Keuka College - Kiondaga Yearbook (Keuka Park, NY)

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THE COLLEGE RECORD. 27 desirable students, the danger from them is less because their relations with the other students are less close. Public school principals often remark that it is their poorest students who leave them to go to private schools. There is in the minds of many, also, an idea that all private schools are, in a sense, either reformatories or schools for children who are backward, or lacking in some respects. There are many schools of these kinds, but they are gener- ally schools which advertise to do just this work, and can hardly be considered in this discussion, except as a special case. It is true, however, that some work of the kind indi- cated is put upon all private schools, whether by their con- sent or not. Many schools require the fullest recommenda- tions for a student before admitting him, but others are not independent enough in the matter of attendance to do this. Even when good credentials are demanded students will slip in who are no help to the school, but all honest schools will dismiss these as soon as they are detected. The boy who is backward, or who is dull even, presents a different case. The dull boy often goes to the private scool, and often he responds to the ordinary methods in such a way that he is saved educationally. He stands in a better position to get help in the average private school than he would in the average public school, for few private schools are so large that they cannot give plenty of individual at- tention. The close relation between teacher and student before referred to leads to a keener interest on the part of the teacher ; in a sense every pupil that enters a private school is looked upon as a case to be studied and treated if it presents any unusual difficulties. The fact that the pri- vate school is called on to save many students who have been considered dull, whether it wishes this work or not, would seem to indicate that it has a somewhat higher capacity than the public school, at least in cases of peculiar necessity. Somewhat allied to the class just referred to are those who are not, perhaps, dull, but who have had little early opportunity for study, and are backward for their ages. These pupils often turn to the private schools, feeling that

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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-

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28 THE COLLEGE RECORD. their backwardness will not be so noticeable there as it would be in a public school. Probably the greater freedom from arbitrary grades is also an inducement. In a majority of cases such students are desirable ones. They are apt to be studious, and often prove to have great ability. They are more serious, and think more clearly on questions of school discipline and administration. Thus they often come to be a positive source of strength in the school, as their influence is usually on the side of good order, and their sense of responsibility makes them willing to be of use. The influence of some such students would seem to be necessary in private schools to overcome a certain tendency to snobbishness which often exists. This fault is apt to crop out, especially in private schools which draw from the well-to-do classes exclusively, and it strengthens a class feeling which is generally felt to be undesirable. Probably it results, in some measure, from the school's being so much set aside by itself. The whole life is a unit, and tends to absorb the attention of its component parts. Where the students are uniformly from one rank in life this fact would be the foundation for the feeling, and the school would probably at least fail to destroy it, if it did not strengthen it. Certain schools which are largely attended by students of limited means are almost entirely free from this fault. An attempt was made before writing this article to secure some data that would make possible a comparison between the standards for teachers in the two classes of schools. Not enough information was secured, however, to admit the drawing of definite conclusions. Some tendencies are shown. Nine out of eleven private schools chosen at ran- dom from tlu.se of established reputation required all tea hers to have had a college education, one allowed nor- ui.il training, and one reported no special requirement. Of eight public schools chosen in the same manner, four required the college education, two the normal diploma, one ate teachers' certificate, and one generally required a college education. This proportion of college teachers is higher than the proportion for the whole State.