PUNISHMENT IN SCHOOLS.

Patea Mail, Volume VIII, Issue 989, 26 January 1883, Page 2

PUNISHMENT IN SCHOOLS.

.TO.TIIK EDITOR. . 51ß,r7-T. regret: that should charge ,me., with, having .madcanffunmanly,:..cowardly .oni the junior.? master 0f...the... school , v any portion Pf my letter to be personal I would haye- attached -my .name to-.it.. There certainly was noWcli intention on ray part, ;I trust .the . teachers; will accept this'^ssur/mce. In spite of A.B.C. I still maintain that the system of allowing the junior teachers * to ;administer, punjshnient , without t-ahy check or •siipcrvisron’" is”'wrong.' The . amount of ■ punishment inflicted on ; the. i’ little one’s hands in tlio-first part.of. their -career in our public school .is excessive, and why? Because there fhey”are in. charge of the. yoDngeatJand nio.shines-,.. : perienced teachers. . By ■,>. do not wish' to 1 ' be understood,to mean s*' 5 *' -excessive •in ' harshnessj .hiit : excessive in ; i * thet number of times (bat slight' chastisement of the hands is administered. I was in- hopes .' f th,at'; ; ajj.. 'ihfilitile ones ■ ' passed fiom under the supervision of the mistress to The charge'of a more experienced male teacher that there would:be an , - improvement and that ithvas’in the meantime a lesson (somewhat too .early'in life)V - of learning bow to suffer and to wait,’ 'but the hard lesson is not abated but,increased by the more muscular arm that now wields the torturing taws. Its effects, so far as I can judge, is to cause at least dne t bright little girl whose delight it was-to go to school now to'dread school and its punish- w i ment. If the system that sanctions punishment v by every teacher in a’school is to continue, would it be too much to ask that a book, containing a record of punishment - be kept, so that the committee, parents,' .- - others, could see what punishment * was inflicted, and for. what reason. This, in_ itself, would he -a 'wholesome chock upon teachers, as tbey-wouW, X feel sure, regret to sec. the number : pf times; and for what trifling matters they have raised: w ; their arm pnd struck the little ones. If teachers . will but consider. :■ that. i personal chastisement only degrades and • hardens, and if persisted in must be increased in severity to have’any effect oil one hardened. • to : it, they will he : better- ;; teachers, and have more tractable:pupils ; and I trust my remarks will bo taken in a - right light by them, as I mean nothing personal, but consider that they require every assistance, as on them depends in a great measure, the character and-standing of those who. .will in a few years be the men and women of New Zealand, and they should be a free and cheerful race,' not whipped by public teachers into .sulky, mulish animals.' Apologising for trespassing on your space, I must now. take leave of (ho matter, and again sign myself . ' . , . ‘ . Reform, ' :