The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1891-01-28


To the Editor of the Eagle.
While the school question is being dis
cussed, | propose 10 enter my protest
'agin'' the school
The tardy bell is a great humbug, and
ought to be abolished. If the scholar is
tardy, what of it? He certainly has
right TO be if the parent does not object
Wha: is the use of punctuality anyhow; it
is not observed anywhere else; business
men don't observe it, and if man is from
thirty minutes to an hour late in keeping
a business engagement, nobody grumbles.
If the employees in the factories and work
shops show up an hour late, their employ
ers only smile and raise their wages And
at the opera, if some belated ticket holder
comes strolling in after the performance
has commenced, it is no matter and gener-
ally pleases the audience more than the
! play. So why the necessity in compelling
prOmptness in school attendance, when 1T
is not observed anywhere else?
| Another objection to this ION time"
! rule is, it compels tired mothers and pale,
! overwOrked fathers to arise too early in
! the morning to get the children off to
/ school. Nine o'clock in the day IS an un-
! seemlY hour to commence school, and in
! families composed partly of school chill
dren it breaks up the most enjoyable hours
/ in the morning for sleep.
Another thing that seems outrageous in
/ connection with this matter is the fact
! that the school board have located some Os
/ the school houses long distances from
where many of the children reside-in fact.
] that is my principal cause for complaint.
! The school board have located the school
| house that my children are compelled to
attend more than a mile from my resi-
dence, and understand that in some of
the districts the school houses have been
located more than two miles from the resi-
dences of many people having children TO
send to school.
| would suggest as a remedy for this
hardness, that the time of commencing
school in the morning be changed, say, TO
half past ten or eleven o'clock, as this
would give children living at remote dis
tances plenty of time to get there. This
will also cover an objection made by some
of the critics. and one which | heartily en-
dOrse, that the children are obliged to
study too hard" while in school, To
obviate this difficulty, the school hours
could be shortened to one hour in the fore
noon, and one hour and one hour and a
half in the afternoon.
Some children find it very difficult to
lean to SPELL that is the trouble with my
boy. He has has been going to school now
v
words in the English language that he can
not spell; be don't seem TO have any great
ambition to learn to spell all of the words
in the English language, as a boy
ought to, aud so his teacher (who
by the way, is very nice
person outside of the school-room) abso-
lutely compels him TO learn TO spell ten
words overy day, some of the words hav-
ing three or four syllables Now il seems
TO me it is simply an outrage to compel
boy, only 10 years of age, to learn TO spell
ten words every day; this would be equal
to one word for every year of his age. If
this rule holds good in the Ligh-school.
where the scholars are from Is TO 10 years
old, they would be compelled to learn to
spell fifteen or sixteen words a day; pre-
pOSterousl
! am glad so many have taken hold of
this thing, and l hope they have made it
so hot for the teacher that they will not
only abolish the tardy bell, but will abol-
ish the school, For what is the use of
public schools, if a boy is to be ham
pered disciplined and governed, and not
be allowed to do as he pleasess
One of the boasts and privileges of the
American citizen is that he can do as he
wishes and any school system or any
other system that hampers the boy and
depriveS him of that sweet prerOgative IS
a humbug. W. L. STANLEY.