New-York tribune., 1879-05-22
{" MOR1LS IN TIE ScHOOLSn

Early last February the Senate of the United
States made itself merry over the consideration OF
Senator Burnsiic'S bill for teaching justice, kind
ness conscicntousness peace and other moral quail
ites in the schools Of the District Senator Burnside
however frankly remarked that be was not at all
ashamed of his bill and that legislative bodies
i'm the country would lie better behaved
If it had been made law good
many years ago. The School Board OF
Birmingham, England, may now be recorded as fol-
lowing out ideas resembling Mr. Burnsde's. 1t has
ordered that in the future systematic moral Dstruc-
tion shall be given i'll all the board schoolnstruc-
tion which shall make the children " better ac-
quainted with right and wrong"
Practical people will find some food for thought
in the preceding paragraph when read in cOnnec-
ton with two telegrams from Boston printed in
this journal yesterday and Tuesday. The first
states in a terse line or two that whe number OF
children were playing together in some grounds
near The city the other dag, one of them. little
girl ten years old, d" was pelted with stones by the
boys" She died early next morning. The second
telegram relates tnat on Tuesday Edward Rear
don aud Thomas Murphy, cGch nine years Of age,
were auaigned on charge of manslaugh-
ter. in causing the death OF little Hattie Good
speed by throwing stones" One of these little
bows was liberated on BAIL the other was commit
ted for ilial. Perhaps Senator Burnside is not so
far out of the way when he suggests that we teach
conscience. kindness and pity in the schools. The
THGBIrNE not long o 90 recorded case of youthful
murder i'm a Western town almost bad this.
4 PARTY of little boys in leaving the scho0-hOuse
caught one of their schOOlmateS on the stairs and
so roughly maltreated him that he died shortly
after Possibly moral instruction might not have
been out of place there Instances OF such cruelty
often come TO the surface, and ii IS probable that
many children are permanentlyif unconsclously in-
jured by the rough treatment of their mates.
There are few teachers who do not recognize the
tact that the average boy has a good deal of the
natural barbarian in him. IL would seem to be
worth the while to extract as much possible of
the savage and replace il with some qualities of the
possible angel.
There is sound practical sense in the suggestion
that the schools should give some moral teaching.
The largest share of the child's waking time is
spent at school, when parents can certainly
nroyide no moral training; and there are
many homes in which such moral training is
often either carecssly or ignorantly neglected.
Perhaps thc best school that ever existed was DIR.
Arnold's Rugby; and there honor, honesty. true
heartedness and kindness were taught with all
the enthusiasm of that magnificent Christian. There
is no school which would rot be the better tor TAX
ing a leaf from the Englishman's book. We can
not perhaps. have what the Birmingham Board
calls systematic moral Instruction." but teacher
who is fit for his her post will know
how TO give occasionally pithy ten-mnute SER
mon on some of the qualities that go to make good
aud trustworthy men and women Those who are
at a loss for texts VIII find them in the words of
Teacher whose teaching was always most simple
and most practical. Children do not need senti-
mental adyice but there are few so careless or SC
hardened that they will not respond to little
lesson in truth in honor and in kindness, given II
earnest, familiar and heartfelt fashion. little OF
the moral training ridiculed by our Senators might
possiby have kept these ne-year-old Massachu
setts boys from brutal and cowardly crime.