2.  THE METHOD OF REWARDS AND PUNISHMENTS

This method is clearly illustrated in the training of “trick” animals.  These creatures through innumerable repetitions are made to do phenomenal “stunts.”  In the training for every successful “try” they are rewarded with a cube of sugar, a piece of candy, or some other pleasure-producing article; for every miss they are punished—­made to suffer pain or discomfort.  This same sort of procedure carries over into human affairs.  Witness the hickory stick and the ruler, or count the nickels and caresses.  Ridicule before the class, and praise for commendable behavior or performance, are typical of this same method.  If it is followed, and it clearly has a place in the training of children, care should be exercised to see that in the child’s mind in any case there is clear connection between what he has done and the treatment that he receives.  With some parents it fairly seems as if their one remedy for all offenses is a tingling in the epidermis—­it is equally clear that with some teachers their one weapon is sarcasm.  All too frequently these measures grow out of unsettled nerves or stirred up passions, on the part of the parent or teacher, and have really but little connection—­remote at best—­with the offense in question.  There may be an abuse in the matter of rewards, too, of course, but as a rule few classes suffer from too much appreciation.  The real art of discipline lies in making the reward or the punishment naturally grow out of the conduct indulged in.

3.  THE METHOD OF SUBSTITUTION

Because of the fact that some stimuli inevitably lead to discomfort and disaster—­that some conduct is bad—­there is need of a method of substitution.  The child’s mind needs to be led from the contemplation of an undesirable course of action to something quite different.  Frequently a child cannot be satisfied with a mere denial, and circumstances may not be favorable to punishment—­yet the correction must be made.  Substitution is the avenue of escape.  A striking illustration in point occurred recently in a cafe in Montana.  A trio of foreigners, father, mother, and two-year-old son, came in and sat down at one of the tables.  Soon after the parents began to eat, the child caught sight of a little silver pitcher for which he began to beg.  Whining and crying, mixed in with the begging, created a good bit of disturbance.  The only attempted solution on the part of the parents was a series of:  “Don’t do that!” “No! no!” “Keep quiet, Marti!” a continued focusing of the child’s attention on what he ought not to do, and an added note to the disturbance.  Then an American across the aisle having surveyed the situation took out of his pocket a folder full of brightly colored views.  The charm worked beautifully—­the meal went on free from disturbance—­and the child was happy.

This method involves a good bit of resourcefulness, calling at times for what seems an impossible amount of ingenuity.  As someone has said, “It is beating the other fellow to it.”  It merits the consideration of those who have to handle boys and girls who are regularly up to “stunts.”