Ladysmith news-budget. [volume] (Ladysmith, Rusk County, Wis.) 1907-1927, 1913-10-24
THE TEACHERS AUTHORITY

THE TEACHERS AUTHORITY
! Every child who goes to school,
and every parent who has a child
in school is interested in the extent
! to which a teacher may control the
| conduct OF the pupils both in and
out of school 1t is well settled that
within the school room the author
| ~ OF the teacher is supreme. In the
! and rstanding Of the law the teach
II has been delegated the parents
authority to exercise while the child
is within his care.
The teacher has the right to main
tain discipline and enforce proper
rules. In doing this, the teacher may
| resort to physical punishment, unless
| forbidden by statute, as in New Jer-
sey, or by the rules of his superiors.
But the punishment which the teach
| e1 may administer must be reason
able, and if it amounts to unreason-
| able and unnecessary violence, the
| teacher is liable to the injured pu-
Dill in an action for assault and bat
terry.
The question frequently arises as
to the authority of the teacher While
| the pupil is either on the way to
school or on the way home from
school, Generally speaking, both
teacher and parent have authority
over the child during this period,
! the teachers authority being cons1d-
cred necessary for the maintenance
of school discipline. Not all states
however, recognize this rule. For in
stance, New York takes the position
that the teachers authority does not
extend beyOng the school building
and grounds. The majority of the
states, however, follow the general
| rule stated above, and in not a few
states, as California, Pennsylvania,
| Washington, Virginia, New Jersey,
etc, the teacher is given this au-
thority by state law
In one recent case teacher caned
two of his pupils for fighting on the
way to school An action was brought
against the teacher and 1t was
strongly urged that he had exceeded
his authority in furnishing for an act
committed away from the school
premises. The judges took the fol-
lowing view of the matter
"The power of the schoolmaster to
punish a pupil is not limited to acts
which take place within the four
walls of the school premises. His
authority over the pupil is an auth
| GRITTY delegated to him by the par
ent, and, though it would not ex-
tend to the conduct of pupil while
under his parents roof, when the
parental authority would be resumed,
| it must extend to the conduct Of
the pupil on his way to and from
school.
Very grave consequences would
result if it We're held that the par
ents authority was exclusive up to
| the door of the school; and that
| then, and only then, the masters au-
| thority commenced. 1t cannot be
that such duty or power ceases the
| moment that the pupil leaves school
| for home. Parents do contemplate
such an exercise of authority by the
schoolmaster. The principle shows
| that the authority delegated to the
| schoolmaster is not limited to the
| four walls of the school"
| Generally speaking, after the pupil
| has arrived home he is entirely with
in the control of his parents and the
| teacher has no control over his acts
and may not punish for anything he
may do while entirely within the par
ent's control Certain exceptions to this
rule are recognized, as an early Yer
mont case shows One evening the
pupil was driving home his fathers
cows, together with other pupils.
| They passed the teachers home, and
the boy called him "Old Jack Sea-
| fCl. uS HCAt WuCh oC1tCSA
opened Seaver reprimanded the boy
for the insulting language and then
whipped him. The boy brought action
for assault and battery.
! The court said: There seems to
| be no reasonable doubt that the
supervision and control Of the master
Ovar tho 0cholarS cYtoud from fha
time he leaves home to go to school
until he returns home from school
| When the child has returned home
to his parents control, then the
parental authority is resumed, and
the control of the teacher ceases;
and then for all ordinary acts of mis-
behavior the parent alone has pow
er to punish. 1t is not misbehavior
| lxy