Credo Supported

The U. S. credo says that rich school children are inclined to be lazy, impertinent to their teachers, and that they make less of their opportunities than their less advantaged classmates. Liberal-minded folk usually discount this tenet, refusing to believe that the devil plays checkers exclusively on the coattails of affluent youngsters. But statistics published last week by School & Society appeared to support the credo.

C. T. Coleman of the Hammond, Ind., High School investigated the cases of 125 "problem" pupils (those who had been disciplined four or more times during each of two consecutive semesters) and 125 '"ideal" pupils (those who had never been disciplined). Investigator Coleman did not designate his own school as the proving ground, stating only that the survey was carried on in an industrial community. ''The points of comparison [between the two groups] included the relative desirability of the residential location, musical instruments in the home, the number and nature of the newspapers and magazines taken regularly, whether there were encyclopedias and telephone in the home and whether the family owned an automobile."

Findings: 13.6% of the problem group came from "elite" neighborhoods, 33.6% from "desirable" localities, 50.4% from "inferior" homes. But only 7.2% of the ideal group were listed under "elite" and 23.2% under "desirable," while 68% of the category came from the "inferior" area. The families of 20 more problem than ideal students had pianos, 22 more had radios, 13 more owned phonographs, 13 more had telephones. Encyclopedias were available to 62 bad children, to 47 good children. That families of only six more-problem than ideal children possessed motors was explained by the fact that most men in the community were employed in factories and used automobiles not as a luxury but as a necessary means of transportation. Ten of the 125 paragons did not have the use of any of the listed creature comforts.

Conclusions: "Life may be made so easy for [rich] children that it is difficult for them to develop the qualities of character that are essential for successful school life."

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