The Democrat. (Scotland Neck, Halifax Co., N.C.) 1884-1896, 1895-09-05
ABOUT SCHOOLS.
TEACHERS AND PARENTS.
The Needed Cord Of Sympathy.


DUTY OF PARENTS
L believe 1t Is time that the Amerl-
| can school system should receive a lit
tie more personal attention at the hands
OF our parents, and the position of the
teacher be more clearly understood
The average parent owes 1t as duty to
himself and to herself and to his or
her children. The cry Of "no time" Of
the engrossed business man or the busy
housewife is not a legitimate excuse.
We should find time, we must make
time tor a matter which so closely con
Germs the future welfare of our own
flesh and blood. Parents must become
a more personal part of the school life
OF their children, or the present misun-
derstanding of the teachers capabili-
ties and the existing evils in our school
buildings Will never be remedied and
removed. That our schools are over
crowded admits OF no question We
AldNC Jill W WdtCll Ul1C 1lCWSDdDcIS dt
this season of the year when our schools
are opening, to read the number OF
children crowded into inadequate space
and the number who are refused ad-
mittance altogether, or taught on half
time. The worst possible ventilation
exists in the majority of our school
rooms. The foul air which our child
ren breathe into their lungs for FIVE
hours of each day would amaze some
parents if they would take the trouble
to visit the schools which their child
rem attend. Not long ago an observant
teacher, a woman who stands high in
her profession in the West, wrote to
me 81 have been a teacher for fifteen
years, and l am frank to say that rath-
er than commit my little one to breathe
the fetid air of some of our schoolroOms
| would keep him at home. Again
and again have | gone into classrooms
when the air was such as make one
grow sick and faint. Generally it comes
from lack of ventilation, caused IN the
main by circumstances over which the
teacher has no control at other times
bv the teachers own carelessness or her
occupation with so many other duties
that she forgets this important ques-
ton Of pure air Do / wonder that so
many children go home with headache
No, my wonder Is rather that the health
Of our children is 50 good" This sub
iect has often been agitated, and the
most startling facts laid bare, yet our
parents are Indifferent to 1t.
SYMPATHY WITH TEACHERS.
The teacher, too, should have her
hands upheld by the parents. She
hlust be better understood, and her po-
sition more intelligently appreciated.
Without assistance from the parents,
the school-teacher fights single-handed
and against the most difficult odds. Not
only is it incumbent upon the parent
that he or she should personally know
the teacher of the child, but the teach
er should be given the opportunity Of
seeing her pupils home life. A snowl-
edge of the domestic influences which
surround a child has frequently helped
a teacher in her proper guidance OF the
pupil at school. She works more in
telligently when she knows the wishes
OF the parents and the peculiarlties OF
the child If teachers and parents
would come closer together than they
do the beneficial results to the children
would be incalculable. Not only would
such a closer coming together be felt
bv parents and pupil, but by the teach
er in fitting her better for her work.
glimpse of the cheer Of domestic life
would mean much to the average
school-teacher who passes her evenings
in boarding-house. And the average
teacher proves a delightful guest at
home table Her vocation usually
makes her well-intormed and her mind
is keen bv constant training. Two OF
the brightest and wittiest women ever
met. women as charming in their man
ners as repartee was sparkling and their
Wit delicious. are teachers in one Of
New York's public schools. They were,
in fact. the brightest women at the ta-
BILE at which they sat and surprised
their hostess with their capacity as So
.cial additions. These women are reg
ular guests at many a table in the homes
of their pupils, and much Of their sue
cess with the children at school, they
have told me, is attributed to the OPP
portunities they have enjoyed of COM
ing into this personal contact with the
parents under their charge. There are
people who have yet to learn that the
day of the proverbial spectacled school
ma'am is over, and that some Of ou1
very brightest women are in the schools
of our cities, towns, and villages.
SOCIAL VIRTUES.
We are now at the season OF the year