CORPORAL PUNBISHMENT.

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume XXX, Issue 11625, 31 October 1887, Page 3

CORPORAL PUNBISHMENT.

,■-■ ■■ • .; , ♦ . 1 TO E&fi EWTOBi Sib,—^For cool presumption recommend me to our school committee. The Board of;Edfeoation saw fit— and to my mind wiselyr— so pass a resolution re corporal punishment for the guidance of teaohers.of the 80 or 90 sohools, comprising the, Wanganui School Distriot, and up tbfthe present I have not heard of any of the committees, excepting our own, objecting . to it^ As a matter of courtesy, if the Wanganui committee that" ithe rule waß not gene*|teHy benificial, should not the opinion and 00-dperation of the other committees have been sought before taking any definite action in the matter ? .From the amount of -torn-foolery that certain committees carry = on, i believe we should get better resultsif the committees were done awaky ! witbi ; and the teachers put under more, unprejudiced authority. However,- as in their united wisdom, ' they have taken action, on the motion of Mr Allen, I would offer him a few suggestions for future guidance. Firstly, I think that before any punishment be given that the case should be tried, and ail a practical way of teaching coastitu--tibnal history, a jury of six boys, to be :■ drawn from the' next* higher standard \ to that in which the culprit is, should sit on the ; case, »d after hearing the ' , 'evidence", give their verdict, and deoide H.on the, punishment. How much ? t6' be ;ad ministered ? And how to be administered ? Also, instrument jef tor torero be 4ißed, The great advan- - : lage of tßi^-wbuld be that if the jury saw that the teacher was intoxicated witn .exditement ; they could let the offender off under, the " Probationers " Aot." ThiH ought to meet with the ; approval of parents, because itav^riably they. consider one child, no matter what bis yearsi quite competent; to form a oorieot " judgment * on the teaoher'a . actions,. and, if so, what justice should we not see from the/ united ' wisdom of C fax- ohildren. Secondly, to me^t the difiSoulty equalising' the punishment in the oases of the delioately-maturecl obild, and the 'orny 'anded, the former, in oaees where punishment is to be ad« . puiniste^ed on the hand, should be ah " lowed to, wear imittens. - Thirdly, Di ' JJewiß, of Auckland, has just given it as Kj hie Opinioff that the soientifio method Hf punishment is to cane ; , them on the seat. From the nature of V the boys' habilments, he is certainly f placed at a if this course "be followed, 'and it would not astonish me to see tLe boys trooping to school ; with improvers on. Fourthly, the ruling by lov^ proposal does infioite credit to -its proposer, and I fancy I can see Mr Allen with a dozen or so of the yout h of the town, and. him endeavouring to get \ them to do bis behests in exchange for his Io?e. I can fancy, while he was embraoing one-pf the dozen. who, had been guilty of some . misconduct, what the attitudes of the eleven would be, - each seeking to be taken in turn to his sympathetic "buzarim,", and side remarks thrown in Buoh as, " I think the ' old 'unpjoff 'hiefo' ion,^&o.' If Dr Lewis 1 suggestion bo acted on, 'there would be an opening, /for some ingenious individual to patent an artificial knee and a rotary oane, "which might be worked by water power,which- would ensure sll being treated alike.. Mr Allen would apperently like to have the wholeibnsiness laid down to scale, so that any . oase could be laid off from the nearest H bench mark. For myself, I. have been in the habit of looking on oar school ... teachers as reasoning beings and as euoh have had every confidence, in i placing my children under their charge, V and should be. sorry to. see; them turned -.-. into automatons. — I am, tfeo., . Pareet.