The Kenosha telegraph. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1860-1888, 1882-01-13

cles and vital organs free from pres
sure. Hence, under this treatment, |
the beautiful form is left as God made |
it, to be developed according to His |
own plan. We mark this as another
advantage Of gymnastics; to correct
and control the ruinous habits of FASH
enable female dress. Indeed, every
department of education is carried on
through system of practical gymnas-
tics. We have mental gymnastics,
moral gymnastics, and physical gym
nastics, which include vocal gymnas-
tics.
EXERCISE A LAW OF EDUCATION.
The law of development is through
exercise. A "sound mind" is one
whose faculties and powers have been
called into harmonious action by pa
tient and long continued study; a
"sound body" has been developed by
the exercise of every one of its four
hundred and forty-six muscles; and
neither can be in sound condition
while the other is diseased or unculti-
waited.
| HE Law VI h1NDNESSS.
6. Kindness Is another powerful
agency in the management of a school.
BY this, as exemplifed in the life of
the true teacher, l mean his uniform
good will, earnest sympathy, and hearty
generosity, habitually exercised toward
his pupils. There is no force on earth
so potent as love. When it has posses
sion of the human heart it is all per-
vading and overpowering, and espec-
tally if brought to bear upon sympa-
thetic childhood and youth.
THE TEACHER MUST RULE BY KIND.
NESS.
That teacher alone who loves his pu-
pills has power to gain their love and
confidence, which should be his chief
reliance in school management. An
affectionate pupil will confide in our
judgment, respect our authority, and
fear our displeaSure. If we show him
by our personal attention and kindness
that we are his true friends and that
all our efforts are designed to secure
his best good, and make him believe it,
we hold him as by the power of en-
chantment; we have no further need
of physical force as applied to him.
He is held under another and higher
Ilaw, which induces him to crafty our
| wishes and seek the best good of our
school, We, as teachers, occupy for
Jne time being the place of tile parent,
and we should, as far as possible, cher
ish the affection and manifest the
interest and zeal of the true mother
who spends her life in loving and toll
| ing for her children. But this kind
ness, which is an essential element in
every true system of government, is
not, and cannot be, a substitute for
authority or an obstacle to severity,
when the good of the individual or the
school demands it. The teacher must
cherish an abiding love for his pupils,
and that love is never more truly exer-
cised than in inaicting necessary pain
in the management of public affairs.
| Of the teachers heart Shakespeare could
not say, 1t is TOO full of the milk of
human Kindness" if only he has
enough of authority, irmness, and exc
cutive will. Without these, even love,
as an element of school discipline, is
sometimes powerless.
TEACHERS MUST HAVE POWER TO PUN
ISH.
Z. This brings me to consider the
discipline of punishment. I have
spoken of the power of system, law.
and kindness, in their silent but effec-
tive influence upon individuals and the
school. I have spoken of the means
and methods of preventing evil. I
come now to the penalties to be infict-
ed when crime has been committed.
Wholesome laws will be violated under
every system of school management.
The question to be settled is, should
the government of the school be posi-
tive and efficient? If so, the master
must have the right, disposition, and
power to inf1ict punishment when nee
essary. If this right is denied or this
power withheld, the government of
the school is at the mercy of circum-
stances; it cannot be sustained. In
the dispensation of penalties, profess
siOnal knowledge and wise discrimina-
| ton are requisite. The circumstances
connected with the offence must be
carefully studied and distinction al
ways made between wilful and unin-
territorial wrong. The isolated act of
transgression does not indicate the de-
gree of guilt incurred nor the kind of
punishment to be inflicted; the pres
ence or absence of palliating circum-
stances, the motives which generated
the act, the present views and feeling
of the offending pupil, must all be
taken into the account. The master
should never, therefore, threaten a
specific punishment for anticipated of
fences. No two cases of transgression
| will be exactly alike, and hence the
kind and degree of punishment should
be varied as the case demands. But
| the good disciplinarian seldom resorts
to severe punishment in the govern.
ment of his school; yet he never relin-
pushes his right to punish as circum-
stances require. Nor does he regard
severity, when necessary, as an evil to
be deplored. 1t is indeed a sore evil
| that modification has so endangered
the life of the patient that the limb
must be amputated; but it is not an
evil that you have at hand surgical
skill and suitable instruments to per-
form an operation. 1t is indeed a mis-
fortune that any child or pupil has be-
come so demoralized and reckless as to
incur the penalties of the law; but
Solomon's rod, which has restored him
to obedience and duty, is blessing
whose influence will be felt and &C