Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1906-03-05
70 IMPROVE MANKIND
An Ohioan Has a Theory For
Improving and Training
Minds OF Young
BY SCHOOL RULE
Out Of Her Injunction in School Days
Pupil, Now Aged. Evolved System
Be Taught Voluntary Obedience
Cites Its Good Results.

CtteS us GoOu ttoSulC0s
When Miss Flora Atkins, Il teacher II
q small country school III the Wnde dis
trict, near Ashtnbula, o., told her pu
pills in 1888 that she would rely OF
them to keep order voluntarily she lii
tie dreamed TINT the whole course Of
life Of half OF her pupils would be Ill
1ueneed by her words, says II Cleve
land CO., dispatch.
One Of the pupils, Deacon Aaron
Pickett OF Ashtabula hns followed the
course Of each member OF the class and
has put his findings into manuscript
He has gone further and has evolved Il
system Of parental. school and state
government based on the result Of Miss
Atkins experiment seventy-two years
ago.
In the Wade district, so named from
the original home Of the family OF
United States Senator benjamin r.
Wade, stood stnall log schoolhouse,
into which were crowded thirty pupils
ranging iii age from six to twelve
years. Miss Atlsias told them the very
first day thnt she would expect them to
keep order Of their own accord. She
laid down one rule. and only one, but
1t was in scope SO broad that It covered
all the many rules usually put In force
by teachers. That rule was:
do nothing that will distract the at
tention Of another pupil from his
work"
Simple, wasn't It? Yet 1t covered the
offenses Of whispering. passing notes,
throwing paper balls, general restless
ness and all the deviltry that school
boy can invent.
All Of the thirty were induced the
first day to promise to obey the rule.
At the end of the second day one boy
had broken the rule. He never again
by good department got over on the
side Of the good pupils. At the end
Of the third day three had broken the
rule, and In 4 week fifteen were num-
bered among the unruly. A week was
long enough to test the staying pow
era OF all IN the cause Of good school
government. Those WHO stuck to the
rule for week were obedient for the
entire term. The school was evenly
divided all the remainder Of the term
fifteen good to fifteen bad.
Those who followed the customary
course Of infant rebellion received the
usual modes Of correction and plodded
along the usual way with their school
work. All Of these pupils were IN
Miss Atkins school for four years. long
enough to form hsbits. As years rolled
along results We're carefully watched
by Aaron Pickett, the boy who be-
came so intensely interested In Miss
Atkins plan Of voluntary obedience.
The pupils left school. The young
man kept trace of them. Years rolled
by, and he became old, yet he still fol-
lowed his inquiries. At the end Of
fifty years hs compiled record Of the
class OF thirty, and these were the re-
suits: OF the obed1ent fifteen there
were alive thirteen. OF the dlsobedient
fifteen there were only three surviving.
The thirteen obedient had splendid
records. All were educated. some high
". No one Of them used profane lam
guage or Intoxicating liquor. Only one
had used tobacco, and one had become
involved In lawsuit. They all bore
good regulations in the communities
where they lived and were numbered
among the best citizens, though not
among the wealthy.
The three disobedie0t could not claim
records Of that kind. One was law
yer, ruined by drink and often in Jail.
Another was small rated farmer fire.
quently In trouble. Nearly all Of the
disobedient had been selfsh-more anx-
ious to satisfy their own desires for IL
cense than to live for the good of them
selves and the remainder Of the COM
As result they were disturb
ers, given frequently to quarrelsome-
ness. their habits being such as would
tend to shorten human life.
AZ LAC SAlN VI oCNSiiIy ASaSOA
Pickett took another census. Eight Of
the obedient were living, but only two
Of the disobedient From this record
the deacon has evolved theory Of ed
ucation. He believes that the entire
human race can be taught voluntary
obedience not only to school rules, but
to the laws Of the land and the tenets
Of health and morality.
If the system were adopted in the
schools he believes It's influence would
spread. At first only half of the pupils
might be willing to obey voluntarily,
and the only force acting to bring
about such obedience would be the
teachers. Soon this force would be in
creased by the pupils who had grown
to maturity and had children of their
own. The percentage Of the obedient
would then become greater, Deacon
Pickett believes, and eventually the
habit would become fixed in the entire
ace This would take some years, he
but Mt last It would become
part Of human nature.