Εικόνες σελίδας
PDF
Ηλεκτρ. έκδοση

Reason for delay.-The instrument.-Punishment effectual.

nity in his cooler moments to determine more justly the degree of severity to be used. It will also give the culprit time to reflect upon the nature of his offense and the degree of punishment he deserves. I may say that it is generally wise for the teacher after promising a punishment to take some time to consider what it shall be, whether a corporal infliction or some milder treatment. If after due and careful reflection he comes conscientiously to the conclusion, that bodily pain is the best thing,-while he will be better prepared to inflict, the pupil by similar reflection will be better prepared to receive it and profit by it.

5. A proper instrument should be used and a proper mode of infliction adopted. No heavy and hurtful weapon should be employed. A light rule for the hand, or a rod for the back or lower extremities, may be preferred. Great care should be exercised to avoid injuring any of the joints in the infliction; and on no account should a blow be given upon the head.

6. If possible, the punishment should be made effectual. A punishment that does not produce thorough submission and penitence in the subject of it, can hardly be said to answer its main design. To be sure, in cases of general insubordination in the school, I have said that punishment may be applied to one, having in view the deterring of others from similar offenses. But such exemplary punishment belongs to extreme cases, while disciplinary punishment, which has mainly for its object the reformation of the individual upon whom it is inflicted, should be most relied on. Taking either

Deliberation, and thorough work.-" Little whippings."

view of the case, it should if possible answer its design, or it would be better not to attempt it. The teacher's judgment, therefore, should be very carefully exercised in the matter, and all his knowledge of human nature should be called into requisition. If after careful and conscientious deliberation he comes to the conclusion that the infliction of pain is the best thing, and to the belief that he can so inflict it as to show himself to the school and to the child, in this act as in all others, a true and kind friend to the child,—then he is justified in making the attempt; and having considerately undertaken the case, it should be so thorough as not soon to need repetition.

I would here take the opportunity to censure the practice of those teachers who punish every little departure from duty with some trifling appliance of the rod, which the scholar forgets almost as soon as the smarting ceases. Some instructors carry about with them a ratan or stick, in order to have it ready for appliance as soon as they see any departure from their commands. The consequence is, they soon come to a frequent and inconsiderate use of it, and the pupils by habit become familiar with it, and of course cease to respect their teacher or to dread his punishments. I have seen so much of this, that whenever I see a teacher thus "armed and equipped," I infer at once that his school is a disorderly one, an inference almost invariably confirmed by a few minutes' observation. My earnest advice to all young teachers would be,

How to discuss this subject.-Experience of very young men. next to the habit of scolding incessantly, avoid the habit of resorting to the rod on every slight occasion. When that instrument is not demanded for some special exigency, some great occasion and some high purpose, allow it to slumber in a private corner of your desk, not again to be called into activity till some moral con vulsion shall disturb its quiet repose.

I have a single caution to give in regard to the dis cussion of this subject, which in all our educational gatherings occupies so much time and talent. It is this:-Do not adopt a general principle from too few inductions. There is an old proverb that declares,

one swallow does not make a summer." Young teachers are very prone to rely on the experience of a single term. If they have kept one term without corporal punishment, they are very likely to instruct their seniors with their experience; and if they have happened to be so situated as to be compelled to save themselves by the rod, why then too their experience forever settles the question. It requires the experience of more than one, or two, or three schools, to enable a man to speak dogmatically on this subject; and I always smile when I hear men, and sometimes very young men, who have never kept school in their lives, perhaps, or at most but a single term, speaking as with the voice of authority Experience is indeed one of our safest guides in this as in every other matter; but they who tell their expe rience should at least wait till they have that which is worthy to be told.

There is another point. It is quite fashionable at the

[ocr errors]

Resolutions -A false position.-French resolution.

present day, whenever this subject is to be discussed, to propose the matter in the form of a resolution; as, 'Resolved, that no person is fit to be employed as a teacher, who cannot govern his scholars by holier means than bodily chastisement;" or, " Resolved, that no limit should be set to the teacher's right to use the 'rod of correction,' and that they who denounce the teachers for resorting to it are unworthy of our confidence in matters of education." Now whoever presents the question in this form, assumes that he has drawn a line through the very core of the truth; and he undertakes to censure all those who are unwilling to square their opinions by the line thus drawn. In the discussion a man must take one side or the other of the question as it is proposed, and consequently he may take a false position. The better way would be to present the whole subject as matter of free remark, and thus leave every one to present his own views honestly as they lie in his own mind. In this way no one is pledged to this or that party, but is left unprejudiced to discover and embrace the truth wherever it is found.

It should moreover be remembered, that resolving by the vote of a meeting in order to force public opinion, can never affect the truth. A few impious, heavendaring men in France, at one of their revels, once resolved, "THERE IS NO GOD !"--but did this blasphemous breath efface the impress of Deity on all this fair creation of his power? And when they rose from their vile debauch and sought with tottering step to leave the scene of madness and to court the dim forgetfulness of

A more excellent way.-Higher motives first.

sleep,-rolled not the shining orbs in heaven's high arch above them as much in duty to His will, as when they sang together to usher in creation's morning? So it will ever be. Men may declare, and resolve as they please; but truth is eternal and unchangeable; and they are the wisest men who modestly seek to find her as she is, and not as their perverted imaginations would presume to paint her.

Yet after all, in the government of schools, there is a more excellent way. There are usually easier avenues to the heart, than that which is found through the integuments of the body. Happy is that teacher who is so skillful as to find them; and gladly would I welcome the day when the number of such skillful and devoted teachers should render any further defence of the rod superfluous. Although I believe that day has not yet arrived, still, in the mean time, I most earnestly urge all teachers to strive to reach the higher motives and the finer feelings of the young, and to rely mainly for success, not upon appeals to fear and force, but upon the power of conscience and the law of reciprocal affection.

As I have placed the higher motives and the more desirable means first in order in these remarks on government, so I would always have them first, and perseveringly employed by the teacher; and if by earnestness in his work, by unfeigned love for the young, by diligence in the study of their natures, and the adaptation of means to ends which true benevolence is sure

« ΠροηγούμενηΣυνέχεια »