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Department in the Schoolroom

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Review and Herald Publishing Association · Tacoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Jan 10, 1907

FromReview and Herald, Vol. 84, No. 2.

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Department in the Schoolroom

By E. R. Allen

“ORDER is heaven’s first law,” is an old saying that we can not repeat too often. And should not order be a law with us also? It would seem so, when we profess to be preparing for translation to that paradise where all is order. But I am afraid sometimes that in one department of work, the school, this is oft overlooked. We believe with all our hearts in Christian education, and rejoice at the progress being made in it.
Is order in the schoolroom a small thing? Will not the child carry all through life the habits acquired in the home and school?—Surely he will.
How important, then, that habits of cleanliness, decency, and respect for others, be insisted upon during the formative period of childhood and youth.
But to be more specific: children who are daily under the care of a teacher should be required to keep their hands, faces, and clothes clean, hair brushed, and shoes free at least from mud.
Should pupils be allowed to move about the schoolroom at pleasure, get a drink, borrow a book, go out of doors, etc., without permission from the teacher?—We think not. There can be no semblance of order or quietness, which are so necessary in character development, when these things are permitted. But on the other hand, we do not believe in the ultra extreme, where “you could hear a pin drop.”
These are but a few of the things that might be mentioned, and ought to receive attention by the conscientious, God-fearing teacher. We are educating our children to be either Christian ladies and gentlemen or to be ruffians—coarse, uncultured, undisciplined members of society. Which shall it be? The answer lies with the parents and the teacher.
Neither one can successfully train a child for God alone, but either one can tear down and undo all that the other attempts to accomplish. Let us endeavor to have our homes and schools ruled by heaven’s first law.
E. R. ALLEN.