Dedham High School - Reflections Yearbook (Dedham, MA)

Page 28 text:

IIDHAMILS. tional IlI'Ullll'lllS, probleins of ccononiics Zllltl finance, problc111s of c1'i111c fllltl law t?lli.Ul'l't'lllCI1l, of national politics, Zlllfl of international relations. 'lllicse are sonic of the fiery lllll'tll0S that lie before us i11 our course. We can 111-ver Nllflllfllllll thein successfully unless religion and morality are first sti-o11g'tl11-111-il. lflacli 1112111 11111st choose l1is ow11 faith and follow it, but whatever that faith lllily bc, to benefit hiniself and others, it Sllflllitl include love of truth, honor. and loyalty. llis religion does 11ot l1ave to be of a certain creed, nor docs it iieccssarily niean the observation of set forins, but it does 11192111 having and upholding ideals, believing i11 tl1e possible i1np1'oven1ent of mankind, and striving toward a distant goal. When our gi-nei-ation hears the word Ul1l01'2ilS'7, we are inclined to feel antagoiiistic, for have we 11ot been accused, time and again Cunjustly, I believej. ol' having none, or none worthy of tl1e iianie? Morals. so-called. for the present day may ditfcr from those of the past, but standards of conduct we must have, lllgfllvl' and better ones than those whose failure we l1ave see11 about us, if we are to stand successfully against the degenerating influences of present day society. A C'O1lHiEllli leveling process i11 till' field of 1HOI'E1lS has been going on against which we 1llllSl iight. lVe lllllSt niake possible tl1e realization of tl1e lHllt'l't,'lll dignity in lllllllillllilllfl which Shakespeare saw three centuries ago: Hxvilill a piece of work is lllillli llow noble i11 reason, how infinite in faculties, in action, how like an angel, i11 apprehension, how like a god l VVe must take a firin stand against the t'1lCl'0ZlClll111'lll of superticiality, cheapness, and vul- garity. Our standards for lllllllflll living 1l1llSl include tl1e best criteria of speech, ot' nianners, of social behavior, Zllltl of family life. lVe niust inake lillNll1PSS 111etl1ods fair Zllltl honest. Politics inust be changed from a dirty ganie to tl1e disinterested service of our country. Partizan and sectional legislation, incompetent officials, dishonest elections, graft-all must he vigorously fought. lVe must learn to conduct i11ter11atio11al relations with the saine scrupulous honor we would use among personal friends. Ultimately, any iniprovenient i11 these broad fields 1l1llNl spring from tl1e character of the indi- viduals wl1o compose tl1e llillllilll. As no cl1ai11 is stronger than its weakest link, so it is scarcely a11 exaggeration to say that no nation can rise higher than its lowest 1-1-1111111f11, certainly, it C2111 never transcend tl1e average quality of all its citizens. Do 11ot put any very great reliance on tl1e influence of our best fellow- 111011. No inatter l1ow perfectly one horse may jump, another in tl1e same group, if lie is 11102111 Eillll obstinate, 111ay jump no better, Every single one of us must sl1ow refineinent of feeling, consideration for others, Hllil reliability of character, if society is to he improved, and this C5111 never be brought about by law, but by personal conviction Zilltl effort. You cannot make people pure of heart, to say nothing of nierely law-abiding. by legislation. Another of tl1e fields of challenge is education. lVe who l1ave profited from tl1e present syste111 should be the 111ore able to improve it further. Each genera- tion should atte111pt to better the record of its predecessors. Public education should perforin three functions. lt should prepare tl1e individual to obtain a life work, to get along with l1is fellow-men. a11d to spend his leisure time profit- ably. The ed11catio11 of today produces these results to a partial degree, but it has yet to realize complete success. Too 111any of our youth are sent out of school ill-prepared for a definite occupation, unable to co-operate with their fellow-citizens, lacking self-control and responsibility. Their manners are of the poorest, a11d social skill entirely wanting. Thousands of' them Waste their unoccupied i1l111Q in attending tl1e cheapest movies and dashing futilely about the country. The spending of leisure is of especial interest today because there are very definite pitfalls that arise from tl1e business paralysis, such as the enforced idleness of young Hllfl old, especially serious in the case of those who l1ave never justified their existence by service to tl1e World. It is sadly true that tl1e old proverb, Satan finds some mischief yet for idle hands to do l932 ' 26 T

Page 27 text:

YEARBUUK - Honor Essay lll7lIDIll'lS Far, fill' llOVVll the track, il speck IIIUYUS l'aster allld faster, till it lJf't'Ullll'S El black horse, talil Elllll 11121110 Sll'i'2ll1llllg, galloping lllilllly towalrds El lllll'fllC witll bars of fire. Rising with perfect gralee, he soalrs cleanly over the iililllllllfl' barrier Hllfl leisurely trots tl0Wl1 the course. Without any alpparellt li4'2ll', the horse haul jumped, lllll what long years oi' arduous training haul laid the iiflllllililliflll for that leap. During his D1'Cp2ll'?lil0l1, l1llll1lH I'lt'SN illll4'H he hald kicked Zlllfl ballked at any attempt to force llilll to jlllllll. At last the day Villlli' XVlll'll he not only obeyed, but gloried ill the sense of power. 'l'hen had 001110 the Sllpl'f'I1lP test of his skill ill clearing hurdles-to pass over tire. llut his previous l1'2lllllllgI ren- dered tllis obstacle Slll'lll0lll1f2llll1', tlllil witll a 13l'0llll spirit, he now l'lC'?ll'PCl the fiery bars. S0 have we, il1l'0lllQ'll the years that lie behind us, been Slllllllillllljl' to El Course of training to llltllll the respollsibilities of lite. ln the beginning, our llll1'f,llQS were so low we did not recognize tllelll as such. The first difficulty was speech, the necessity to express Olll' thoughts Elllfl desires. lVe learned uncon- sciously, as we heard the salllle words repealted over Zlllfl over again. Then, also, we had to master the intricacies of strings and buttons. How often, ill those early days, we lJCCHlllt' wilful Elllil angry, refusing to C0114lll6'I' those exasperating shoe strings. These childhood troubles had been overconle NVllQ1l we entered Q,'1'2llIllll?ll' school. A different phase of lite wals O13Oll6Cl to ns. lVe had to learn to adjust ourselves to strange Slll'1'Oll11Lllll2'N, new people, Zllltl lllillly rules. We discovered that our fl'6QClO1ll was Clll'l2lllCLl by a Tllillllltlll course which we had to follow. F1'f5ll1 enjoying a position of great l5l'OllllllQlN'P ill Olll' own ll01llCS, perhaps even that of 'Heyllosllre of llQif2,'lll701'lllQ' eyes, we found ourselves llllllfl'l0f.l witll dozens of our equals. Gradually, we lJPCZl1l1P adapted Zlllfl started to lQ2ll'Il to read alld write, to join XYllll otllers ill QZIIIIGS. XVe were lltllllff prepared for Junior High, so tllat lllill' 1ll0l'l' fUllllillUllS leap. though perceptible, was easy to take. Tllere were new lG?lCll0l'S, new subjects, Elllll the lllOVlllg' i3l'0I11 one P00111 to allotller. For two years we practiced these 1l101'Q advanced activities. But XVllCl1 we reached High School, we were C0llfl'0llll3Cl by a lllllCll higher hurdle. There we found that QYPII the traffic was Pllltlfl. Terrible llligllt be Hlll' Qll1lJ?l.1'l'ElSS11161ll lVl1Gll two oliicers stood before us, and we did not know whether to circle tllelll or pass between. There, too, we discovered that we had i.'Ql'l'2llll periods Dl3l'11lCf,l for study, but possible to use als we pleased. lt was up to us whether we profited by tllelll or wasted theln. Gradually, we learned how to illSil'ilDlllP our OXVII tillle wisely. Moreover, our studies llPC2llllP harder. Vie all had our lVaterloos. One llllgflli he algebra. Zllltlllltnl' orall topics, allotllel' history. Yet we were gentled along Illlfll we had l02ll'llCCl to lllalster wllat had SPClll0f.l hard and unattractive to us. ln additioll to tllese things, we ll0CHl1lf? all organ- ized elass. VVe were faced witll the necessity of elloosillg according to ability and welfare of the group, not by illdividllal prejudice or personal Favor. XVe learned good sportsmanship alld eo-operation lVllGll we lV91ll' out for the various teams. ,lVe knew lVllHlI it was Hto llleet with trilllllpll alld disaster, Hlltl ll'f'2l'E tllose two ilnposters just the SHlIlG.H Now, some of us will go to college to gaill further preparation for the problems of life and the world, but the majority of us face tllelll ilnnlediately. Before us lie great responsibilities. 'We are livillg in a dark and disillusioned age. There are a thousand more problems in the world of today than ill that of yesterday. Civilization was struck a staggering blow by the VVorld VVar, Zlllfl it is still tottering on the brink of destruction. Tllere are big social alld QLlllC?l- l952 25

Page 29 text:

YEARBUUK applies equally to those idle both hy inclination and hy l'oi-ee ol' eii'cumstaru-1-s. Therefore, particularly pertinent to the thousands ot' young' people grzuluatiug from schools all over the country is the question: NVhat shall we do with our uuavoidable leisure? Their training in school should have stimulated to a greater degree interest in science and the arts which could continue their devel- opment in the guise ot recreation. lt is up to us to plan to perfect the peda- gogical system to provide for these three basic needs. To do this, we should realize the uselessness of an accumulation ot tacts when there is no ability to interpret them, the futility of technical skills when there is no capability l'or judgment and reflection. There should be a wide range ot courses and methods adapted to pupils of varied interests and widely differing' capabilities. Through- out the system should be emphasized the development of character and person- ality. Fully to accomplish these aims, it may be necessary to provide public schools for the college age. Teachers should be trained intensively in psychology, so that no genius or talent will go undiscovered, and, on the other hand, no one, no matter how poorly endowed. he unable to find a place in the world or to contribute something to it. Never, in the course of their training, should the physical welfare ot our young citizens be neglected. Each should be taught to carry himself well, to eat sensibly, and to rest sufficiently to offset the strain of modern lite. The nervous breakdown, the mental derangement of an over-ambitious student should become an unknown thing in schools and colleges. The reverse should be equally true. The far more frequent lazy and indiiterent pupil should be aroused to intellectual curiosity and activity, to industry and alertness. The field of our generation 's responsibilities is limitless. I have touched merely the surface of a few of them. Assuming' sufticient knowledge and jiulg- ment to do so, I realize that it would be an impossible task for me to discuss, even to mention, all our national and international problems. I know that not by our generation, nor even by the next, nor the next, will society he made perfect. Each age can only do its best to bring about some degree of improve- ment. High and threatening, our problems loom before us, but we must not shy away like poorly trained horses. Already, we have had practice in clearing easy hurdles, and as we approach the greatest difficulties of our time, every iota of our previous training can and should be utilized to the utmost. But it will be entirely up to us individually, whether we approach the barriers with enthu- siasm and determination to make the best possible record, or whether we turn back and try to sidle around them. Shall we allow a black horse to surpass us, or shall We clear our fiery bars '? Anna-Betty Clark. i932 W