Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1895-10-24
MORAL EFFECTS OF THEIR
OVER
BAD HABITS ARE FORMED
1t Is Chiefly During the Time When
Teachers Are Hearing One Sec
tion Recite While Another Is
studying Childish FalSehoods
and Misrepresentation.

and second. the punishment Of wrong
doing. 1t is not probable that very
young children do wrong things de-
liberately. In the majority of cases
their mischief is the result of misdi-
rected activities, imitation and lack
of Judgment. The reasoning faculty
lies dormant leaving the child at the
mercy of impulse and his often too
vivid magma ton.
One Of the most common faults Of
little children is that Of telling false
hoods. l am inclined to think that
most Of the cases of childish false
hoods which do not arise from cow
ardice are due to wrong impressions.
All things outside of mathematical
limits are relative. Our judgments
which seem to be instantaneous are
really made up of numerous compar-
isons whose results are a part Of our
| mental equipment. The proper
growth of this ability for comparison
and the correct deduction of the laws
of cause and effect depend upon en-
vironment.
good illustration of this point can
! be drawn from the old fashioned
game of gossip" The leader of the
game repeats a rather long and
sometimes nOnsensical sentence to the
first Of a long row of persons; he in
his turn repeats it to the person
seated next to him and so on till each
person in the row or circle has
heard and in his turn repeated the
sentence, the last person repeating it
for the benefit of the whole company.
/ The experiment has been tried in two
different rooms with two companies
as widely separated as possible in
point Of experience in memory and
quoting work. The inexperienced
people made many mistakes, while
the persons with the trained memo
rieS- made 50 few changes in the sen
fences that it bore no resemblance to
gossip of any kind.
This is an illustra ton of the result
OF the training of the most mechan-
ical of the faculties but the one which
: is the most easily observed. The per-
ception Of size and quality, time anU
effort are not to be recognized with
out careful attention from the OBJ
server. A child fails in his recitation.
but assures the teacher that he stud
led "a long time" and he is probably
honest in his report for the time
spent upon a hard or disa greeable
task seems long. Many teachers
j have too little sympathy for their
pupils. The tasks are so very rudi-
mentary that it is difficult to realize
that they represent new and difficult
matter for the children.
One bad result of leaving children
to their own resources while study
ing is the acquiring the habit of
copying. At first it is more than
probable that the child has no
thought of being dishonest Little
ones take great pride in doing all
their work correctly. The nearness
of the desks and the innate tendency
to compare his work with his neigh
boris inclines him to look at his
classmates slate or paper, and the
next step, that of changing his own
results for those of his neighFbor who
Is usually successful, is short and
easy but not necessarily vicious If
It is not checked, however, it leads to
several demnralizing habits, namely
Slyness. dishonesty, laziness and in
accuracy.
The committee of ten" has sug-
gested Il much needed change. that
of dispensing with much of the diff
f1cult abstract mathema teal work
and supplying exercises in form work
and other exercises calculated to de-
velOp accuracy and self reliance This
change will dispose of many incen.
tives to dishonesty. In the matter Of
behavior we require much more of
little children than we ever realize
with older people. Witt our present
facilities for teaching it may be I'M
avoidable, but it frequently results in
injustice to the child. In a class
room containing two divisions or
grades, one division must remain
quiet while the other is reciting. The
teacher cannot do justice to herself
or the class ON the floor if her at
lSHCIou LuuSl De CIV ell TOT IL part OIL
the time to the Studying class.
It is during these So-called studying
periods that most Of the school bad
habits are formed. After all the
whispering, dropping Of books, teas
ing Of mates are of very slight IN
jury to the child compared with the
development Of slyness, laziness and
disrespect for the rights of others
which the custom fosters.
Until children reach a mental de-
velopment which enables them to use
a dictionary intel1igently. to reason
logically and work accura tely they
should never be compelled to employ
themselves without the care and di-
rection Of a competent teacher. Be
fore the child can study he must be
taught how to study.
1t is unfortunate that many par
ems leave nearly all the moral train
ing to the teacher. Many more par
ents are incapable Of training the |
moral nature Of their children either |
by precept or example. The teacher |
works under many disadvantag es. |
among which are ignorance Of inner |
tied qualities, home environment and |
the opposition of parents. If the
teacher does not treat Jimmie Smith |
exactly as she does Johnnie Jones |
and Willie Brown she is accused OF |
partiality. Nevertheless if the said |