Pointe Coupee Democrat. [volume] (False River [i.e. New Roads], Parish of Pointe Coupee [La.]) 1858-1862, 1858-04-17
BOARDING. SCHOOL,

a MOTHER" writes Fanny Fern to
the New York Ledger, wishes me to eS-
press my views upon the cxpcdiency OF
sending young girls away from home,
to boarding schools.
l have already done so in the Ledger.
Ny voice has always been for keeping
young girls under the Immediate super
vision Of their own mothers, under the
parental roof. object to voting girl
being obliged to share room, bed and
Wasli-bow with a stranger, OF whom no
tcach5r can know what is most neccs-
sary to be known. I Object to a mother
deI,esatlnS to any person the physical
and moral supervisions 50 indispensable
at an age when girls are generally
sent from home to school. | object to
the license allowed, or if not allowed
steathiIy taken, by young girls at
boarding-schools, in forming promiscu-
GUS acquaintances object to insutli-
clcnt, huddled, close sleeping rooms, and
democratic hair brushes and closet
object also to a formal procession of
young gIrles, headed, aud fanked by
teacher, taking exercise (?) at the usual
funeral pace. | object to insufficient
food, and stolen confectionery to make
up the deficiency ; and l had rather
daughter Of mine would grow up a
double-headcd Ounce, than send her
spine to be crooked at any such s' finish
ing" establishment.
There may be cascs-for instance,
that Of widower, who has no home for
his daughter but hotel or boarding
house, from which his business makes
him, most Of the time, necessarily
absent-in which the choice of two evils
may lean toward the boarding-school
but | never can, conceive how any good
mother in her senses could willingly
send away her young daughter from her
side at so critical an age, whether re-
gardcd physically Or morally.
| believe that there are teachers who,
with the best intentions, strive conscien-
tiously to perform their duty but I have
never yet attended boarding-school or
visited one, where | should be willing to
leave daughter of mine, nor will /
believe that mother who really seeks
the highest welfare of her child, will con-
tent herself with trusting to a lauda-
tory circular, with a string of high-soun-
ding names, packing her child's trunk,
and paying the term bills when due.
There is great waste of time and
money at such establishments, of which
parents, by reason of culpable ignorance
and carelessness, know nothing and if
they do not, care, why on earth should
the teachers ? There IS great harm
done by bedroom conversations pro
longed late into the night (don't talk
to me of rules of which the teacher
knows nothing and out of twenty girls
who may be unexceptionable, the twenty
first shall be the infected sheep who
shall taint the whole flock, and what
teacher is to know this, if outward pro-
prieties are observed I? There arc cor
responsiveness carried on with the male
brothers, cousins and uneles of room
mates, not down in the high-sounding
circulars. There is in all boarding
schools that | have known, great strict
ness in minor matters which appeal I
to the public eye, and culpable laxness
in points far more vital. There is a.
great favoritism to the children of dis
tinguished or wealthy parents. and cut
ting neglect to the il[starred child Of
obscurity.-There is a constant premium
for eye-service, and bold, shallow assur-
ance, little or no encouragement for
timid, unohstrusiye conscientiousness
And lastly, the usual closing public
school examination is about as true a.
test of scholarly ability, as the perfume
of a hot-house blossom is proof Of the
capability Of the plant to endure the
variations of outdoor temperature.
FAzsY FERs.