New-York tribune., 1901-06-08
TEACHING TRUTHFULNESS
SUBSTITUTING GENTLENESS AS A
FORCE FOR THE STING OF THE ROD.

ness 10 our ChilCrenE reau DelOrt IHc
Club of New-Haven, Conn, recently. the Rev.
Alexander F. Irvine said:
The question Of truthfulpess in children make
good mediums nor indeed is il 10 be expected. for
the apprehension Of truth is as much an enotv
the intellect impulse of the moral nsaur nsIth
When the child is found be faulty or unfaiIa ra
fuI medium; careful analysis VIII gentrav 1 nav be
The brute in the blood" placed there generations
portrait 1t may be an active imag ination or tne
first signs of dramatic power before ns wht 10 do
obeisance but which in child we observe Es
Which is lying in mild form and which REQUIRES s
careful handling in its earlier stages. 1t may De
or it NAV rear haSe Sa s in
desire 10 shield another BY many these forms ,ip hre
10 be punished. and for which the guilty must
The offered for the reintroducton OF the the
whipping post The the n h,ng 6 OF anG much OF
The worlds jurisprudence has never got oeEoho oha
methods Roi Of Moses and also on solomon: who
urges liberal use of the rod: . romIneDt BU1h NJ
positions as teachers of youths snns,b,e stncg TO
have the punishment Mt the criminal than to have II
f1t the crime. Justice demands discrminatt0m t rh ~
juvenile untruthfuncss it will fall not the backs
of children, but on our own. . -
need speak Those OF us who have chiIdren
know the problem at first hand. But our topic IS
Interrogation. and here 10 discuss the
answers. How shall teach truthfulness TO our
children? Herbert Spencer asks us 10 refuse he ,he
child credenCe for given period But during tht
suspension of trust the child is more hkelX 10 !eeI
the injustice Of being Tlistrusted when telling the
truth than 10 feel the justice of his punishment Tor
a lie.
Dean Farrar, in lecture before teachers at
Cambridge some years ago. told this story: ~
Harrow two boys brought me exercises marked py
the same groteslue mistakes II seemed ceI'au" ar
that those exercises could not have been done IN,
dcpendently. Both boys assured me that there had
been no copying one OF the boys assured me 10 9t
this with passionate earnestness | said 10 him. III
England. they would say that these resemhances
could not he accidental. SHAH say no more
confessed that he had copied. and that that lie
had remained with him and panied him for years
that that boy more effeCtualy taught than
| II had refused to accept his protest
Every who has the of children finds
himself confronted with this PerpleNins problem
makes more liars than It cures. Some believe that
| the way out is hy the rod alone ~
Is no literature on this phase of the subject There
are some signs of a great change i'm the methods
| these take note Psychology has had new
III, atIu ''i'S 10 Us ,d'''u WIZ -
| the child IL drives back to the parents. 1t
| points out indications that want Of truth by the
child toward the parent Is oftentimes merely me
reflex action 81 the parents lack OF truth towara
80 much by what IS taught by parents as by what
parents are. The hair trigger temper the broken
unconscious imitation. while the precept upon pre-
ever We teach iruthfuIness by being truthful.
boy had been promised buggy ride on Ger,
| tain afternoon. and. of course, the promise ana
| hour arrived he was told that mamma could rot
go out this afternoon she too busy. An hour
later he accidentally met his parents in buggy.
| He stopped and looked at them. then thrust his
hands into his pockets and shouted. There goes
two Of the hiss's liars in town prsTeGusite
~ rn,.ro ''' -r,,,b ~ ~ h - - lnT Su Nv 80
untruth is horn Of fear. We must have reverence
| the greatest barrier To truth and truth telling.
| This Is the cruX of the question. There thou
This is no, spinsters' club discussing the
| problem ~ other folks children we PARENTS
human soul ON, n ~, s'F yoa [ S,i no
x,far~ ~ Sc 80 ON, ~ ,b ts oHasc , across E me 11e
| important work than To paint great pictures or
! Of truth to the child is the home. The teachers
! must surround the pupil with an atmosphere Of
| purity. sincerity and truth.
There short cuts the requirement II
the cardinal virtues rhe parents the teachers.
ana must 70 what they would have their children
| BE-. The child mind is keen and penetrating. II,
iaj the foundaiion W. w 80, i,r SUr "u"nT na.ins
| or the uniruthfulness and deal with It accord
Augustine in his confessions tells us that when a
boy he lied without motive and stole without need.
| II the clement Of fear exists cannot be dealt with
| at all That Is To say-a boy or girl tells c.
Is found out. the met hod of punishment is whip
! ping You search for motive and lind none Two
ment. VIA, lies between is usually a mere diing
! in-a customary proceeding. When the result IS
/ known quantity IN the mind OF the child there is
! usually lack OF frsnkness. Remove the element
0i fear and you at least get the bottom of the
| thing which viii help in future treatment. II IT Is
important 20 remove the element Of fear shall
] II De zone. IL might he well here
Nhether u is or ls not fact that spend more
tiIne pushing other people toward their ideals than
receive anG as deterrent force numbers its advo-
Gates by thy tens Of thousands. but | think We
c@r hSrer GOD ara nature We will substitute for it
our fathers curbed the will: We train it, They
! lived in the old Testament economy: we will i've
city hall. but even the recaIcitrants might sin ON
his knee I'm the home.
For the treatment of the unaccountable periodi-
cal lie | know Of no better treatment than TO
teach the simple lesson the registration Of such
taught By John Fske in Chapter T Sfn[G 6f has
Through Nature To God" The lesson is that
Such registration paYes way and makes II easier
/ Tor future acts of a similar kind. This he
children over seven years of age This Of course
VIII be accompanied with clear simple state
to God the family and the self. which can only be
Tighied by frank confession. which viii at once
be an expression of sorrow and a prophecy Of the
I future That form Of lying catalogued under ex-
need not he taken seriously as the above and
yet If INDUCED certainly confuses lines Of thought
ana spoils "a careful observer. When a child rushes
| into the house in the early spring with the an
ins. he need not be told he is lying n will be
Suhcient To reduce by questions the statement to
the moral nature-the teaching OF self-revercnce
and Nself-control-the holding up of great ideal
before the young mind and the poise OF our own
Says Emerson: I'm my dealing with my child
nothing. They all lost on him but as much
gives me Roland for an on GyqT neFfS sss "g hs VIII ff
against a nine one f9r one and leaves me II
superiority of strength If renounce my will
US two out of hs lna1 Uoun up as an % umpire IRE
same soul: he reveres and loves with me.
sepne of Iove R0WGT dpe OF fhe
ness as 1orce Tor the sting of the rod
LONG ISLAND COUNCIL
Those who expect to attend the annual meeting
of the Long Island Council of Women's Clubs held
Roo III tolro