Shawnigan Lake School - Yearbook (Shawnigan Lake, British Columbia Canada)

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across the land we need to begin physical fitness programmes designed to extend our youth, to toughen them up physically, and to develop courage and endur- ance. In such a programme sports like rugby, rowing and cross country would play an important part. So much for physical toughness. In the classroom they must be taught the value of intellectual striving and the meaning of intellectual courage. Any good schoolmaster knows only too well that one of the most grievous sins into which he may run in the classroom is to resolve too quickly and too easily his pupils ' difficulties. He may do so from the most generous motive, but it is, in reality, a disservice that he does his charges. There is no substitute for effort on the part of the learner, just as there are few satisfactions comparable with the kn owledge of difficulties overcome, and work well done. Emotional robustness is a slow growth in a small boy. For him it is no easy transition from the privileged consideration of the home to the equality of boarding school life; from being the focus of attention to becoming one of the many. Yet it is essential that he learn to accept the even-handedness of justice and the irony of life — even its injustices, its disappointments and its frustrations — with equanimity. I can think of few qualities more precious that we can inculcate in the young than the keeping of an even mind in dif- ficulties. Contact with nature will help — a contemplation of the everlasting hills, a watching of the timeless river, a communion with the silent stars. Contact with his fellows in the interplay and friction of everyday life will help. The schoolmaster must also help by sympathetically putting into proper perspective those (rises which understandably loom too large on a youthful horizon. Moral robustness needs perhaps more cultivation today than ever before. Most of us must be aware of a sorry falling-off of standards on this continent. Jt is easy to explain but wrong to condone. It is possible that two world wars have shaken our faith in a divinely ordered progress; economic factors have tended to break up the home in which vital early moral training was best given and most naturally received; the welfare state has emphasized benefits to be received rather than responsibilities to be met. There is no easy way to combat this weakening of the moral fibre or to create anew a moral toughness and integrity in the young. We can appeal to tradition; we can insist upon discipline in the things that matter — personal cleanliness, or standing still and erect for the National Anthem, or reverent silence at morning prayers. In fact we can demand outward respect — but the reality must be rooted in deep personal conviction, in self respect, and in regard for whatsoever things are true, honest, just, pure, lovely and of good report. As long as our independent schools try to foster this four-fold robustness — physical, intellectual, emotional and moral — so long will they justify their continuing existence in a country which, in reaching out towards equality, puts a premium on mediocrity. In conclusion, as it will be my last opportunity, I would just say a few short things to those boys who are now leaving Shawnigan. I imagine that you are anxious to be successful in the lives which lie ahead of you; but what exactly is success? In this materialistic world being famous is one criterion of success and being rich is another. But I wonder if you realize how many people who are famous, or rich, or both, are most un- happy inside themselves. That is, a person who looks like a success from the outside may be a complete failure when seen from the inside. 77

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In the Headmaster ' s Study. how many rules of behaviour can I break, how much easy money can 1 make, how little honest hard work can I do? Is not a thorough overhaul ol our Canadian schools required which will involve more challenge and more disci- pline to the extent that our young might learn something of their obligations, that they might learn to respect hard work and that they might develop those important qualities ol perseverance and sell discipline? Now, in this important development I think the independent schools have a vital role to play. While we are, of course, still tailing short, let me indicate what we are trying to do. My, premise is that it is part ol the duty oi our schools to prepare the boy lor the stresses of life; to give him a robustness — though maybe 1 should label it toughness or resiliency — which will stand him in good stead in adult life. He must acquire physical, intellectual, emotional and moral toughness, for it needs all four to make him into a whole man. The games field with its challenge to face physical hurt, and the long road with its challenge to endure, are the natural places in which he may develop physical toughness Why do you think it is that Americans and Canadians rarely produce long distance runners in the Olympic Games? Why do Americans and Canadians only excel at short races which require explosive energy — like the 100m., the High Jump, the Shot Put — and rarely at long races — like the Mile, the 5000m, the Marathon — which require courage and endurance. One of the reasons is because, in comparison with England and the European countries, we have many more material advantages and consequently lead much softer lives. Ease and comfort do not develop character. Thus, in the schools right 70

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In fact, I believe that one of the most important ingredients of success — and the one least heard about — is the sense of inner well-being. With it, no matter how modest your achievements in this life, you are a success. That inner well-being comes from a refusal to compromise the standards of behaviour you have set yourself when you are young and full of ideals. It reveals itself in a disposition to love your fellow men, spon- taneously to give the other fellow the benefit of the doubt, to participate enthusiastically in wholesome activities, to respect your body and that precious product called character. Some people manage to become famous or wealthy or both without losing anything of that inner wholeness of spirit. They are the big success; but they are very, very few and they will become increasingly rare as the climate of success becomes more and more hostile to integrity. For every Albert Einstein there are a thousand Lana Turners and James Hoffas. However, to be a small success should be quite enough for us. We cannot affect the measure of luck life grants us, or the amount of talent we are born with, or the quantity of wealth which may come our way. But the amount of our integrity is ours to treasure, never to mortgage to buy either gold or glory. All of which is just a long way of saying what the Bible puts succintly: What is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul? A Special Group Tutorial. 12