The county record. [volume] (Kingstree, S.C.) 1885-1975, 1920-02-26

inmate III SOlnc llillAlS tllluS oAo
bring on the aggressor the sudden
wrath and blow he has invited, and
yet even to an eye witness, the blow
be wholly unprovoked and worthy of
sharp punishment. Even open defiance
of teacher or parent may result
from a firm or mistaken belief on the
part of the child that he is in the
right. To answer that heroic defiance
with blows, till the sense of justice is
lost in pain, is vicious. But having, as
YOU think, eliminated the chance that
YOU are mistaken you have still to
consider the physical condition of the
offender.
MANY children are slightly defective
in hearing, and appear insolent, vi
| cious or lazy about their tasks sim
ply because they do not understand
| what is wanted or what is said around
them. BY sharp attention they can
hear, but sharp attention all the time
is beyond their powers. You should
discover those who are in this class,
or someone should by careful eXamin-
alton, before you whip. Another class
| is afflicted with defect of the eyes.
They suffer a continual nerve strain
from efforts at eye adjustment which
results in irritation, sudden swapping
/ of the bonds of authority, and diff
Guilty in study. You have no right to
whip any child until you mow,-not
guess but know, that the child is not
defective as to sight or hearing.
Some children are not able to COM
prehend some particular line of study.
They seem capable but do not get the
lesson. For example, the writer of
this was never able to understand
algebra; he does not now. He knows
that he tried, and tried hard, to un-
derstand it. He was once sent home
from high school beccuse he appar-
emily would not do the work, but the
truth is he was, at least at that time,
unable to grasp it, though good in
mental arithmetic and above the aver
age in some other studies. He might
have been whipped to death, and it
would have made no difference. "He
could learn it if he wanted to-" is
often an opinion the teacher has,
which is not founded on fact.
One should not whip for mental
peculiarities. "But are there not cases
where the defiant and impudent
wrong-doing boy needs sharp les
SOM" would ask in return if the
whipping is usually given while the
wrong is being done, and if not, can
the questioner say that it is only for
the purpose of stopping something
which is being done, that he would
use the whip? There is much confu-
sion as to the right to use force. To
use it to stop a man in a crime he is
then attempting, to stop boy in i'm
pudent defiance may be simply self
protection, or protection of family,
school or social order. The boy who
swaggers from his seat in school, or
sits impudently reviling his teacher
has attacked the school, and is at
tacking it while he acts that way.
Attack n y be resisted, but the right
to punish is more seriously compli-
Gated matter. If the teacher or parent
in such cases is in the right, if she
has no better method she believes eff
ficient, such method as an appeal to
the opinion of others, the public opin-
ion of the group present, then she
may, and wisely, instantly stop such
an attack by force. But when the
wrong has been done, whipping should
not be resorted to until at least all
the points have mentioned have been
understandingly considered; until the
teacher or parent is justified in think
ing that violence is necessary. And
when the causes and method have all
been considered, it will be rare indeed
that whipping will be practised.
And even when it seems to be
needed, and ali objections seem to be
met, We have to consider whether We
ought to take the responsibility Of the
effect of even a deserved whipping
upon the child. ! know a woman who
was whipped in school thirty-five
years ago. To this day she cries if it
is mentioned to her and her nerves
have not been vigorous since that
day, her nervous system was shocked.
She herself grew up to be teacher,
and for twelve wears taupht School in