Evening star., 1938-12-28
Child
Harmful
To Rear Youngster
Use Your Brains,
Not Switches
BY ANGELO PATRI.

In all the years I have dealt with
children of all kinds I have never
known whipping to do any one of
them the slightest good. have
known it to do great deal of harm.
It humiliates the child, it fills him
with resentment and 1t teaches him
that the person with the strongest
arm is entitled to force the weaker
one to suffer. What grown-up peo-
pie especially what parents do
is right in the eyes of the child,
is an example for him.
It is easy to get into the habit of
striking children. The thing grows
with practice. If a child irritates
one, slap him. If he Is disobedient,
slap and shake him; If he brings
home a poor report from school,
beat him. And what good does 1t
do? If slaps and shakes and beat
ings cured mistaken judgment, ig-
norance and weakness, wouldn't the
world, after centuries Of 1t, be rid
of errors of all sorts? The old er-
rors and their offspring are still
with us, and so are the stupid child
beaters.
I have every sympathy with a
weary mother who loses patience
and slaps child. But WEAKNESS
and slapping should not become a
habit. When mother finds herself
behaving In such uncontrolled fash
ion she should realize that she is
tired and take some way Of curing
the condition. Let the work go and
take an hour of rest, more If she
needs it. Better that there be no
dessert, that dust gather in corners,
the washing wait, than that the
children and the home life be
spoiled.
School children should not be
whipped, in school or anywhere else.
Once child has reached the stage
of reflective memory all force should
cease where his training is con-
cerned. It is mind that Is to be
disciplined and enlightened. Beat
ing his body is precisely the way
not to train it to self-control, good
judgement, fair reasoning. Force
does not appeal to reason and so is
useless for the work that needs to
be done.
I have heard school masters say
that they could not keep school
without the use of the rod or the
paddle. think they could, if they
were teachers. If not, they should
select another profession. I know
schools filled with children from
poor homes, poor in every sense.
The children are beaten at home,
they beat each other on the slight
est provocation, but they are never
beaten in school. And the behavior
in school is fine. A hundred per
cent? OF course not. There are
always q few children in q school
who cannot conform to the stand
ards set by the best children. But
beating them will not help. Their
trouble lies in their minds. in the
experiences they have known, in
the quality of their whole being.
They need different training, under
experts. But they do not need beat
ing.
I have heard older people say
that a good beating would help
some mistaken child. One WON
ders what good beating did some of
them. It did not improve their
attitudes toward other people, nor
their ability to get on with them.
They are still battling their way,
still at odds with the world in the
evening of their day, when their
spirits should be mellow. They are
good examples of what beating chill
dren does, for the old people who
have known the benefits of gentle
rearing are the beloved and wanted
grandparents.
Use your brains instead Of g stick
and you will do . much better Job
Of rearing children.