Iowa voter. [volume] (Knoxville, Iowa) 1867-1874, 1874-04-23
Governing Children.

THE object of education, and the only
worthy object il can have at all, is to fit
its recipients for right living, and for the
intelligent performance of the duties
which are likely to fall TO them in life.
Obedience is very small part indeed of
the Americans duty, and the habit of I'M
reasoning obedience is certainly not the
best habit an American can acquire. III
we wish TO develop any muscle in boys
body we know but one way of doing 1t,
namely, by exercising the part. Ii we
undertake to strengthen any mental or
moral faculty, we do the same. In short,
whatever we would have the man do
thoroughly well, we make the child do
constantly as an exercise, and as self
government, both individual and col
lectlve, is TO be the principal duty in life
of all these school boy and school girls
there can be no palmer proposition haH
that they should be constantly exercised
in the art of governing themselves.
They should be taught to regulate their
conduct. both in and out of school,
upon principles Of right and not at all
upon hazard of detection and punish.
ment. They should be taught to respect
the rights Of Others and out of this respect
would grow all necessary or desirable
order in the schoolroom. The master
whom boys and girls know as friend
finds IL easy enough TO show his pupils
the necessity for honest effort in their
studies and for honest manliness and
womanliness in their conduct, and If he
be properly equipped for his work in the
world he will need no rod of discipline
with which 10 establish md maintain his
supremacy over his school. If 1t be his
care TO educate, i. g., to lead out the
children confided to him, If his conscience
supplement his intellect If he work with
higher and noblcr aim than the mere
earning of salary, AS all worthy workers
do, he will not need TO make trembling
slaves or animate machines out OF the
boys and girls who sit before him, In
order that they shall present well-seeming
front 10 chance visitors.
And we say all this not as theorists, but
from practical knowledge Of the subject
We have tried the experiment more than
once, and that, too, with boys reputed to
be particularly turbulent and unruly. We
have seen others try il too, with abundant
success We know physically frail lit.
tie woman who, for love Of the work, once
took upon herself the task of teaching
school made up Of the incorrigible boys
weeded out Of the Five Points charity
schools and set adrift as hopelessly I'M
ruly. Within fortnight her gentleness
had won the little heather, and with
neither moral nor physical rod TO aid her
she reigned princess in their hearts.
Had she taught them nothing else, her
work would have been well done when
she taught them 10 respect and to govern
themselves. No other lesson could be
half so valuable to them, and the learning
Of all other lessons followed naturally
when this one had been taught There
are scores and hundreds ofschool teachers
all over our land who are doing the same
thing, each in his own way. These are
they who supplement their certificate OF
proficiency in the branches to be taught
with genuine fitness for their work, and
we are glad to believe that their number
Is steadily increasing, while the profes-
sors of the art of walloping" are grow
ing scarcer every day-Hearth and Home.
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