Elements of Civil Government / A Text-Book for Use in Public Schools, High Schools and Normal Schools and a Manual of Reference for Teachers

by Alexander L. Peterman

SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS.

1. Name some of the restraints of home life.

2. Why does the welfare of all depend upon the family government?

3. Why do rights and duties always exist together?

4. Name some bad habits.

5. Why should children abstain from bad habits?

6. What is true manhood?

7. Are disobedient children apt to make good citizens?

8. Should a father permit his bad habits to be adopted by his children?

CHAPTER II.

THE SCHOOL.

INTRODUCTORY.--When children reach the age of six or seven years, they enter the public school and become subject to its rules. We are born under government, and we are educated under it. We are under it at home, in school, and in after life. Law and order are everywhere necessary to the peace, safety, liberty, and' happiness of the people. True liberty and true enlightenment can not exist unless regulated by law.

DEFINITION AND PURPOSES.--A school district or sub-district is a certain portion of the town or county laid off and set apart for the purpose of establishing and maintaining a public school. It exists for educational reasons only, and is the unit of educational work. The public schools are supported by funds raised partly by the State, and partly by the county or the township. They are frequently called common schools or free schools. It is the duty of the State to provide all children with the means of acquiring a plain English education, and the State discharges this duty by dividing the county into districts of such size that a school-house and a public school arc within reach of every child.

FORMATION.--The limits of the school district are usually fixed by the chief school officer of the county, by the town, by the school board, or by the people living in the neighborhood. In most of the States districts vary greatly in size and shape; but in some of the States they have a regular form, each being about two miles square.

FUNCTIONS.--The functions, or work, of the school are solely educational. The State supports a system of public schools in order that the masses of the people may be educated. The country needs good citizens: to be good citizens the people must be intelligent, and to be intelligent they must attend School.