Piute County School District,

We’re already about 1/3 of the way through another school year, or 3/9 if that makes it sound better :).

In 1894 the first publication of the novel The Jungle Book hit shelves in stores. The story includes a young boy named Mowgli who is raised by wolves in the jungle of India. In the book author Rudyard Kipling introduces the term “Law of the Jungle.” The wolves teach their young cubs and Mowgli this law. Kipling expands on this law in the sequel to the book with a full poem about the law for the wolves. It starts with these lines...

"Now this is the law of the jungle, as old and as true as the sky,

And the wolf that shall keep it may prosper, but the wolf that shall break it must die.

As the creeper that girdles the tree trunk, the law runneth forward and back;

For the strength of the pack is the wolf, and the strength of the wolf is the pack.

After more than a dozen specific verses of specific laws for wolves, the law of the Jungle ends with these lines….

Now these are the laws of the jungle, and many and mighty are they;

But the head and the hoof of the law and the haunch and the hump is—Obey!"

Kipling’s law for wolves was a very popular work and influenced a number of other writers. One person that was really influenced by Kipling’s writings was a man named Robert Baden-Powell who is considered the founder of the Boy Scouts program. You’ll find many of the same terms and principles in the scouting program as the law for wolves; cub, pack, bear, etc. 

The law ends with the word “obey.” It’s telling that obedience is such an important component of the law of the Jungle, because in the jungle the consequence for disobedience could very likely be death. Several parts of the law suggest the need wolves have for each other. Survival requires the “pack” to be unified. Despite a lifting of most restrictions for COVID, there is still a lot of anxiety and mental health needs. Our students need each other and they need us. Students are strengthened by everyone in the school and the school gets its strength from the students. For the strength of the pack is the wolf, and the strength of the wolf is the pack.

Have a great week 13,

Koby