Moral Condition of Public School Children
THE New York Christian Union has a commendatory article upon the labors of a visiting committee of women in Massachusetts who are traveling through the State and investigating the moral condition of the public school children. "The result of their inquiries thus far," it says, "has been such as must occasion serious anxiety to every thinking parent; indeed, to any one interested in the future welfare of the State. Teachers almost universally complain of the prevalence of lying, stealing, profanity and impurity among their scholars. * Petty thefts among the scholars, such as stealing luncheons, give them great trouble, and profanity, they assert, is far more general among boys of all classes of society than parents in the least suspect. The circulation of impure literature in schools is very common. In one city a club was found to exist among the pupils of the high school for the purchase of obscene literature. Many teachers complain of this as the worst evil with which they have to contend. It is certain that the condition of affairs is not in these respects exceptionally bad in the old Bay State. To find and apply a remedy is not easy, but these investigations and the publication of their results is likely to prove the first step toward a greatly needed reform."