The Brattleboro daily reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1913-1955, 1913-07-07
WHEN IS A Child
REALLY NAUGHTY?
Settle This Delicate Point Before
Administering Punishment For
Juvenile Ofenses.

ness. If he is in good health /
he will be good tempered
nine times out of ten. Generally bad !
temper means mistaken feeding, bad |
management or disease Occasionally |
child who mopes or has unexplained
fits of crying has an unequal balance
and should 6e watched very closely
and taken TO doctor if the trouble
continues.
In training child it is most impor-
tant to try to regard him and his do
ings as matters quite apart from your
self. Do not. for instance, think che
has given me great deal of trouble
and I'll punish him for it, but try to
consider whether the trouble was caus-
ed by a bad intention on the child's
part or whether it arose merely from
carelessness or i'll health.
Take n case in point. 1t is not wrong
fCr a little boy to dislike having his
face washed. Nearly all children hate
being washed. They have an Unborn
love of dirt, which, th-1gh very dis
agreeable, is by no means wrong. So
do not slap and shake a child when he
makes a fuss about being washed. pro
vided that the fuss ceases as soon as
he understands that he is really veXing
YOU by making it,
But if he says he has washed his face
when he has done nothing of the kind,
or if he refuses to wash it after being
clearly told to do so, or if he goes on
complaining about it after you have
made him understand that you wish
him to stop, then the case becomes very
| different. He is a really naughty boy
and must be scolded or punished. not
because he is giving you trouble, but
because he is doing what he knows to
be wrong.
! Many children have little ways"
which though exceedingly tiresome are
| quite innocent. A little girl may be
/ so clumsy figured that she upsets ey-
erything she touches. But it is not fair
| to laugh at her when she upsets an
empty cup and then scold her for over
! turning a full one on the clean table
cloth. You must either blame her for
! both accidents or not blame her at all.
Another child is nervous in the dark
/. and wakes up screaming at night. II
! you pet and comfort him on Tuesday
when you have plenty of time to spare
} you' must not blame him for screaming
| again on Wednesday, when you have
visitors and do not want to be bothered
with him.
a tot may say something pert to hel
father and win laugh by it; then yoU
must not blame her for repeating the
selfsame thing to a prim friend or rel
ative, who is scandalized. The fault
if there was a fault, is no worse in ont
case than in the other, though circum
stances have made it seem much NOR,
apparent.
Children are very just little souls
and they always know when they hav,
been unfairly treated If child one,
gets into his head the notion tina
mother either scolds or kisses him &C
cording to her own state of mind a
the moment he will never afterwart
respect her authority. All that he vii
Go is TO keep out of the way when sh
seems ''cross" or brag and fib alter
nately about his doings in a way tina
is almost bound to ruin his character
But if he knows that mother is Away
fair to him he will respect and love he
and try to please her, so that naughtt
ness and punishment become the e1
ception rather than the rule in th
house over which she rules so wisel
and firmly
, There would be fewer spoiled chi
: tlren in the world if those who had th
care of little ones understood bette
where naughtiness begins and ends, S
many children are habitually punishe
or scolded for tricks which though yer
annoying are in themselves quit
harmless, while other children are a
= lowed to commit really serious fault
without reproof just because thos
/ faults do not bring any disagreeab
# consequences upon their elders.
!. Don't try to "break" a child's will
n If you insist too much upon bin
Il obedience and continue to exact
t long after it should have been relaxe
: the child has no opportunity of acqui
Il ing self control or initiative This
why children accustomed to too gret
severity and restraint often turn OIL
badly when they have to act for ther
selves. Either they are broken spiri
ed or, having felt too heavy a haI
al the reins, they rush into excuses.
Don't prevent a child from learnil
by experience. If he will touch a h
bar or jug of boiling water when
has been told not to, let him do it
once. He will not try second tim
Of course you must not carry this pri
tpg f1r 20
ly, but let him gain experience for hi
self whenever it is possible wi
safety.