The Wilmingtonian., 1886-11-13
Furnishing Children.

1t seems as II in this age of civilization
that physical punishment ought never to be
resorted to. 1t is not necessary. parent
has full control of child when it is Soung
and should keep it. 1t can never be done
by whipping, for boy that is punished that
way always looks forward to the time when
he will be too large to be whipped, and as
he grows he has to be whipped little harder
every time, which in itself proves that form
of punishment to be useless and wrong. lii
any other method of punishment child can
be shown that he is simply enduring the
| consequence of disobedient act, unless of
course, mere injustice is practiced, for chi :
dren have fine sense of justice and are not
easily deceived By pretence of it. Too
much punishment is as dangerous as too lit,
tie. 1t is when one has a glmmer of this
idea that he quotes the proverb, "spare the
| rod" etc, to fortify himself, when the prov
erb would be better forgotten. "Great re-
wards betoken falling state The same
is true of much punishment.
The object of all punishment is, Of course,
to improve child, to trim off or subdue Its
faults of character as they appear, and give
a better chance of all the good qua tiles to de-
velop. There are ways of punishment be-
sides whipping that will defeat this end, and
the whole subject is matter to be gravely
considered by parents of young children. Ii
| is a common practice to deprive a child OF
some accustomed anticipated pleasure be.
| q Tba &c ,,al
punishment depends upon the creum.
stances.
Suppose, for instance, boy has pro
mise that he shall go to certain circus thai
is coming in a Few days, but an occasion
arises in which some sort of discipline mus
be resorted to and he is told he cannot 90 t,
the circus In such case all the antagon
ism of the boys nature is aroused. He car
see no justice in the punishment. He sub
mits because he is Obliged to and the onl,
relief he has ia in hating the authority ove
him, and no doubt feels contempt, for E
time, for one that can give a promise ant
then take it back. All the matters 10 rela
tion to the coming of the circus, his mate,
all going, and ever ythiDg in connection will
it will continually keep his angry feeling,
uppermost aud he will all the time feel tn,
injustice of tie broken promise instead ofre
pentance for his misdeeds. Now if, instead
had been told that he could not 90 out of til,
yard again for any pleasure, except the cir
Gus for week. nor have any boys in his owl
yard to play with him during that time, bu
must amuse himself as best he could alon
in consequence of his wrong doing, be woul,
many times during the week wished he hat
behaved himself properly and would no
have that hateful feeling aroused toward
, his parents. He would not be made unhapp
. by his punishment he would have chanc
to think of the matter fairly and would no
5 feel abused and outraged however uncomfor
, table the restriction became Instead O
feeling angry at it he would wish he ha
! not done wrong. A child needs all the sun
shine it Can have to be fitted for the storm
& that come in afte life and If in doub
D whether punishment, in certain cases,
a really necessity or not, always give III
child the bebetit Of the doubt. A happy chill
! will be the most obedient The docilty of
! slave is not what we want in children. eth
e camel moves no swifter before the whip. or
! y behind the flute. "-[Good Housekeeping