One Room Schoolhouse's

SCHOOL DISCIPLINE








Pioneer teachers had to contend with another age old educational issue: school discipline problems. However, unlike today, in the days of the old west educators had a lot more leeway to enforce school discipline. The rules were much stricter and the consequences for infractions much more immediate and severe. Students could be punished for such things as 'forgetting their lessons' or 'speaking out of turn', and teachers also had a much freer hand in dealing with infractions.

Corporal punishment -- inflicted by both male and female teachers -- was not uncommon. Rulers and hickory switches which could cut through both clothing and flesh were liberally applied to ill-behaved students as a school discipline measure.

Take a look at these
Common schoolhouse crimes and punishments:

  • 3 lashes - for disrupting the class

  • 4 lashes - for being late

  • 4 lashes - for boys & girls playing together

  • 6 lashes - for "sassing the teacher"

  • 7 lashes - for telling lies

  • 8 lashes - for swearing

  • 10 lashes - for "misbehaving to girls"

  • 10 lashes - for playing cards during recess

Also, the old picture of a child sitting in the corner with a "dunce cap" on their head was in fact actually used by some frontier teachers as a school discipline measure, however it was reserved mostly for minor infractions such as 'not reciting lessons correctly', or 'interupting the teacher'.

Discipline procedures in the one room schoolhouses of our great-grand parents would have many of today's parents talking to their lawyers and almost all public school students in revolt.


Did your great grandparents go to school in a ONE ROOM SCHOOLHOUSE
Go here to find out!


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