The Wairarapa Daily. WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 1879.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume 2, Issue 308, 5 November 1879, Page 2

The Wairarapa Daily. WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 1879.

Last vroek one of the oldest and most respected teachers in the Wellington Provincial District, Mr Holmes, was brought before Mr Mansford charged with striking a boy on the bend with a cane. It was proved that the boy had deserved pnniahment, so there was r«awn to believe that the blow on the

bead Waif accidental, Under these circumstances the Wellington R.M. very properly dismissed the case, making the complainant pay the costs of it. But though in this instance a proper and just punishment was undoubtedly inflicted, we have reason to believe that an injudicious amount of corporal punishment exists in many schools. The rule of the Education Board we hold to .be a wise one, viz., that every punishment of this character should be regis- ' tered. Unfortunately, in practice the rule is a dead letter, and we have heard of many instances where a cuff or blow with a cane is the corrective applied to every fault. There are some teachers, we believe who go on cuffing and caning from mom till night in a promiscuous but not severe inonner, and who, if they carried out the rule of the Board, would have to devote the principal portion of their time to writing [up the blows tluy inflicted. No teacher can be an efficient disciplinarian who abandtns himself to such, a practice, njr can he secure the regard and respect of his pupils. Experience amply proves-that a really able teacher can control a school without resort to corporal punishment, and the most orderly school in the Wairarapn,is,;.\ve have reason to believe, one in which corporal punishment is unknown. We do not expect all teachers to be able to keep order in their schools without resort to the cane, but we feel certain' that the time will come when teachers will be trained and taught to dispense with it. A blow to man, woman, boy, or girl always has in it, to a greater or less degree, the element of brutality; It is in nine case 3 out of ten an exhalation of temper. Boys and girls are reasonable beings, and can be swayed by precept and argument. To treat such being* with blows and cuffs is inhumane and brutal, and, if such treatment is frequently resorted to, indicates »low intelligence on the part of the teacher 1 There are times when it does some boys good to receive a ■ sound, flogging, but the proportion of bo; : 8 who deicrve such treatment, and who are benefitted by it, is a very small one..' Even in extreme cases, if the cliasti ement has to be frequently lepeated its, tfficacy is questionable.