he fails to give a satisfactory reply, he will certainly decline in her
esteem.

The normal child welcomes such a measure of responsibility as falls within
the compass of his powers and acquits himself of it in a manner that is
worthy of commendation. This open truth encourages the conviction that the
superintendent who can give to the teacher a definite plan by which she
will be able to develop a sense of responsibility, will commend himself to
her favor, if not admiration. They both know full well that if the pupil
emerges from the school period lacking this quality he will be a helpless
weight upon society and a burden to himself and his family, no matter what
his mental attainments. He will be but a child in his ability to cope with
situations that confront him and cannot perform the functions of manhood.
Though a man in physical stature he will shrink from the ordinary duties
that fall to the lot of a man and, like a child, will cling to the hand of
his mother for guidance. In all situations he will show himself a
spiritual coward.

The problem is easy of statement but by no means so easy of solution. At
the age of six the boy takes his place at a desk in the school. Twenty
years hence, let us say, he will be a railway engineer. As such he must
drive his engine at forty miles an hour through blinding storm, or in inky
darkness, or through menacing and stifling tunnels, or over dizzy bridges,
or around the curve on the edge of the precipice--and do this with no
shadow of fear or hint of trepidation, but always with a keen eye, a cool
head, and a steady hand. In his keeping are the lives of many persons, and
any wavering or unsteadiness, on his part, may lead to speedy disaster.
Somewhere along the way between the ages of six and twenty-six he must
gain the ability to assume a heavy responsibility, and it would seem a
travesty upon rational education to force him to acquire this ability