East Saginaw courier. (East Saginaw, Mich.) 1859-18??, 1860-05-17
CrOwding our Public Schools.

CrOwding our Public Schools.
The subjoined extract from the An
nusl Report of the Superintendent of tn
Public Schools of Chicago, just issued, i
so well expressed, so pertinent, and 81
adapted to the condition of schools every
VIII ere, that we shall do service by call
ing attention to it and directing publ,
scrutiny in that direction. The crowd
ing of our schools, especially in the pri
mary departments is becoming a rca
evil, which is not likely to be sbsted Sc
long as the most inadequate accommo
dations are furnished, and children ar,
thrust into them az soon as they car
walk. The matter is Of the most seriou,
consequence, and the public should pro
vide any means and adopt any precaution
which would prevent the growth of al
evil that can only be looked upon with
growing alarm. But to the Report:
The question has been agitated to some
extent whether the evils of admitting
children to the forcing process of oui
classified and graded public schools, at the
tenders age of five years, iscounter.balanced
by the advantages gained by this early ad.
mission. Our school rooms have really
become forcing houses for young min Is,
with all the modern appliances of i'm
proved school books, pictures, states, and
black boards, with teachers fresh from our
Normal Schools, ready and willing, and
sure to teach these little ones in an in
credibly short space of time, the names,
sounds, and combinations, Of the letters
of our language, together with variety
of other things too numerous to mention;
all this requiring the highest exercise Of
memory, comparison, and reflection, far
too severe for minds so young to grapple
with. The result Of such training is, too
often, a prodigy in intellectual attain
mcnts, in babyhood: one fitted for college
honors or business in early childhood, -
but in early manhood ,otoo often an en-
feeblcd mind in worn out and wasted
body. Had this Board the power to ex-
clude all under six years Of age from our
school rooms future generations would
thank us for using it, and more vigorous
bodies would be the result.
Children, at the tender age Of five
years, cannot with impunity be subjected
to the discipline of our public schools -
Tho necessary confinement Of q woll reg
ulatcd school room, will in too many
instances, engendcr deformitics and dis
eases, to be carried through life Of sor-
row and suffering. Girls suffer more in
this respect than boys; they have less
outdoor exercise; they are less prone to
disobey tho teacher and obey nature. -
The customs of society sanction a 81 eater
variety and more vigorous exercise for
the boys than for the girls, while that
same custom gives far too little and too
gentle for either. a change must be
brought about, or a nation Of dwarfs will
be the result.
These remarks do not apply so much
to the country as they do to the cities
and towns where the schools are kept
during the greater part Of tho year. AS
an introduction to q reform that must
sooner or later take place, | would sug-
gest the propricty of applying to the
Legislature for a law authorizing Ethosc
cities and towns that keep up yearly
schools, to regulate the age Of admission,
as shall, to the guardians of those schools,
seem best. In Germany,fSwitzerland
and Austria, none under six are admitted
to tho free schools. The same is true
of many of our own cities and towns.
Intimately connected with this subject
is the everlasting Of pupils while in
school. This is serious evil an evil
that has been gradually growing upon
the schools of our country, and requiring
at the hands Of those having charge OF
them, the most watchful care and atten-
ton. Boards Of Education and commit
tees are held responsible to the public fof
the amout Of labor accomplished in the
schoolroom; teachers are held responsible
for the same thing, and their success is
measured by the amount Extracted from
childish brains," regardless Of the almost
forgotten fact, that children have a phys
ical as well as an intellectual existence.
Then comes the stimulus of marks, re
wards, emulation between pupils of the
same school and classes of different
schools, urged on by teachers whose pay
and position depend upon the most done
in the shortest possible time and too
often the urging and encouraging offond
parents and friends; and all combined
keep the mind Of the child up to the high.
est pitch Of intellectual attainment. -.
What wonder then that under all these
spurs and incentives to labor, so many
break down in early childhood? What
wonder, that we see in our school rooms
30 many pale, wan checks, where we
should see rosy health? What wonder
that we oftener sec in thc schoolroom