The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1895-06-08

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and over, in this school and all the
others: The room is not overly well
ventilated; public schoolroom rarely
is. This is not usually the fault of
the teacher, but rather of the archi-
tect, or possibly the school directors.
When the plan which was designed
for the directors grandfather barn
is reduced for the school-house, one
cannot expect much of school
house. And one is not disappointed.
The pupils in this room, then, having
breathed up all the air there is, and
having then gone to work on each
others breaths and used them up,
naturally become heavy headed,
stupid, asphyxiated,
Here is boy who cannot remem-
Der his own name. AS to geography,
Texas is a vague blur on the map
some where in Rhode Island, he
thinks, but he wisely refuses to COM
NIT himself positively. In history, he
remembers that Sam Houston wrote
the Declaration of Independence, and
that the dying words of Captain
Lawrence were, "Don't give up the
Alamor' In arithmetic he makes a
"dead funk" striking his colors
without firing shot. What that boy
needs is five, ten or fifteen minutes in
the great, big, wide out-of-doors. He
needs run and wrestle, jump and
a yell-twenty-five or thirty yells,
that will swell and expand his lungs
like national debt in war tine.
What does his blessed teacher do?
No, no, don't try to speak; l am ad-
ministering this knout. Keep the
boy in at recess. l have seen you do
it; once, twice-if | had as many
dollars as I've seen you keep boys
and girls in at recess because they
missed their lessons, | would buy d
new pair of clothes every week in the
year.
Now, it does seem to me, that OF all
the antiquated, outgrown, senseless
punishment laid upon the growing
human race, this is the most-well, l
was going to say imbecile, but l
won't, because it is used by the most
intelligent, the wisest, by all odds
the most patient, and 1 will say, too,
the gentlest people in America. [
fancy the punishment is simply an
illustration of the survival of the un-
fittest. We use it because our fathers
used it, and they used it because, pos
sibly, they didn't know any better.
Why, it has been within the century,
think, that the custom of lashing
the last man who Skinned aloft when
they were shortening sail was abol-
ished in the English navy. Took the
admiralty l don't know how many
years to learn that when men go aloft,
one at time, somebody has to be
last. The custom was borrowed
from the Chinese, who train their
ducks to come aboard the boat
promptly by the same method; the
last duck up the plank is beaten all
the way. 1t isworthy of the Chinese.
And SO this method of Furnishing a
pupil for stupidity, by keeping him
in the very atmosphere which engen-
ders his stupidity, is relic of
barbarous yesterday. 1t is on a par
with the law of Imprisonment for
debt. If a man can't pay his debts,
put him in Jail, where he can never
earn cent, until he does pay. This
foolish old world, slow of heart and
brain to learn and quick to forget.
Now, / am man of mature years.
am still in school; never expect to
graduate. But | have more control
over my own movements than used
to possess. Some days the world
turns round too fast; the slot ma
chine which does what | am fond of
calling my thinking for me is out of
order. everything gets jumbled, dates,
places, names, ideas: the books read
backward, like witch's charm; there
is Sahara of paper as blank as my
brain-and those pages must be filled
before the sun goes down. What do
/ do? "Stay in at recess7" Stick to
that muddled and muddling den of
mine. cropping about in amuddy pond
of stupid confusion in the hope of
graphing thought by and by? Not
much. | bolt out of the door, l make
bee line for the woods, / take a
brisk walk, | run over to the village
and mix up with men, l get away
from the den, and the inkwell and the
typewriter. don't shake your head
at mel do, l tell you'll "play
hooky" for half an hour, an hour,
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