Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1878-12-21
school DircIpllne.

ity of wise and firm school dis
ipiine as the only means of correct
ing tile the tendency to lawlessness
md self assertion, which is the pre-
vailing vice of society more or less
in the present day. In looking
over our paper we observed that
me portion of it calls for explana-
ton. We denounced expulsion as
the very worst remedy in the case
Of turbulent resistance to authority,
and recommended severe punish
ment in the school, corporal if
necessary, as a substitute. All this
we reatfirm as our rooted opinion,
but it may be, and perhaps has been
misunderstood. We may be I'M
derstood to condemn the teacher or
school authorities whenever an ex-
pulsion or removal from school
takes place; we are very far from it.
We believe that where expulsion is
necessary it is generally more the
fault of the parent than of the
teacher or the scholar. Where the
parent co-operates with the school
authorities and sustains them, and
inculcstes at home the principle of
order and submission to law, pre-
meditated resistance on the part of
scholar is thing so rare that it
may be set aside as one Of the ex-
ceptions which proves the rule.
But observe, it is preneditated re-
sistance, defiant pertinacity which
we speak of, those minor infractiOns
of discipline which arise from inn
pulse come of course under differ
ent category and areto be differently
dealt with; but they must never be
passed over, it is the neglect of them
in their beginnings which afterwards
necessitates severe punishment. 1t
will be supposed from all this that
we are in favor of severe and fire.
quent corporal punishments it is
just the reverse with us, we go so
far as to say that any school in
which the rod is constantly at work
is bad school from one or Other of
two causes-either the teacher is
inefficient or he is not duly sustain
ed by the parents. Let us be prac-
teal. You will say, would you
have boy whipped for throwing a
peanut across the school, or for
pinching his neighbor, or for talk
ing to him? AS a general thing it
would, of course, be barbarism to
do so; but the least of these things
may be done in such way as to
call forth prompt ana vigorous
chastisement. Take an instance.
A boy commits one of these offences,
it is his first, it must by no means
be passed over on that account;
give an admOnitiOn with a slight
punishment, a mark against him,
for instance, in his department re-
port; but suppose he repeats it, he
must now understand that it is
looked upon as a serious offence it
must receive punishment, confine-
ment after school, for instance,
with a warning that no further
trifiing with the matter will be toll
Grated. Now with nineteen boys
out of twenty that will end the
thing; but with the twentieth it
won't. We will now take his
case. You will say he is Il bad
boy, an inconceivable case &C., &C.
He is nothing of the kind. He is
fearless and reckless, and wants to
make the experiment who shall be
master, he or the teacher. He re-
peats the offence and in doing it
looks the teacher in the face with
an expression which says "what are
you going to do about it y" This is
a crisis for the boy, for the teacher,
for the whole school, all of whom
will suffer if the case is not met
with pro aptitude and vigOr. We
will not enter into details about the
treatment of the case, and will only
say that by the time that boy is
done with he will tingie all over,
the rising devil which was going to
get the better of him will have fed
in disnay up the chimney, and the
astonished patient will have been
brought to the conviction that he
has found his proper place in society,
and that place is not on. the top of
the ladder. He was making an ex-
pertinent and should be fully salts
fed.
Shocking barbarism, many will
say, you are cowing the boys man.
hood within him, or you are ex-
citing vindictive feelings in him
which will break out in crime here
after. All which is sentimental
trash. That sort of a boy is not
soon cowed, and as for vindictive-
ness we have met many boy after
he arrived at manhood whom we
had treated in that way, and not
one but what thanked us for it.
Vindictivene5s barbarisn! trash. |
Why we think more Of boy like |
that, and expect more from him
than any one of the nineteen others
we have compared him with, and |
he finds that out when he once
finds he is not the master, and APP
preciates it accordingly, while for
the teacher who suceumb5 to him
he has nothing hut distain.
The little event we have just de-
scribed will render punishment a
rare necessity in that school, pro-
vided always that foolish parents
do not interfere. If they do, they
ought to undertake the manage
merit of their son themselves and
take the consequences. We repeat
1t, such boy, treated as we have
described, makes the best citizen in
the world. treated otherwise he