Wood River times. [volume] (Hailey, Idaho) 1882-1915, 1888-04-07
DON'T WHIP CHILDREN.
A Relic Of Barbarism, Which Should
Not Be Tolerated in the Public
SRhNNlc

Not Be Tolerated In the Public
Schools.
Portland tOr) News
The following from the New York
Graphic, is the better sentiment in re-
spect to the treatment of children:
1t is said that the question of abol-
ishing corporal punishment in the
public schools is being strongly agi-
tated in the cities and villages along
the Hudson. 1t ought to be agitated |
from one end of the land to the other. I
The only proper person to chastise
child is parent. The moral effect
is lost altogether when the punish
ment is inflicted by stranger, and if
in the administration thereof the hand
does not fall with the same discretion
as when the parent applies the correc-
tive.
A teacher cannot be expected to
study and understand the tempera-
ment of every pupil under his or her
control. As a consequence he or she
cannot determine whether the punish
ment that will restrain one child will
not break the spirit of another A
sensitive, nervous boy feels the dis
grace and the pain of physical chas-
tlsement far more keeniy than the
rugged, phlegmatic youngster who
takes it as part of his curriculum;
and while in the one case it may have
a salutary effect, in the other in rem
ders the pupil sullen, and incites HIN
to clandestine mischief.
BY all means abolish corporal pun
ishment in the public schools. No
teacher should possess such power.
Corporal punishment, whether Of
adults or children, whether by law, by
school teachers or parents, is relic
of the barbarous ages in which the
rack and the wheel, the iron boot and
thumbscrew, and other methods of
torture, were commonly practised.
Flogging has been abolished i'll the
American and British Navy, and in
the Army of each nation. Even in
| Russia it is less frequently inflicted.
In England it is ordered as punish
ment only in the cases of most har-
dened criminals, convicted of brutal
and heinous otfenses. In only two
States Of the Union is whipping made
the punishment of criminals, and the
ordinary infection is from one to a
dozen lashes. Only in aggravated
cases is the number increased to &c
lashes.
The old style teachers, from more
than a century ago down to a recen
period, particularly in the Old Coun
try, practised whipping to excess
They seemed to be impressed with tn
belief that learning must be beate,
into the pupil. 1t was generally tn:
same with teachers in our own coun
try. But in the better conducted
schools Of this period, corporal punish
ment is either abandoned as a means
of discipline, or inflicted only in ex
IRENE cases. The best and most or
r derby, most exemplary schools ar
} those in which the ferule and the roc
|, are never used to torture the pupils
Mankind is becoming more human
, even with the domestic animals. So
cicties for the prevention Of cruelt
to dumb beasts are established
throughout the land. Rarey and hi
followers have taught and demon
strated that the most fractions horse
can be subdued and made doci!e b.
patient, kind treatment, while the Will
and the temporary mastery of brut
force has the effect to make them in
eradicably vicious. In training colt
the most thorough turfmen now pa
more attention to the eradication O
obstinate nature and wild temper, b
careful training and kind treatment
: and never use or allow the harsh dis
y ciple of angry tone or the whir
;. The most spirited and high-tempere
+ horses are thus brought to docilit
and obedience.
Shall i. be contended that a child
y less governable than colt? Passion
s ate and quick tempered parents, III
,. able to govern themselves, and settin
r. the example to their children, canne
reasonably expect them to behav
with propriety and decorum. The
,, faults are inherited and every da
fresh examples are before them .
a home. 1t would be against reason
e expect the children of this order {
t parents to behave with unfailing pre-
!, priety. 1t is more unreasonable
= whip them for copying the example {
u parents constantly set before them.
l. But in schools, there is no justice
,. ton for whipping, except in very raj
cases-and even in these more salt
tary discipline is at the discretion I
i, the teacher. The rod is discarded
% the better conducted schools Of Il
y generation. The public schools of Sa
=. Francisco furnish demonstration {
n this. OF the nearly 20 publ
n schools of all grades in that city, co