The Kenosha telegraph. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1860-1888, 1882-01-20
EDUCATIONAL.
.. A. MAHONEY.
ID. A. MAHONE4, EDITOR.
THE DISCIPLINE OF THE
SCHOOL.
Continued from last a0eek.)

NOOICVtfCGtOWJ tOHV CNoV COCCft'J
PUNISHMENT NOT THE "LAsT RESORT"
Nor is severe punishment to be re-
garded as the "last resort" When it
may be inflicted at all, it is the first re-
sort, and the true remedy. Allow me
to illustrate: A skillful physician is
called to prescribe for a patient sick
almost unto death. lie sees, at q
glance, that only one remedy will cure,
and that must be administered prompt
ly. Now the question is, shall that
powerful medicine be given at once or
as the last resort" after every mild
remedy has failed? If the doctor re-
sorts to herb drinks and tonics in the
case supposed, he is a quack, and his
patient will die while the tender-heart-
ed simpleton is experimenting upon
him. But the cGlomel'' is given and
the patient RECEIVERS. So with punish
ment. 1t may be mild or severe; each
kind is appropriate as remedy for
specific evils. But if the case is one
that requires great severity, that kind
of punishment must be inflicted
promptly and faithfully. "Spare the
rod and spoil the child" under such
circumstances. Much has been said
and written upon corporal punishment
and moral suasion, but their appropri-
ate use in school discipline is seldom
understood, as it seems to me.
MORAL sUAsION NOT THE REMEDY FOR
REBELLION.
Moral suasion is not the remedy for
bold and defiant violations of law, if
we mean by that term the persuading
of the culprit to return to obedience
or the purchase of his allegiance by a
promised reward. Rebellion should
be met by stunning, crushing blows,
such as will vindicate and re-establish
authority and deter others from COM
uniting the same crime. Mildness is
cruelty under such circumstances.
All such cases demand instant and de-
termined action. The time for con-
Citation is after the rebels are subiu-
gated and the authority of the govern
ment is restored. But moral influence
and kindness should attend every act
of severity; never let the sun go down
upon the wrath of chastised pupil.
See him alone, bring to bear upon
him every moral power, treat him now
with kindness and confidence, and thus
restore him to duty and favor. With
out the rod, moral suasion might have
been powerless, or, if successful, what
was gained by persuasion was lost to
authority. 1t must never be doubtful
that the master has supreme control
over his little kingdom. If his author
ity is trifed with it must be restored
without delay, and any punishment is
necessary to this end. The system Of
government here recommended does
not offer an angry word or blow for
every offence, real or fancied. The
best masters who have adopted it pun
ish the least. And when severe pun
ishment becomes necessary, the pupil
is made to believe that sense of duty,
and not passion, nerves the arm to
strike the blow. He is made to under.
stand that it is the masters duty to
command and the pupils duty to obey.
Practically, the system of government
based upon authority has alone been
successful; every system that has aban-
doned the right or lost the power to
punish has proved failure.
In Furnishing for falsehood, pilfering,
profanity, and the like, it should be
born in mind that, while the rod and
reproof give WISDOM" yet the moral
treatment Of such offence is aza0ays APP
propriate, either with or without sew
Gritty, as the case may be, If the
knowledge of an offence is confined to
the offender and the teacher, it should
be treated privately, for the good of
the individual. But public crime
must meet public punishment, that all
similar cases may be reached and the
school benefited. Let the folly, wicked
ness, and consequences of the crime be
fully exposed and brought home to the
conscience. And in the settlement of
the question never fail to leave the