The Kenosha telegraph. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1860-1888, 1878-11-14
SOME OF THE THINGS WE
SHOULD TEACH.
We should teach poziteneSs.

/. We should teach poziteqaess.
The tendencies of our republican the
cries and practices are to make our
children too little mindful OF the res
pect due to each other, OF even to their
superiors, and | think that some OF the
wholesome training Of the PrusSlan
school teacher would be of great bene-
fit. They have the oversight OF their
pupils even while upon the street, and
politeness and respect toward their
elders are rigidly enforced. The Amer
lean youth, however, goes hOotlng
along the street as unmannerly as the
boOr from the mountains; and from the
pupils of all ages and of all ranks OF
society, the teacher not unfrequently
receives the blunt response OF Eyes,
ono. " or "what;" OF, upon the street
is greeted with the salutation, "hullo,"
or chow are your" by the little ur-
chin with his sled, or by the awkward
bow of fifteen or sixteen. 1t has long
appeared to me that we, as teachers,
were sadly negligent with respect to
the proper teaching of this virtue. |
have noticed often that the teacher
who gave careful attention to his oaOn
manners in his intercourse with his
pupils, and who kindly, but firmly, in
sisted upon the proper observance of
the rules Of true politeness by them,
other things being equal, succeeded
much better than the careless and the
bOOrish. [ do not wish to be under
stood as recommending a faWning syc-
OphanCy. or a s1mpering Stiffness. True
pOliteness is as far removed from this
as it is from the uncouth manners Of
the clown. The Old-fashiCned bow
and courtesy of q hundred years ago
were far better than the disregard of
any form Of politeness. which is too
common now.
2. 1t is the special duty of the teach
er to instill into the minds and hearts
Of his pupils the principles Of
TRUE PATRIOTISM.
1t is a recognized principle of our
statesmen, and has been since cur ma
TONS birth, that the Public Free School
is the safety of the republic, and not
unfrequently we see the motto parad-
ed upon banners and at national gath
erings, "Our Public Scholastic Pal
ladium of our Liberties If the chill
dren are taught the true love Of cOun-
try, then the motto is true. but if not,
if they grow upignorant of the prin-
ciples upon which our government is
founded, if they are not instructed in
their duties as citizens Of a republic,
they will be very likely to grow up
mere partisans, or communists, and
wholly unfit to guard the heritage be-
Queathed to us by our forefathers.
3. Again. we should teach
OBEDIENCE
prompt and unQuestioning obedience.
A teacher lax in discipline, is doing
incalculable injury to the locality in
Which he may be laboring There is
enough and more than enough of loose
discipline in the families Of our land,
anu 1T becomes the imperative duty of
the teacher to counterfeit the baneful
influence OF these practices, and teach
loyalty to law. Are lawlessness and
crime on the increase, or is it because
newspapers and the telegraph herald
all the crimes committed, that these
monsters seem TO stalk forth through
the land? If these are Increasing. It
is a sad comment upon our civiliza-
ton, and impeaches our systems of ed
ucation and of religion, and lays upon
the teachers Of the nation q mighty
responsibility. If pupils leave our
schools with a disregard Of law and
justice, and enter the arena Of strife
with no fixed and settled principles of