CORPORAL PUNISHMENT IN SCHOOLS.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume 4, Issue 1052, 19 April 1882, Page 2

CORPORAL PUNISHMENT IN SCHOOLS.

(From the Christchuroh Proas) Somewhat of an educational" cause oelebre" has been lately engaging the attention of the luvercargill Bohool committee. The facts of the case are as follows:—Mr Gurr is the headmastei' of the. Invercargill Central School, and Mr E. Gurr, his son, presides as'assistant teacher over one djvisiqn of" the establishment, in \yhioh there are about iofj bpva. Jn the'class specially under tlje care of Gun 1 junior there was a' boy pf tho name of Davey, who ia thirteen years of age, but is apparently endowed wi't| muscles generally only found in youths' considerably older. Davey, according to the evidence adduced at the enquiry held by the committee, was a somewhat inattentive boy, given to what masters ujost strongly qbjp.ct (o—namely, thp practice of chattering. On the' oppasipi} in question, Gurr junior calletj on hun tq coirie out from among the \i )|j tl|e practice in school to maije the jjjattoutive youtljs stand in front qf l|i§ class, with a view, we presume, of' holi}ing then} up to tlje reprobation of thmr feliqws. But flavey deplarecj l)e was not talking, aud refu3etj' point blai)k tg budge an inch, Whereupon Gurr junior was much moved in spirit, and after a short internal conflict determined on '■' drawing" tl}e recalcitrant Davey from his fastness behind his desk. Gurr had with him an ordinary walking-stick, and, arrnedwitl) this, he prpbanjy thuijgjit himself equal to auy emergency. |jtit the situation was a critical qne, forDayey had arajied lpaejf witlj a slat'o,' flis position was qaturally strong qne', ars his weapon yielded skilfully, was cap,ablp of doing considerable execiitjoh. The combat that ensued was shoff but decisive. Summoned twipe to surrender Davey refused, and before thp final I'ugh of (he assistant master, he threw away htsslnto ai]d closed with hip antagonist. Master and pupi| ihpn rolled on thojijoor locked iu eaol) otlior's arins. The excitement in the school was intense but of short duration, Gurr junior usod his blackthorn stick with such effect that his enemy called out peoavi and triod to make a hasty retreat through the door. But here again he was foiled, By a masterly flank movement Gurr readied the exit first, and drove the youth back into the room. The sequel was that Davey was kept in during tho dinmr hour, and was finally reduced to a proper levol of penitence. And now Davey senior comes, on the stage. He sought an interview with the head master, and protested against tho conduct of the latter's son. He declared that his boy was a good boy, and was not allowqcj to go o|l| aftgr ninq "Qjcjo'clf at riglit.' Ifyt he, qeqms nqt tql)ay|j' Rceived satisfactiqn oither frqrn Gfurr senior or Gurr juniqr, and consequently: he wrote a letter to the Qonjinitfeg, j : n which he stated the lavage go quaint that part of it is wovtb, quoting. He said lljat" junior teaoher Qufp did on Wednesday last beat junior George Davey in a most violent manner, using a knotted walMng-stiok for the purpose, which did leave my son bruised shamefully : and wishing to speak to Mr Gurr senior on the subject, was ordered to quit the premises, which is nut satisfactory seeing that my son may be crippled for life."

In the enquiry held, fey tjja conpjfctep opinions qri tl)p cage, 'ipj m}g'h|' ! 'bp f fs peoted, diffpfed yeyy rnaterially. They ranged frpni Ihpse of a tyr Mpftay, who held tb,at H)B. bny Bavey t|id not commit a gross breach of dt'scipliup, pd that liia punishment was altogether out pf pyp.: portion to his orime, to those of Dr. Galbraith, who thought that Davey, senior, should be informed that hjs sqn was guilty of great infjubordjnajipn, 'and that the committee regretted tl)at tl}e toy wp not taught obedjencp at home. But on two points the committee were more or less unanimous—namely, that Gun 1 junior, _ waa guilty of an act of indißoretion in using his stick and that generally it was advisable that no. subordinate teacher Bhould be allowed to inflict corporal punishment.' Indeed it appeared that the rule of the aahool was that subordinates should not inflict chastisment, but that offences against discipline should be referred to the head master, who, if ho thought ueccessary, punished the offenders, • The motion finally pasoed by the committpß ran as follows:-" The qornmitt : ee", ; flh ; o! that George Davey was guilty of gross insubordination and required cnaßtisqme'nt, but regret that Assistant-teacher Quit should have taken on himself to jnl flict corporal punishment ' % ppwmittee recommend the head m,aßtqr to request the teachers fq refer to himself all oases of flagrant rjjisc'oqcluol' by flip, children." -in.

TheGurr-Davey enquiry has been, a sensational one, and some have bjameij the commitfee for pot grappljng thoroughly with the ca.se. sut {hero. 18 something in the remark rqade. by thp Chairman, that they were in far greatej! danger from an excess, pt insubpriinatjon than they were from an excess pf corpora) punishment. assistant teaqher may perhaps, be exoused tor losing h]p j]ead wben.a truculent youth refuses to übey him, and prooeeds to fortify himself wit]} the skill of a veteran; Nevertheless, argumentnm baculinum is not a desirable ingredient in school work. Patience and firmness are more powerful' levers than the stoutest of blackthorn sticks,