St. Mary's gazette., 1867-01-03
TIE PUNISHMENT OF CHILDREN

A fcw davs ago we published SAYS tho
/ Albany Knickerbocker, the case of little
boy being frightened to death By threaten
Q / punishment, and that was ,nly ole Of tho
numerous instances of q like nature. The
tollowing~ remarks on the subject. from
Halls Journal Of Hath, are Interesting
asusa,ase1ss dc:
Not long ago an editor in the northern
part of the State of New York told his
son. abeat eleven years old, that he would
whip him in the course of few hours
and locked him IN an upper room until he
haG leisurc to Go 50. " hen ho heard his
father coming he became so alarmed tha,
he jumped out Of the window aud broke his
neck About a year ago a mother pun
i>h2d her Ii tie daughter of eight years by
shutting her up in dark closet. the child
became so frightened that convul,i ,ns ,re
! Induced, which resulted in death. Iu al
other case, Of similar character, thu re-
! suit vas still more calamitous, for The Chi d
became epilcptic, and 80 remained for !
! long time attcrward The object of par
eutal correction should be the ultimate
Souu Cl iiIo cu!Id, ah1 ~ ni'Ae ~ chSS
tive:
!. TIE character of the punishment
should be according to tho disposition and
temperament Of the child,
.. The punishment should be in pro
| portion to the nature of the oifcnsc.
! 3. The raaishmcnt should be inflicted
with the utmost stlt-posseesiou. for if douc
IN towering passion it taxes the charac
ter Of rcytnye; the child sees it, and rcssts
E! it with 1vii.nce, stubbornness. or with Il
feeling of being the injured party
4. Punishment should never be threat
cnel for one Of two results, both unior-
,uuatc are certain either the pr mise
viii rot be kept. aud the child lose coui-
deucc i'll parental assertions, or the child s
mind, dwelling upon what is expected.
suffers I.ngthcned torture, Inauguration
always a.Srsvat.ng the seventy OF the
chas iscmcrt and the child gradua "
/ learns to st2rtle 1T every cykpt which Is
likely to Il her IN the correcffon. AM the
touly la.;ou is lad + that fe.rfulucs. Of
the fu:utt whcA i, tdc bane Of a!l human
happiness; aAi IN some cases tao severity
of tho expected suffering looms up 50 larg
" under the influence of dfst"mpered
ina gina.loa, rs in the case of the { lltJrs
that chiid-suicidc is considered the lesser
evil It is nothing more nor less than
savage sbu bArity for any parent to hold
the mini OF CHILD IL ! state Of terrorism
for single hour. i=t alone for day. and
we Ks.
). Never correct child by scolling,
4 lnoui,ion or castigasion in tho presence
ot any person whatever. Il is an attack
on its se!t-estecm, which proyokcs resis
tauc3 AMI passion. Let grown persons
rccollect how Ill they bear even deserved
reproyt In the presence of others.
6 Never punish i child twice for one
ofeust; it is . great Injustice, a relic Of
barbs.I-m, and always dlscourages or har-
dcns Max" each settlement hua in il
self, and dou't be forever harpin- On wlat
is pas.
T. Punishment should not be effected In
any case Wi hout placing clearly before th4
the CHI q ) mind the nAiurc of tha ggra
vati.n, and that the sole dcsigu OF the
chastl,tmcnt, or reproof. is bis present aud
future welfare
5 In al. case, where punishment IS de-
cilcl upon, it should be prompt or defer
red according 70 the degree of agyravation
ov Palplblo wrong 1t is almost always
better to defer; but III such cases threaten
nothing, say nothinE. do nohing VII ch
j ri atcs III h, Sigh est de gree that any
thug is TO come. And when the tluc
doc, come do not alarm the CHILD With any