The Punishment of Children

The material contained in this pamphlet was originally delivered in three addresses before the Ethical Culture Society of New York City. Special permission has been given to have it reprinted in this form.

The ethical nurture of the child is a distinct responsibility which no parent can neglect with impunity. When ignorant of the more elementary principles of punishment, parents easily fall into one of two serious errors. The use of harsh and severely arbitrary methods causes the child's fine ethical sensibilities to become dull. Through indifference or careless neglect, the child becomes willful, erratic, or self-indulgent. In this study Dr. Adler, with remarkable skill, guides the parent between these two extremes. He shows that it is possible to be consistent without being harsh, gentle without being vacillating.

The mastery of the art of punishment is also one of the most direct means of ethical self-culture. It is to be hoped that a careful study of this subject may result in a refinement of the attitude of parents toward each other, as well as toward their children.

NORMAN E. RICHARDSON.

Printed in the United States of America

First Edition Printed April, 1920 Reprinted July, 1920; March, 1922

THE PUNISHMENT OF CHILDREN

I

It is man's moral duty to act as the physician of his enemies and seek to cure them of their wrongdoing. How much more, then, should this attitude be taken toward those whom we love--toward our children, if we find their characters marred by serious faults?

In discussing the subject of punishment I do not for a moment think of covering the innumerable problems which it suggests. Many books have been written on this subject; prolonged study and the experience of a lifetime are barely sufficient for a mastery of its details. I shall content myself with suggesting a few simple rules and principles, and shall consider my object gained if I induce my hearers to enter upon a closer investigation of the delicate and manifold questions involved.

1. NEVER ADMINISTER PUNISHMENT IN ANGER

The first general rule to which I would refer is, never administer punishment in anger. A saying of Socrates deserves to be carefully borne in mind. Turning one day upon his insolent servant, Speucippus, who had subjected him to great annoyance, he exclaimed, "I should beat you now, sirrah, were I not so angry with you." The practice of most men is the very opposite; they beat and punish because they are angry.

But it is clear that we cannot trust ourselves to correct another while we are enraged. The intensity of our anger is proportional to the degree of annoyance which we have experienced, but it happens quite frequently that a great annoyance may be caused by a slight fault, just as, conversely, the greatest fault may cause us only slight annoyance, or may even contribute to our pleasure. We should administer serious punishment where the fault is serious, and slight punishment where the fault is slight. But, as I have just said, a slight fault may sometimes cause serious annoyance, just as a slight spark thrown into a powder magazine may cause a destructive explosion. And we do often resemble a powder magazine, being filled with suppressed inflammable irritations, so that a trivial naughtiness on the part of a child may cause a most absurd display of temper.

But is it the child's fault that we are in this irascible condition? To show how a slight fault may sometimes cause a most serious annoyance, let me remind you of the story of Vedius Pollio, the Roman. He was one day entertaining the Emperor Augustus at dinner. During the banquet a slave who was carrying one of the crystal goblets by which his master set great store, in his nervousness suffered the goblet to fall from his hand so that it broke into a thousand pieces on the floor. Pollio was so infuriated that he ordered the slave to be bound and thrown into a neighboring fishpond, to be devoured by the lampreys. The Emperor interfered to save the slave's life, but Pollio was too much enraged to defer even to the Emperor's wish. Thereupon Augustus ordered that every crystal goblet in the house should be broken in his presence, that the slave should be set free, and that the obnoxious fishpond should be closed.