CADET CAMPS.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXIX, Issue 42, 18 February 1908, Page 4

CADET CAMPS.

We have the very warmest sympathy for the cadet movement in connection with our .schools. We believe it has proved beneficial to the boys physically arid from a disciplinary standpoint, and that it . contributes to the cultivation of that spirit of patriotism -which every son of the Empire should feel. It is, therefore, in no captious mood tliat we join with the griat majority of tccchers who have had practical experience in the management of boys in entering a strong protest against the system of cadet camps, upon which Colonel Loveday seems to have set his heart. Apart from the disturbance to the regular course of instruction in the schools, which is already interfered with too much by extraneous work of doubtful value, th , ; herding together of boys and their absence from parental control at night, is most inadvieable, .and will, we fear, do very much to destroy the good moral effects which the regular military training of boys, under proper conditions, may achieve. It ja really an astonishing thing that in a matter of such supreme moment, as affecting the welfare of the rising generation, the educational guardians of the boys are not consulted. With all. due respect to military enthusiasts, who pro- ' bably see in this -extra week's holiday and Bummer camp a means of popularising the cadet mo.vement, we do not attach any-great value to their opinion qn the question <of the moral training of the young. We have the assurance of responsible visitors to ,cadet camps that they have heard there, during the day, language used by boys that many of the parents would have been horrified to hear. .And-no one who has been brought into.contact with large numbers of boys closely associated together, who does not know how very difficult it is to prevent or control the evil influences which may be set in motion by ill-conditioned lads. Even in juvenile library and reading rooms and places set apart for indoor recreation, where it might be supposed only the quieter boys would be found, strict supervision and discipline are always requisite :to -prevent disorder.: Now, this 4s practically impossible in a. volunteer camp at night, and headmasters and MBWtanta who, m volan-

j teer officers, :take s in theit corps, I- have expressed intense dissatisfaction at having thrust upibhthem the grave responsibility <Jf preserving order under such conditions. ■ ■ We are" surprised that the Board !of Education has not exercised whatever authority it possesses "in preventing the interruption of school wdfk for this purpose. Of .course, if parents choose to allow their boys during the long sumrrier holiday to take part in such gatherings, the responsibility must rest upon themselves. We presume that" those who care for fclie welfare and right up-bring-ing of their children will take measures to satisfy themselves that when boys pass beyond parental control, they are not likely to come to any harm. This is entirely a matter for parental discretion. But when the.Government make these camps a special department of juvenile training, by setting apart a ! week which should be devoted to the ordinary school work, parents may be excused if their ordinary vigilance is relaxed in the belief that the Department of Education has fully considered and provided for all contingencies. No doubt the camps will be popular enough with boys, and may stimulate interest in the cadet movement; on the other hand, the best friends of volunteering will.feel that any temporary gain in the strength oi the various corps, and any access of enthusiasm in connection with the movement, would be dearly purchased if it resulted in deterioration of -the high moral tone which now pervades our schools, or in the permanent alienation of tne sympathies of people who are now thoroughly oo the side of school cadete.