The extramural athletic and social activities of the secondary and elementary schools were for a long time exclusively in the hands of the students and thought to be no affair of the school authorities. With the great increase in their variety and importance, especially in in terscholastic contests, the governing hand of the teacher or principal had to enter. A large measure of self-government, however, is left to the student body, theprincipal or teacher acting as an adviser and only exercising a power of veto in extreme cases. The amount of self-government in such matters is less for the secondary schools than for the colleges and is more than for the elementary school, a fact naturally due to the differences in the ages of the students.
Whether the large amount of self-govern ment allowed to students in some of our col leges, secondary and elementary schools is go ing to be productive of the good results claimed for it only the future will tell. A survey of the field at present would seem to indicate that the American youth has not that law-abiding quality which is found in Old World communities where the hand of authority and the demand for obedience lies far more heavily. Opponents of the system maintain that lawlessness and fail ure to obey the command of governmental agencies have increased since the discipline and control of the school has been relaxed. Its
supporters, however, say that such symptoms are due not to the self-government plan, but to the great preponderance of women teachers in the schools, to the heterogeneous character of our population and to the fact that in every new land where people foreign to each other in race, language and tradition lack for many years the proper ideals and common standards found in older and well-established nations.
See general bibliographies under EDUCATION, HISTORY OF. Much material is to be found in the files of current educational publications (consult Poole's Index) and in the proceedings of professional organizations of teachers such as the National Education sociation. Consult Birdseye, 'The tion of Our Colleges' and (Individual ing in Our Colleges' ; Cranson, 'Pupil Government' ; Fulton, (College Life' ; George, (The George Junior Republic' ; Gill, City' ; Morehouse, Discipline of the School' ; Thwing, (A History of Higher cation in America,' (The American College,' and (College Administration.'