PUNISHMENTS IN SCHOOLS
SIR,—I am grateful to my friend Mr. Heckstall-Smith for his courteous, informative and critical letter in your issue of July 11th. I agree with him that the subject of punishments in schools is of immense importance, and I am very glad to know that- it is to be the object of a Government- sponsored enquiry. With regard to his strictures upon the honour system, I did not use the expression in my letter, though I did mention the word honour. Methods of punishment will naturally be influenced, if not largely determined, by the general system upon which a school is " run." His criticisms carry less weight with me because he has had, I imagine, no practical experience of the system he condemns so roundly. I, on the other hand, saw it in operation for thirty-five years, and can testify to the fine spirit of co-operation it produces in a school. A tree is known by its fruit. The frequent testimony of old boys to the value of our system is very striking today. Perhaps the most remarkable testimony is that of a headmaster who ran his school for native boys on the West Coast of Africa on these lines with very gratifying results. That does not surprise me in the least, for the system is a natural one and is what is practised in any good home. With regard to the " solem- nity " of which he speaks with such horror, I sometimes wonder whether the failure of our education today in certain directions may not be due to the fact that schoolmasters are too much afraid of impressing their own personality upon their boys, for it was to this that many of us owe so much. In our village I am greatly struck with the frequent references made by men of middle age to what they owe to the fine influence of --va/kIIIMMIMalakelf schoolaiastav -whose wesda-stail-ialuencehaue.abuieusly_ left a lasting impression for good upon their minds and characters. Be that as it may, I notice with interest that Mr. Heckstall-Smith did not succeed along his lines in solving to his own satisfaction the problem of punishments.—I am, Your truly, J. R. ECCLES.
The Elms, Lower Darwen, Lanes.
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