Tama County Republican. (Toledo, Tama County, Iowa) 1867-1872, 1870-04-14
The SchoOl.ROOm-IIs Uses.

The places where the youth of our
country are accustomed to spend fully
one halt of their waketul hours, should
upon every principle Of duty and inter-
est, be adapted to the happiness and
tend to the preservation OF the health,
and the Improvement of the tastes of
their occupants. The idea of leading
group OF children into the shadow OF
the poisonous Upas for the sake Of i'm.
proving their minds by study, is pre-
posterous and revolving. So, that sys-
tenn OF education which would seek to
build up the intellect at the expense of
soundness of body, should meet with
universal and everlasting condemna-
ton.
Yet quite too many Of our pablo
school-rooms are, from the slovenly
manner in which they were kept, the
impure air confined within their un-
ventilated walls, and their unseemly
surroundings, little less than SO many
Upas trees, whittier our girls and boys
are required to resort with the same
hope and JOY that they would hasten
to the shades of Academus.
The school-room should be used for
as few purposes, aside from that of
school, as possible. We are aware
that, in some localities, it seems almost
impossible to avoid the holding OF re-
ligious meetings at the public school
house-and in other localities ths
township electors must be turned out
Of doors" unless the Board surrenders
the key of the school-house. Now
elections are important, and religious
assemblages none the less so, but we
are not informed as to the particular
section OF the law from which any
Board or individual Director derives
the authority. by which the school
room is indiscriminately surrendered
tor such purposes.
The law Of joint property and OF
trust, would seem to require that each
elector (not merely majority in the
district should give his oppressed assent,
before those having the custody of the
property IN trust should use the same
for any other purpose than that tor
which it was created. We, however,
leave each Board in the undisturbed
exercise of Its own discretion upon
these points, but we do ask, in behalf
Of the interest of public education, that
the school-rooms be kept cleany and
made inrit,ng. We also wish that each
teacher, upon entering his school-room,
might be confronted by a posted reg.
ulation Of the Board, reading substan-
TALLY thus: each teacher IS expected
and required to allow no rude, bolster
Gus, or slovenly conduct in this room
or the hall adjoining" This would
add to the teachers authority the
weight of the Boards sanction. and
tend to check the almost universal,
demoralizing influence OF rudeness and
rowdyism which seems to haunt our
public school-rooms.
The children should be taught, from
the first day they enter the school
house, to the last hour OF their pupil
age, that the study-ro om is not de.
signed, and must not be used for .
play ground-that its desks and floor
are not to be made the receptacles Of
apple-peelings, bits OF refuse dinner,
shells, and greasy dinner rags or pa
pers. We think that nsausers, as well
as letters aud morals, should be taught
in every school, from the highest to
the lowest grade. In what better way
can this be done than to begin with
the practice OF requiring each pupil to
use the school. room in the same man.
ner that q well-bred child would use
his home sitting-room.?-Deliso TO-
wa,) Review.