Chapter 34—Discipline
“Train, admonish, encourage, be long-suffering.”
One of the first lessons a child needs to learn is the lesson of
obedience. Before he is old enough to reason, he may be taught to
obey. By gentle, persistent effort, the habit should be established.
Thus, to a great degree, may be prevented those later conflicts between
will and authority that do so much to create alienation and bitterness
toward parents and teachers, and too often resistance of all authority,
human and divine.
The object of discipline is the training of the child for self-
government. He should be taught self-reliance and self-control. There-
fore as soon as he is capable of understanding, his reason should be
enlisted on the side of obedience. Let all dealing with him be such
as to show obedience to be just and reasonable. Help him to see that
all things are under law, and that disobedience leads, in the end, to
disaster and suffering. When God says “Thou shalt not,” He in love
warns us of the consequences of disobedience, in order to save us from
harm and loss.
Help the child to see that parents and teachers are representatives
of God, and that, as they act in harmony with Him, their laws in the
home and the school are also His. As the child is to render obedience
to parents and teachers, so they, in turn, are to render obedience to
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God.
To direct the child’s development without hindering it by undue
control should be the study of both parent and teacher. Too much
management is as bad as too little. The effort to “break the will” of
a child is a terrible mistake. Minds are constituted differently; while
force may secure outward submission, the result with many children
is a more determined rebellion of the heart. Even should the parent
or teacher succeed in gaining the control he seeks, the outcome may
be no less harmful to the child. The discipline of a human being who
has reached the years of intelligence should differ from the training
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