Jefferson Township High School - Criterion Yearbook (New Paris, OH)

Page 115 text:

LEARN FIRST, THEN LIVE The earth is amodern laboratory and all life is a continuous experiment. The greater the nurnber of experiments, the greater the fund of knowledge. The old adage live and learn will always be necessarylto increase the story of knowledge. This method of learning is very costly in tirne, money, and sufferage. For example, the government, home life and social life have made great steps in progress but at the enormous cost of thousands of years of suffering and strife through countless generations. Due to this expense, society has devised a more mo- dern and economical method, namely, Learn then Live . V By this method one person may pass through the experiences of innumerable generations and profit by their successes and failures. The general approval of this method by civilized peoples has led to the establishment of our Public School Sys- tems . We accept the findings of others in Science and Discovery but in the field of social life we seem to think that our own experiences are the only ones that can be relied upon. The overcrowded conditions of penal institutions are mute testimonies of the fallacy of this method. Had these people accepted the finding of others relat- ing to social life, perhaps they would be free. I do not mean' to say that there should be no experirnentation in society under laboratory conditions, but wholesale experimentation on the part of every individual does not make for progress but chaos and destruction. It is because of the realization of these facts on the part of our educators that they have incorporated in our courses of study, in addition to the customary academic studies, courses in sociology and social hygiene. They are thus making it possible for our younger generations to follow the newer and more economical principle of learning then living. By following this method our future citizens will be a much more efficient and capable class because of increased energy and capacity developed through this mode of living. I therefore appeal to all younger generations to discard the old andextravagant plan of live and learn , With the will of God Almighty and His love and guidance adopt the newer and better method, Learn First, Then Live . Luther W . Lauve r Principal 13