The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, March 23, 1902, Page 13

THE SUNDAY CALL. 13 T, ) v LA A iy \ ys brings out accord- i P S Webster, % boys in n honored ine. In stint, without re- X - when all ere is a spectai xcess cruel or unusual s place yoy's vs are foreve why he gets whipped er, “for havin’ everything from from school no excuse when you who were st go you kinked your se low desks with the v Why, you shot notes aisle, scraped your feet on the wn when the teacher some othet boy was; 4 your seat of you, you s, told sto- —in fact, 2 these things to- r that matter. They to you, perhaps, s 3 re mot a teacher s S8 s to make & half-hun- s, wriggling young- wooden jmages and Teci s are being Now and - rev It revision the sult with the ods would be s gathered from people = work. The principa’ ent every district from Tel E Pa c Heig ts, from t Mis covering which affect th punishment in tne D H WEBSTER, ntendent of Schools. Pr teachers should employ g influences, but if they punishment pr the palm of school there will ap- ases which can Fte r way. Suspension iliation g s used as.a vacation. school often’ means the ndividual for future xciuded from the discipline f the schoolroom, a boy as strated that he is to some extent will very likely, given n tract viclous and idle ship will be lost to e Btate ‘ I belfeve in the in- n f corporal punishment upon those b posed to be controlled in ke everything else; it is a bu t A teacher is born, not = firm t person will re- sest somethir € once. and if the of- t r t it will not punishment 1 2 “ utely hum- g [ sentimentalism, that f . = 2nd that en- t iteration, of school—onee. fellow been in a he publie scipl ne, enting ened 0 in les- fle I had it, d . very vmates sald ices on e: » count them rziner severe punish. However, 1 ment. It put me ir at nd respect JAMES DENMAN, President of School Board. most hat y believe in cor- should be it should ed any re than we should t -he fe would your there were no It is physical behave them- it should not be used as a means of keeping order. but as a power to prevent e, At that cannot Keep or- o ans i a very poor but now and then there is an akes corporal punishment if not 75 per cent of 1ld maintain discipline punishment. IG hink hers should have the privilege of punishing pupils. They might o it in a burst of passion, whereas the principal, who is free from the annoy- 17777 222/2/0177 /fflflW/flflwflfiflflwflfl ance caused by the offense, is better able to judge whether the case warrants such punishment. Young teachers are more severe than old ones, and my opinior that women punish more than men “For girls the best punishment is sus ension, and for most bys, but not eve oy. When a child is suspended he cann return to school until the father or mother comes with him. This often means that the father must leave his busine annoys him a little, and he hears t truth about the child’s conduct in scho “There is very little corporal punishmen: in the San Franeisco schools. Seven to 900 ses In a year, with about 50,000 school children, is not a bad showin MAYOR E. E. SCHMITZ. “I believe boys should be whipped, but not brutally whipped. It is not so much the severity of the whipping which doe good as the hgmiliation it c I look back to a beMing I and have never forgotten. I s ipped very brutally, and instead of looking up to the man who did it, I only think he was a brute “It was a peculiar affair, as I sev it now. The teacher had told each one of us to write a_letter at home and bring it to school. When I read mine she it was not my own work; that I had help. I told her I had not, : to me u lie.’ Boylike, [ lie back.” She sent for the princi is still in the department, and I me a beating which I felt I deserved no more than the teacher. “I don't belleve any good ever came from beating a boy brutally; but for those who prove incorrigible, ] doubt about the nec y of corpural punishment. I tHink this should be re- stricted to blows 'on the hand with the rattan or strap. If it is right to take a Loy and whip him ugtil he is black and blue, then it would ‘be just as right to go further than that, if he does not be- have, and treat him still more brutally Whipping on the hand has the pre moral effect and is not cruel.” JAMES T. HAMILTON, Principal of Lincoln Grammsr School. “Well, yes, in certain cases corporal punishment is necessary; for instance, where a boy defies the autherity of teach- ers and principal and sets hi the law, as he can do in ma ““As for truancy, that is an o tion just now. It depends on whether you have the support of the paren doesn’t do much good unless th made uncomfortable for the boy ends of the line. If his parents write excuse when I know the boy has been playing truant, whipping will not eu t boy of truancy. ““As to whether teachers should be al- lowed to punish, I would say $ome should and some should not, and it is hard to draw the line. It Is nécessary for the vice principal to have authority to punish when he has charge of the boys in the yard, otherwise they would not respect his authority. “No, indeed, I do not believe corporal punishment should be abolished. It was tried here once and we a terribl time, and had to go back to it. Paren do not want it abolished and I know of no leaders in educational matters who advocate the abolishment of corporal punishment. There are people who have beautiful theories on the subject; but if we can govern without corporal punish- ment, why not govern without jalls and penitentiaries? MISS ALICE M. STINCEN, Principal Pacific Heights Gram- mar School. “In the ten years of my prineipalship in this school there has never been a case of corporal punishment. No child has been slapped. pinched or shaken. “Firmness and kindness will accomplish what severity never would. I make truth the cornerstone of everything. 1 have the children understand that no matter what they do they should tell me the truth about it; then I can excuse.” MISS KATE CROWLEY, Principal of Mission Grammar School. “There is about one boy in fifty that nothing but corporal punishment will reach. However, in five yea at this school T have had but three We punish once in a while to let them we will do it if necessary, and the children are made to feel that whiping is the very worst thing that can happen. I think it loses its effect when administered too often. “I do not think It would be wise to sh corporal pumishment, as it would give boys\a feeling of ‘They dasent touch me.’ \But I believe in few rules and in making children feel that any punish- ment is very serious. Of course the teach- ers have a demerit system, and we keep an office book, and it Is a very serious thing for a child to get his name in the office book. After the March vacatioh we allow the children to work off the marks against them, and a child whose name re- mains on the office book at the end of the term is deprived of his certificate. He promoted, but has no certificate to take Be Abolished: home with him until-he works off his bad £ obedie MRS. FRANCES A. BANNING, Principal of Everett Grammar School. ishment. to the pa tr oft ard s where pa hildren we have tu wa corporal pu: smal hi shment is more en. Abov of the prinek ers au might to pu lower grac ot want are in authority is right. T ite authority in its nd by its not childrer be in sc T. B. WHITE, Principal of Washington Grau:- rporal pu However ishing corporal | cannot of the where puni: h in he class, b mid child something that stant I think ¢ without it, beca would be ntained b. lity and in wou boys. ing in I remember ool, and it ven noew I fee too severe for 9 or 10 years oceurred” i o ! t sentences give ) rammar ¢ for parsing I laughed r this I w whipped severely w ‘(h a ‘hmriwf swi P! the fashion of ose day Anothe time I was whipy for fighting." g MRS. K. E. BROGAN, Principal of the Moulder Pyi- mary School. “I do not believe i punishment. T cannot be contr yes, and there it, too. In my age two or th are for willful d “For truancy? Never. To me it see le height to punish a boy for truanecy, for cases truancy, as well as tardines: fault of the parent. disobedient and deflant, is waipping. Corporal “or tard where a By more necessar; smail larger ones. ¥ son of ol be “I would not favor giving power to pun teachers desire it. The school are well bred, respe ditions exist all that is nec make the school work intere there is little trouble with dises MISS H. F. McFARLAND, Acting Principal of the Clement Grammar School. “I am and have always opposed to corporal been strongly t. I do not belleve In it at a d that we get along very w: “There are so man o ways of reaching a child. When one is reported to me for disorder, I appeal to him on the ground of his hav a_ rule, prebably through th nut I let him plainly unders if hé re- turns to my office on a charge he will be dealt with more By this I mean that he ained "after school, given extra work that his arents will be se t k the mat- er over. Ome of . ds usually has the desired effect, for we have t support of parents in dealing with tne chilcwen. ave been ask by parents to punish their boys, but I always say I will try to reach the boys in some other way, and I do reach them some other waj for I am a strong enemy to corporal pun- ishment.”