The Kenosha telegraph. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1860-1888, 1879-05-08
MORAL SUASION AND COMPUL-
sorry EDUCATION.

Moral suasi0n is the best Of school
masters, but how Will he manage COM
pulsory education? This.is a serious
question. Does not moral suasion
need to be reinforced now and then by
Mr.. Hickory-Haz e &c N e-A long?
Would it not be better for certain OBJ
streperous youths, whose ears are not
open to the gentle tones Of love and
reason; would it not be better for soci-
ETY., to exercise q little coercion to force
such youths to school, and make them
behave themselves when there?
Strange as it may seem, a large proper
ton of the friends of compulsory edu-
cation laws are opposed to corporal
punishment in the common schools UNI
der any circumstances. Unru1y boys
have no alternative but to 'be good, :"
or go into the streets.
An Indiana teacher has just been
fined two dollars and costs for chastis-
ing pupil. If the boy was as insult
ferabie torment us we have known,
the privilege of trouncing him would
be cheap at ten times this cost. But
the generally approved method now,
in all cases of characterization. is to
suspend the pupil and report to the di-
rectors, who lecture the youth, and
send him back or expel him from
school, Without doubt, this is the
easiest course for the teacher; simply
to open the door, and turn the bad
boys into the street, to find their way
in time to BrideWells, reform schools,
and county jails. What say the cham
pi2ns of compulsory education to this?
Is this what yOU want? If not, will
it not be best for coercion and moral
Suasion to compromise, SO as to keep
school together?
If anybody has followed the history
of the boys who have been suspended
and expelled from public schools, in
any Of our large towns or ci les, he
will confer a favor upon the tribe of
naughty youths just fedged, and upon
community at large, by giving them
the benefit of his observations. Moral
suasion is the best Of school governors,
but will some one please tell us how
it is to benefit the boys who are
bounced into the streets before they
have made the acquaintance of this
gentle spirit? There are still a good
many people, including number Of
school boards, who believe that the
most Of these boys would learn to take
moral suasion, with q mild decoction
Of hazel bark at rare intervals, while
without this corrective they would
never acquire taste for it. There is
certainly very little moral suasion in
the reform schools to which so many
unSch00led boys are driven. Herded
with thieves and pickpockets, they
must learn to submit to Jail discipline.
A school board assumes a fearful re-
sponsibllity when, in the name of NOR
al suaSion, it thrustS the youth of the
commonwealth into lanes and alleys to
avoid the disagreeable task of disci-
plining them in their schools, as good
parents would do at home. "The
whole need noe a physician, and if no
children are allowed to remain in pub
lie schools except those who have been
well governed at home, the task of the
teacher and school board is greatly
lightened; but how seriously are the
benefits of the common school restrict
ed? Now, that men are asking how
far our system Of education is resp0n-
Sible for the vices Of the troublesome
elements Of society, would it not be
well to revise some Of our school rules
which rell8ye teachers from educating
the very class Of girls and boys who
receive least wholesome training at
home, and therefore need public
school training the most? -Chjcago
Weekly Journal.
hss, <zaa~ S@~~---
NOTES BY THE WAY.
The text books are being changed in