ON PUNISHING CHILDREN.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXIX, Issue 1716, 24 May 1917, Page 4

ON PUNISHING CHILDREN.

No rules ean be laid down as to punishments, but there are certain rules which apply to the manner of giving them. 1. Let the punishment quickly follow the offence. A child feels the justice of it much more if the offence he has committed is fresh in his mind.

2. Try always to get the child to see that his punishment is just. 3. Never punish in anger; if annoyance is felt, it must be controlled before beginning to punish. 4. Let the punishment be sufficient to be really felt; but let it be short. 5. Do not refer to the offence again, when the punishment is over. 6. Do not talk about faults and punishments more than is absolutely necessary. Keep the child’s mind on other things. 7. Do not • allow a governess or nurse to punish for serious offences. The wise ones are always pleased when the mother relieves them of this responsibility. 8. Do not punish one day for an act which ‘on another day you will allow.

There remains yet the difficult question of corporal punishment. The very words “corporal punishment” sound so hard and severe when we think of a child in the nursery! But a little slap need not be a very dreadful thing. The question is, is it right to inflict bodily pain at all 1 ? Does it ever do the child good ? If it does, then we must let no mere fancies of our own keep us from doing it. If it is true that there are generally two sides to a question, it is certainly true as regards this question of corporal punishment, Many good mothers think that it is always degrading —that it can never do any-

thing but harm. Others equally good, say that a little slap, severe enough ty be felt, administered at the right-moment, by the right person, may have a very wholesome effect.

I am inclined to think that for some children, and for certain offences, it is allowable, if it is safeguarded in the following ways:—l. It must he given without the slightest feeling or show of irritation. 2. It must not he given in the presence of other children. 3. The child must know quite clearly what it is being whipped for. 4. If possible, the child must be made to feel that the mother dislikes doing it.

The fact is, that those people who are templed to shake or slap a child frequently, are just those who should not do it; while those who dread doing it, and yet do it for the child's good, are. probably the ones who may be trusted to administer such punishment. There is one other aspect with regard to children’s punishments which must be considered. We must be very careful to distinguish between what is wi-ong-doing in children, and what is more annoying to ourselves. This is an important matter. We may easily wound a child’s tender conscience, and lead him astray by teaching him to regard certain acts as sin which are not sin. For a tiny child to fall on the road and dirty his clothes may he very annoying, but it is not a sin. It is never safe to judge of the gravity of what is done by the effect it has upon ourselves.