The potters herald. [volume] (East Liverpool, Ohio) 1899-1982, 1940-03-28
TRUTHFULNESS
FLORENCE w. ROWLAND

Little children do not always under
stand the difference between truth and
imagination Nearly every mother has
faced the situation of having her child
romance quite surprisingly. Usually the
parent is at loss to know whether
the child is doing this in the spirit of
mischief or whether he really thinks
he is truthful.
My grandmother used to punish her
children very severely every time they
resorted to eXaggeration in the least,
fearful lest they should grow up to be
untruthful. My mother, being an i'm
aginative child, came in for her full
share of punishment. This, later,
caused her to resolve that, when her
their development, she would help
them to understand the difference be-
tween truth and fiction, instead of
Furnishing them. She kept her resolu-
ton. Of her four children, three are
professional writer's. Had we been
punished, when we told Of astonishing
happenings what never really oc-
Cured, the imagination and descriptive
ability necessary for honest journal
ism would probably never have been
developed.
My three daughters told their share
of imaginative stories, and l listened
patiently. l would say, "That was
delightful story, Madge. l enjoyed it.
Now tell Mother what really happen
ed" When they were still very little,
my girls realized that l knew when
they were making up a tale, and they
would quickly proceed to tell me the
actual happenings.
1t is not long before children learn
the difference between tale to amuse
and one told to deceive. We may tell
them the latter is wrong, but actions
speak louder than words.
Mrs. Smith calls Mrs Brown up to
invite her to dinner. Not caring to
go, Mrs. Brown pleads previous en-
gagement or headache. Seven-year-
old Mary or Johnny, knowing she in
tends to stay at home or is in per-
fectly good health, is taught the un-
desirable art of misrepresentation and
soon learns to apply the rules even
more diligently and successfully than
Mother. The difference will be that
Mother will punish Mary or Johnny
when she catches them in such a
fault, while she, herself, will usually
escape even reprimand. If children
are not afraid of the consequences,
they will usually own up to any
wrongdoing or accident. My rule is,
never to punish if the child has told
me frankly what happened. You'd be
surprised how quickly the boys and
girls will run to tell about broken
window or an ink spot on the floor.
| have sometimes had the child earn
the money to replace broken or de-
stroyed article when | was sure the
accident could easily have been pre-
vented. This is not punishment that
frightens child. Madge washed an
extra meals dishes for month, once,
to replace lamp she had carelessly
knocked over. To her this seemed quite
fair. This method usually impresses
the child with the commercial value
of things, and future recklessness is
thereby cut to the minimum. | know,
for I've used this plan on occasion for
over ten years now, and it works as
tonishingly well. I've never known it
to cause misrepresentation.
In conclusion, let me say that child
ren are naturally truthful. The more
/ work with mine, and the more young
sters | come in contact with, while
teaching, the more / am impressed
with the actuality of this statement.
If child is not truthful, it is general
ly the fault of some adut-resulting
either from this PERSONS unfortunate
example or from an incorrect method
of handling the child's early exagger-
ations and otherwise untrue state
ments.