172 RURAL SOCIOLOGY 



But I must admit that the actual data on this subject are very 

 meager. 



SUGGESTION AND CITY-DRIFT * 



ERNEST R. GROVES 



THE present movement of population toward urban centers, so 

 strongly expressed in Europe and America at the present time, 

 deserves study in the light of the modern teaching of psychology 

 concerning the meaning of childhood experiences as determining 

 adult conduct. It is everywhere admitted that this urban at- 

 traction of rural population is socially significant, and that its 

 causes are many. It is even -feared by many that it represents aji 

 unwholesome and dangerous tendency in modern life, arid that 

 it should be investigated for the purpose of discovering a reason- 

 able check upon this drift to the cities. 



No study of the mental causes behind this urban enticement 

 can fail to discover the importance of the suggestions received 

 by country Children during their preparation for life. (See 

 "The Mind of the Farmer" Ed.) 



Rural education, of course, provides many opportunities for 

 penetrating suggestions, and any one who knows the schools of 

 the country will affirm that their suggestions are not always 

 friendly to rural interests. The character of some studies makes 

 it difficult for the teacher not to emphasize urban conditions. In 

 the endeavor for the dramatic and the ideal, the teacher is likely 

 to draw upon urban life. 



It is fair to state that a beginning has been made in the effort 

 to utilize the country life possibilities in teaching material. But 

 one usually finds in the ordinary text book an unconscious ten- 

 dency to emphasize the urban point of view and to accept it as the 

 social standard. Many of the striking experiences of modern 

 life necessarily culminate amid urban conditions even when 

 caused largely by rural influences. The urban center is the pas- 

 sion spot, and affords more opportunity for the dramatic. 



The same fact is true of ideals. The teacher is often tempted 

 to use urban illustrations in her effort to establish ideals of con- 



1 Adapted from Rural Manhood, 7: 47-52, April, 1910, 



