housing program. 
This is working out in plans for extending sewers to all resi- 
dents of the town, and for offering special inducements for a 
limited time to property. owners to connect their houses with 
city water and sewers. 

The English work here discussed covers that of only one 
section, and is used merely as an example. At the same time 
other classes were basing their composition work around 
studies of transportation and communication, foods and mar- 
keting, fuel and power, and other problems of social science, 
all beginning with the local situation. 


So far, this account concerns the English program, but 
at the same time that it was developing, other departments 
were reaching out into the community. 











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388 DIGESTS FROM PROFESSIONAL PERIODICALS 


Plans are being formulated for the coming year for fur- 
ther school-community projects: a little theatre group; a 
series of free public entertainments, musical, dramatic, infor- 
mational ; readers’ and writers’ clubs; open forums on present 
day social and governmental problems. Not all of these plans 
will become realities, but some of them are certain to develop. 


In building such a community-school program, the great- 
est need seems to be that of carrying the community along 
with the program. Without such backing any school program 
becomes temporary and unstable, collapsing with slight 
changes in school staff. Let it become a part of the life of 
the community and it achieves a permanence and a value that 


is worth working for. 


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Lay Magazines 


FAILURE IN SCHOOL 
By JOHNSON O’CONNOR 


Condensed from The Atlantic Monthly, March, 1936, 
pp. 318-325 


Published by The Atlantic Monthly Company, 
8 Arlington Street, Boston, Massachusetts 


A discrepancy always exists between actual accomplish- 
ment and inherent ability; few persons ever reach the goal 
within their power. In school and college the gap is least for 
average boys and girls. It is the exception whose grades fall 
short of what a knowledge of his capabilities leads one to 
anticipate, for, whether sluggish or brilliant, he who departs 
from normal finds the rate too fast or too slow. 

Until recently it has been assumed that slowness in school 
evinced lack of intelligence. But during the last two decades 
a technique has been developed by means of which it is pos- 
sible to measure capacity independent of its manifestation 
in the classroom. The original aim was to isolate the char- 
acteristics requisite to achievement in each occupation and 
profession and so guide boys and girls. Then the technique 
was turned to the study of retarded pupils with the aim of 
determining that characteristic which was wanting and 
examining it scientifically. 

Some poor pupils lack ability; others possess too much. 
This article deals with the latter group. From the standpoint 
of the school they are indistinguishable from the dull, for 
both fail. Only painstaking measurements sort, the one kind 


from the other. 
89 














40 DIGESTS FROM LAY MAGAZINES 


The Human Engineering Laboratory at Stevens Insti- 
tute of Technology purposes to diagnose educational and 
vocational problems and so to assist in solving them intel- 
ligently. 


Some time ago the Laboratory measured one hundred 
members of a college freshman class. It arranged the indi- 
viduals horizontally across the bottom of a chart in the order 
of mental aptitudes which a careful test had shown each to 
possess. It then plotted vertically for each his subsequent 
success in freshman year as shown by his average grade. A 
curve drawn to represent their general tendency rose steadily 
with ability until it reached the multi-gifted students, where 
it turned sharply down. Such boys differ sufficiently from 
the average to be likely to experience hardships. 


The multi-aptitude student disparages advice. He needs 
data on which to base his own conclusions. In order to pro- 
vide this information the Laboratory put a hundred college 
freshmen through the tests at the beginning of their course. 
It then indicated to each abnormally gifted student his place 
on the general curve, thus showing him impersonally his 
statistical chance of flunking out. The gifted group, warned 
in advance of their danger, led the class. A presentation of 
these facts scientifically is the first helpful step toward a 
realization of inherent possibilities. 


The second step is the conscious utilization of each apti- 
tude which can be measured. Then as life progresses the 
integration of the aptitudes unfolds into a complete pattern. 
Only eight mental elements can be measured by the Labora- 
tory with sufficient accuracy to identify them in the boy or 
girl of school age. The total may exceed a hundred, but the 
conscious use of even eight is a step in the right direction. 


Engineering aptitude, an inherent gift for visualizing 
three-dimensional structures, is measured by the time con- 
sumed in solving four simple, but carefully designed, mechan- 
ical puzzles. These puzzles are solved by engineers, surgeons, 
architects, sculptors, but rarely by bankers, accountants, and 
men in the advertising and merchandising field. The former 
class deal with solid form. 


The pupil with engineering aptitude has one of the char- 
acteristics of the successful architect, engineer, and sculptor, 





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DEPARTMENT OF SECONDARY-SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 41 


but may, because of this, find difficulty in school work. He 
tries to visualize Latin and French in three dimensions. He 
seeks the whys and wherefores of languages, and rebels at 
learning vocabulary and grammar by rote. He experiences 
the same sensations as the mature engineer who is drawn 
into a non-engineering occupation. 

Tonal memory is another aptitude. It is essential to a 
musical conductor and probably to one who plays with an 
orchestra. For one who scores low in tonal memory, hours 
of drill may waste valuable time and be extremely discourag- 
ing. But for one who scores high, music gives a sense of 
accomplishment. 

A third aptitude is creative imagination. It plays an 
important part in writing, advertising, creative work in music 
and the other arts, and in original work in science and engi- 
neering. A fourth aptitude, accounting aptitude, is requisite 
to school success. Unlike other aptitudes, its employment 
need not be consciously sought, for it is essential almost from 
the first day of school. 

The boy who has a wide range of aptitudes but lacks 
accounting aptitude has not only the school difficulties 
attendant upon restlessness but the additional handicap of 
being without the one characteristic upon which schools call 
more than upon any other. In copying a theme his thoughts 
fly ahead of his place on the paper. Conscious of this ten- 
dency he wonders continually if he has slipped and reviews 
his work. 

Between the ages of twelve and eighteen boys are ordi- 
narily outstripped by girls, who, because of their higher 
accounting aptitude, do their homework more easily and 
quickly and arrange it more neatly. Sometimes the boy gives 
up all thought of continuing and takes a minor clerical job. 
Outside the clerical field this aptitude is not important, but 
this is hard to explain to the discouraged boy of this age. 

When accounting aptitude is low enough to cause serious 
school trouble, four remedial steps may be taken. They are 
correction of eyesight, separation of thinking from its record- 
ing, greater speed, and intelligent selection of courses.: Often 
an eye-examination and correction has raised a low account- 
ing aptitude. Frequently a boy with low aptitude has been 
benefitted by thinking through to the end of the theme or 











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42 DIGESTS FROM LAY MAGAZINES 


problem without the burden of pencil or paper. Sometimes 
the corrective is speed. A boy must drive his pencil to keep 
pace with his mind, not slow down his thinking to his pencil 
rate. Finally certain school courses like typing and stenog- 
raphy should be avoided. For one deficient in this aptitude 
such subjects are discouraging and ordinarily do not develop 
facility rapidly enough to warrant the time which they con- 
sume. 

These eight aptitudes may be considered singly or in 
combination. Creative imagination and engineering aptitude 
are the characteristics of the inventor. Creative imagination 
and inductive reasoning are the characteristics of the writer, 
and the student who scores high in these should be encouraged 
to write for the school paper. One who scores high in tonal 
memory but low in accounting aptitude should sing or choose 
an instrument with only a single clef. 

This research into the measurement of aptitudes was 
undertaken with the purpose of discovering the characteristics 
of successful men and women. But even to-day the Laboratory 
cannot define success. It can tell a boy his relative chances of 
earning a living in a number of different types of work. It 
can tell the chances of sticking to each type of work for a 
period of five years. It cannot tell the chances of finding 
real happiness in the work. 

Whenever the Laboratory has an opportunity to measure 
an adult who seems in some way truly successful, it is always 
someone who has discovered a use for every aptitude which 
he possesses. 


SOVIET EDUCATION TURNS RIGHT 
By ADOLPH E. MEYER 


Condensed from The American Mercury, January, 1936, 
pp. 82-85 


Published by The American Mercury, Inc. 
Federal and 19th Streets, Camden, New Jersey 


When Soviet education first came into being, it drew 
considerable praise from a large number of American school- 
men, particularly the adherents of our so-called Progressive 
Education. At bottom the Russians were actually putting 





DEPARTMENT OF SECONDARY-SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 43 


into practice many of the Americans’ choicest pedagogical 
ideas. Indeed to read of Soviet education during this period 
is very much like reading a work written by almost any 
American pedagogue of the Progressive order. 


One of the first American pedagogical inventions to 
caress the Russian realm was the Dalton Laboratory Plan. 
Created by Helen Parkhurst, it had first been put to work 
in a typical American high school at Dalton, Massachusetts. 
The plan seeks to let each pupil progress at his own rate of 
speed. To do this the traditional recitation has been thrown 
into discard. The teacher no longer teaches in the usual 
sense; instead he “guides and advises.” The learner is more 
or less on his own. For every subject he gets a “job sheet” 
containing his assignment for a given period. If he is so 
inclined, and has the requisite ability, he may do the whole 
business in a day, or he may linger over it several weeks. In 
essence the Dalton Plan is not unlike the correspondence 
school technique, except, of course, the latter has completely 
exterminated all contacts between pedagogue and pupil. 


Several things in the Dalton scheme caught the eye of 
the Soviet educator, but no doubt the thing that appealed to 
him most was the fact that a pupil was made to work accord- 
ing to a plan. Like his more mature comrade workers in the 
mills and fields, the learner at school was expected to produce 
a certain amount of work according to a schedule. If in 
quantity and quality he surpassed this, then so much the bet- 
ter. But if his production should lag, then obviously he is 
potentially a bad communist and needs to be improved at 
once. Despite its seeming possibilities, however, the original 
Dalton ritual wasn’t altogether suited to the Soviet atmos- 
phere. For one thing it had too much of a New England 
smack. Time is money was its slogan. In the words of Pinke- 
vitch, the noted Moscow educator, the original plan was 
admirable in turning out “a bourgeois who conducts his 
affairs efficiently.” Babbitts, in other words, and not com- 
munists. Then, too, the Dalton procedure was dedicated 
entirely too much to Rugged Individualism and hardly at all 

“to Communism. That in these respects the plan was thor- 
oughly overhauled before it was set down in the Soviet schools 
goes without saying. 


























44 DIGESTS FROM LAY MAGAZINES 


If the Dalton Plan found plenty of backers among Soviet 
school men, then the Project Method found even more. Defined 
as a “purposeful activity worked out under conditions that 
approximate those of real life,” the Project procedure strives 
to de-formalize learning by putting it ‘on the basis of a felt 
need.” Where the Project Method is used, subjects are not 
usually taught as subjects. Nor is a textbook studied sys- 
tematically and sequentially. Whatever subject matter the 
pupil acquires comes incidentally. The hypothesis is that the 
successful working out of a project will inevitably call for 
knowledge in the three R’s, in geography, history, govern- 
ment, and so on. The more conservative pedagogue will deny 
this, or he will plead its inadequacy. 

Almost from the beginning Soviet educators eagerly 
clasped the Project Method to their pedagogic bosom. But 
from the beginning also the authorities made it plain that 
unlike the American projects, their Russian counterparts 
must always deal with “socially useful work.” The fact that 
projects could be so readily harnessed to the world in which 
the growing communist lived made the method attractive to 
the Soviet educational authorities. There were also other 
things in the method that appealed to them. In the first place, 
it served to put learning on a collectivist basis. It encouraged 
pupils to work together on a common undertaking. Then, by 
throwing out such routines as recitations, drill, and exami- 
nations it satisfied the Soviet urge to go to the left in peda- 


gogy. 

In at least one other important respect the Progressives 
left their mark on Soviet education. I refer to the general 
idea that children should be free and left to express them- 
selves, and that their teachers should not hamper them unduly. 
Pupils were allowed to talk and move about; they were put 
more or less in charge of their own disciplinary problems. 


In a short time Soviet schools developed into an educa- 
tional Mecca for American Progressive pedagogues. Annu- 
ally, boatloads of them flocked to Russia to observe Progres- 
sive Education at work. Among them were many front-rank 
educators, as, for example, Dewey, Counts, Washburne, Park- 
hurst, and others. They often took great pains to disagree 
with Russia’s new political ideals, but they all seemed to 


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DEPARTMENT OF SECONDARY-SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 45 


agree that by virtue of Progressive Education the Russian 
schools were leaping into world leadership. 

When the Soviets began to install Progressive Educa- 
tion there were plenty of objections, usually ascribed to edu- 
cational conservatism. Thus, even in Soviet Russia, it was 
difficult for many teachers to get enthusiastic over the New 
School. But the government always had the final say; and so 
it was always possible to brush conservative objections aside. 
So the authorities continued to apply Progressive Education 
on a large scale. 

Despite what the authorities decreed, protests against 
the New Education did not entirely submerge. Even in 
important party conclaves doubts were increasingly cast on 
the magic of the New Pedagogy. The Dalton Plan and the 
Project Method in particular seemed to be suspect. The lat- 
ter, writes Bubnov, a noted communist authority, is after all 
an American method “designed to educate an individualist 
who is able to stay afloat in a society based on competition.” 
The New Pedagogy was failing to produce the anticipated 
marvelous results. In the Don region official investigations 
revealed that more than half the children of a given school 
were unable to copy a simple dictated passage. In fact, one- 
third of them could not write even one sentence without a 
mistake. Had these revelations been purely local, the situ- 
ation would not have been so bad, but the disclosures were 
not local. 

The Soviet devotees of the New Education argued that 
the poor results were due not so much to any weakness in 
Progressive Education theories, but rather to a host of other 
things such as lack of time, lack of properly trained teachers, 
and lack of equipment. But none of the arguments prevailed. 

The first vigorous official blast against the New Peda- 
gogy came late in 1931 when the Central Committee of the 
Communist Party decreed that “no one method should be 
accepted as fundamental.” The order went out to commis- 
sariats of education “to liquidate the perversions of the labo- 
ratory method,” and it was provided that hereafter “the 
accepted form of teaching in both the elementary and sec- 

-ondary schools must be classroom recitation based on a strict 
schedule and designed for a definite group of pupils.” And 
teachers were directed to present their subjects “in a sys- 


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46 DIGESTS FROM LAY MAGAZINES 


tematic and sequential way, the pupils to be trained in the use 
of textbooks.” In other words, the Committee definitely put 
itself on record in favor of the old style education. 


Before this, the subject of history had been generally 
held in low esteem. Dealing mainly with bourgeois doings, 
history was considered a study of no great importance to a 
self-respecting communist. However, it was pointed out that 
the great Lenin had once said that “only he could become a 
true communist, who knows how to enrich his memory with a 
knowledge of all those treasures which humanity has pro- 
duced,” words that were interpreted by Lenin’s widow as 
favoring the study of history. Hence, the Committee deemed 
it a “major error” that “as yet no courses in history have 
been prepared.” This assertion received a substantial boost 
when it was revealed that Stalin’s own son, after years of 
schooling according to the New Pedagogy had not the slight- 
est inkling as to who the first Napoleon was. 


If the Dalton Plan and the Project Method were heaved 
out by the Committee, then so was the idea that the child 
should be free. Not only was the pupil made to attend classes 
according to schedule, he was to master fundamentals thor- 
oughly. To insure this the Committee decreed that “a final 
examination at the end of the year is compulsory for all 
pupils.” Principals and teachers were once more graced with 
authority and were made “responsible for the maintenance 
of discipline.” Should any pupil still insist on expressing 
himself too strongly, he might be promptly and thoroughly 
squelched. Moreover, those “incorrigible pupils” who insult 
the school personnel, violate the school rules, and destroy 
school property “may be expelled.” 

The action of the Committee was a bitter pill for the 
American Progressives to swallow. They had been pointing 
to the Soviets as the shining example of what could be done 
when a whole nation installed Progressive Education in its 
public schools. Then suddenly the Soviets deserted and went 
over to the enemy. It was to say the least, most unkind. 





thr 
to 
alle 





DEPARTMENT OF SECONDARY-SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 47 


YOU VS. CRIME 


By HERBERT F. GOODRICH 
Dean, University of Pennsylvania Law School 


Condensed from The American Legion Monthly, 
March, 1936, pp. 8-18 


Published by The American Legion, 
521 Fifth Avenue, New York 


Whenever I hear of one of the current discussions on the 
problem of crime there comes back to me the old fable about 
the four blind men and the elephant. Obviously, the elephant 
had all the qualities separately attributed to him by the blind 
men, and equally obviously persons acquainted with only one 
side of a large thing are in no position to generalize about all 


of it. 

Crime is not one problem but a whole complicated web 
of them. Few of us see more than one piece at a time. 
J. Edgar Hoover, Head of the Federal Bureau of Investiga- 
tion of the Department of Justice, was quoted as saying: 
“Here at this meeting, a criminal is understood to be a crimi- 
nal, with a gun in his hand and murder in his heart.” 


This is one side of the crime question. A criminal is a 
man of violence. Catch him, dead or alive, and if alive, remove 
him from the society he preys upon. A fine piece of work 
Mr. Hoover and his bureau do, and all good citizens are 
grateful. But there are many other types of social offenders 
than killers. What of the bank clerk who has “borrowed” 
just a few hundred dollars? Or this pretty young miss, defi- 
ant, restless, discontented with her meager home, ashamed 
of her parents, now classified as a “delinquent”? Then a 
college lad who has been out at a party. On his way home in 
his car he has hit a milk truck and seriously injured the milk- 
man. Bad business. Something must be done about it. 


A group of small boys has been caught throwing stones 
through windows in vacant houses. Houses mean something 
4o their owners, and besides such conduct should not be 
allowed to go unchecked. It is clear that our crime problem 
has shifted from a straightforward question of arithmetic to 



































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46 DIGESTS FROM LAY MAGAZINES 


tematic and sequential way, the pupils to be trained in the use 
of textbooks.” In other words, the Committee definitely put 
itself on record in favor of the old style education. 


Before this, the subject of history had been generally 
held in low esteem. Dealing mainly with bourgeois doings, 
history was considered a study of no great importance to a 
self-respecting communist. However, it was pointed out that 
the great Lenin had once said that “only he could become a 
true communist, who knows how to enrich his memory with a 
knowledge of all those treasures which humanity has pro- 
duced,” words that were interpreted by Lenin’s widow as 
favoring the study of history. Hence, the Committee deemed 
it a “major error” that “as yet no courses in history have 
been prepared.” This assertion received a substantial boost 
when it was revealed that Stalin’s own son, after years of 
schooling according to the New Pedagogy had not the slight- 
est inkling as to who the first Napoleon was. 


If the Dalton Plan and the Project Method were heaved 
out by the Committee, then so was the idea that the child 
should be free. Not only was the pupil made to attend classes 
according to schedule, he was to master fundamentals thor- 
oughly. To insure this the Committee decreed that “a final 
examination at the end of the year is compulsory for all 
pupils.” Principals and teachers were once more graced with 
authority and were made “responsible for the maintenance 
of discipline.” Should any pupil still insist on expressing 
himself too strongly, he might be promptly and thoroughly 
squelched. Moreover, those “incorrigible pupils” who insult 
the school personnel, violate the school rules, and destroy 
school property “may be expelled.” 

The action of the Committee was a bitter pill for the 
American Progressives to swallow. They had been pointing 
to the Soviets as the shining example of what could be done 
when a whole nation installed Progressive Education in its 
public schools. Then suddenly the Soviets deserted and went 
over to the enemy. It was to say the least, most unkind. 


— 2 eh. a ot hs. ie fe ee fe 





DEPARTMENT OF SECONDARY-SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 


YOU VS. CRIME 


By HERBERT F.. GOODRICH 
Dean, University of Pennsylvania Law School 


Condensed from The American Legion Monthly, 
March, 1936, pp. 8-18 


Published by The American Legion, 
521 Fifth Avenue, New York 


Whenever I hear of one of the current discussions on the 
problem of crime there comes back to me the old fable about 
the four blind men and the elephant. Obviously, the elephant 
had all the qualities separately attributed to him by the blind 
men, and equally obviously persons acquainted with only one 
side of a large thing are in no position to generalize about all 
of it. 


Crime is not one problem but a whole complicated web 
of them. Few of us see more than one piece at a time. 
J. Edgar Hoover, Head of the Federal Bureau of Investiga- 


tion of the Department of Justice, was quoted as saying: 
“Here at this meeting, a criminal is understood to be a crimi- 
nal, with a gun in his hand and murder in his heart.” 


This is one side of the crime question. A criminal is a 
man of violence. Catch him, dead or alive, and if alive, remove 
him from the society he preys upon. A fine piece of work 
Mr. Hoover and his bureau do, and all good citizens are 
grateful. But there are many other types of social offenders 
than killers. What of the bank clerk who has “borrowed” 
just a few hundred dollars? Or this pretty young miss, defi- 
ant, restless, discontented with her meager home, ashamed 
of her parents, now ¢lassified as a “delinquent”? Then a 
college lad who has been out at a party. On his way home in 
his car he has hit a milk truck and seriously injured the milk- 
man. Bad business. Something must be done about it. 


A group of small boys has been caught throwing stones 
through windows in vacant houses. Houses mean something 
to their owners, and besides such conduct should not be 
allowed to go unchecked. It is clear that our crime problem 
has shifted from a straightforward question of arithmetic to 








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48 DIGESTS FROM LAY MAGAZINES 


one of those miserably complicated algebraic problems with 
several unknown quantities. 

Another thing which clouds our understanding when we 
try to figure out a question of crime and punishment is the 
large number of objectives we seek to obtain by using the 
criminal law. We no longer put the condemned criminal into 
the arena to fight a starved lion while thousands watch and 
yell. Nor do we make his execution an occasion of general 
entertainment as they did in the England of Samuel Pepys’ 
day. 

There is still a great deal left of the vengeance notion. 
If the condemned wretch has appendicitis, modern medical 
science must be called in to nurse the pafient back to health 
so that he may pay his penalty at the appointed time. A watch 
is put over him so that he cannot cheat the law by suicide. 
And if we decide that a man is not fit to live, isn’t it better to 
permit him to codperate with society without the bloodthirsty 
process of killing him? 

We have extended the orbit of criminal acts far beyond - 
its ancient scope of offences against the King’s peace. Crimes 
of violence are included now as then—homicide, robbery, 
arson, rape, assault, battery. Also offences against property— 
larceny, embezzlement, forgery. We have penalties for many 
acts cared for earlier as a matter of church discipline— 
adultery and the like. " 


We use the criminal code to forbid innkeepers from 
providing sheets of less than a specified length and to regu- 
late such acts as parking near a fire hydrant and peddling 
goods without a license. Our elephant grows to be a many- 
sided creature. 


A former attorney general of Michigan compiled a list 
of nineteen explanations for the cause of crime. They ranged 
from lack of education to drugs and the reluctant attitude 
toward the church. 


Laymen ordinarily think about crime and punishment 
as primarily a lawyer’s problem. But lawyers have to do with 
only one part of the general subject. There are other parts 
probably more important where other people have more to 
contribute than lawyers. The most important parts are the 
concern of the whole body of citizens. 





DEPARTMENT OF SECONDARY-SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 49 


The prisoner’s progress from the first presentation in 
court to his final incarceration or discharge is the lawyer’s 
side of the elephant. The public may justly blame lawyers 
and judges if legal procedure is unduly slow, if it provides 
too many loopholes for the guilty to escape. But the public 
may: not blame the lawyers if a jury lets a prisoner off when 
public sentiment demands his conviction. Here laymen rep- 
resented by the jury have final authority and responsibility. 








On the credit side of the crime problem, however, there 
is something to be written down. The American Law Insti- 
tute, for instance, has drafted a model code of Criminal 
Procedure, and parts of it have been adopted in many states. 
State commissions in many places have given thoughtful 
attention to many reforms. Representatives from more than 
forty states have established an Interstate Commission on 
Crime to codperate with men from the faculties of our law 
schools. All these things are good, but there is a great deal 
more to do. 


One of the most important problems is the question of 


the kind of conduct for which you want to provide penalties. 
If you pass a law making an act a crime whenever someone 
does something of which you disapprove, you cannot hope 
to have anything like strict law observance by all of the com- 
munity all of the time. 


How far do we want to carry detailed regulation in the 
field of criminal punishment as a penalty for violation? 
Responsibility for dealing wisely with this problem rests 
upon the general public. The lawyer, of course, should have 
a voice in it. But he has no divine revelation which tells him 
the wise answer. 


Then there is the question of the test for responsibility 
for acts done. Courts formulated certain rules about the sub- 
ject. They said that a child under seven was not to be held 
responsible for crime. When it came to the problem of mental 
disease they floundered badly. But even to-day the psy- 

-chiatrist will tell you how little he has learned. The facts 
must come from other fields of learning. The lawyer can 
then help put the facts to work. 























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50 DIGESTS FROM LAY MAGAZINES 


Then the whole question of catching criminals reaches 
into the field of police administration, and that, in turn, takes 
one into the morass of politics. 


A very important non-legal question is what to do with 
the criminal. Judges and parole boards have to deal with 
this problem. It is a problem of public policy. One need not 
be a sentimentalist to wish we could find some more intel- 
ligent way than the prevalent one of dealing with criminals. 
Permanent retirement from society of killers is absolutely 
necessary. With regard to other offenders we must find a 
way to treat them so that they won’t come out of jail more 
dangerous than when they went in. The killers are only a 
small part of the human stream which flows past the judge 
in the criminal court. 


Finally there is the problem of helping create the kind 
of environment which won’t make criminals. Many are born 
offenders. Most, however, are not. Money spent in the pro- 
motion of boys’ clubs is a mighty good investment for the 
public to make. 


When we think about crime, we should not think of it as 
a technical question of law or lawyers or even the police. It 
is clear also that we should back away from any doctrinaire 
who says he has one formula that will solve the whole prob- 
lem. To return to the elephant. Our inability to understand 
the full nature of his elephantine structure need not prevent 
us making our best efforts to understand and improve the 
separate portions thereof. 


NEW YORK’S CHILD INDUSTRIALISTS 
Condensed from The Literary Digest, February 15, 1936, 
pp. 18 
Published by Funk & Wagnalls Company 
354-360 Fourth Avenue, New York 

Three New York industrialists, who watched adolescent 
boys and girls on New York’s teeming streets get into 
trouble, put their heads together and decided to organize a 
small group of these young people from the ages of sixteen 





DEPARTMENT OF SECONDARY-SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 51 


to twenty into a company to make its own products, sell them, 
and get the profits. The youngsters elected a board of direc- 
tors, a sales and production manager, kept books, sold stocks 
to parents and friends, and declared dividends. 


That was sixteen years ago. Now there are fifty-five 
such Metropolitan Junior Achievement companies in the New 
York metropolitan area. They have an office in the heart of 
the skyscraper district, under the guidance of J. S. Menden- 
hall. 





“We get in touch with some neighborhood gang,” said 
Mr. Mendenhall. “At first they are suspicious, but when they 
learn that it isn’t charity and that they will have a chance 
through their own initiative to organize a money-making 
proposition along strictly business lines, they go for it in a 
big way. 


“Each company has from eight to ten members, and is a 
separate and fully responsible unit with its officers respon- 
sible for the success of the enterprise. 


“The companies produce wooden, metal, and leather 
goods, needlework, and other decorative articles. Each per- 
son spends at least two hours a week in the workshop under 
the guidance of volunteer craft leaders. Excellence in design 
and skilled craftsmanship make the articles readily salable 
and several clubs have attained such perfection that orders 
flood their workshops. 


“The capital with which to buy raw materials and equip- 
ment is raised through sales of stock. Shares with a par value 
of from ten to twenty-five cents are sold to parents and 
friends, but the company generally retains forty per cent. 














“During the past year every company has made a profit. 

The Oddity Shop in Flushing, N. Y., grossed three hundred 

dollars from its leather and metal business, and after paying 

such overhead costs as rent, light, materials, and wages (ten 

cents an hour), and laying aside a reserve fund with which to 

retire its stock and expand its work, the company paid a ten 
-per cent dividend and a bonus to its workers. 





“Taken from a purely social aspect, the movement has 
done a great deal to explode adolescent ideas of communism 














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52 DIGESTS FROM LAY MAGAZINES 


and radicalism. It teaches the youth very. realistically both 
the employer and employee side of business. 


“Employers find that Junior Achievement-trained men 
and women easily adjust themselves to their jobs. Calls to 
headquarters for applicants to fill all sorts of positions are 
becoming increasingly frequent and numerous.” 





th 


National 
Honor Society 


Senior Society 


CHANGE IN CONSTITUTION 


The National Council considered at its St. Louis (1936) 
meeting and approved some optional sections in the model 
constitution for the Senior Society. This optional offering 
is to aid those smaller high schools that have found difficulty 
in having chapters of sufficient size to do effective work in 
their schools. Chapters may now substitute these optional 
sections for sections 3, 4, and 5 of Article II. To do this 
and since some slight changes may be necessary in order to 
adjust the new sections to local conditions, the chapter should 
adopt the new sections and send their new sections into the 
national headquarters for approval. On receiving notice that 
the changes are acceptable, the amended constitution will be 
in vogue. The optional sections follow: 

ARTICLE II. SECTION 3. Candidates shall have spent at 
least one year in ...-High School, and shall 
be members of the junior or senior class. Candidates eligible 
to election to the chapter shall have a scholarship average of 
from 85 to 90* per cent. This scholastic level of achievement 
shall remain fixed, and shall be for this chapter the required 
scholastic achievement for admission to candidacy for mem- 
bership in this chapter, and all pupils who can rise in scholar- 
ship to or above such standard level shall be admitted to 
candidacy for election to membership. Their eligibility shall 
then be considered on their service, leadership and character. 





SECTION 4. Members of the sophomore class may be 
chosen as probationary members of the chapter of the Senior 


- Honor Society, if they satisfy all corresponding require- 


*Insert local rating here. 


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54 NATIONAL HONOR SOCIETY 


ments placed upon candidates from the junior and senior 


class. 

SECTION 5. Such probationary members shall have voice 
and vote in the chapter but may not hold office. If they main- 
tain high standards and live up to the requirements of the 
chapter, they may be chosen to full membership in the chapter 
in their junior or their senior year. 


WARNING 


To High-School Principals, and 
To Sponsors: 

A number of manufacturing jewelers are broadcasting 
price lists of emblems of the National Honor Society at cut- 
rate prices. It is evident that these firms are anxious to make 
money through these efforts, and therefore, the products they 
are merchandizing are cheapened to the last degree. It would 
be very wise, on receipt of any of these price lists to write 
to the National Headquarters so that the central office can 
be apprised of these activities. 

The National Honor Society is striving to improve the 
quality of the emblems. If unauthorized jewelers are en- 
couraged, the accuracy of the design and the quality of the 
emblem will be impaired. 

H. V. CHURCH, Secretary, National Honor Society. 


EDUCATIONAL FUND 
By BERTHA V. SALLEE, Chairman 
Condensed from The P.E.O. Record, February, 1936, p. 19. 


The Educational Fund of almost $800,000.00 is a revolv- 
ing loan fund granted to young women who are college stu- 
dents. These loans are supplemented by services of many 
kinds to assist in defraying the expenses of college residence. 
The work of the Educational Loan Fund girls is for the most 
part characteristic of her sex and characteristic of the section 
of country in which she lives. They do housework in homes 





— —- -- aP 














DEPARTMENT OF SECONDARY-SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 55 


in return for their board and room. Some wait tables in 
cafes and restaurants. Many care for children. Because of 
the similarity of the requirements, many of our girls do work 
provided by the government for such students. 


Several of our girls are assisting in college offices, in 
laboratories and in libraries. Some are giving music lessons 
and acting as accompanists. Some have picked berries, packed 
fruit and clerked in stores. Others have darned stockings 
for the girls in the dormitory, sold magazines and cosmetics. 
One cared for and propagated bulbs on the college campus. 
Others are tutoring, and—doing practically every type of 
work open to women. 

With all this work is the Loan Fund Girl a mere drudge? 
Is she without charm, without honors, without recognition? 
Hardly! 

Approximately one hundred recent cases, chosen at 
random, were tabulated. They showed that eighty-four per 
cent of our girls—the very girls concerning whose work we 
have just spoken—eighty-four per cent are honor students. 


An outstanding fact concerning this eighty-four per cent 
of honor students is that, first, seventy per cent of them were 
elected to the National Honor Society in high schools; sec- 
ond, the scholarship, leadership, character, and service shown 
there continued to show through college. 


Of this approximate one hundred random cases many 
have been awarded scholarships defraying tuition expenses 
for from one to four year courses. One was given a scholar- 
ship for a summer’s study in Austria, another a year’s study 
in Germany. Many were elected to membership in national 
scholastic and social organizations. 
















































56 NATIONAL HONOR SOCIETY 


NATIONAL HONOR SOCIETY 


About fifteen years ago the Department of Secondary-School Principals (then the Na- 
tional Association of Secondary-School Principals) organized the National Honor Society 
with the end in view of stimulating scholarship in the secondary schools of the United 
States. To-day there are over nineteen hundred chapters and these are in the best high 
schools in the country. The four objectives of the society are: to create an enthusiasm 
for scholarship, to stimulate a desire to render service, to promote worthy leadership, 
and to encourage the development of character. Every high-school principal who has 
a chapter is enthusiastic over the productive results of this organization in his school. 
Direct all requests for literature to H. V. Church, 5835 Kimbark Avenue, Chicago. 


WARNING 


The National Honor Society has met with such great suc- 
cess that imitations are springing up in different parts of the 
country. These pseudo honor societies seem to have largely a 
commercial objective, and plan to exploit scholarship for finan- 
cial ends. Members of our department are warned to beware 
of any plan to sell pins or emblems to pupils under the guise of 
scholarship, and are urged not to lend their aid or influence 
to such organizations. 


The Department of Secondary-School Principals recom- 
mends only the National Honor Society and the National Jun- 
ior Honor Society. 


PRICE LISTS 


(Direct orders for the following to H. V. CHURCH, 5835 Kimbark Avenue, Chicago.) 
FOURTH PRICE LIST OF NATIONAL HONOR EMBLEMS 
The prices of emblems were lowered during the summer of 1933, but the rising 
price of gold has made two subsequent increases necessary. Beware of unauthorized 
jewelers, their low prices, and their cheapened wares. The latest prices are below. 
ALL ORDERS SHOULD BE SENT ONLY TO THE NATIONAL HEADQUARTERS. 
SENIOR EMBLEMS 
a $3.63  & ee $2.78 
10K Charm. _------------ 3.00 . 9h “SEER 2.34 
Gold Filled Charm_.-.---- 1.60 Gold Filled Pin__..------- 1.00 
(Our jewelers say gold filled pins will wear twenty years.) 


ENGRAVING 
Engraved letters or numerals, each 5c additional. 


GUARDS 

(If guard has more than one letter, or more than two digits, add twenty-five cents 
for each additional character.) 
Guard (state letter or year) gold filled with chain.....-..------------------------ $1.00 
Guard (state letter or year) 10K with chain__-.~._- 1.25 
Guard (state letter or year) 14K with chain____.--- . 1.50 

Allow ten days’ time for letters or special numerals, twice the time in rush seasons. 

These are remittance-with-order prices, and are postpaid. Add ten cents an emblem 
to the above prices if C. O. D. handling is desired. The C. O. D. fee is 25¢ up to 
$10.00; 30c up to $50.00; and to this should be added the 25c messenger service, besides 
the money order fee. It is too expensive to order C. O. D. Do not deo it. 


ALL ORDERS SHOULD BE SENT ONLY TO THE NATIONAL HEAD- 
QUARTERS. 








SEALS AND MEMBERSHIP CARDS 


Membership Cards—Since the organization of the National Honor Society there has 
been a growing demand for membership cards in the organization. Cards of member- 
ship, both for members of the National Honor Society and for the members of the Na- 
tional Junior Honor Society are now on sale. The cards (2144”x2%”) are engrossed on 
a fine quality of cardboard, have the emblem of the Society embossed upon them, and 
require only the insertion of the name of the member. 


Been @& 





DEPARTMENT OF SECONDARY-SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 57 


The price of the cards is five cents apiece. 
Seale—The Seal (1%"x114"”) is a gilt embossed sticker to be affixed on the diplomas 
b ters. A replica of the emblem is embossed on the 


of 
The price of the seals is five cents apiece. 





NATIONAL HONOR MEMBERSHIP CERTIFICATES 
In response to repeated demands, the Department of Secondary-School Principals 
has prepared membership certificates (84x11) for members of the National Honor Soci- 
ety. These certificates are lithographed on artificial parchment with the die of a fac- 
simile of the emblem stamped in gold. They sell for fifteen cents apiece post-paid. 


ENGRAVED STATIONERY 


So many requests for National Honor stationery have come in that a supply is now 
on hand to meet the deman This writing material is designed for the use of members 
and sponsors of the chapters of the National Honor Society. The engraved letterheads 
with envelopes to match come in two sizes with prices as follows: 


48 engraved sheets, 7144x1014 | edie 
48 envelopes, 3%x714 
48 engraved folded note sheets, 6%x105, l 


48 envelopes, 3 9/16x5 9/16 


These prices are post-paid, Remittance should accompany order, and orders must be 
approved by principal or by sponsor. Samples are sent on request. 





PLAQUES 

A bronze wall plaque has been designed and manufactured. Schools that have chap- 
ters of the National Honor Society will now have the opportunity of having this plaque. 
It consists of a solid bronze casting mounted on a walnut back. The size is thirteen by 
sixteen inches and the weight is ten pounds. A chain is furnished. All lettering, as well 
as the name of the school chapter and the emblem, is ralsed and polished above the 
bronze background. 

The price is $30.00, which includes transportation and packing. 


THE NATIONAL JUNIOR HONOR SOCIETY 


The National Junior Honor Society is patterned very closely after the Senior Honor 
Society. The Junior Society is designed for ninth and tenth grades in ‘four year high 
schools, and for cighth, ninth, and tenth grades in junior high schools. This organiza- 
tion is now a going concern, and already there are a ber of chapters, both in senior 
high schools and junior high schools. The national constitution, the model constitution, 
and booklet of information as well as the application blank will be sent on request. 





EMBLEM, NATIONAL JUNIOR HONOR SOCIETY 
The emblem is made in two grades: ten karat gold and gold filled. All pins have 
safety catch. The prices are ag follows: 
10K Pin $1.60 Gold Filled Pin 
These are remittance-with-order prices, and are post-paid. Add ten cents an emblem 
to the above prices if C. O. D. handling is desired. Engraved letters 3c each additional ; 
guard with chain one dollar additional. If a guard is ordered, be sure to state whether 
a numeral, as '33 or '34, or an initial, is desired. (The C. O. D. fee is 25c up to $10.00; 
30e up to $50.00; and to this should be added 25c messenger service, besides the money 
order fee. It is too expensive to order C. O. D. Do not do it.) 





CERTIFICATES, NATIONAL JUNIOR HONOR SOCIETY 


These certificates (7x8%) are engraved on artificial parchment with a die of a fac- 
simile of the emblem embossed in gold. They sel] for ten cents apiece post-paid. Send 


remittance with order. 


SEALS 
The seals are in blue and gold, the colors of the Junior Society, and are priced at 
five cents. 


PLAQUES, NATIONAL JUNIOR HONOR SOCIETY 
A bronze wall plaque has been designed and manufactured. Schools that have chap- 
* ters of the Nationa! Junior Honor Society will now have the opportunity of agete this 
plaque. It consists of a solid bronze casting mounted on a walnut back. The size is 
thirteen by sixteen inches and the weight is ten pounds. A chain is furnished. All let- 
tering, as well as the name of the school chapter and the emblem, is raised and polished 
above the bronze background. 
The price is $30.00, which includes transportation and packing. 











ee 


58 NATIONAL HONOR SOCIETY 


POSTAL INSURANCE 


Purchasers should bear in mind that all our merchandise placed in the mails is 
covered by insurance. Please report loss or damage in carriage of any purchase. 
Every shipment carries the following notice: 


POSTAL INSURANCE 


This parcel is insured 


If the property contained in this package is damaged or any part of the contents 
lost, please report the extent of loss or damage at once to the Department together 
with the original wrapper of the parcel. 

This insurance covers all parcels shipped by the Department of Secondary-School 
Principals, whether mailed first class, registered, unregistered, or parcel post. 

Send all reports of loss with the original wrapper of the package to 


THE DEPARTMENT OF SECONDARY-SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 
5835 Kimbark Avenue, Chicago 





Again, beware of unauthorized jewelers, their low 
prices, and their cheapened wares. Send all orders to the 
National Headquarters, 5835 Kimbark Avenue, Chicago. 














at 








— 3 





Department Matters 


PORTLAND MEETING 


The Department of Secondary-School Principals will 
have two afternoon sessions at Portland, Oregon, on Tuesday 
and Wednesday, June 30 and July 1, 1936. 


The program of the sessions will be published in the 
May Bulletin. 


PUBLICATIONS OF THE DEPARTMENT OF SECONDARY-SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 
OF THE NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION 
(Direct all orders to H. V. CHURCH, 5835 Kimbark Avenue, Chicago) 

The publications of the Department are Bulletins 1-61 and were issued from 1917 to 
the present. These issues are sent post-paid on receipt of price. A price list, which con- 
tains a description of the contents of each Bulletin, will be sent on request. Dues-paying 
members may receive these publications at 50% off the list price. A descriptive list of 
recent issues is below: 

Bulletin No. 42, May, 1932. 

Fourth Handbook of the National Honor Society and National Junior Honor Society. 

= gives a history of the organization, rituals, and lists of chapters by states. iP? 
2 1.00 
Bulletin No. 43, December, 1932. 


Abstracts of Unpublished Masters’ Theses in the Field of Secondary-School Admin. 
istration. Peabody Teachers College. (pp. 127) 


Bulletin No. 44, January, 1933. 
Secondary-School Abstracts, and Directory.-.-.- $0.50 


Bulletin No. 45, March, 1934, Proceedings of the Minneapolis (1933) Meeting. 

Papers on Defense of American Secondary Schools, the State and Its High Schools 
(3), Curricul (4), y (4), Directed Learning, Library (2), New Standards, Re- 
gional Agencies, Masie Art, Industrial Arts, Guidance, Cooperative Studies, Six-Four- 
Four Plan, Tests, Carnegie Commission ; Junior High School: Curriculum, Learning Sit- 
uation; Junior College: Taxes, Public Relations, Administration, Instruction $2.00 


Bulletin No. 46, April, 1933. 
Meeting the Emergency in Ed 


Bulletin No. 47, May, 1933. 
Unpublished Masters’ Theses, Minnesota 


Bulletin No. 48, December, 1933. 
E ies in S dary-School Administration, and an Objective Method of Selecting 
Members of the National Honor Society... 


Bulletin No. 49, January, 1934. 


Chapter Projects of a National Honor Society Directory for the Department of Sec- 
ondary-School Principals $1. 


Bulletin No. 50, March, 1934, Proceedings of the Cleveland (1934) Meeting. 

Papers on the Technical High School (2), New Standards, Definitions of a Good 
High School (3), Standards Study Committee, Louisville Secondary Schools, English 
Course, Small High Schools, Guidance, Class Size, Attendance, Teaching Load, North 
Carolina Secondary Schools, Relation of School and College, Educational Imperatives, 
Pupil Welfare Needs, Economics, CCC Program, Social Studies, Aptitude Testing; Junior 
High School, Place of the Junior High "School, Social Significance of the Junior High 
School, Curriculum for the Junior High School ; Junior College, the Junior College 
Teacher, Problems of the Junior College (Out of print) 


Bulletin No. 51, April, 1934. 
Papers given at the Washington (July, 1984) Meeting. A Method of Electing Nem. 
bers of the National Honor Society 






































59 

















oP IB rn 

















ae 





60 DEPARTMENT MATTERS 


Bulletin No. 52, Mary 1934. 

Tercentenary Celebration Committee reports on: Purpose, Community Celebratior 
Programs, Publicity, Commencement Programs, Service Club Participation, and ‘Teseen. 
tenary Bibliography $0.3¢ 
Bulletin No. 53, December, 1934. 

President Roosevelt's Proclamation, Papers on the Academic Training of Secondary- 
School Principals, and Development of the High-School Curriculum; National Saunier 
Honor Society Ritual_.._.._ 40 
Bulletin No. 54, January, 1935. 

Tercentenary Celebration Contests; Some Honor Society Activities. Also a Di- 
CRU GT ie nde ctebblidendaincnntodcuntitghdniinltaienianiedl $1.00 
Bulletin No. 55, Proceedings of the Atlantic City (1935, Tercentenary) Meeting. 

Papers on First American Secondary School, Guiding Philosophies of Secondary Edu- 
cation (2), Three Hundred Years of Education for Girls, To-day’s Characteristics of Sec- 
ondary Education, Private Schools and S dary Education, Leisure and Secondary Edu- 
cation, Handicaps of Secondary Education, Finances, Curriculum (2), Methods, Teacher 
Training, and the School and Democracy. (180 pp.) $2.00 


Bulletin No. 56, April, 1935. 

Investigations in Applying and Extending the National Survey of Secondary Educa- 
tion: Horizontal Organization, Vertical Reorganization, Provisions for Individual Dffter- 
ences, Program of Studies, and Guidance and Extra-Curriculum Activities. (62 pp.) $0.50 


Bulletin No. 57, May, 1935. 
Forty Years a Schoolmaster, William A. Wetzel. A Nation-wide Printing Project. 
Results of the National Honor Society Referendum $0.50 


Bulletin No. 58, December, 1935. 

Paper on Present Day Trends in Secondary Education; Digests of Articles in 
Recent Magazines; Two methods in Choosing Members of the National Honor Society 
and Schemes for Rating Character, Leadership, and Service. Directory_........--- $1.00 
Bulletin No. 59, January, 1936. 

Report of the Committee on Orientation of Secondary Education, Thomas H. 
Is Fi discctettckmtindcdn sunebisetihindipedinmetiatiunaned (Add postage, 9c) $1.00 


Bulletin No. 60, March, 1936. 























Proceedings of the St. Louis Meeting......~. -$2.00 
Bulletin No. 61, April, 1936. 

Papers on the National Youth Problem_-_-.-.-- $0.50 
Bulletin No. 62, May, 1936. 

Abstracts of Recent Doctoral Theses on Secondary Education ~.....-.--------- $0.50 


CERTIFICATES OF RECOMMENDATION 


The Department of Secondary-School Principals has been distributing uniform cer- 
tificates of recommendation for over ten years. At first they were sent out free to the 
members of the Department, but the demand for the certificates became so great that 
the printing and mailing charges became a burden to the treasury. Therefore, a change 
was made. 

The blanks are used in transferring pupils from one secondary schoo] to another 
and particularly from high school to college. The certificates are sent post-paid at the 
following prices: 


NEW PRICE LIST 
Mailing from 




















Chicago 100 200 500 1000 
lst zone $1.60 $2.70 $6.10 $10.10 
2nd zone 1.60 2.70 6.15 10.15 
8rd zone .. — 1.65 2.75 6.25 10.25 
Gy GED. nascnscdswernesbnedemenuaee 1.65 2.75 6.45 10.50 
6th zone 1.70 2.85 6.55 10.65 
6th zone canada 1.70 2.90 6.65 10.90 
ff. eee ae 1.76 2.90 6.80 11.15 
GR GD. pccttscanenbenbensensneet 1.75 2.95 7.10 11.40 


Twenty per cent discount to dues-paying members. 
STANDARD HIGH-SCHOOL PERSONAL RECORD BLANKS 


The standard record forms which were approved by the Department of Secondary- 
School Principals at the meeting at Boston are now printed on cardboard suitable for 
vertical filing systems. This card, 5x8, is especially designed for small and medium 
size high schools. 

Space is provided on these blanks for scholarship records for five years. The extra 
year is included for pupils of four-year high schools who may desire to do graduate work. 





It is recommended that six-year junior-senior high sch use separate cards for the rec- 
ords of the junior and of the senior schools. 





DEPARTMENT OF SECONDARY-SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 61 





When the guidance information called for in the lower right hand corner seems to 
be of a changeable nature, as would often be true of such items as “Vocational Pref- 
erence” it is suggested that it be written in pencil so that it can be erased and changed 
when necessary. 

The schedule of prices, post-paid, follows: 


NEW PRICE LIST 
100 


~m 
3 
3 

re 


er aane” 
‘ 
' 


























hie © te i 
he a 0S i Oa 


Twenty per cent discount to dues-paying members. 


POSTAL INSURANCE 
Members should keep in mind that all our merchandise placed in the mails is cov- 
ered by postal insurance. Please be prompt in sending in notice of loss or damage in 
transit of any purchase. Every shipment contains the following: 


a a a 
* 


POSTAL INSURANCE 
This parcel is insured 


If the property contained in this package is damaged, or any part of the contents 
lost, please report the extent of loss or damage at once to the Department together 
with the original wrapper of the parcel. 

This insurance covers all parcels shipped by the Department of Secondary-School 
Principals, whether. mailed first class, registered, unregistered, or parcel post. 

Send all reports of loss with the original wrapper of the package to 

THE DEPARTMENT OF SECONDARY-SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 
5835 Kimbark Avenue, Chicago 


GROUP LIFE INSURANCE 
The Department offers to its members life insurance in its most inexpensive form. 
The salient features of the plan are: 

1. Low premium. 

2. No medical examination (with exceptions). 

8. Total and permanent disability benefits. If an insured member becomes totally 
and permanently disabled, his insurance will be paid in monthly installments. 

4. Conversion . When an insured member leaves the profession to enter 
another prof ie group, he may convert his group policy into 
any of the policies ) nH term insurance) customarily issued by the insurance 
company for the same amount at the current rates of the attained age. 
Age limit is sixty-five years. 
Individual policies. These show rights of insured, amount, and beneficiary. 
Current protection. There are no savings, accumulation, or paid-up features. 
Insurance is for one year at a time, and is renewable each year, at the option of 
the insured member. 
Amounts offered: $3,000 for all ages from 21 to 47 (nearest birthday) inclusive. 
$1,500 for all ages from 47 to 65 (nearest birthday) inclusive. 


AUTOMOBILE INSURANCE 
. The members of the Department who own motor cars may now procure complete, 
sound automobile insurance protection with efficient nation-wide service at annual sav- 
ings to our members. 
Send for application blank, to H. V. Church, 5835 Kimbark Avenue, Chicago. 
If you will fill the application blank and send it to the Executive Secretary, he will 
quote the special rate to members. When you receive this quotation, you can then de 
cide if you can save money by accepting this special rate. 


FIRE INSURANCE 
A new service, fire insurance, is now open with reduced rates to our members. If 
you are interested, send for a blank to the Executive Secretary, H. V. CHURCH, 5835 
Kimbark Avenue, Chicago. The secretary will be glad to give you quotations. 





a OTHER INSURANCE 
Perhaps the Department can effect you a saving in the following kinds of insurance: 
Accident, Earnings Replacement, Indemnity, Sickness, and any other type of coverage 
on insurance. 
Write for information on insurance to H. V. CHURCH, 5835 Kimbark Avenue, Chicago. 








% 
* 





fe STM che 0 


























62 DEPARTMENT MATTERS 


DEPARTMENT COMBINATION OFFERS 



































(All Subscription Rates Are for One Year) 
Junior-Senior High-School Clearing House. 3.00 
Membership in Department. 2.00 
COMBINATION OFFER 3.00 
The School Review 2.50 
Membership + “Department 2.00 
. COMBINATION OFFER 
If both new 3.00 
If either a renewal 3.25 
The Atlantic Monthly_____- 4.00 
Membership in Depart t 2.00 
COMBINATION OFFER 
If both new 3.00 
If either a renewal 4.25 
a ERNE Ta EN Ee I TE Be ee eS 2 
Membership in Department_____..-...---------------~-----~----~--------- 
COMBINATION OFFER 2.50 
The Béncation Digett..ncccccccccccscnccccccecececeneweconnnscecccocesessces 2.00 
Membership in Department_____.__------------------~-~--~----_~---------- 2.00 
COMBINATION OFFER 2.70 
Tie Tiere NE pecctccitcdtinewactdseentnntiemnstiiniiieeeaes 5.00 
Membership in Department 2.00 
COMBINATION OFFER 5.00 
ee a aT ee ne 3.00 
Membership in Depart t 2.00 
COMBINATION OFFER 3.50 
Survey Graphic ...- 3.00 
Membership in Depart t 2.00 
COMBINATION OFFER 3.00 
The School Activities Magazine -....-.---....----------------------------- ye 
Membership in Department -__.--_----.-------------~------------------ 
COMBINATION OFFER 2.50 


Write to the Executive Secretary if you desire a combination offer with some other 


periodical. 
H. V. CHURCH, Executive Secretary, 5885 Kimbark Avenue, Chicago. 


USE TYPEWRITER, OR PRINT; DO NOT WRITE 


APPLICATION BLANK 


DEPARTMENT OF SECONDARY-SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 
NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION 
5885 KIMBARK AVENUE, CHICAGO 


I enclose $2.00, for one year’s subscription for membership, whereby I shall be fur- 
nished with all the publications and granted all the privileges of the Department of 











Secondary-School Principals, to begin...........-------------- o Mbnwae 
(Month) 
Name --- ! 
(Family) (Given Name) 
Degrees = 
(Bachelor's, year) (Master’s, year) (Doctor’s, year) 
Position ..__-- ! ! ei a 
(First year here) (Title) (Name of institution) 





Address 
(To which mail should be sent) 
Make all checks payable to H. V. Church, 5835 Kimbark Ave., Chicago, III. 





DEPARTMENT OF SECONDARY-SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 63 


THE BOOK-OF-THE-QUARTER CLUB 
This is a new project undertaken by the Department of 
Secondary-School Principals in the hope that the secondary- 
school administrators will be stimulated to read the best pro- 
fessional books as they come from the press. 


This venture will not become a reality unless the neces- 
sary number subscribe to the plan. It is hoped that the 
project can be started in September of this year. 


The material used in promotion follows: 


THE BOOK-OF-THE-QUARTER CLUB 


of the 
Department of Secondary-School Principals 


To Secondary-School Men: 

Every schoolman must, if he hopes to be successful, keep 
abreast of the times. Many books in our field issue from 
the press each year. Of these you should read at least four 
every twelvemonth. A Reviewing Board composed of the 
leaders in our sector of education will select for you the best 
professional book of each quarter. This Board consists of: 


CHARLES H. Jupp, Chairman 
University of Chicago 


FRANCIS L. BACON, GRAYSON N. KEFAUVER 
Superintendent Stanford University 


Township High School LEONARD V. Koos 
Evanston, Illinois University of Chicago 


THOMAS H. BRIGGs, JOSEPH ROEMER 
Teachers College Peabody College for 


Columbia University Teachers 


Wise secondary-school men will read the books that these 
men select for 














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= wiih ‘ ee > — . - ae -: 
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mee TS ‘ . > inc histetee at SE ee tee te nlc dee : : 
ees aes Ca eee ee ee a. ee = iar : _ — : en 
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AS eS. 


RO - ors 





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DEPARTMENT MATTERS 


THE BOOK-OF-THE-QUARTER CLUB 
of the 
Department of Secondary-School Principals 


The books of the Club covering the year will be billed 
each quarter at 25% off to dues-paying members, 20% to 
others. An additional dividend, reckoned on the Rochdale 
plan, will be paid during the summer quarter to dues-paying 
members. 

Fill in blanks, check beginning date, tear off at dotted line, 
and mail to 


H. V. CHURCH 
Executive Secretary 


Department of Secondary-School Principals 
5835 Kimbark Avenue, Chicago. 


If you wish to be an up-to-date administrator of your 
school, join the Club by signing below. 


I agree to pay the Department, on receipt of each book, 
for four books a year, selected one book a quarter by the 


above Board, mailed to me postpaid: 


Begin 
STITT <cedeiislieisbisideleedenieteiepiialasemeteeiieiitlailiteaiiaiianiacaliaieasadinaieamina June 159 
Sept. 15 [1] 
| ESET Pee Ae TA ONE eT RE RT 
Dec 15 0 

















Se ’ | eed 





DEPARTMENT OF SECONDARY-SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 65 

















WARNING 


A number of high-school principals are inquiring + 
about data sheets sent out for a so-called Junior Who’s | 
Who of America. Before one participates in this venture, 
I suggest that he investigate this enterprise very care- 
fully. 














H. V. CHURCH, Executive Secretary. 



















A NEW COMBINATION OFFER 
To members of the Department of Secondary-School 
Principals. 

Consumers Union is an organization that has grown out 
of the strike difficulties of Consumers Research. Many of our 
members are familiar with service offered by the latter group; 
these will be glad that a favorable combination arrangement 
has been made with Consumers Union. Both Consumers Un- 
ion and Consumers Research have a price of three dollars for 
their best annual service. This three dollar service of Cun- 
sumers Union can now be offered to our members in renewal 
(or new) subscription to the Department as follows: 

Department membership, annual........................-- $2.00 
Consumers Union, annual service $3.00 
Both for $3.50. Send subscriptions to 
H. V. CHURCH, Executive Secretary 
5835 Kimbark Avenue, Chicago. 
































A aia tee ot te a 
- See . iis. SX BRIAR S Sipthees? ptreesh 
> aes ne ~ " fo Pur 












I hereby subscribe for full membership in the Depart- 
ment of Secondary-School Principals and to the complete 
service of Consumers Union, both for one year, for which I in- 
close my remittance of $3.50. 












TTS Ie Re rR eeeereetee 
= sarin imiane eg = 











ee 















ae meager eereeineeerrnreneeeernerteremrenseen 
. 























Book Notices 


Richardson, William L. World Writers. New York: Ginn & 
Company, 1936. Pp. 627. $2.00. 


This book embodies a wide selection of the masterpieces 
and outstanding examples of the literatures of all ages and 
countries, including the Orient, Greece, Rome, Italy, Spain, 
France, Germany, Russia, Scandinavia, England, Ireland, and 
America. 

The arrangement, which is by types and chronologically 
within the types except in a few cases, affords the opportunity 
to make comparison of the same kinds of literary expression, 
whether by ancient or modern writers or by one country or an- 
other. There is a general introduction to the literature of 
the world as a whole, and each type, in like manner, has a 
type introduction. The contrasts and parallels of method 
and content are the more forcefully implanted in the memory 
by reason of the discussion helps and suggestions for further 
reading which follow each section. 

Following the selections there is an outline of literature, 
which gives a critical study of world literature, country by 
country, and immediately following the outline of literature 
is the biographical dictionary and glossary which deals briefly 
with facts, dates, and comments and serves as a supplement 
to what is given in the body of the book. 

The book is equipped with footnotes, literary maps used 
as end papers, and many illustrations. The index gives the 
pronunciation of those names which are difficult to pronounce. 


Adler, Alfred. International Journal of Individual Psychol- 
ogy. Fourth Quarter, 1935. Chicago: International 
Publications, Inc., Publishers, 1935. Pp. 186. 

Twelve eminent scientists record their experiences in ap- 
plying successfully the theories and practices of Individual 

Psychology to problem cases involving many of the ills, per- 


66 





DEPARTMENT OF SECONDARY-SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 67 


plexities, and woes to which humankind is variously addicted. 
Herein we find Individual Psychology entering in as an aid to 
the medical specialist ; as an aid in the choice of a mate; in the 
prevention of neurosis; and in the problems of pupil charac- 
terization—to mention only a few of the vital subjects with 
which this issue of The Journal concerns itself. 


In the article “Problems of Pupil Characterization” 
(which, incidentally, includes a very complete characteriza- 
tion chart) there is expressed a philosophy, in the following 
quotation, which lends itself as readily in the correction of 
other human errors, somatic or psychic: “Nobody has to 
cling to the character which he has chosen in his earliest 
youth; anyone may change it. All deviations of character, 
every form of problem behavior, can be traced to a faulty at- 
titude toward life, acquired in the nursery. The Individual 
Psychological character interpretation brings to light that 
fundamental error; it is the task of education to correct it.” 


Re-education according to Individual Psychology takes 
a long time and requires a systematic plan. This is especially 


true in reference to the “basic tendency” or Individual Psy- 
chology, which is encouwragement—encouragement which in 
many ways has been too lightly regarded. 


A bibliographical list of literature and table of contents 
showing titles and contributors to Volume One, 1935, com- 
plete this edition. 


Mullen, Sarah McLean. How to Judge Motion Pictures. Pitts- 
burgh, Pennsylvania: Scholastic, revised edition, 1936. 
Pp. 64. 25 cents each, 30 or more, 15 cents. 


This booklet will be an invaluable aid to teachers in de- 
veloping in their students an understanding and appreciation 
of the social values and the literary and artistic merits of the 
motion pictures that they see. 


The author discusses the essentials of theme; story; dra- 
matic structure; characterization—acting, good and bad; 
speech, voice, diction; photography ; light; sound, and so forth 
in the various chapters. A score card is provided for rating 
pictures. 





























| 
/ 
/ 
| 
| 





68 Book NOTICES 





“How to Organize a Photoplay Club” and “How to Join 
Scholastic Division 4-Star Clubs” are chapters that will fur- 
nish the inspiration for activities that will win the support of 
students, teachers, parents, theater managers, and camera 
dealers. 


Whitney, Albert W. Man and the Motor Car. New York: 
National Bureau of Casualty and Surety Underwriters, 
1936. Pp. 256. $1.00. Ten or more, 45 cents. 


In this book are gathered tested lessons for training in 
automobile driving. Its keynote is a trained intelligence as 
an effective preventive of accidents. 


Clark, Frank Jones. Guidance Working Materials. Seattle, 
Washington: Mimeographed. Pp. 125. $1.00. 


In this manual are forty-six usable forms and cards, sev- 
eral outlines and many suggestions applicable to guidance 
work. Mail orders direct to Frank Jones Clark, Roosevelt 
High School, Seattle, Washington. 


POSTAL INSURANCE 


The bulletin is insured 

If the property contained in this package is damaged, or 
any part of the contents lost, please report the extent of loss 
or damage at once to the Department, together with the orig- 
inal wrapper of the parcel. 

This insurance covers all parcels shipped by the Depart- 
ment of Secondary-School Principals, whether mailed first 
class, registered, unregistered, or parcel post. 

Send all reports of loss with the original wrapper of the 
package to 


THE DEPARTMENT OF SECONDARY-SCHOOL 
PRINCIPALS 


5835 Kimbark Avenue, Chicago.