The Union times. [volume] (Union, S.C.) 1894-1918, 1907-01-11
AN INSTRUCTIVE PAPER
On Necessary Cooperation Between
Parents and TeaChers...Read by
Mrs. A. Foster MCKiSsiCk Before
State Teachers Association.

w auuiess you tnlS evening upon a
subject that is one of my special hob
bies, still / must confess that lust at
present | would much prefer being
teacher rather than represent the COM
posite parent who is required to ex-
press an opinion. To my mind the
necessary cooperation between pa
rents and teachers begins with a rea-
sonable accord between the parents:
the school of life with experience for
a hard teacher being the first school
IN which the poor little mite OF hu-
manity is entered. Here are learned
the first great lessons Of obedience to
law and order, and happy indeed is the
child who from infancy has been
trained and nurtured with wise and
loving care, by both father and mother,
with due regard for his future life.
Our children are usually sent to school.
either private or public at the age OF
SIX or seven, and from this time on for
fourteen or fifteen years,at least one
third OF their waking hours are spent
under the direct control OF the various
teachers as they pass from grade to
grade, on to college life Sometimes
1T seems to me that you. in your ca
pacity as teachers, fail to realize the
tremendous influence you can have up-
on the children committed to YOUR
care; and again | know that earnest,
hard-working teachers, doing all in
their power for the proper develop
ment of their charges, fail because the
necessary cooperation has not BEEN
given at home. We parents are re-
sponsible for our children, and if we
tail to control them ourselves, or
teach them self-control why should we
rebel if when they consistently break
the laws OF the schools they reap due
punishment? Yet this is the attitude
OF many parents towards the school
authorities; and the child is encourap-
ed in habits OF rebellion against au-
thority, in constant complaints against
the teachers, and in the long run, the
parents wonder why the particular
school to which their child goes should
always have such poor teachers. They
utterly fail to realize that the trouble
lies at homeland there too. lies the
remedy. If we would only teach our
children from the beginning to have a |
'lTe reverence for law, whether it be
~ -------'s-t the hnme or the
laws that govern the communaI n,- =!
the school, would we not also find in
after years a proper regard for the
laws OF the land? Laws are drawn for
the greatest good OF the greatest num-
Der, and while it may sometimes seem
to work an injustice can we not trust
the men and women to whom we have
intrusted the teaching of our children
to do justly by them. II we would con-
scientiously uphold the hands Of the
teacher; If when the troubles arise
that do seem so large in the eyes Of
the children, we would go ourselves
and find out where the trouble lies and
do our share towards Strengthening
matters out,-and / must confess it
means Strengthening out small child,
or big one, at home very often,-we
would be surprised to find how much
easier things are for ourselves, the
teachers and the pupils. There are
two old-fashioned $50 considered)
rules for school children that ii en-
forced by parents these days would
mean wonderful improvement in the
moral tone of our schools. The first
one is: II you are punished at school
for bad behavior, it will mean another
punishment at home. The second:
You should never criticise or complain
OF your teacher, for many time it is
the inattentive, unprepared pupil who
is at fault, for good scholar makes a
good teacher.
Now, my friends, cooperation
means working together, so all the
work cannot be done by the parents
alone. On the part of the teacher
and truly good teacher is born, not
made, and her price is above rubies,-
is the need not only of unlimited tact
and loving kindness, but OF patience
that will outrival Jobs. Not only has
he or she the forty-fve or fifty differ1
ent natures represented by the BOYD
and girls under their care to contend
with, but also twice that many parents|
And yet how often we see sensitivel
nervous children, with brains on thd
alert and TO whom a cross word ot