SIMPLE LIFE FOR SCHOOLBOYS

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2691, 10 February 1916, Page 3

SIMPLE LIFE FOR SCHOOLBOYS

HEADMASTER'S CRUSADE. The simple life for schoolboys was one of the war-time subjects before the annual general meeting of the Incorporated Association of Headmasters in London recently. It arose from a group of five resolutions on war economies in education, standing in the name of Sir John M'Clure, headmaster of Mill Hill. Unanimously and without discussion it ivas resolved:

' "That this association do consider the. best means of reducing the expense of school life, and that all its members pledge themselves to seize this opportunity of making simplicity of living a marked feature of English public schools."

One of the headmasters, interviewed by the "Daily Mail" afterwards, said: "If the public schools represented the aristocracy of character and ability in England, the matter would be simple; but' the chief factor . is whether the parents can afford the fees. The result is competition in the standard of living, in dress, and luxuries generally in the schools. This promotes vulgarity. Boys' minds are set on the rewards of wealth rather than of the forms of culture for which they are sent to school. You cannot train character amid excessive comfort. We want more of the real Spartan spirit in our classrooms. Speaking of economy for its own sake, there is plenty of room for reform. The raising of fees by expensive extras, the excessive amounts spent on sport, tho heavy outlays on stationery and books and on food, suggest some directions where great economies could be made."