The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1900-03-13

The principals OF the public schools
held their regular monthly meeting at
the High school yesterday. In the alb
sence OF President Kemmerling the
chair was occupied by Prof. stone. The
subject for the day was, Absence and
Hardness in the Public Schools" A
paper on that subject was read by Miss
Josephine d. Lees, which was as fol-
lows:
Absence and tartliness In the public
schools are diseases and as such must
be dealt with. They may be Of mild
or Niru;ent form and must be dealt with
accordingly. They may even become an
epidemic and again they must be treated
AS We would contagious and deadly NAL
adics, for their results are as fatal to the
best workings of a school as any disease
of bod:' which attacks the flesh. Let
us consider. cause, effe,t and remedy.
Up, to-date scientists believe that We
carry about with us at all .imes the
germs of fever. pulmonary trouble and
all other ills 10 which the tiesh Ia heir,
and that only certain conditions ere rec
essary to develop them. I Am inclined
to that belief and am also disposed to
think that schoolboys and schoolgirls
have in their compositions the germs Of
absence from and tardiness at school,
and that favorable conditions being fur
nisntd the evolution Is certain, rapid
and in many cases calamitous.
Now what are the conditions under
which these microbes thrive and call
into being these two common diseases
of school children?
SOME OF THE CAUSES.
You will say that they vary according
to the age and surroundings of the child.
That Is true. Among the Kindergarten
a ~ SNrfv t.
generally the innocent cause. Unless the
child wakens itself at seasonable hour,
what true mother is there but who
bending over her little one. hesitates to
rouse 1t from peaceful slumbers to hurry
| 1t away from her presence. Perhaps an
other mother oppressed with a multitude
of cares is glad to see the little one
wrapped in the arms of Morpheus, in or
der to give her an opportunity to dis
patch a few of her imperative duties.
never dreaming of the annoyance she Is
causing a painstaking teacher, or the
habit she is unwittingly fostering in the
child she loves SO well. We will advance
| a few years and note the cause there.
Among girls, household cares have be-
an errand demands her attention. With
| boys. chores must be done. his animal
pets must he fed or the morning news
paper which he delivers Is a little late in
being issued. We will go on to the age
of grammar and high school pupils and
here ] may say, that In nearly all cases
the demands of society are the causes of
absence from and tardiness at school,
What mistake to allow.
These are a few of the causes, now the
effect.
The effect is the same In all grades
the formation of a habit that is most
pernicious in it's results. "Habit is a
| cable: we weave thread of it every
| day. until II becomes so strong we cam
| not break it," Carelessness in pune
| tuality is a disease that follows the un-
fortunate habitue through life. thwarts
| his ambitions and rendering useless his
efforts that otherwise might lead to sue
cess. "Be punctual Is a principle that
parents and teachers should early incul-
cate into this plastic and precious ma
terial with which we deal
| THE REMEDY.
| We have hastily reviewed cause and
| effect, now let us look at the most i'm
portant side of the question, the remedy.
As teachers, let us first. to use a homeiy
| expression, see that our own doorstep Is
Clean As principals. are we examples
| of punctuality to the teachers and pu-
pills under us? DO our pupils, the com.
nSunity, and the superintendent. fire.
quenty see us hurrying into the build
ing just as the clock points to the hour:
| factions speak louder than words" and
n teacher who does only what is absO.
lutely required of him or her, will find
difficulty in obtaining even that Of his
pupils. A teacher should teach more
than arithmetic, spelling, reading. etc
he should teach many things not laid
down in books nor specified by board
| Of control.
Children are not stupid or unmindfu
Of the points that characterize the pune
tual teacher He soon sees that he has
or has not, a teacher who gets there II
time to attend to the details attendant
upon the opening of the session. His desl
and it's arrangements. the adjustment OF
the window curtains. and the black
boards have all received his attention
and he himself has taken an air thai
shows that business begins promptly at
o'clock. Example Is the most forcefu
remedy. Devices may be resorted to II
young children. One primary teacher OF
my acquaintance displays an ION Time