EDITORIAL

In the Beginning...

As the Atlanta school system begins its new era of athletic, civic, and educational service to the community, a great responsibility is upon us who are at the genesis of this undertaking. It will be we, this year, who shall establish the precedents and traditions for future years. Therefore, in laying the ground for a school paper the first action taken was to ask the student body for their opinions, for we, the staff, realize that a paper is as good as the individual pupil makes it. The Southerner will endeavor to reflect the feelings of the entire school, but this can only be done with the cooperation of each and every student. This is your paper. Its editorial stand and policy are yours, and with your support these policies can be accomplished.

This year we are also setting the pattern in other fields. Henry Grady High has the potentialities of being the finest school in the city. Active participation in all school activities, supporting our athletic teams, win or lose, and the leaving behind of all previous school loyalties can, and will, make Grady great! If we set the precedent of clean, wholesome, and strong school spirit, we have made one of the finest contributions to our school and to Atlanta. We have the destiny of a school in our hands. It is up to us, then, to shape it. We have our choice, to mold it either weak and ugly, or strong and great. We must make the choice.

Honor System Favored

According to the questionnaire sent out recently by the SOUTHERNER, A large number of students are bemoaning the loss of certain privileges in the change of the school set-up.

The majority of students is in favor of having an honor system at Grady. This fact shows that they are willing to accept the responsibilities along with the privileges that such a system would entail.

An honor system would minimize cheating of all types and would consequently build character and good habits. It would encourage diligence in study, and, after all, is not the purpose of an education, learning?

What is the profit in forcing someone with threats to be honest, when honesty is a quality that must be developed through the desire of the person concerned? There will not always be someone to supervise, and it seems that the time to train for actual living is now.

There are always the few that shun responsibility in school as well as life but why not treat all as adults, and take away privileges only if the high standards that are set are not maintained?

All For The Best

Co-education is here to stay. Like all new ventures, it is suffering growing pains; but after that stage is passed, the Atlanta school system will be proud parents of a well co-ordinated, progressive group of high schools which will be second to none.

The old saying, "Necessity is the mother of invention" applies to this forward step in our educational system. When our educators realized the need for more and better schools, they tried to improve the situation all they could. The shortage of materials and labor made it impossible to build additional schools in time to meet the present demand; therefore, they worked out the idea of combining the high schools under the co-educational system. Of course not everyone agreed to the idea, and there have been a good many heated arguments for and against co-education. But, as stated co- education is here to stay, and its merits will soon outshine its faults.

Spirit can grow to tremendous heights in this system. The girls are decidedly more interested in their school football team than in their boyfriends' teams. The boys will be taking an interest in the girls activities, also; so, co- education broadens interests. The cooperation of men and women, boys and girls is a very important factor in general happiness. If co-education can help us to learn to work together, it is worth all the arguments and unhappy feelings being given vent to this first year.

Seniors Study Social Living

Social Living is a new required sub ject for graduation of all seniors. It is a course on how to get along with our family and friends, and how to handle our current affairs of heart.

The classes have discussions daily on topics ranging from dating manners to the technique of asking for the family jalopy on Saturday night-and getting it.

The advisor for this vitally informative subject is Mrs. Eskew, who seems to know a great deal about many of our teen-age problems. Perhaps the fact that she was once a teenager herself has something to do with it.

The class has been recently interested in social customs of all forms including letter writing, introductions, table manners and the like. Everyone has shown a great deal of interest in this class, it is reported.