Our Schools in War Time—and AfterDean, Arthur D. (Arthur Davis)
History
Our Schools in War Time—and After
Dean, Arthur D. (Arthur Davis)
Education -- United States; World War, 1914-1918 -- War work -- Schools
Was the boy in the New York high school right when he said, "It is a
Wall Street war"? Are our enemies justified in charging us with the
same motives of self-interest and the abasement of other nations which
animated themselves? Are we really at war for conquest or seizure,
or for the benefit of commerce, or for defense against aggressions
that have not yet been made? And is it a dollar war for bankers and
ammunition makers?
It is to answer these and other questions that a systematic effort to
inform and arouse the American people should be taken up and carried
into effect by public-school teachers, having in mind that the most
effective and most important work may be done in the classroom in
connection with lessons in civics and history. To wait for textbooks
on the present European war is to wait until it is over. To wait
to put the study of the present war into a course of study in its
chronological sequence is to wait until the next generation of children
come upon the stage. No, now is the time for our schools to include the
teaching of the war and to discuss officially proposed peace plans,
when the street is alive with soldiers, when the newspapers display
huge headlines and the bill-boards are covered with recruiting posters,
when magazines furnish helpful material for teachers, and when the
whole world is charged with feeling.
The National Security League (New York City) has outlined a plan
for public addresses and lectures, and it has printed a little book
entitled "Wake Up, America." The following topics have been selected
from an outline furnished by this league:
Foreign military systems and international relations.
Spirit of the American people as shown in our history of
liberty and democracy.
Causes of the war between the United States and Central Powers.
First two and one-half years of the war in relation to the
principles of the foreign policy of the United States.
Universal military training and service as now provided by
Congress.
Organization and work of the army and navy: selection;
supplying needs.
General military preparations in the country at large:
materials, transportation, and public finance.
Duty of the citizen in relation to obligations of all citizens
as an offset to benefits of citizenship.
Service outside of military and naval; as, for example, the
munition work, transportation, building of ships and machinery,
farming, etc.
Faithfulness of foreign-born citizens.
Need of efficiency and economy in local, municipal, and state
governments.
Description of modern warfare as defining the immediate task
of the American people in regard to organization and action of the
various services; as, for example, men in the trenches, health
protection, Red Cross, etc.
Accessories; for instance, patriotic music and recitations,
flag marches, and parades.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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