SCHOOL PRIZES.

Evening Star, Issue 3412, 28 January 1874, Page 3

SCHOOL PRIZES.

The absurdity of our school examinations] and more especially of the prize distributions which mark their close, has been rel peatedly commented on in these columns] and we notice that the subject has been similarly dealt with by the leading Victoriaii journals. The ‘Australasian’ thus ex] presses its opinion : | 1 'There is tio great! harm in all thitf/ excjspt that it makes the whole system of tiring prizes a « absurdity .destitute of all encoul raging effect‘oh ( edh(iatidh;Wd forming onlii a tax on the pockets of fond and credulous parents.. ,-,-But.wheu . the .system, of giving pniea devrwes obvious rihuhe thAt is at once silly and objectionable, it is time to protest. -- . yhOr.othqc day .we observed in the puze list of dne school' the name of a pupil who was rewarded with a prize for ‘’truth/ fulness.” It is difficult toimagine any course better calculated ‘ to loweb the standard of veracity amongst a number of pupils than this. The idea that amongst a lot of honest children the faculty of telling the truth is so rare that when dig* covered it should, be rewarded by thd presentation bf a 1 bbqlr ih I goi i gedua scarlet! and gold binding is‘ simply monstrous.' Not to touch the abstract ethical question] and looking only to the practical effect oii the minds of thechildren, it is surely apparent that no course could be more destructive oi the feeling of the binding obligation of truth] fulness, and, at the same time, more degrading and insulting to the children, than the singling out one of their number to be there-t ctpient of a reward for his possession of a quality that ought to be pre-supposed in all °fthem, unless proof is by their own conduct afforded to the contrary. Among the prizes awarded to boys at the last breaking tip in the Auckland schools was one for the “ best behaved boy.” Now, we should like to know what is it that constitutes the “best behaved boy r * of a school. Ou? own impress sion, looking back to the days of our boy-! hood, is that the “ best behaved boy” of the school was considered by all the other boys as a “sneak”— a boy who toadied to his master, whd split upon the other boys, who never did wrong himself in school, was never punished ; but who nevertheless “ cribh’d’l his exercises from other boys’ slates ; told tales against his brother scholars to thq schoolmaster on the 'sly, and was held iri general contempt by all the other boys in thd school. The “ best behaved boy” never wad seen with a black eye. He could sneer and insult other boys, but he could not or would not fight, for fear of consequences. In after/ life the “ best behaved boy” never made head-way against the world, while the boy with the bruised knuckles and the swelled lip, or the discolored eye, proved himself to be something beyond what the “best behaved boy” of a school never reached] The sooner school prizes are abolished fof such meretricious accomplishments thi better for the hoys, and the less likely ic wi|l be to bring school teachers and school qommittees into contempt with those whd give the subject a thoughtful and intelligent consideration.