Keuka College - Kiondaga Yearbook (Keuka Park, NY)

Page 27 text:

THE COLLEGE RECORD. 25 of the men who have the school in charge ; between them and the accomplishment of these ideals lie the obstacles that intervene between the inception and the execution of any great project dealing with the reformation or moulding of human character. Yet if the school is in charge of an earnest Christian, if the test of real Christian character is applied to candidates for position on the teaching force, if a sincere effort is con- stantly made to present true religion as acceptable and de- sirable through its fruits, there can hardly fail to result to students passing through the school a benefit none the less real because somewhat difficult of measure. And schools where these conditions exist are by no means rare. Here, then, seems to be one point of comparison which is real and definite. The difference in point of religious influence, moreover, is but one of the elements of a general atmosphere which constitutes one of the rather indefinable differences between the two institutions. The life of the private school being such that the stu- dents and instructors are in almost constant contact outside the class rooms, and that of the public school being such that there is practically no such contact, there would nat- urally be much closer relations between students and teach- ers in the private schools. Of course there are many splen- did friendships between students and teachers in public schools ; in fact these are the rule and not the exception, but in the private isntitution it would seem that the condi- tions are more favorable to such relationships because of the closer life. Teachers being equally good, they should find in the private school, where they see much more of their pupils, greater opportunity for exerting that peculiar influ- ence which is so difficult to define and so invaluable in a teacher. It is objected that the constant supervision by the teach- ers and the greater number of cases of petty discipline which naturally arise in the private school tend to create friction which offsets this apparent advantage ; that the constant presence of the teacher has a tendency to weaken

Page 26 text:

24 THE COLLEGE RECORD. of none, and must ne glect all lest it should wrong some. An additional reason is that the pupil of the public school is under the influence of the family's choice when at home, and consequently needs no instruction of this kind while at school. The position of the private school is in direct opposition to this. It has set itself in the place of the home, and thus must assume some of the responsibilities of a parent in re- gard to religious teaching. The fact that its principles are known to its prospective patrons, and that attendance is purely voluntary, leaves it free to exert such religious influ- ence as it will publicly profess. In most schools, even those founded and maintained by religious organizations, this public profession extends no farther than to the fundamen- tal principles of Christianity, and few schools exceed their professions in this respect ; they are more apt to fall short of them. Generally it may be said that the quality of the religious influence in a private school controlled by any given denomination would seldom be unsatisfactory to those reared under the teaching of an entirely different society. It would hardly be disputed that it is well for the influ- ences of religion to synchronize with the other moulding influences which play upon the youth during his period of greatest mental and moral development. It may, however, be questioned whether the religious influence of the good private school is as good as that of the average home. In school there is constantly unfolding a new life which has little connection with the life of the home, but it is in the nature of a school to present new ideas, and to clothe old ones with deeper significance. For this reason old truths often come home to the boy or girl with new force, largely because they reach him in an atmosphere which insensibly begets a spirit of receptiveness. Private schools do not, however, always reach the plane i excellence which the foregoing assumes! The statements found in a school's publications do not always accurately indicate its religious life, and this is not necessarily due to any desire Or intent tO deceive. The published statements On this head must generally be taken tO indicate the ideals

Page 28 text:

26 THE COLLEGE RECORD. his influence. This is, however, really a case of personality and of individual schools, and not inherent in either class. Discipline is not necessarily a cause for serious friction in either system, and may become in either a source of posi- tive advantage in its reaction on personal influence. Theoretically, then, the private school has in this an ad- vantage, and if it does not make use of it the fault must lie in wasted opportunity. This happens, of course, and there is little doubt that inferior or positively bad character in a teacher can do more damage in a private school than in a public school. Another point of difference in the life of the two schools is a result of the personnel of the student bodies. The pub- lic school is made up of the boys and girls of the pupil's own home town or city, and the general conditions under which he finds himself will not differ socially from those to which he has been accustomed. On the other hand the student body of the private school is made up of pupils from widely separated localities, and represents new social conditions. In this lies opportunity and danger. The opportunity lies in the facilities for learning to meet strangers and to make acquaintances, to learn self-reliance, to acquire certain manly ways; the danger lies in meet- ing the wrong kind of strangers, in meeting them in im- proper ways, and in learning undesirable things. Some of the things which ''manly ways is often supposed to include are not to be coveted for either boys or men. It is impossi- ble to prevent an occasional undesirable boy from entering hool, and sometimes it is a long time before it is realized that he is a source of danger. The same condition which means so much for good under the best circumstances, namely, (loser life, means equally great danger when pupils whose influence is bad are retained in the school. The only offset to this danger is the larger liberty which a private chool has in dismissing pupils who are thought to be a detriment. And again in some private schools the tempta- tion is great to keep a boy known to be questionable be- e his dismissal would entail some financial loss. In pubH 54 hools where there is less freedom in dismissing nil-