Wausau pilot. [volume] (Wausau, Wis.) 1896-1940, 1921-11-10
WOULD SPANK
BOYS WHEN BAD
MORALITY MUST BE PART
OF CURRICULUM OF
SCHOOLS

world is surely back to those GOOD
old days when children had to learn
something at school and were not
permitted to fiddle their time away
with games. At least all this is in
dicated in speech made by Supt. S.
B. TobeT, OF our city schools, before
the Wisconsin Teachers association at
Milwaukee when he "sturdily advo-
Gated an occasional spanking as a ne
cessary part of the upbringing of a
child"
1T May Be Old Fashioned" is the til
tie OF an editorial appearing in The
Milwaukee Sentinel last Sunday. in
which the editorial writer considers
Supt. Tobey's idea welcome one.
"The majority, who still en-
stertain in some measure the Solom-
onesque view of youthful training, will
onesque view of youthful trainink, will
welcome the remarks of Mr.. Tobey,
the editorial says. "Obedi-
ence is vital factor in civilized re-
lationship. Amid the tommy
rot about self expression of children,
the desirability of treating them as
grown up persons, the cruelty of in
| tiicting even slight and passing physi-
cal pain upon them, Mr. Tobey's ro-
bust declaration sounds refreshingly
upon the weary ears of plain people
| who We're spanked in their infancy
without harmful effects and who see
no great difference between them
| selves and the children of today in so
far as spanking necessities and spank.
ing facilities are concerned"
To modern thinkers who hold that
child should be permitted to devel-
op without parental discipline, Mr.. To-
hey will appear a ''reactionary and
dangerous educator" the Sentinel
says.
Are Indispensable
Immediately upon Supt. Tobey's re-
turn from the teachers convention,
The Pilot sought summary OF what
he had said. Because we are polyglot
nation, 1t is imperative that moral
code be thoroughly taught taught
in the schools, Mr.. Tobey says, BE
cause in many homes implicit obedi-
ence is not taught, because in many
homes lawlessness, selfishness and
discord are habitual, because law, or
der and unselfishness are indispensa-
Bile to a strong, happy and prosperous
4 nation, the state must teach morality,
Mr.. Tobey said in his interview
* have no patience with the weak,
maudlin, timid parent who Is hysteri-
cally fearful of breaking the selfish
will of his delicate offspring, so sensi-
tive, so fragile, so inordinately sus-
ceptible to adverse criticism that his
life will be effectually thwarted. Too
many parents, blind to their own neg
lect and stupid selfishness, have weak
/ iy yielded to the mistaken idea that
unadulterated obstinacy is commend
able will. Stubbornness and willful-
ness ought to be checked, bent or
broken and the earlier the better.
Not Savage or Cruel
Just in the degree that the teach
er fills the place of the wise parent,
Twill she conserve the welfare of the
child and the best interest Of the
state. 1t is not necessarily savage,
cruel or inhuman to compel child to
obey, even though one may have to go
to the extreme of administering
necessary punishment. The vigorous
duplication of shingle or a slipper
to the soft and flesh portion OF the
posterior region of his anatomy, while
he was still in the plastic period of
childhood, would have saved later
from disgrace and the state from
great trouble and expense"
Mr.. Tobey then proceeded to illus
ktrate his theory by the story of Gravio
Prinzip, who murdered Archduke
Francis Ferdinand, crown prince of
AUSTRIA half-degenerate boy, be-
cause of parental neglect "If some
where back there in the infancy and
childhood Of this generation wise par
ents or a watchful state had institut-
ed the fear of man, the fear of God
and sense of personal accountability
In the minds of the immediate and
remote instigators of the world war,
the fields of Europe would not now be
fertilized with the blood of infinitely
precious human sacrifice In
the face Of such a terrible illustra-
tion of the consequences of uncon-
trolled will, unbridled ambition, inor-
dinate blasphemous conceit. utter self
ishness and satanic ruthlessness. can
feel nothing but pity and contempt for
the week, wishywashy criminally
foolish parent or teacher who Is so
abjectly fearful of breaking the arro-
CANT self-will of his child.
Hardly Degrading y
y am not an advocate of Had
vised, indiscriminate corporal punish
ment, neither, on the other hand do
] believe that the infiction of physi-
cal pain is necessarily degrading,
either to the administrator or to the
recipient.
Amy punishment should have for
! its aim the reformation and the rec
lamation Of the child. Punish
ment should not be administered for
exemplary purposes either There is
no justification for furnishing Jack in
order that Bill and others shall be
deferred from wrong doing. The only
purpose OF Jacks punishment is the
moral rehabilitation of Jack"
Mr. Tobey not only encourages the
teaching Of obedience to law, parents
ard teachers, but states further that
all this should inculcate his obedi-
ence to the Golden Rule.
A large, representative group of To-
cal teachers attended the annual con-