Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1938-03-07
Start Now the Top Make Yourself Lovely Looking
Demands on
Teacher Is
TooGreat
Children Not Easy
To Discipline in
Drilled Order.
BY ANGELO PATRI,

NOBODY knows how tired a
teacher can be at dismissal time
unless he has been that teacher. The
strains under which a teacher works
are inhuman. and the sad part Of it
Is that most Of them need not at
all. They are result Of impossible
demands made upon children by
teachers or supervisors. or both, by
unreasonable demands made upon
teachers and children by conventional
discipline held sacred by tradition
and traditional school boards.
Children above the third year in
school are not easy to discipline in
drilled order. Take the school where
formal discipline is demanded by the
authority. No child must lose step
in the march. No head must move
out Of line as much as a hairs breath.
No sneeze, no cough-above all, no
smile, no smothered giggle always
the result Of severe nervous strain)
must mar the stiff and silent parade.
Assembly means a congregation OF
hundreds Of children, each squad
under the supervision of the teacher.
If one Of her charges violates a single
item of the rigid code the teacher is
called to account; her control Of class,
her discipline, major matter in the
rating OF a teacher, is questioned.
Have you no control of your class?
The boy third from the rear and the
one wearing the blue bow tie, de-
liberately turned their heads to see
what was going on when the window
shade snapped up. I regret to have
to point out such deficiencies. and
I hope no such thing will happen to
spoil the order in assembly again.
Complete cooperation is required in
assembly discipline. I shall watch for
improvement"
Translated this means, If your
class doesn't maintain rigid order in
assembly you are going to be marked
down in discipline" That spells loss
Of face, loss Of place, very likely loss
Of annual increment of salary. Imag-
inc the strain on a teacher as she
holds each of 40-odd pupils to her
iron will by the strength of the nerve
fibers in her body. Her face is set;
her teeth are clenched; her eyes are
fixed; her body stiff and stony lest
one single little chap relax in answer
to the slightest show Of humanity in
her expression.
Imagine the strain on children
fountains Of energy. created to move,
to see. to hear, feel and act-under
such routine. Extend it to the class
rooms where no child may turn his
head. or speak without just cause and
permission, break the stiffness by so
much as a yawn, and you will get a
good idea of the cause Of nervous
breakdowns in teachers and temper
tantrums, naughtiness, nervous ILL
nesses in school children.
Praise be, there are some school
boards. some supervisors. many teach
ers, who know that rigid discipline
maintained too long. kills the spirit.
They know that order has its place
in q school, but they know that the
way to get it when it is needed, is
to train the children to cooperative,
intelligent behavior Iron discipline
brings about the precise opposite of
what its followers desire. 1t breeds
rebellious, helpless. stupid members
OF society. Freedom within the law
is the ideal, always.
Mr.. Patri has prepared a leafet
entitled, Poor Readers" in which he
gives parents many suggestions on
how to help children to improve their
reading. Send for it, addressing your
request to Mr. Angelo Patri. Child
Psychology Department Of this paper.
hclose a self-addressed, stamped
(3-cent) envelope.