The Manawatu Herald. Saturday, September 11, 1919. SCHOOL PUNISHMENT.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXI, Issue 479, 11 September 1909, Page 2

The Manawatu Herald. Saturday, September 11, 1919. SCHOOL PUNISHMENT.

The following circular (No. 53) has been prepared for the Wanganui Education Board by its Chief Inspector (Mr G. D. Braik) : —The substance of this circular is to be taken as supplementary to the Board’s regulation dealing with corporal punishment. The Board does not desire to restrict unduly the teacher’s freedom of action in the matter, but it is clear, from facts that have come under its notice, that in the case of comparatively inexperienced teachers, more guidance than is to be found in the formal regulation is necessary. Purpose of punishment. —The purpose of punishment is ethical. Its place in school is to deter, to reform, and to vindicate ; but it should never be merely vindictive. It is intended to cope with such offences as may be detrimental to the wellbeing of the school. Kinds of offences.—Offences may be classified, without any pretence to exhaustiveness, for the present purpose in some such manner as follows: (1) Minor offences: Inattention, talkativeness, restlessness, silly behaviour, (2) Against Progress: Carelessness, neglectfulness, thoughtfulness. (3) Objectionable Habits: Laziness, untidiness, filthiness, unpunctuality. (4) Evil Habits: Lying, bullying, stealing, swearing, (5) Subversive of Discipline :—lmpertinence, breach of the school rules, disobedience. (6) Against Morals : Filthy writing, filthy language, filthy conduct. Methods of Punishment. Offences such as those named in Class (1) may reasonably be punished at once as they may be obstructive and continuous. Offences named under Classes (2) and (3) should be punished during the first interval after they have been committed. Those specified under (4), (5), and (6) should be punished in private after the dismissal of the school and in the presence of at least one witness. As a general rule the better the school the less the punishment. Physical punishment should be appealed to only as a last resort. In all cases the punishment should be strictly commensurate with the nature of the offence, a matter that must be determined by the discretion and judgment of the teacher. The strap should on no account be kept in view of the pupils. The potency of punishment depends to a great extent on its being looked upon as a serious matter and an exceptional exercise of the teacher’s power. It should neverbe forgotten that rewards may be made to subserve some of the purposes of punishment—they may be used as to deter, reform and vindicate.