p. 10 | COOPERATING WITH TEACHERS

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Apr 22, 1897

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 23, No. 16.

COOPERATING WITH TEACHERS.

By Mrs. Anna Warren Shindler

Parents, Consider.

I REGRET to say that parents are in a large measure contributors to the rearing of the monuments of insubordination and rebellion of the pupils in our schools.

In the first place, these shoots of insubordination exhibit themselves in the very infancy of the child, and, while those to whom God has intrusted the guardianship, may heed and act upon the injunction of the wise king, still, when that period arrives in the age of the child when the cultivation of the mind, heart, and manners is transferred for a certain length of time, they seem to forget that they virtually do and should delegate to that authority the power to discipline that child while it is subject to their care.

Some parents have the erroneous idea that discipline presupposes the use of the rod, which idea renders it so distasteful to them; but such is not the case, for discipline, in its broad sense, refers to the intangible as well as the material. It is treatment or manner of dealing with either mind or body; or, more explicitly, to discipline is to educate, to drill, to correct. Of course, these modes of correction are multitudinous, and I will not enlarge on them, as they are not strictly applicable to the point in question.

It is, no doubt, a recognizable fact among parents that long before the child has reached the specified age which admits him to the privileges of the public school, he has evinced that depravity of mind and heart which compels the conscientious parent to remonstrate with him, making use oftener than otherwise of some form of punishment. Unless great care is exercised on the part of the parent to uphold the teacher in discipline regarding the child during the initiatory years of school life, there will be fostered in the mind and heart of the child a spirit of insubordination, which is the germ from the outgrowth of which unfold so many of the ills and evils in life.

It is a very common occurrence, when pupils of the first, second, and third grades in school, return home and relate the circumstance of punishment inflicted for some misdemeanor by the teacher, for the parent to remark: "That must not occur again," that "they had no right to do that," that "I will not send my children to school to such a teacher," etc.

Of course, by such a procedure as this is inculcated into the mind of the child the idea that the teacher is debarred the right of controlling it, engendering a feeling that will render the pupil less submissive to control each day, when in nine cases out of ten the teacher has meted out the proper punishment for the offense. Of course, it can't be universally affirmed; but grant that in some cases the teacher is in fault, and has acted unwisely, what action does wisdom dictate that the parent should take in the premises?

According to my view of the subject, and by which rule I have always endeavored to gauge my actions, when a child returns from school, has been guilty of an offense, for which he has received punishment from the proper authority, the teacher, and relates such circumstance to the parent—and I will say, by way of parenthesis, that they are not apt to do that unless for the purpose of eliciting the sympathy of papa and mama, and hearing the teacher denounced—if the parent does not coincide with the teacher that the proper course has been pursued in the question, he should say very little. Never, by the slightest insinuation, leave the impression on the mind of the child that he has been wronged. You can say to him, "My child, do what is right, and you will not have to be punished," for we can all truthfully tell our children that. Furthermore, if, in your calm moments of reflection, you feel that your child has been wronged, don't pass any writings, but go personally and interview the teacher regarding it, keeping the child all the while in ignorance of your proceedings.

Parents do not always realize the injuries that accrue in increasing numbers to their children from their unwise actions in this matter, even after they have rolled up the scroll of their college life.

This is a serious question, if they would only consider it in its different bearings, upon the lives of those dearest to them, and plays quite an important part in character and status of the coming generation.

A poison imbibed in the domestic family is a taint in the national household, for the home is the kindergarten of the nation. Besides, if parents would only calmly consider, this sort of procedure on their part casts many stumbling-blocks in the way of the child's advancement up the hill of science, for it is an almost universally accepted proposition that a child who is habitually insubordinate in school never attains to marked proficiency in learning.

Now, dear parents who may read this, I hope you will give the above subject some thought and attention, and I am sure that a great change will be wrought in the demeanor of our children, as well as their progress in learning, by the effect of school discipline.