Prescott journal. [volume] (Prescott, Wis.) 1861-1871, 1862-01-29
For the JOURNAL.
SCHOOL PAPERS. NO. g.
+" Absent" "Tardy."

PruSSlan teachers Oh puoiC sCHooIo
have this great advantage, that when
scholar is absent they have ready rem
edy: they have only to send an officer,
and the absentee is brought. In this
6 favored land" having no stringent
laws to secure regularity Of attendance,
we can only use "moral suasion," which
proves as efficient in this matter as i'll
many others. Beyond the School
Board and the corps of teachers, very
little seems to be thought of the evils of
absences. Argus-eyed, all men watch
the teach rs-to which certainly no
teacher will object-and failure in duty
finds no tagging peralty in public cen
sures; but who stops at the street corners
to express his Indignation because twenty
pupils are kept at home three days each
week, to the great detriment of two hum
dred others, or because during the first
hours of the morning session the school
is disturbed ten times by tardy scholars?
In the name of the fraternity of teach
ers, we invite the scrutiny of the most
watchful eyes, if only they be generous
ones we wish that a delegation of
good and lawful men" sat in our
school.room six hours each day-then
would we believe the dawn of the mil
lennium near at hand. But why should
not parents, whose neglect in sending
their children brings slow-moving decay
upon school, or burdens the hands of
its managers, be visited with an indigna-
ton rs deep as that which is heaped up
on an unfaithful teacher? ''This ought
We to have done, and not to have left the
other un'lone."
We are permitted by the principal Of
the graded school to make some extracts
from his daily record, which will show
the nature and extent of the evil SPRING
ing from absence and hardness. In the
fifth grade there has been enrolled this
term, 81 names. The average attend
ance is Is. There are 90 boys, and
their average is Is; II girls, and their
average is 10. The average number Of
tardinesses is 81. Only scholars have
been without absence or hardness during
the three weeks of this term. Let us
see what is the meaning of report like
this. 1t declares that each day 2 pupils,
or one third part of the whole, are ab-
sent from school. 1t shows that of those
who attend one fifth are tardy, either
forenoon or afternoon. 1t shows that
eight-ninth of the scholars are, in some
respect, standing in the way of the pro
gress of the other one-ninth. The sum
of attendance is 377 days. This report
has been for Is days. If every scholar
had been regular, the same aggregate of
attendance, and certainly greater good,
would have been secured in 10 days.
One-third part, then, of the sum paid
for the support Of the school is lost by
absence. The cost of running tho gra-
ded school cannot be less than $3.50 per
month. If the percentage of absences
was as great in all the rooms as in the
fifth, 500 per month would be wasted
by this means. In this matter it is GER
tainly right to wish to get ones "mon-
ey's worth"
The waste of money however, is by
no means the greatest loss. Those who
attend but one-half or one-third of the
time, might almost as we'll, considering
only their own good, be absent the
whole time, and far better, if we take
into account the good of all. We quote
further from the record During the
three weeks of this term seven scholars
have been present respectively, 2, 4, 5,
81, 6, and 81 days. Another has been
present whole and 7 half days; another
whole and half days. One has been
tardy 10 times and absent D days.
These scholars must be classed with
others, and must recite with others if
they reci.e at all. " hat can they do,
and what can teacher do with them,
while this state of things continues 2
Parents of Prescott, the remedy lies
in your hands. 1t is for your interest,
and for the well-being of your children,
that your graded school should maintain
rank second to none. Whoever re-
qures or even winks at the absence of
his child from school for single day,
adds his mite to the evil. Some of you
we know personally, and are assured that
you would not willingly do an injury to
your children or to the school, yet you
permit your children to be occasionally
absent, thus doing a threefold wrong
to your children, to the other pupils, and
to the public. We do not deny that alb