Milford chronicle., 1925-08-28
CORRECTING CHILDREN IN
PUBLIC
Esther Hull Doolittle

Children must, of course, be repri-
manded at times; they must Occa-
sionally be taken seriously to task
for misdemeanors. But why, oh why!
do mothers deem it right and proper
to do this in public? Everywhere one
sees it. On street cars, and in an
sorts of public places, the irate mo-
Their, voice raised, berates Willie or
Lilly loudly for some fault or other.
Often there's no question but what
the child richly merits punishment,
but whenever 1 witness an adult ex-
hibition of anger and a juvenile dis
play of misbehavior, it seems to me
that the adult deserves punishment
much more than the child. Moreover,
it does not the slightest good to ere
ate a scene.
Here is a case. A young mother,
obviously more interested in the
wax-like polish of her fingernails
than in her small daughters comfort
enters a street car. The child re-
moves her hat, the mother slams it
back; the child, plainly Over-tired,
screams and cries while the mother,
very angry, scolds and slaps. The
little girl continues to cry loudly
until their destination is reached, to
the discomfort of their fellow pas
sengers. This misguided woman
would have advanced her own inter-
ests infinitely more had she permit
ted the poor, tired child to have her
way, at the time, and saved her cor
rections until later.
After all, whose fault is it but the
mothers if the child is over-tired?
Quite aside from that, a public rep
rimand adds resentment to the al
ready over-burdened emotional ca
pacity and, seemingly, more power
to lungs and legs.
I had one sad experience along
this line when was young and fool
ish. During some city publication I
took my daughter, aged four, to see
the daytime festivities. Naturally the
crowds and confusion were too much
for so young a child and she became
over-tired. In my ineXperience, l
failed to read the danger signals and
hastened on to my undoing. My
small daughter, by the way, had au-
burn locks and the quick, intiam-
mable disposition which usually ac-
companies them. She desired bal
loon and gleefully purchased a gold
en- one that matched her hear. I'm
suspectingly and peacefully we walt
ed on the corner for a home-bound
street car. Suddenly, pop! the hot
sun had vanquished the balloon!
Small daughter began to cry and
sensing the real grief behind the
tears, I sought another balloon. APP
parently there wasn't another gold
en- one in the world and no color but
that would suit the overweight
baby.
In a fury, she stamped her little
feet and screamed. If nice large
and hungry earthquake had come
along then and swallowed us up I'd
have been grateful, but my embar-
rassment led me to a solution Of the
problem. Since I knew that scOlding
would only aggravate the matter,
bent down and put my arms around
her. At first she struggled but 1
quickly whispered, "Look, look dear,
everybody's watching us. No one else
is crying in the street" Tt worked
like magic. She looked up quickly
and ceased exploding at once. 1 seiz-
ed the opportunity to divert her at
tention to a passing watering cart
and the day was saved.
lam aware that a scheme which
would be effective with a sensitive
child might. be of no use with other
types. However, I am sure, that no
boy or girl is improved or benefited
by correction in public for the sim
pie reason that some do not feel the
humiliation anyway, and those who
do are usually make more angry
and resentful by it. In any case, have
pity on the public!