The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1891-01-21
THE TARDY-BELL A FUNERAL-BELL-

| II. IL. Murdoch:
DEAR SIR:-Some years ago the then
managers of our city schools were seized
with sudden spasm for exact pUnctual
attendance at school, which finally de-
veloped into mania. 'Tardy-bells" were
rung, excuses were insisted upon and all
sorts of ingenious punishment was devised
until the school population was in an up
roar. You have greater and sadder
reason to remember the circumstances as
through these harsh measures you were
bereaved Of one of your family. At that
time you wrote an article for the EAGLE
vigorously attacking the system, and it eff
fectually ended it. / write this 10 ask you
TO republish the article, as a condition of
affairs now exist in the city schools if any
thing worse than it was then. Any place
in the city from $50 TO o'clock a. m. little
children can be seen rushing breathleSS
and in headlong haste to school, to escape
the ''tardy-bell;" any time after a. m.
you can see many children walking wear
lily back home again, as they reached there
from two to ten minutes after the fatal
bell had rung
y neighbor of mine sends his chill
dren nearly a mile TO school.
Yesterday, through the clock being
muddy they reached school six minutes
late, and were sent home for an excuse.
Their parents wisely thought they were
tired enough for that session and they lost
one-half day through six minutes tardi
ness. | am informed that two children
who come over mile to school, on reach
ing there five minutes late, had a placard
marked ''tardy" pinned on their breasts
and were compelled to stand on the floor
thaOugh one session OF school. The super
intendent visits the schools and delivers
long homily on the objectionable sin of
hardness, and his last report briStles with
figures showing how hardness had de-
creased under the iron hand that is going
crush it land / fear the children alSo) The
whole machinery of our schools at present
seems to be directed at this one object. l
have seen children going home in the
snow and mud. | have seen them hurry
to school until they were in perfect glow
of warmth from the eXertion only to find
that they were two or three minutes late,
and then locked out In the cold January
air to walk home again and chilled to the
bone TO catch a death of cold. 1t is a YER
liable slaughter of the innocents," and
should be stopped and stopped at once.
When the cause of education Is prosti-
tuted to such petty matters 1t Is drifting
far from its usefulness j.
The editor of the EAGLE remembers his
article. He can never forget the occasion
of it. We could not republish the article
readily, but we sympaUhize with those
that have been robbed by the tardy-bell
rule, rule which was never instituted
for anything but the convenience of those
who are well paid for their time in teach
ing. except in name or in a strained sense.
The 'tardy-bell' is the burthen of many
ha- a oil 10 70 ha
mental equilibrium and the we'll being of
a large per cent of nervous children. The
average teacher would rather a scholar
lost whole weeks school than that the
child should be one minute tardy. 1t is a
fact that teachers have intimated TO
scholars that if they found that they were
going to be tardy they had better be
absent for that session. Think of it. The
persons whom your money goes to sup
port in the discharge of one of the most
sacred trusts hold the mental
and physical well-being of your
child second consideration
TO their own convenience, and mayhap the
chance for the display of an Insignificant
rag of a tardy banner. OF course we have
heard the old, thin, threadbare plea of the
greatest good to the greatest number"
yet, all the same, the ''tardy bell, )" as now
by rule, is an outrage on scholar
and parent alike. The life of one pure. |
bright child, even though spiritually high |
strung and abnormally nervous, is of |
more value than all the machine-making |
regulations for uniformity and grade pro-
cess and so-called progress, ever devised by |
all the educational cranks which have |
sprung mp and fiourished on round salaries |
and short hours since the public school /
system was established. We thoroughly /
with the above mother in her |
protest against the tyranny per convent |
snce, enforced through the tardy-bell, |
which has proved the funeral-bell for |
many a home.-ED. EAGLE