The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1903-06-14
Alg Don DOYS IOaSLAVLISS!


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sven N. ,~schevs Disagree wh"n confron'~d
With ,hs foregoing questions and that
principals are no' w any means N on~ mind
~ ~ tho Wisdom ~ dIscip,inins sven ,h~
mcs' refractory n their chass~s With thu
rod
some maintain that corporal punish
mont is relic ~ batbsrisn,. and that never
again should u ~ put into practice" Others
M confidently predict that before many
moro months have gone by tho hoy who
wilfully and perpistentiy violates school
r,ilcs and dsHes his teacher will and himself
up against something more strenuous 'han
moral s,iasion.
The Board ~ Education has not vet tsen
The matter mp oficislly. II may never
do 90. its action will depend on the
| answers returned by the membsrs Of tho
principals association to q circular letter
which has bccn sent TO each, asking his
vicw Of the subject Of discipline In the
schools. OF tr,iancy. and Of other equally
important matters.
Thess answers will be considered BY Q
committee Of four principals, and II II Ia
found that . majority Of them favor cor
pornl punishment, then the question will
be submitted to the higher powers.
II 10 moro than thirty years sincs corporal
punishment was abolished from the New
York schools. Therefore not many Of the
male principals now In ONCE were teachers,
even. at that time. For this reason they are
not able from actual experience to make
comparisons between the older order Of
discipline and the now. Strangely enough,
though. 1t Ia the younger mon who indorse
corporal punishment a. the best and quick
eat and most enectual method Of dealing
with certain class Of misdemeanors.
But. interesting a. that side Of the ques-
ton ID, 1T is far less 20 than the fact 1t makes
PLAINTIFF need Of bringing up the question
at all. And that there lie such q need mono
Of the public school authorities denies.
For one thing, the percentage Of trusnts
has never been 30 large. Then. by inference
from what some Of the principals do not
say, rather than from what they admit,
there 10 a spirit Of rebellion against au-
thority shown by young America which,
in the schools Of the more congested dis
tricts, manifests itself in ways that serve to
make the path of teachers and principal
anything but pleasant.
This is especially true OF boys. Badgerod
to his Wits end tho only recourse Of tho
principal In these days, when dealing with
q case Of lons-conttnued and Systematic
characterization, is suspension.
Sent to the Children's Court, the chances
are 10 to that the Judge will let the orlprit
on with a reprimand. saying 1t 10 . case
for q good thrashing rather than for .
court trial.
II suspended. where IL the boy to soi
He can't be sent to the truant school, as the
school law now stands, without the per-
mission OF his parents. which Is not always
to be had. Moreover, tho truant school
10 not nearly big enough for the truants.
To add to its population boys who are aus
pended for causes other than trlancy 10
not to be thought Of.
Hence tho tentative airing Of the quss-
ton Of corporal punishment.
Il don't believe the small boy 10 deeen-
Grating" replied a district superintendent
in answer to q pointblank question. There
are extenuating circumstances to DO urged
In the case of the twentieth century urchin.
For instance. he has moro incentives
to lawlessness than had the boy OF thirty
years ago. Children OF all ages are moro
independent now than they used to be.
Nowadays there are more attractions
or the small boy In the streets, and he
lives more in the streets. Take our river
fronts, for example. They have a wonder
ments. who take every chance they can
get to associate with longshoremen, lum-
bermen, sailors-good, bad and tho worst.
lnclQeht0uy, IHe Uoys never iolI 70 PICK
up the manners and explosives Of the sailors,
and later practise them in the Classroom.
Practically they are men In miniature and
for that reason they find school discipline
all the more irksone.
Another handicap for the twentieth
century boy is the inability Of his parents
to control him. Parental authority in
these days and some quarters Of the city
really counts for naught, and the child Ia
scarcely to blame for it.
Il am perfectly willing to admit that a
spirit Of lawlessnees and disregard Of au-
thority il more manifest among pu bio
school children now than 1t was in the
old days, but. at the same time, believe
the boy Of to-day 10 no worse than he ever
was. It will not do to lay all the blame
at his door
4 gray-haired principal who was public
school teacher thirty-five years ago. had
this to say,
Il do not think that the four or Ave slaps
on the hand administered to public school
pupils thirty years ago had so much to do
with their better behavior as did the fact
that parents had more control over their
boys once upon a time than they have
ool a,,ntNrtaI tho taapher moro