Moral Panic

Improved Essays
Throughout the evolution of the teaching profession, moral panics have consistently been the catalysts to significant changes. Whether related to gender, race or structural changes, instances of moral panic have held stable presences in prompting such large changes. Dictionary defined, moral panic is the process of arousing social concern over an issue, usually the work of moral entrepreneurs and the mass media.
Within the teaching profession, three notable times of moral panic between the mid 19th century and mid 20th century shaped not only who held positions as teachers, but also how the industry was seen as a whole. Catherine Beecher, an early feminist who believed that education should focus on bettering society by increasing morality
…show more content…
The report was scathing, and described the male teachers as incompetent, intemperate, course, hard, unfeeling men who were too lazy or stupid to be entrusted with the care of children (Goldstein, 2014, p. 24). While the report on its own led to some questioning of the male teachers’ capabilities, the true moral panic was incited by two independent parties: Catherine Beecher’s speech, and Washington Irving’s The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. The main character in Irving’s short story, Ichabod Crane, is painted as a “well-intentioned petty tyrant lording it over the children at a poorly maintained single-room schoolhouse through the generous use of a birch rod” (p. 24). One critical element of most moral panics is their tendency to focus on single stories to incite the largest reaction possible. Though Ichabod Crane was a purely fictional character, the notions he represented were something beginning to be seen within American schoolhouses. The combination of the potential for factual basis married with Irving’s dramatization of that factual basis was exactly what was needed to begin to incite a moral panic of if men were truly cut out to be …show more content…
Just after the turn of the century, Helen Todd, a Chicago factory inspector, took a survey of 500 child laborers who had dropped out of school. Independent of financial necessity, 412 of the children said they would rather spend their days working in factories than at school. The children described school as “a joyless place of ethnic bigotry, corporal punishment and mind-numbing rote memorization” (p. 80). Though the sample size was small and not representative of the entirety of children within the city, the 1909 study highlighted critical issues with how schooling was being conducted. This third wave of moral panic was likely the most defined, individual-created panic as it used a select few stories to truly incite the cultural panic. Moral panics are generally promoted through the selection of a few stories, generally told by muckrakers, and Todd’s study using just those students who had dropped out achieved exactly that. Without looking deeply at the sample, seeing that more than 80% of any selection of children would rather work in factories than attend school easily prompted discussion of how the mere structure of schooling was horrifically

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    Sommers explains when she plays a macabre game with her first-year students, they often reply that acts that are considered to be morally wrong happening to one individual may not be bad for someone else. She points out how the student's capacity of achieving reasonable moral judgment is in trouble and there definitely is a moral drift. Sommers brings up how Harvard University students attending a history class that focuses on the Second World War and the rise of the Nazis did not believe that there was anyone to blame for the Holocaust and they had a “no-fault history” perception of the past. This possible rising generation of “moral stutters” questions what schools should be doing to help children become morally literate and “... mend the hole in the moral…

    • 838 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    In “Teacher Wars,” by Dana Goldstein, I read the first two chapters after I briefly read through each chapter to figure out what appeals to me most. I have done much research on Susan B. Anthony, therefore, I wanted to read that chapter to see if I could discover something new about her or a different perspective. Whereas, I have heard about Catharine Beecher and Horace Mann before, but only briefly. Therefore, I wanted to read that chapter to read who they were and what impact they had on education. I was not surprised that the book began with the history of teaching with females being the main correspondence.…

    • 1037 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Patricia Loher SOC- 220 10/28/14 1. Before entering this sociology class I have never heard of the phrase moral panic before. So to me after learning about what exactly a moral panic is, in my own words a moral panic is basically an extreme panicked response expressed by the public believing that a certain issue threatens a “normal” society, (social order). When comparing Cohen’s processual model and Goode and Ben-Yehuda attributional model of moral panics, there are many similarities and many differences. Both of the models state that moral panics are some kind of extreme forms of actions, motions, occurrences that construct social problems in a society.…

    • 1115 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The novel To Kill a Mockingbird reflects life values and lessons to a great extent through the character Atticus Finch. It is said of Atticus that ‘whether Maycomb knows it or not, we’re paying him the highest tribute we can pay a man. We trust him to do it right.’ And it is with Atticus’ moral integrity he teaches his children through the themes of good and evil, prejudice, and courage.…

    • 1046 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Response To Moral Panic

    • 1284 Words
    • 6 Pages

    . Moral Panic It is not uncommon for laws to be passed in response to moral panic. A moral panic occurs when events unfold that are seen as a threat to society.…

    • 1284 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Roshni Parikh Ms. Henry AP Lang & Comp Set: 3 19 October 2017 Kozol’s Mastery of Argumentation In this passage from Shame of the Nation, a nonfiction book published in 2005, author Jonathan Kozol highlights the growing divide between minority high school students and students in affluent school systems. Kozol appeals predominantly to ethos throughout the passage, analyzing possible causes and effects of the current disenfranchisement present in the United States education system, in addition to using formal diction and sophisticated syntax to establish credibility. In using Pathos as a subordinate appeal, Kozol incorporates several literary devices and references to children to appeal to the audience’s emotions.…

    • 1501 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    No free time like a regular child would get today, just going to the mines ready to have permanent scar on your body. Let’s say you are a 9 year old boy in the 1880’s. If you habited in the right side of the country, you were considered a hard-working factory worker. The majority of these kids were unhealthy, monotonous, and not incapable to continue on. In 1900’s, over 1.7 million children under the age of 16 works outside their homes.…

    • 481 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Horace Mann’s Educational Beliefs 1 Educational Influence of Horace Mann’s Theories and Beliefs On May 4, 1796 an American education reformer was born. Horace Mann is best known for the promotion of public education and training within “normal schools”. As a result of the suffering education system in Massachusetts, a forceful reform became apparent leading to the nation’s first educational system. Above all, Secretary of Massachusetts, Horrace Mann, held an important role, as he had to portray moral leadership.…

    • 637 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Victorian England’s morality can be associated with the term prudish. Principles were set in this era which included sexual limitation, harsh conduct and no criminal activity. Social interaction and traditions changed due to the Victorian era’s changed morality. Religion also played a very important role in what is known as the Victorian era moral. If there was one belief that embodied the Victorian era, ten it would be Christian belief.…

    • 338 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Harper Lee’s ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’, written in the 1960’s and set in the 1930’s, and highlights the social narrative of the 30’s. The novel is set in Maycomb County, Alabama a town very typical of the times. The reader is presented with the character of Atticus Finch, a middle-aged father who works as a lawyer. Although seemingly average he is although significant; as a hero. Amongst his peers he exhibited higher thresholds of empathy, which was quite high especially in the historical context.…

    • 1031 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Hine’s was a photojournalistic artist. He used photojournalism to tell his stories. Photojournalism is the art or practice of communication news through newspapers, magazines, and more. He used photojournalism while trying to get the message that child labor was negative across. Hine’s amazing work that was produced by his talent was the face of the National Child Labor Committee and what they stood for as a community.…

    • 998 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Washington Irving creates this social conflict between the characters Ichabod Crane and Katrina Van Tassel in, “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.” Ichabod Crane, a strict school teacher and singing instructor, represents the lower-class in this short story and Katrina, daughter of a wealthy farm owner, represents the upper-class. On the surface, the text tells a story of a poor school teacher who falls madly in “love” with an upper-class beauty queen who ultimately rejects Ichabod — or so we assume. However, Irving goes much deeper than a surface level conflict between two socially unequal characters. Andrea Tinnemeyer, Department Chair, English Department at The College Preparatory School, states, “by casting Katrina as the love interest and point of contention and competition between the two characters of Crane and Bones, Irving recasts the Revolutionary War in terms of a love triangle.…

    • 941 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Considered the first professional, distinguished author in the United States, Washington Irving helped gain international respect for American literature through his short stories, biographies, and histories. During the 19th century, he undertook the persona of Geoffrey Crayon and published a collection of 34 pieces of writing titled The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon. One of the most popular short stories amongst this collection, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, is noted for its action, adventure, romance, horror, and even comedy. Ichabod Crane, the protagonist of the story, is an awkward schoolteacher living in the eerie town of Sleepy Hollow, which is known for its daunting atmosphere that spooks its inhabitants and visitors. Towards the end…

    • 1121 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The purpose of my research paper is to examine the evolution of female education in America during the 19th century. In my understanding that this is a broad topic, I want to focus on the basic educational opportunities awarded to daughters of wealthy and middle class white families. My paper will take a look at the arguments both for and against furthering female education, with a special focus on how education was marketed to appeal to a conservative idea of Republican motherhood and the women’s domestic sphere. In order to contextualize this change in educational standards, I plan to draw brief examples from the 17th, but mostly the 18th century, regarding what subjects and methods of teaching were to be expected for girls that were allowed to attend school. In addition, should space allow, I’d like to also highlight some key women who helped to further the educational reformation, or more generally how female teachers and schoolmistresses did just that.…

    • 1878 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    The Victorian Era is understood to have existed during the rule of Queen Victoria during 1837 to 1901 and it was realized to be an exciting period that saw various literary schools, artistic styles, along with, social and political movements. Notably, the period was described to have led to swift developments and changes from observed advances in scientific, technological, and medical knowledge to changes in population growth. It was reckoned as an era of prosperity, great political reforms, and a widespread imperial expansion. However, in the modern world, the era has been perceived to have been filled with numerous contradictions. This was evident owing to the existence of social movements that were concerned with promoting public morals…

    • 1392 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays

Related Topics