The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-04-08
AUrHoR1TYIN SCHOOL AVE noN,
Reply 10 an Argument for Corporal Punla
ment by Parents and Teachers.

To THE EDITOR OF The SUS-Sr. II,
article In one Of the April magazines by N,
Rev. Charles II. Hurkhurst, entitled. IN,
Decadence OF Positive Authority" arr4,t
attention, not only because Of It's ~pesslmi,,
tone. but because 1t lnferentlally asks 70, :,
larger measure of physical punishment A.
children by parents, and distinctly advoca,S
corporal punishment In our schools.
As TO the matter of corporal pu~nishm..
In the home and In the school, what reaso,
Is there for advocating a return to the crud,
conditions of the past? A child infringe, !,
rule Of the home, which angers the paren, A,
the guardian-and in ninety-nine coses out n
a hundred. whe9 corporal punishment h
administered, 1t IL by a person not in a nor,
nal frame Of mlnd-the child Is punlsAn
| by the infection OF physical pain. II a cha
has any spirit-and most children who linen,
| physical punishment are children Of s%pirlt-h,
naturally resents the infiction of pain.
The theory OF punishment has always beam
or ought to be, correction of a mlstak,'
notion existing In the mind of the child
The chIld Is angered, and In most cases n,
result is that he considers himself wronge
that he has a grievance himself, and ju,,
the opposite effect from what was INTENDED
is produced In him.
The great defect In our penology to-d.,
ib tiot hS tObhilS Va I NV NOlD tNtlHN
This principle Ia already recognized and
there Is ar effort on tho part Of penoloQIsu
70 invent means by which the criminal clas,
may be led to believe that thew are not beIn,
punished, but helped. The effort to attsr,
this end is not based upon sickly sentlm ent
but upon a right understanding OF huma,
nature. The criminal class Is a product Of
unfortunate conditions brought about By
criminal himself in most cases has no control
Therefore, the effort y TO correct the bad
state Of mind by apPeal!nE to the indiyidudi|
methods as are possible. having a due regard
to, the comforts of society In the meantime
All these m easures run counter to the old lda
must be met by brutality.
believe that the consensus Of opinion
Gmong the educators OF the. time Is that 4
education. when corporal punishment vai
.banished from the public schools. The public
school is primarily for the pupil. By training
bin hnDo Il the right way society ultimately L
The, best teacher is the one who is abb. to
appeal to the finer senslbill tiles of the pupil
the m ind, of the pupil for the teacher interiors
materially with such an appeal. II ths
teacher applies brute force he may. get mas
ls hard 10 understand how he can command
that respect and admiration which produces
confidence In the mind Of his scholar toi
MAJ mna t ~ ennnTa- he nmoutsv 40 s3nnethIhf
II the pupil Ia abnormal his effort should
be to change the nature. or-to put it another
way--to build up within the child ideals
ness. Can the teacher do this by ~inAlctIng
corporal punishment "A teacher who L
forbidden to resort to corporal punishment
DR.. P%arkhurst. II that is so. then the teacher
Is not the klnd Of teacher that she ought TO he.
The object of education in these DAYS Il
to do something more than Inafll n knOWla1pt
OF science or literature. 1t Is 10 build char.
acter: In. a word, to raise ideals. This can
only be done with the spirit of love. The in.
Election OF corporal punishment is not calcu.
lated to create that spirit.
CHARLES c.. PILGRIM.
NEWARK, April o.