The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1896-02-11

trouble if | treated them as individ-
uais, and ut as trained ANIMALS. l
found that Now we will have board
work" meant greater harmony and
bett. work than a snap % the hUg'rs
and $50 the boardsr' So | try to
avoiI IT," aenond perm. i'm p-rative,
even with my servants, aud especially
with children. Nobility, and not
serviliry, is my desire / do not wish
to crush my child's spirit, nor 90 L
wish even to he ar her INITIATING my
tones in prremptory command, or IN
the queruious aud common mo, no!'
Much puni-hment teaches children
to deceive. Il teaches them to- lie 1t
teaches them TO hate, and woe To the
parents whose tyranny Of temper
strips them Of their chiidren's love!
Our severity will leave our children
weak and unable To stand alone. [
read Earl Barnes study in "PuDish-
menp' in a recent Pedagogical Semi
nary. Even though the study
revealed the chiid's recognition of the
necessity of punishment, when just
aud not cruel, my strongest impress
sion WAS: "WhaJ a lot of cravens our
school children are! How we train
them to Tear US! How easily we eX-
press oar ideas on themW
Corporal punishment is universal,
I believe, lust because it is sn easy
WAY out of Oiiemmas. But it is a
revelation to our Deighbors, If not to
ourselves, of our own weakness or IL
uorance III dealing with traits which
we have given these children. have
long been opposed in general to cor
moral punishment, but in sheer des-
peratiOn 1 have eVeral times resOrted
to it, cOnsoling myself with its repu-
tation as a eounter-irritant. Not once
did get satisfactory results.
I have known of nervou- cbild's
being spanked at night when he would
not go to sleep. The long@cOntinuea
crying was heart reuding to the hear
ers and exhausting TO the child. The
mother, am glad to say, did not re-
peat the punishment often, thinking
1t unsuited to her child's case. A
child's bedtime should be the happiest
hour in the day If we effect long
night of recuperative sleep for him. r
Whipping is the common form of
corporal punishment. It should he
slap Of the hand-never the barbaTity
OF the stick or ferrulr. [ have actually
known of child of six months being
spanked. But what cruelty it is for
us to uruise the tender flesh we rave
toiIed and suffered 10 build up To
nv mind, no form of cOrpOratgpunish.
ment il permissible except when the
child is absolutely cruel, AMI hurts a
creature or u person. Then I would
show him by severe slap, pinch or
a bite just how his slaps, pinches or
b;;es hurt another. A child OF two
and half was given to rolling Oh the
cat, aud one day al older person saw
her tormenting the poor creature /;
she suddenly pushed down the little
girl and rolled ov-r her. L do not
know that the child ever teastd the
cat again in that fashion.
Carelessness = aud terror, Including
fear of the dark, ueed wise handling.
NV child would not make the victim
of lifetime of fear, because the Spar
tan children slept in the dark. My
child is an American. Nor do care
that Solomon said "Spare the rod aud
spoil the child" These are not thu
realms of King Solomon. If the creep
ing baby pulls and breaks the string
OF the bamboo portiere / loop up The
curtain; do not snap her fingers. If
leave china within her reach, do
not punish her for breaking it. When
she is older, I expect to explain in
such way that she will be careful,
lust as I am, so that we may have
some pretty things about Us.
What is more irrational than 10
punish a child who voluntarily tells
us of a mishap? But do we never
do it2 Yes, and make our chill
dren lie to us. What greater folly
than to whip child for irritation and
disTespect? Or to make him stay in
doors, or go supperless to bed? Give
the child n cracker and glass OF
milk; seud him out of doors or put
him in the care of some one else for a
little. Then see how he does. ODe
rational form of punishment Is to send
the child into a room alone, where be
can think about his offense. But,
even III this Case, believe it better 10
have mothers talk it over with him.
| have known children be most
severely whipped for indications of be-
Cummings in immortality. L can only
eay that I am convinced OF this one
thing: Parents are responsible for tue
morality of their children more often
than not. They give their children
humanity's heritage OF curiosity and
sex, il not an actual tendency to evil.
II they are so weak or so wicked as tO
tIy to keep their children in ignor-
ance of the mysteries of life and sex,
let them not punish the children
They are only drinking from impure
sources when the parents should have
ouenched their thirst with the waters
of truth as soon as they asked tC
drink. If lie to my child, when she
fluids me out, I know that she will no.
rise up and call me blessed. AS love
her shAll answer her every question
truthfully in so far as 1 can. Merely
as time-saving eXpedient L advice
this The children's questions gradu
ally grow more thoughtful if they are
answered properly from the first.
Many flowers grow from the seed
without needing pruning or tying OF
bending. Many trees are so straight
by nature that if they have good soil
good air, plenty of sunshine, plenty OF
water and especially plenty of room,
they will be beautiful beyond the
power of any gardener to improve
So with children believe in having
them natural. Let US not mag" our
children. If they are irrepressible,
we will help them where they will
not annoy others. Let US put them
in field or on ling veranda and let
them grow.