In dealing with teasing in the family, two other things are worth remembering:  First, the teased must be taught the protective power of indifference.  Teasers stop as soon as their barbs fail to wound; the fun ends there.  Laugh at those who laugh at you, and they will soon cease.  Secondly, the atmosphere and habit of the family determine the course of teasing.  Where carping criticism and unkindly ridicule abound, children cannot be blamed for like habits.  Where the sense of humor lightens tense situations, where we sacrifice the pleasure of stinging criticism for the sake of encouraging those who most need it, children are quick to catch those habits too.  The teasing child usually comes out of a family of similar habits.  On seeing our children engaged in teasing others, our first thought ought to be as to the extent to which we may have been their example in this respect.  Constant watchfulness on our part against the temptations to tease will have an effect far more potent than all attempts to talk them out of the habit; it will lead them out.

     I. References for Study

     1.  HONESTY

     P. Du Bois, The Culture of Justice, chaps. iii, x.  Dodd, Mead &
     Co., $0.75.

     E.P.  St. John, Child Nature and Child Nurture, chap. viii. 
     Pilgrim Press, $0.50.

     2.  TEASING

     W.L.  Sheldon, A Study of Habits, chap. xvii.  Welch & Co.,
     Chicago, $1.25.

     II.  Further Reading

     ON GENERAL MORAL TRAINING

     Sneath & Hodges, Moral Training in School and Home.  Macmillan,
     $0.80.

     E.O.  Sisson, The Essentials of Character.  Macmillan, $1.00.

     H. Thisleton Mark, The Unfolding of Personality.  The University
     of Chicago Press, $1.00.

     Paul Carus, Our Children.  Open Court Publishing Co., $1.00.

     III.  Topics for Discussion

     1.  Of what importance is the child’s sense of possession?

     2.  What are the first evidences of a consciousness of property
     rights?

     3.  How do homes train in dishonesty?

     4.  What is the relation between cheating and dishonesty?

     5.  What is a child seeking to do when he teases another?

     6.  What are the unfortunate features of teasing?

     7.  What is the relation of teasing to bullying?

     8.  What cures would you suggest for either?

FOOTNOTES: 

[49] Parents will be helped by the practical discussions of cheating, cribbing, and other boy problems in Johnson, Problems of Boyhood.

[50] See “Book List” in Appendix.

CHAPTER XXIII

THE PERSONAL FACTORS IN RELIGIOUS EDUCATION