128 A. 25 | Conn. | 1925
It is conceded in the brief of the appealing plaintiff that the school board or other proper authority may make reasonable rules concerning the conduct of pupils, and inflict reasonable corporal punishment for the infraction of such rules, and that in the absence of rules so established, the teacher may make all necessary and proper rules for the regulation of the school. We so held in Sheehan v. Sturges,
The authorities upon this point would not ordinarily be numerous, since it is a narrow one and restricted to transactions not usually forming the subject of litigation, and still less of consideration by appellate tribunals. In Lander v. Seaver,
We find no cases in point to the contrary of those cited above. There are many cases concerned with the power of school authorities to make and enforce rules forbidding activities and conduct outside of school hours and after the return of pupils to their homes, made punishable by expulsion or suspension, where the acts are likely to injuriously affect the proper operation and conduct of the school, and such rules have been upheld by the courts where adjudged to be reasonable. Citation is unnecessary; a full enumeration of the cases may be found in the note to Kinzer v.Directors of Independent School District, 6 Amer.
Eng. Anno. Cas. 998 (
Examination of the authorities clearly reveals the true test of the teacher's right and jurisdiction to punish for offenses not committed on the school property or going and returning therefrom, but after the return of the pupil to the parental abode, to be not *136 the time or place of the offense, but its effect upon the morale and efficiency of the school, whether it in fact is detrimental to its good order, and to the welfare and advancement of the pupils therein. If the conduct punished is detrimental to the best interests of the school, it is punishable, and in the instant case under the rules of the school board, by corporal infliction. The effect of the rule claimed by the plaintiff, if applied, would result in a serious loss of discipline in school, and possible harm to innocent pupils in attendance. Supposing that some strong-armed juvenile bully attending school lived upon the next block and sought for a brief moment the asylum of his home, and thence sallied forth and beat, abused and terrorized his fellow pupils as they passed by returning home, then, by the claim urged by plaintiff, he would be immune from punishment by the school authorities, while, if he began his assaults before he had passed within the bounds of his own front yard, he would be liable to proper punishment for any harm done. Now the harm done to the morale of the school is the same. The injured and frightened pupils are dismayed and discouraged in going to and coming from the school, and demoralized while in attendance. It will not do to say, as plaintiff's counsel argue, that the proper resort to correct such an abuse is to the parents of such offenders, or the public prosecutors. Some parents would dismiss the matter by saying that they could give no attention to children's quarrels; many would champion their children as being all right in their conduct. The public authorities would very properly say, unless the offense resulted in quite serious injury, that such affrays were too trifling to deserve their attention. Yet the harm to the school has been done, and its proper conduct and operation seriously harmed by such acts. Correction will usually be *137 sought in vain at the hands of parents; it can only be successfully applied by the teacher. It is not likely that any milder punishment than corporal infliction would act as a deterrent in cases like the present. The abuse of little girls by young bullies is a base and brutal offense.
In the instant case it will be observed that while the plaintiff had reached his home after school, his victims had not. This is an important fact, even if the rule claimed by plaintiff should be upheld as a general statement. See Cleary v. Booth, L. R. 1 Q. B. (1893) 465. The claim made in argument, that the small girls who were abused were trespassers upon the property of plaintiff's mother, is of no avail. There is nothing in the record to show that plaintiff was acting under direction of his mother, and even if he were, such conduct as the court has found to exist would not be lawful.
There is no error.
In this opinion the other judges concurred.