The St. Johns herald., 1902-01-11

The question of discipline has come
 up at Waukegan, Ill. It is about the
 infiction of corporal punishment in the public schools. Under an old rule o1 the board, the use of the rod was al.
 lowed in the case of "bad boys," but
 the rule had become dead letter. Re
 gently there was an aggravated case
 which attracted unusual public atten-
 tion, and this aroused discussion of the
 form of punishment that should be ap-
 piled to pupils on whom moral suasion
 and kindness had no effect, and who
 continued to defy their teachers. To
 dismiss them manifestly was not to the
 point, and so the school board again adopted an order that teachers should
 use the rod in their discretion. But the
 public had already taken so much in-
 terest in the case that sentiment be-
 came divided, some citizens declaring
 that if the rule is followed with their
 children they will in turn whip the
 teachers-a thing that suggests possi-
 bly that'if they had had a little more whipping in their own school days, they
 might probably have been better citi- zens. There is very good authority for the saying that to spare the rod means to spoil the child, says the IndianapO- lis News. Whether discipline take this form or not, or whether it must inevit. ably in some cases be reduced to this form, there Is no question that disci- pline must be maintained. Some teach CTS are not fit to be intrusted with the power of chastising children, for they will abuse that power; they have not to begin with the right kind of govern ment over themselves. Others can be trusted, still others will be able to maintain order without whipping. There Is much also to be taken into ac- count as to the pupils. Some might be punished with profit, others might be made worse by it. It is, indeed a most difficult question, but certainly there should be an agreement on one thing, and that is that discipline must be maintained not merely for the sake of the schools, but for the pupils. With out discipline, however enforced, chiI- dren will surely grow up in lawless condition. They will have in them es- sentially that element of defiance that is the basis of lawbreaking in after life. The judges of our criminal courts and of higher courts both East and West in recent years have been singu- larly unanimous in the belief that whipping should be a form of punish ment for juvenile offenses. Their long ,on the bench has taught them that incOrrigible boys, those who have passed the happy moment when the sense of discipline may be incuI- cated in them, have reached the stage when nothing will arouse that sense like corporal punishment; that fines and imprisonment and reform schools alike are weak and frequently not to be with the prompt administra- ton of corporal punishment. The oues- 1 tion is a deep one. It Is something more than the mere humiliation or large appearance of authority which many seem to think are the chief fea- lures of the act. The essential thing is that where there is a case of .sbad boy" on whom all moral suasion is there Is sure sign that the turning point has been reached and | that the spirit must be conquered and taught that discipline must be ae- cepted.