The Dull Pupil

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Tacoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Feb 7, 1907

EVERY young man or woman who contemplates teaching school for the first time should read the fifth, sixth, and seventh verses of the Second Epistle of Peter a great many times. “The fiery heart of youth” is apt to get along fairly well with the bright and average pupils, but is merciless toward the dull ones. If a man or woman teaches school for more than one or two terms, and does not find his feelings of contempt for slow-brained pupils changing into one of pity and tenderness, it is a sure sign that something is wrong. We expect injustice and lack of patience from young teachers, but older ones must know better. A Christian who does not grow in grace is worthless, and the same may be said of the teacher.

“But the slow boys and girls are such trials,” some one says. To be sure they are. It is simply impossible to understand why they can not grasp even simple knowledge readily. There are pupils in every school who go into advanced classes simply and solely because their lives are made hard for them if they stay with smaller children. There is nothing to compare with the scorn of a bright little boy or girl for a big, overgrown pupil, and teachers and officials recognize this fact when they promote dull children no matter what their grades.

However dull the girls and boys may be, you may be sure about one thing, there is nothing dull about their feelings. They suffer more keenly than the bright children, and school days are days of bondage to most of them. A mother was shocked beyond expression, when the heart of her dull son was suddenly revealed in a burst of bitterness, and she instantly removed him from the school that was nothing but torment. The slow tear that trickles down the cheek of the unhappy pupil, when the exasperated teacher indulges in sarcasm, should be a warning to her to think twice before speaking once, no matter what the provocation.

A very bright young teacher was warned by an older one against holding up dull pupils to ridicule, but she still persisted. “It’s nothing but laziness that keeps them from knowing as much as the rest,” she said, positively. “I intend to shame them into doing better.” Alas and alas! Her married life has given her one son, a boy dull in every respect, and she repents in dust and ashes her unkind words and deeds. Hour after hour she labors with the child, but the same blank look that vexed her in school days is on his face, and no flash of intelligence lights his eye. There is nothing wrong with the child mentally,—that is, he is only a dull boy,—but the mother’s heart aches. She is forced to endure the kindly words of friends, to hear of the wonderful progress made by bright children in school, and to know that the boys tease her poor child, and call him “Dummy.” She does not think of trying to shame him into learning faster, though she has never forgotten for a single minute since he came, that she once considered that plan very successful.

And that is not the only thing to think of, either. Sometimes dull boys far outstrip the bright ones, and girls who were thought slow witted make wonderful strides later on. How pleasant it would be if some of the teachers of dull pupils, who blossomed late in life, could remember that they had always encouraged them and made school life as enjoyable as possible. It would take a long time to tell of the dull boys and girls who became famous later in life, and no record has ever been kept of the slow people who far surpass the bright ones in the ordinary walks of life. It is a good thing for teachers to ponder the lives of the famous dullards, and hear what they said later in life about the instructors who sarcastically called attention to their lack of brains during school days. Those things are never forgotten, and your dull pupil may make you famous some day by holding up your lack of patience and consideration to public view.

But more than all, remember that scolding does no good. If you can find a case on record where whippings, or sarcasm, or anything but time, transformed a dull pupil into a bright one, you have discovered the exception to the rule. O, yes, lazy boys and girls have been induced by various means to settle down to hard work and achieve success in the schoolroom, but there is a vast difference between laziness and lack of brains. By all means stir up the lazy pupils and demand good work, and keep the active ones busy, but be merciful to the slow pupils. Three boys in one family who were the despair of every teacher they ever had, are now successful merchants, and they never forgot the kindness of two women who almost made them forget their dulness. These teachers always praised their efforts to work, no matter if the result was an utter failure, and they began to have hope. You don’t need to be untruthful to cheer up a dull scholar. Praise the dogged persistence that keeps them plodding along after the bright pupils, even if they have no knowledge at all. Since you can not read the future and see what is in store for these poor boys and girls, make the present at least bearable, and you can not fail of your reward.—Selected.