The Paper Chase Read Free Page B

impressed by Pont’s sincerity as the headmaster sat and talked to the new teachers in the sparsely-furnished room he called his office. This room overlooked the garden at the back of the house, with its weedy flowerbeds and neglected tennis court.
    “Most of the boys and girls here are what society calls difficult or delinquent,” he said. “Maureen Gardner has been a thief, Billy Mobbs is a bed-wetter, Arthur Hope-Hurry was sent here because he told lies. Some are merely thought difficult, said by their parents to be unresponsive to affection, or have been found stupid at ordinary schools. John Deverell, who is new this term like yourselves, has a father who lives in the Argentine. He wanted John to be educated in Europe and for the past two years he has been at a school in Switzerland. His father was worried by reports that he made no progress and was unco-operative, and decided to send him here.
    “I mention these boys and girls to show partly that each is an individual case to be treated in a particular way, but also to show the contrary. There is one general answer to all their problems. The answer is love. It can never be punishment. That is not to say we allow unlimited freedom. If I find the boys and girls smoking I take their cigarettes away. If I find them drinking – that rarely happens – I take away the bottle.” For a moment Mr Pont’s pink face became pinker, then the flush receded. “These children have to live in society, and they must understand that society has certain restrictions which are called laws. I put it this way. We allow children freedom in deciding what not to do. Attendance at lessons is not compulsory. Work is not compulsory, except certain community duties like washing up. We provide a cultural environment and observe the reaction to it. We have our failures, but there are many more successes. Maureen Gardner no longer steals, Arthur Hope-Hurry is learning to be truthful within the proper limits of adolescent fantasy.”
    Applegate crossed to the window. “Do they look after the garden?”
    “On a voluntary basis, yes. At the moment it is neglected. Is that what you were thinking?”
    “The idea had crossed my mind.”
    “Three years ago that tennis court was made by boys and girls eager to play tennis,” Mr Pont said warmly. “I wish you could have seen the work they put into it. They levelled the ground, returfed it in part, and saved their money to buy nets, posts, racquets and balls. These boys and girls have left us. Nobody today troubles about the tennis court. In another year or two there may be others who want to play.”
    “But –” Applegate stopped, unable to formulate all his objections.
    “Did what’s her name, Maureen Gardner, pinch things when she first came here?” Montague asked.
    “She did. We found almost all of them. The impulse was a natural infantile one to gain attention from adults. When Maureen found that she was not punished, and that in fact little attention was paid to her petty thieving, she gave it up.”
    “Do you mean to say that if a kid pinches my wallet I’m not going to do anything about it?” Montague’s chubby face expressed incredulity.
    “I said nothing of the kind. I said that we should understand that the theft was an infantile reaction and treat it accordingly.” Behind Pont’s good humour Applegate sensed that invincible conviction of his own rightness from which martyrs and lunatics are made. “Now a personal word to you both. You are not experienced teachers. That is all to the good. The orthodox teacher is too hidebound for life here. In fact – I will not try to conceal it from you – few stay more than a couple of terms. They lack idealism. I hope you will bring fresh and unprejudiced minds to bear on the problems you meet. They will be your problems as well as those of our boys and girls. It is in solving them that you can find happiness, as I have done. Try to reach beyond the self to the not-self.”
    For a