New Orleans daily crescent. [volume] ([New Orleans, La.]) 1851-1866, 1860-05-28
[coMaUEIcArED.J
corporeaI Punishment va. Moral suasicn.

The right Of parent or school teacher to infict
| corporeaI punishment upon disobedient son or
| pupil has been denied by the Judge Of one of our
District Courts and his Honors charge to the jury
upon that ocohsion has been the subject Of very
| general comment. The Principal of the Boys
High School of the First District was fined for as
| sault and battery, alleged to have been committed
upon the person Of one Of his pupils. The suit was
4 instituted by the father Of the boy, and 5000
| damages claimed.s 1t appeared from the evidence
| that no undue severity was used, that temporary
pain and not permanent injury had been inflicted
upon the person of the delinquent, and that the
motive of thepunishment had been the good of
the scholar and the preservation Of saiutary and
wholesome discipline in the school. But the Judge
charged the jury that the punishment was an ille-
I gal act, and verdict was rendered for the plain
tiff, with one dollar damages.
Il The prosecution was conducted by learned coun-
4 sci, who were pleased to inyeigh, with consider
able bitterness against the practice of corporeal
!. punishment ii the private and public schools Of
the land. With much eloquence they sought to
show the degrading effect npon the spirit and char
. acter Of boy who should be thus treated, while
it remained foF the Judge to charge that this mode
Of punishment ,cas contrary TO lao.
The principles involved in the ruling of the Judge
are important and we are pleased to learn that an
{, appeal will be made to higher court. The final
decision is Of especial interest to those engaged in
the education Of youth. II d parent has no right
to infict corpbreal any form upon his
SON who has arrived at the age Of IA years; it, con
sequently he cannot delegate that right to school
teacher acting under the law, loco PARENTS the
laws of the State should be invoked to change the
age of educaDe children, prescribed in the acts
IA
Ia years. Boards Of Directors should have the right
n Of excluding from the schools under their charge
, all pupils whom il is llegato punish. The teachers
in those schools, holding their positions and exer-
cising their authority under rules and regulations
. provided for their guidance by the Directors.
:. should not be exposed while acting in conformity
to those regulations, either to the pistols and
bowie knives Of their manly pupils, nor to the prose
. cution of ltiaious parents in the courts Of law.
Ii If corporeaI punishment Is Illegal 1t should be
Y banished from our schools, and every pupil who
4 can be governed in no other way, must also be
excluded. That there are such pupils in every
large school most men of experience can testify.
1t will be for the parents to determine if expul-
q sion will rebound in greater degree to the pres
g ent good and future welfareof the youth. Many
b, 4 lad over IA years Of age, Of good heart and
AhpuiTOSs
Of life, may indulge in some unseemly freak b
lie mischief which, if not promptly checked, will sub
vert the order of entire school. little appro
re pirate correction subdues his fevty and restores
nr quiet. !" But corporeal punishment must not b,
ne used, because that would be painful to the body
or and humliating to his SPIRIT Other method
must be tried, and when these fail, through tn
ld very caprice and frclicsomeness of the youth,
nd must be expelled from the school by formal pro
lis cess. Is it less degrading to his spirit to be toll
he publicly: 4 You are an improper associate 70
ad your schoolmates; depart, go elsewhere tha
for the teacher without malice and without anger
co to inct upen the palm Of the hand the few ligt
Of blows which Justice demandss
There arc aEso examples Of another class; boy
IN who are hasitually indolent sometimes insoien
perverse and thoughtless, but who have been keI
ng in the sceg partly from syApathy for their anx
ht' Gus parents, partly because the teacher, by h
et' faithful and untirng efforts, now and then succeed
us in awakening spark of honest effort and INTEL
nd gence When the evil spirit of such boy is e.
ess cited, ceaaing and saoral sudsion and demer
nt' marks and loss of recess, and all other parts
ATE the fine machinery devised for the control of mo-
OF delicate subjects fall upen his heart with
les force and success the dew falls upon the rock
the Undeabtedly skillfuI and experienced teach
err will resort to the personal ehastisement of his p
raj pills under the most imperative circumstances onl
the The longer his continuance in office the less fl
auenty will those circumstances arise. His NOR
on influence will increase the affections of his pupil
Tor their healhfu ambition, and their love of kRo'
10 ledge will be aroused; good order will have
on come "a confirmed habit, and any deviation fro
ow the same will be exceptional and unnatural. !
these will materially aid the teacher in his labor
fa rroh ia sa f1n =
pc serced o,ce Of the teacher which constitutes
Oh power, ana at rare intervals, through the fol
au or vices OF some wayward pupil, it may be meet
Oh sary to bring the rattan or the ferule from
ese dusty hiding place. In the evidence given in
use, case abege mentioned it was shown that in I
the Boys High School Of the First District there
been but six cases Of corporeal punishment dnri
ued the two years Of the defendants administratie
ties, toso sd occnrre durinp the first half of II
uch period. That school numbers nearly one hundr
ere ere pups-boys between L. and II years of age, a
III of every variety of character. Does the antoo
uh- of punishment seem excessive and barbarou
ne Docs it clearly appear that these offending la
~ nearly all of whom are now in good standing in
ion' school, would be better scholars Or more likely
- become useful and honorable citizens, had th
~ been expelled from the school, rather than expos
eiie to the .4s,,,anly and degrading punishment OF
ien few blows inflicted upon the palm of the hand?
are But we are told that eorporeal punishment il
Wy relic of half.civilized age-AoRAL suAsIoa
Inc alone worthy of the enlightened nineteenth centu
az FIogging we are informed has been abolished fr'
the our armies and naves and should be secuted FRI
every school room. Werejoice in the fact so far
isY human nature has been dignifed, and the need
ne infiiction bf suffering has been avoided. But 10
ioi' before statutes were enacted against fogging