MODERN SCHOOLBOY

Hokitika Guardian, 17 December 1932, Page 6

MODERN SCHOOLBOY

DEFENCE BY A HEADMASTER. DAYS OF FLOGGINGS RECALLED. MELBOURNE, December 13. After 37 years at Caulfield Grammar School, Mr W. M. Bamtine, the principal, is about to retire. In his long term as an educationist he hag seen many changes. He remembers, in his own buyhood, the time when boy,s were thrashed because they could not assimilate the Greek and Latin with which they were crammed by mantel's of the old type, and he compares it with the present dav, when liberty of action is allowed and school has come to ;be something to be loyed instead of hated. With 'it all he has no fears about the

modern boy who, be thinks, life more seriously than did the boys of 30 years or so ago. “The change in educational methods in my time has been remarkable,-’ he said the other day. “Think of the modification of the old-

time .severity of discipline! Buys are never treated now in the manner in which I saw them treated when I was a hoy. They are' given more liberty than ever I was. I’he boys are trusted and very largely they are even allowed to ivork by themselves. OLD HATRED GONE.

“You will find to-day that boys appreciate and love their schools. Jn the old days, they were often repellent places. Boys often feared and hated them. Another great change has come with the beautifying of buildings and the general endeavour to make them more attractive. A boy noiv loves his .school ,7 or other reasons than the

fact that ho acquire* knowledge there. I “Now, too, the hoy and not the master is in prominence. In the old days the master dominated the class. To-dav lm docs not. The old domination ha* I gone. The master is one of the hoys who w'orkjj with them. He ig a. director of operations to whom they can appeal fo r assistance. That is a very great difference. Tt means that bovs have a certain amount of responsibility for their concerns. To-day boys are enabled to cqui-ro ('duration instead of being mere receptacles for bundles of facts. .Schools are places of experiment as thev never wore before. THRASHINGS THE MODE. “When I wa« at. school we had Latin and Greek, and. if w© could not re-

member it, v,e were thrashed. We went home in terror oT" the nest day s troubles. To-day scientific .investigation has taught u.s to encourage bovs to acquire things 'for themselves. lor instance, the boy s keep their own rainfall records ‘and follow the weather charts. They go out into the countrj and make their investigations lOr them-

selves. “Conditions have changed extraordinarily since tffi> lime 1 was a youth. Temptations from tlie material side are tremendously strong—there is far more . responsibility in Die. ft is a more j serious business. But I think that the j modern boy stands up to it well. I. . am perfectly certain that the average I boy i s to be trusted to seek advice of ( more experienced eiders, and to seek to meet the difficulties of the times in which we live. 1 do not believe that the boy to-day is becoming shallow or frivolous. On the contrary, he is a more serious pen-on.’’