CASES ARISING OUT OF SELF-PRESERVATIVE INSTINCTS (continued 4)

While Prof. Lyon was feigning to look over the floor for one of the shot, Paul said, “O, I know what they look like.” Prof. Lyon smiled at the boy’s confession and dismissed him. Paul didn’t feel like throwing shot in Prof. Lyon’s room again, because of this considerate treatment.

10. Acquisitiveness

(1) Making collections of curiosities—Legitimate acquisition. Probably every person who reaches adult life has made collections of something or other during boyhood or girlhood. Stones, stamps, “memory buttons,” flowers, etc., all take their turn in the childish 310museum of curiosities. The wise teacher will utilize this tendency rather than try to suppress it.

CASE 54 (UNGRADED SCHOOL)

Disorder

The county superintendent of Tazewell County, Illinois, was visiting a rural school. The teacher, Mr. Owens, was nervous, and the children responded to his unusual manner with general agitation. When he called the grammar class to stand preparatory to going forward to the recitation seats, Andrew Willis accidentally knocked a stone off his desk. It fell upon the bare foot of a boy sitting just opposite to him. The boy gave a little yelp of pain and catching up his foot rocked to and fro a moment. Mr. Owens was more embarrassed than ever. His pupils liked him. He had encouraged them in their natural instinct to collect what seemed to them curious, useful or beautiful as they walked to and from school. He now glanced over the schoolroom, actually seeing for the first time how untidy many of the desks were. Stones, flowers, one clump of moss, one butterfly and oddly bent twigs and collections of leaves adorned the desks. He resolved to make some provision at once for keeping the desks clean.

CONSTRUCTIVE TREATMENT

Provide proper places, a cabinet or table where pupils may bring their treasures and where the various objects can be utilized in the nature study lessons. They can also often be used in the geography and history work and will add much to the interest of those subjects.

311COMMENTS

The habit of seeing whatever comes within the range of vision is a good one and should be cultivated by the teacher. A love of flowers—a refining emotion—will usually follow persistent attention to them. For this reason it is well to acquaint children with their names, usual location, change through culture, etc. Much can also be learned from talking often about rock formations, leaves, etc. A teacher who cares to do so will find a way to make such collections instructive, and yet keep the discussion of them as well as the objects themselves in the proper place.

ILLUSTRATION (UNGRADED SCHOOL)

Nature Study

A few mornings after the visit of the county superintendent to his school Mr. Owens said to his pupils:

“In the southwest corner of the room I have placed a table. On this table we will put a collection of beautiful stones and curios of all sorts. When visitors come I can tell them that the pupils brought all of these things for our natural science table. On this you may place anything suitable which you find on the school ground, on the way to school, or which you already have on your desks.

“This will make more room for your books and the desks will look much better besides.

“If any one has anything in his desk which he does not care to put on our table, he should bring a cloth bag from home with a string attached to it so that he can tie it to the side of his desk. Or, if he prefers, he may bring it for the other children to see, then take it home.

312“Just back of my desk here, where all of us can see them, I have placed this small table of vases in which to put all of our flowers.”

Neatness, with its attendant beneficial effect upon discipline, followed this new arrangement.

(2) Gambling—Acquiring dishonorably. Frequently the acquisitive instinct takes on a less innocent form. Then it becomes the teacher’s duty, not to suppress the instinct, perhaps, but to see to it that it is expended in ways that will leave no habits of dishonesty ingrained in the pupil’s character.

CASE 55 (FOURTH GRADE)

Marbles

Rattle-te-bang!—a big noise rolled all through the room where young Miss McGuire had charge of thirty fourth-graders. Everybody knew what caused the uproar, for the marbles immediately began to stream slowly in every direction over the schoolroom floor.

“Where did they come from?” was Miss McGuire’s first thought. She had not long to wait, for Lucius’ terror-stricken face was seen intently gazing at his teacher in anticipation of some further misfortune.

“Lucius, were those your marbles?” was her first question.

“Yes, ma’am,” timidly said Lucius, fearing that he might lose his treasures.

“Children, you may all pick up the marbles near you. Perry, you may pass down the aisles with the crayon box and collect them and bring them to my desk,” were Miss McGuire’s orders. After school she detained Lucius.

“Lucius, how did you get so many marbles?”

313“I bought them with a nickel daddy gave me.”

“Surely not this box nearly full of marbles for a nickel.”

“Well, Walton gave me some.”

“Did any one else give you marbles?”

“Ye-e-es, some of the other boys.”

“Now, see here, Lucius; you’ve been playing for keeps, haven’t you?”

Lucius saw no way out but to admit the fact, though he knew it meant trouble.

“Lucius,” said Miss McGuire, “you are a little gambler, so you are; so are all these boys who play for keeps. I’m going to throw these marbles into the sewer and any others I get hold of. Now you go home and keep straight after this.”

CONSTRUCTIVE TREATMENT

Miss McGuire’s procedure must be condemned from the moment she began her interview with Lucius; instead of her method the following is recommended:

“How did your marbles get away from you?” should be the first question. Put the boy entirely at ease if possible.

“What a fine lot of marbles you have. How do you keep them; your pockets are too small, aren’t they!”

“Now, I tell you—I have room in the bottom drawer of this desk for them. Put them in there and get them when you need them.”

Keep Score-card

Let the matter rest for that day. Next day, in a chatty fashion, get Lucius to tell about his games. Let him tell about playing for keeps. At a still later time begin giving him your ideas on gambling. 314Do not disclose the fact that you have seen the boys playing for keeps. Lay a foundation about stealing, leading up to getting something for nothing, and thus help the boy to draw his own inferences as to gambling.

Finally, insist that common conscience forbids gambling, and that all strong boys avoid it. Offer to keep records on a chart instead of keeping the marbles that formerly have been won. Next year be on hand with the records plan when the marble season opens and encourage competition for championship in marbles.

COMMENTS

Boys take up gambling with very few scruples. Even though some adults do not condemn playing marbles for keeps, teachers can be on the safe side only when they take a firm stand against it and institute a reform in a tactful way.

The chief interest in the sport is the exhibition of skill demonstrated by the winning of marbles. After a boy has a few marbles he finds no great delight in mere possession of a large number. Therefore, the cure for the gambling features of the game of marbles is to provide for due recognition of skill in some harmless fashion.

If you want the boys to talk about their habits and customs, all strenuous efforts at reform must be reserved until you have led the boys to see your viewpoint. Therefore, lead up to the point you wish to make with the boys in a way that will carry them along with you.

315ILLUSTRATION (SIXTH GRADE)

Miss Henry was teaching in a St. Louis school and was face to face with the question of how to control the game of matching pennies; she followed out a new plan. Fortunately the policeman who was on the nearest beat was one of the best friends of the school children and was occasionally asked to step into a room and say a few words to them. He was greeted with enthusiasm, for he knew how to tell a story and how to teach a lesson on good conduct.

Policeman’s Story

Instead of faultfinding or even alluding to the boys’ misconduct Miss Henry asked Mr. Clanahan to describe briefly the careers of four boys whom he had watched as they grew up on St. Louis streets and who indulged in the several gambling games known to boys and men. None of the boys became successful and honored men. Following this talk the teacher kept a mild surveillance over the guilty boys. A few persisted in the practice; this she ignored for the time being. For those who would accept her plans she brought to school several new games; they could not fail to be interested in them because of the chance for skill and for definite records of achievement. These partly replaced the gambling games in interest. But Miss Henry rightly felt that displacing the game of matching pennies with other games did not in itself, and alone, fully solve her problem. The boys must understand why playing for keeps is wrong if the lesson was to safeguard them in any way from other gambling games. She therefore gave the school another talk soon after the policeman’s visit, and after 316the pupils had had time to think out for themselves the moral of his story.

Miss Henry recalled the story and asked, “Why should the boys’ gambling habits have anything to do with the failure of these men to ‘make good’? Who sees any harm in gambling?” Some of the boys didn’t see any harm in it and a short discussion followed, mostly by the children themselves, during which the thought was developed of taking something valuable from one’s fellows without giving back to him any just equivalent for the marbles, or money, or whatever had been taken.

“What sort of person do you like best yourselves, boys?” Miss Henry asked, when public sentiment in the class had reached a point where it seemed safe to ask so direct a question; “the man who gives you back good, square, full measure for your money or the one who gives you just as little as he possibly can, even nothing at all, if he dares to go so far as that?”

“Well, the principle is the same in matching pennies,” she continued, “and I’m just wondering if you wouldn’t have equally as much fun and feel a good deal more manly about it if you should keep the pennies you win until the game is finished and then re-distribute them and give back to each fellow all that belongs to him. Think it over a day or two and tell me your decision.” The boys finally agreed to Miss Henry’s proposition.

CASE 56 (EIGHTH GRADE)

Bicycles Won

Superintendent Rittenhouse had the problem of gambling in the eighth grade to deal with, because the 317county fair had been so conducted as to permit much semi-public gambling, in consequence of which there was talk about town sufficient to charge the atmosphere with interest in gambling. It turned out that Saturday afternoon, nine grammar room boys conducted several bicycle and foot-races, with a crude attempt at gambling attached to the whole affair. The story came out because Jay Belding had to turn over his bicycle to August Bachman, and the Belding family lodged a protest with the superintendent.

The next morning he entered the eighth grade room, called out the boys involved and put them through a series of questions. “Who planned this thing? Who got permission to use the race track? Who raced? Who put up bets? Who paid bets? How much money was involved in the bets?” and so on to the end of the chapter. The boys told the truth. When the grilling was over, he said, “You boys go home, tell your fathers all the facts and bring me at note tomorrow saying that the fathers will guarantee that you never will do this again. Each boy’s father must sign a note. When you hand me the note you may come to your room and not until then.”

CONSTRUCTIVE TREATMENT

A better plan is to propose to make such races, school affairs. Offer to plan with groups in any grade for small “stunts” as well as for the larger affairs. Have it understood that the school will help even ten boys to have a good time, on a suitable occasion. Put a bomb of disapproval under gambling by men in connection with sports. Show deepest disgust for the 318depraved natures of men who indulge in and practice it.

Entirely out of connection with any school event, explain simply and clearly why gambling is wrong. Be careful to make a clear distinction between the play which is entirely right in itself and the betting or gambling accompanying the play which is wholly wrong in principle.

COMMENTS

Mr. Rittenhouse, after getting the truth, should have followed the matter out in a sympathetic fashion. Several of the boys will be likely to forge the father’s name after composing the note. Some fathers will not relish giving such a guarantee as is required. They will send word to the teacher to keep the boys from gambling.

The better plan takes in the boys’ natural impulses to have novel fun and makes the school a continuous influence in their lives. If we avoid over-condemnation, the boys can be led out of a type of conduct which otherwise will be established as a vicious habit.

Resistance to the teacher’s advice is usually due to a conviction, warranted or unwarranted, that the child is being imposed upon. This conviction must be met by a kindness which restores confidence, or an explanation of conditions which shows the requirements to be reasonable.

ILLUSTRATION (SEVENTH GRADE)

Matching Pennies

Miss Starr had one pupil, a little Italian, who interested her greatly. He sold papers before and after 319school and had the sharpness and suspicion of character which much familiarity with hard conditions gives even a child. He resisted all her friendly advances with a “No-you-don’t” caution that both amused and nettled her.

One day ’Tonio indulged in a form of mischief at which he was an adept. He matched pennies with Grover Helm, the affluent son of the corner grocer. When they had been at it for about ten minutes, Grover was no longer affluent, and therefore he complained to Miss Starr.

“’Tonio wanted to match pennies and he got me into it, and I said I would just for fun, not for keeps. Now he has all my pennies and won’t give them back to me. Please make him give them back to me.”

“You two boys may stay after school, and we’ll talk about it then,” Miss Starr directed.

When the other pupils left ’Tonio considered the situation and decided that discretion was the better part of valor. He had often been severely whipped for matching pennies; he had no doubt that another beating was due for this offense.

“’Tonio, will you come up here?” Miss Starr’s voice sounded kind, but ’Tonio had experienced the honeyed tones of an authority, which has not yet captured its victim, before. He rose promptly, but instead of coming directly forward passed back of the rows of desks, and then suddenly bolted for the door and escaped, leaving Grover to tell his incriminating tale unchallenged.

The truant officer brought him in two days later, after a hard hunt. He looked pinched and hungry, 320but still defiant, and faced Miss Starr like a chased animal at bay.

“Grover, he began it,” was his only defense. “You should whip him, too.”

“No one has said anything about whipping. Did you think I was going to whip you? Is that why you ran away?”

“Don’t you whip?” ’Tonio asked.

“I never have, ’Tonio. Now, I should like to talk to you about matching pennies. I don’t know how it is done, even. You don’t need to be afraid. Will you stay tonight and talk to me? I don’t want to hurt you; I want to help you.”

’Tonio stayed that night, and they had a long talk. Miss Starr could not quite bring Tonio to her way of thinking; his inherent bent to gambling was too well ingrained for that. What she did do was to persuade him thoroughly, by the kindness of her manner, that she was his true friend. ’Tonio trusted her utterly from that day, and for love of her abstained from penny-matching and all other mischief in school. Miss Starr sighed because his regeneration was not more thorough than it was, for she heard sometimes of his misdeeds with the gang he belonged to; but in her own domain he was a loyal and helpful citizen. She had removed that distrust of authority which his former experiences had built up in him, and which was the cause of his resistance.

CASE 57 (HIGH SCHOOL)

Playing for Money

Champ Underwood and Virgil Rutherford were returning from a week-end visit at the home of an old 321friend. On the train they ran across Chancey Prime, only two years ago a school favorite and friend of the two travelers, but now a salesman for an automobile house.

“Hello, fellows. Glad to see you! Sit down! Whither wend ye?”

“On our way home after a week-end over at Bloomburg. How goes it with you?”

In ten minutes the cards were out. With some qualms of conscience Champ and Virgil laid down their dimes and took hands in the game. They saw no acquaintance on the train and expected nothing to come of it.

The boys reached home by noon. The next day the principal took the boys into his office at the end of the morning session and made the following speech:

“You spent Sunday at Bloomburg. You came home with Chancey Prime and were caught gambling on the train. It is also reported that you were with him all day Sunday and that some way the two of you spent $50 in having a good time, supposedly in gambling and the like. You know that we don’t stand for any of these things. I know your parents do a little of this sort of thing, but they gave me to understand that you are forbidden to indulge in gambling. You must each get up before the high school and state the facts as I have reviewed them, apologize and promise never to do these things again, or drop your membership in every high school club, society and team for the remainder of the year.”

To this the reply came:

322“But the facts didn’t come straight to you. We didn’t do....”

“Never mind about denials. I have two first-class witnesses and there is no ground for a discussion. I want your answer immediately.”

After looking at each other a second the boys came to an agreement. “No, sir, we’re not guilty of all these charges. We won’t accept either penalty until our case is heard and properly dealt with,” said Virgil.

“Get your books; don’t return until you receive word from the superintendent,” was the final shot from the principal.

As the two soberly marched home, they enumerated the errors the principal had made as to the facts; they had not gambled except for a short time on the train; they had been with Prime only a short interval; their stay at Bloomburg had been spent according to school standards; their parents had given up parlor gambling two years before when they joined church; they were entirely willing to suffer a reasonable penalty when the actual facts were made the basis of judgment.

“Well,” said Champ, “it’s all up. I’m not going to make the next move, are you, old boy?”

“Not on your life. That monkey is also a fool. I won’t stir one peg until he crawfishes, not one foot,” was Virgil’s indignant response. They kept their agreement.

CONSTRUCTIVE TREATMENT

The principal should go to the parents of these young men, lay the facts before them as he understands them and insist that each boy meet him privately the next 323day. At the interview the following questions are to be answered: “How did you spend the week-end?” “What are your convictions on gambling?” “What will be your conduct during the remainder of your school course in the matter of gambling?” Leave these questions on paper so that parents and son can fully discuss them.

Parent’s Duty

Thus throw the whole responsibility on parents and sons, making not one remark as to your course of action in case the answers are unsatisfactory. Listen to the boys as a friend and advocate, not as a judge. If either boy fails to play the man, secure from his father a verbal guarantee for his good conduct, in effect placing the boy on probation. Avoid harsh language in dealing with the boys. At the first interview draw out their endorsement of the school custom which prohibits gambling. If they seem blind to its evils, briefly run over the obvious facts, but it is preferable to stir up the parents to supply any needed information. Do not place the boys in a position where you must expel or suspend them if they refuse some unreasonable penalty.

COMMENTS

Credulity of rumors has led to a serious administrative blunder. One of the finest disciplinary devices is to induce a guilty person to state the facts relative to his misconduct. At the points where he is sorely tempted to alter the facts, a few penetrating questions will place him again on the right track.

Parents must be continually reminded that they share daily in the responsibility of keeping good order 324in the school. It takes four people to hold up a boy in the high school—a parent, a teacher, a chum and the boy himself.

Boys who know so clearly that they have overstepped the bounds of sound morals should be forced to solve the problem. Put it up to them to make adjustments and to take a stand for the right regardless of any penalty that might be devised.

(3) Stealing. Though the habit of stealing is not so frequent as lying, among school children, yet it is of such widespread prevalence that it needs careful consideration. It is true that many in this group of offenders leave off the habit when they grow older—that is, outgrow it; still there are others who become habitual thieves when older and finally are detected and remanded to some penal institution. One form of stealing is known as kleptomania, an abnormal disposition to steal. This will not be discussed here, more than to say that a child who is a kleptomaniac should not be kept in a public school, but placed under a private tutor who can give especial and continual attention to the cure of his habit or, more properly speaking, his malady. He should be required to do or make something for the person whom he robs, every time, something that will replace that which he wrongfully took from them.

Motives for Stealing

The motives that prompt a young child to steal may be many. Likewise the occasions that make it possible for a child to steal may be numerous. A child may learn to steal because he has not been given sufficient food of different varieties, and in order to satisfy his hunger, he may have acquired the habit of stealing. 325He may have a liking for gaudy articles and because this craving is not satisfied, he begins to steal those articles that please his fancy. Playmates may have taught him to take what does not belong to him. Parents may have very loosely conceived notions on these matters and thereby teach their children, by example, to steal.

However, it seems that the motives or causes for pilfering can have little to do with the methods of prevention. Then, whatever the motives or causes for stealing may be, one thing is certain—the method of treatment need not be changed. At the outset the teacher must remember that the law of suggestion may play a great part in diminishing or increasing the tendency to pilfer. The unthoughtful teacher many times increases the tendency to “take things” in her room when in reality she is trying to prevent it. Her idea is that nothing shall lie before the children to tempt them to take what is not theirs. She locks every drawer in her room. She does it, too, in the presence of her pupils; she is careful to leave nothing valuable on her desk. If a child brings her a fine, luscious apple or orange, or a bit of candy, she at once secretes it in one of the mysterious drawers. Little does she think she is cultivating a tendency, not exactly to steal, but to peep into those secretive places; that act, if ever performed, will be the first step toward taking what is not theirs. For the child that must sneak to get a look into a forbidden place, it is a wrong to satisfy that longing; and pilfering easily attaches itself as a kindred wrong.

From this, the teacher must not conclude that to 326keep pupils from pilfering, she must leave things lying about carelessly; that would be going to the other extreme of placing temptation before them. A happy medium is needful. To give the methods of a rural teacher of many years’ experience, who never was troubled by pupils’ stealing, will, no doubt, be placing the situation before the teacher so it may be understood. This teacher did not make it a practice to lock drawers, desks and cabinets. When something of value was given her, she laid it upon her desk. Apples, oranges, candy and money could be found on the desk, almost any time. She never entertained the least fear that something might be taken. Her pupils knew how she felt about it. They could see her attitude in her actions, consequently they never took anything that did not belong to them.

When evening came, she would very unassumingly take any articles that had been given her, implying that she was not removing them because she feared they might be stolen. On the other hand, she often forgot to take money from her desk and it lay there over night, but she never worried a moment about it. She always found it in the morning, just where she had left it. She trusted her pupils and they trusted her. She was honest, so were they. Sometimes a very amiable pupil would remark, “Miss Jenkins, what would you do if some one were to take the money from your desk?” Invariably there shone on her face that confident smile of trust in every human heart and she would say, “Why, my dear, I do not need to think about that. I have no pupils that would steal anything.” Every word she uttered rang with trust and 327confidence. There need be no wonder that she had no pupils that stole.

She would send any one of her pupils to her home to get any article she wanted or to the store with money to buy some trifle for her. She trusted them in every way; she avoided that suspicious look and action that so many teachers have. No trait of the teacher will reproduce itself so quickly in the lives of those whom she teaches as the trait of trustfulness.

This teacher, once in a while, gathered her flock about her and told them stories. One story may have been about Eskimos, told without any attempt at moralizing; the next story referring to politeness; then she would deftly fill in a story about the wrong there is in taking things that do not belong to one. She avoided the harsh terms of pilfering or stealing. She taught the children to ask for what they wanted. They did not note that she was directly teaching them not to steal. Added to her many stories along various lines of conduct was a simple life of trust and confidence. There would be fewer thieves behind bars, could every first grade teacher look with trust and confidence upon the boys and girls that come under her care.

CASE 58 (FIRST GRADE)

Of Flower

(4) Stealing—Acquiring dishonorably. Cora Krebs was in the first grade. She dearly loved her teacher, Miss Bowman. It seemed to the little girl that Miss Bowman’s face was perfectly beautiful, her voice delightful and her smile worth securing, even at a great sacrifice.

Myron Ware often brought flowers from his 328mother’s large garden to present to Miss Bowman. She always thanked him so kindly and cared for the flowers so tenderly that Cora longed for an opportunity to give something beautiful to her teacher. Mrs. Krebs, her mother, had no flowers. Cora’s best loved treasure was her character doll. She had decided to give this doll to her teacher, but on second thought she knew that Miss Bowman was too big to care for a doll. How often she had thought of the joy it would be to give something fine to her teacher, only she herself knew.

One morning, Cora walked to school behind Myrtle Dean, a ten-year-old girl, who was taking a beautiful rose to school. When Cora first saw the rose, she thought, “Oh, how I wish I had that rose to give to Miss Bowman.” With this thought in mind, she kept close to Myrtle, eying the rose longingly.

When they reached the schoolhouse, Myrtle hung her hat on a hook in the hall, stuck the stem of the rose through the ribbon on the hat and hurried on with one of the girls into the little library opening into the hall. As soon as the girls closed the library door, Cora snatched the rose from its place and dodged into the first grade room, where she presented it to Miss Bowman, who graciously received it.

Myrtle hunted for her lost rose, and as soon as school began, asked her teacher’s permission to go to the various rooms and inquire if any one had seen it. Of course, she wanted the fun of going into the various rooms more than she wanted the lost flower. When she entered the first grade room and asked if Miss Bowman would inquire if anybody had seen her red 329rose, Miss Bowman would not have suspected that the one given her by Cora was the lost one, had not Cora blushed and nervously opened and shut her hands and in every way appeared guilty. The sight of Cora, thus confused, recalled to Miss Bowman’s mind that the child had given her just such a rose, so she said,

“Cora, where did you get this rose?” holding it up before the school.

“From home,” answered Cora.

“I saw her standing in the hall looking at me when I put it into my hat, and she didn’t have any rose in her hand,” said Myrtle.

“Cora, are you sure you brought it from home?” asked Miss Bowman, looking at Cora accusingly.

“Yes, ma’am,” said Cora.

“Let me see it,” said Myrtle. “I pulled the thorns off of mine as I walked to school. Has this one thorns?”

Miss Bowman examined it and found it had not. She gave it to Myrtle and said:

“Shame, shame, Cora, you have done an awful thing. You have stolen and then lied about it. You may stay after school.”

A very tearful, sad, little girl was whipped by her teacher that evening after school. The whipping cured Cora, not only of stealing, but also of ever caring again to give her teacher a present.

CONSTRUCTIVE TREATMENT

Miss Bowman should have gotten a description of Myrtle’s rose when she first inquired about it, and then seeing that Cora looked guilty, she should have 330said: “I am so glad that you thought of me and gave me this beautiful flower, but I shall be all the happier to have you give it to Myrtle now, and when you feel like it, tell me all about how you got it.” Whether or not Cora confesses at once, Miss Bowman should have a private talk with her later in which she tells her how certain things come to belong to certain people and therefore must not be purloined.

COMMENTS

Stealing, if not skillfully handled, leads to lying. To punish a child for either offense, without an attempt to teach him to despise such an act, really adds to his other crimes, fear, deceit and hatred for the one who punishes. Children should be taught to respect property rights at school, since such education is so often neglected at home. To this end, always be careful to respect the property rights of the children when dealing with them.

ILLUSTRATION (SECOND GRADE)

Property Rights

Miss Ward realized that pilfering and abuse of the property of others arises from lack of education, so she assigned certain days to talk of property rights, using concrete examples like the following:

“Do you see this pretty bow of ribbon on Frieda’s head? How did it come to be here? Whose pencil is this? May I use it?” She made a list of the possessions of some of the children, as named by themselves. The unfairness of stealing was clearly shown by asking, “Would it be right for any one else to take and use these things? Why not?”

331These lessons gave the children a prejudice against stealing.

CASE 59 (THIRD GRADE)

Pencil

Horace Brock had a new, red lead pencil. Even Miss Culver, the teacher, had noticed its brightness as he wrote his morning spelling lesson. But when the arithmetic preparation period arrived, his pencil was gone. He searched through his desk carefully, then put up his hand, when Miss Culver said, “What is it, Horace?”

“My new pencil is gone.”

“It must be about your desk,” she said, as she went to help him look for it. They failed to find it.

Two days passed and nothing was seen of the missing pencil. In the meantime several other pupils had bought new pencils just like it from the new assortment at the drug store.

On the third day Lettie Crandall, who sat just in front of Horace, had a shining red pencil.

At recess words were passed between Horace and Lettie somewhat as follows:

“That’s my pencil you had this morning.”

“It is not.”

“I know it is; I marked mine.”

“I marked mine, too.”

Miss Culver stepped up and said:

“How did you mark yours, Lettie?”

Confused and surprised, Lettie hesitated and then said, “I sharpened it long.”

“How did you mark yours, Horace?” Miss Culver asked.

332“It had three little tacks to hold the tin that the rubber is fastened in, onto the wood. Well, I took mother’s hammered brass punch and made little dents all around there just for fun. She’s got my pencil. I saw the dents in it.”

“Let me see the pencil,” said Miss Culver.

She compared it with other pencils and saw at once that it was unmistakably marked just as Horace had said. She therefore felt sure it belonged to him, and said:

“I’ll punish Lettie for stealing and lying.”

Lettie was whipped after school, not only in order to deter her from stealing, but also as an example to other children. She was ostracised by the girls for over a week, and in fact lost forever the intimate association she had had with one little classmate. Miss Culver understood this and believed it was just punishment for Lettie.

CONSTRUCTIVE TREATMENT

Return the pencil to Horace and tell him that you will attend to the matter of Lettie’s conduct. Have a private talk with Lettie, finding out just why she took the pencil, rather than ask at Lettie’s home to have one bought. Have a talk with Lettie’s mother, telling her of Lettie’s temptation and suggesting to her, as an aid in teaching property rights to her children, to let each child have his own pencil, eraser, etc. Let them even ask each other for a sheet of tablet paper, when one child needs to borrow from another; to let each of the toys belong to individual children, not to the group; 333often to call the attention of the children to ownership and its attendant rights.

At school explain to the pupils the difference between public and private property.

COMMENTS

Children who have no regard for each other’s property rights at home, who wrest by force from each other the pencils, books, rulers, etc., which they desire, will carry these practices into school, where they will be branded as thieves. The teacher should coöperate with the parents of such children to teach them respect for property rights and abhorrence of stealing.

ILLUSTRATION (FOURTH GRADE)

Pocket Knife

Bernard Howe brought a new pocket knife to school. It was large and heavy; in fact, a knife, cork-screw, screw-driver, tack-puller and many other things combined—a veritable little tool chest in itself.

With pride he showed it to the boys, who admired it to his satisfaction. One after another borrowed it. At the closing hour of school it was gone.

In tears, Bernard told Miss Bushnell, his teacher, of his loss. She suspected it had been taken by one of the boys. She kept Bernard after school and asked where he got his knife. He said:

“Paw works fur Cushman (a contractor) and they are buildin’ a new home on Park Street. The other day Paw found this knife in the buildin’ where somebody dropped it out of his pocket. Paw picked it up and shoved it into his pocket, quick, and brought it home. Yesterday Jerry (Bernard’s older brother) 334sneaked it out of Paw’s coat that was hangin’ up. Last night it fell out of Jerry’s pocket when he took off his clothes, and I found it on the floor this morning. I know Jerry will lick me fur not givin’ it back to him, and Paw will lick me ’cause I’ve lost it. Some feller stole it from me, I bet you.”

Miss Bushnell was shocked at this revelation of Bernard’s home training.

The next day she kept the boys in and said: “Bernard had a knife here that didn’t belong to him. He must find it if possible. It has somehow gotten lost. I will be very grateful to the boy who helps us to find it. As soon as it is found, please bring it to me, for I feel very anxious about it.”

That afternoon Parke Dabney brought the knife to Miss Bushnell, who returned it to Bernard, believing that some of the boys stole it from him. She then planned talks and stories on property rights which would be a lesson to all of the boys.

CASE 60 (SEVENTH GRADE)

Lunches

Hapgood Cummings was the son of a wealthy merchant in Trenton, New Jersey. He was the only child, and, accordingly, had been over-indulged at home. Now in this, the seventh grade, he was looked upon by the rest of the boys as a leader.

As several of the children in the school lived outside of the city limits, they brought their lunches. One morning Hapgood said to a crowd of boys in the school yard, “I bet I can carry off a stunt that the rest of you can’t do.”

“What’s that?” came the response of his followers.

335“I bet I can slip a lunch every recess from the dressing-room and no one will be the wiser.”

“I dare you to do it.”

“All right.”

Hapgood asked to be excused from the room during the morning and took the opportunity to empty a lunch box, which looked especially tempting, into his pocket. At recess he said, “Look here, fellows. Don’t you wish you were me?” At that he pulled a sandwich out of his pocket and attacked it as if he had not eaten in days. His friends enviously looked on.

The next day he was equally successful and correspondingly admired and envied. After the third offense, Miss Nichols said, “Will the boy who has taken a lunch from this dressing-room for the past three mornings, please stand?”

Not a motion was made by anyone in the room. Hapgood sat rigidly still.

Not exactly sure what step to take next, Miss Nichols said, “If anyone knows who took these lunches, he will help me by telling me.”

That noon a little girl who wanted to do as her teacher said told on Hapgood.

At the beginning of the afternoon session, Miss Nichols said, “Hapgood Cummings, why didn’t you tell me you stole the lunch from the dressing-room? Don’t you know you were telling a lie by not standing this morning?”

Hapgood had learned one thing at home: never to talk back, so he thought, instead.

Misinterpreting his silence for meanness, Miss Nichols added, “You are disgraced in the eyes of the 336room, Hapgood. You may stay after school one hour every day, for one week.”

CONSTRUCTIVE TREATMENT

Never urge the children to tell on one another until all other resources have been exhausted. After assuring yourself who the culprit is, talk to him privately in such a manner as this:

“Hapgood, for several mornings lunches have been taken from the dressing-room,” and since you know the boy to have been truthful in all other dealings with him, say, “Do you know anything about this?”

(On the other hand, if you deal with a boy who has lied on several previous occasions, say, “Every evidence in this case points to you. You can not wriggle out of it in any way.” Then proceed to tell him why you know he is guilty, giving him no chance to defend himself.)

Knowing that Hapgood is a spoiled child and has never been put on his own responsibility, say, “Hapgood, you know you were not playing fair with those boys whose lunches you took. Supposing you had to go without anything to eat, how would you feel?”

“Now, Hapgood, I know you didn’t think what a serious matter it was when you did this, so I am not going to say anything about it to the rest of the pupils. I am going to treat you like the honorable boy that I know you want to be, but I expect you to be honorable hereafter.”

COMMENTS

No boy is going to respond to such a command as Miss Nichols gave when she said, “Will the boy who 337has taken a lunch from the dressing-room for three mornings please stand?” Even if he has stolen, he does not want to be treated as a thief, and the other children do not want to be known as “tattlers.” By your request, you are only making matters worse. Any respect the children may have had for Miss Nichols was seriously weakened when she appealed to someone in the room to tell on the boy who stole the lunches.

One can never expect to appeal to a boy’s better self by telling him he is a liar. The boy showed he was well-bred when he refused to talk back to Miss Nichols.

ILLUSTRATION (SEVENTH GRADE)

Money

When Miss Langly began to teach in the seventh grade in the foreign district of a large city, she found out that Leonardo Coppetelli, a twelve-year-old boy in her room, had the reputation among his schoolmates of being a thief. She was bent on blotting out this stain in his character, and knowing that if it were not destroyed he would probably go through life with this stigma ever upon him, she decided to win his confidence.

She had not been in the neighborhood many days when she heard that Leonardo had stolen five dollars from a corner grocery. Immediately she called upon the proprietor, who was an American, and said:

“How do you do, Mr. Johnson. I am a teacher in the Douglas School. I have heard that Leonardo Coppetelli stole five dollars from you last night. I have come to ask that you will not cause his arrest. I believe if you will allow me to forward the money Leonardo 338stole from you, I can help the boy so that he will not want to steal any more.”

Mr. Johnson and Miss Langly talked for some time, when Miss Langly finally gained her point.

The next day she took pains to have a long talk with Leonardo, the trend of which was as follows:

“Leonardo, I heard you talking to the boys yesterday about spending money. Would you like a chance to earn some? I have an uncle in business near here who is looking for an errand boy.”

“I have been talking with Mr. Johnson, Leonardo. He is not going to arrest you this time for taking his money from him. I have made him promise to say nothing more about it. I told him I believed you would be willing to earn the money if you had a chance and would pay him back.”

“Do you think you could get me a job?”

“Come with me now. Tell your mother Miss Langly wants you to go on an errand with her. We shall call on my uncle and see what he has for you.”

The result was that Leonardo went to work every afternoon, was thus kept out of mischief and learned so to respect Miss Langly’s opinion that she became an influential factor in his life.

CASE 61 (HIGH SCHOOL)

Cecelia Cortwright was a student in the high school of a suburban town. She was not known as a popular girl, but was liked by all who knew her.

One morning Mr. Williams, the principal of the school, made the following announcement:

Check

“A very grave thing has happened this morning. A 339check has been taken from the pocket of a coat which hangs in the east dressing-room. Fortunately, it was not endorsed. The affair will be brought to a speedy close if the person who took this check will report in my office before the close of the session today; otherwise a thorough investigation will have to be made.”

School closed that day without any clue to the culprit. Several days passed. In the meantime, the check had been illegally endorsed and cashed at a local grocer’s. When turning in the check to be cashed at the bank, he was informed that the check had been forged, as the legal endorsee had stopped payment on the note.

The grocer immediately identified the girl as Cecelia Cortwright and public exposure at school soon followed.

Although Miss Cortwright was not suspended from school, she suffered the same injurious consequences which such a disgrace can bring. Shunned by her friends, looked upon with question by her teachers, she was in every sense of the word an outcast. When she could stand it no longer, she left school to clerk in a store in the city.

CONSTRUCTIVE TREATMENT

Make a thorough investigation before announcing a theft before a body of students. Publicity should be your last resource. Wait several days, if necessary, until the affair has had time to circulate among the students. It often happens that by observing these precautions the principal will have the whole matter laid before him without any particular effort on his part.

When the guilty one is found, take him into your 340trust; treat him as if he were a man twice as big as he is. Privately tell him that his act is to be looked upon with the gravest concern. Do not question his motive, but consider together how reparation can be made.

COMMENTS

Theft in a school demands delicate handling by those in authority. It so often occurs that the home training of a child leads him to have little sense of moral responsibility. To pry into his motive and publicly reveal his crime is often so to undermine the offender’s self-respect that the results are disastrous.

ILLUSTRATION (HIGH SCHOOL)

Mr. Arnold, principal of a large city high school, was informed by several girls one morning that their lunch money had been repeatedly taken from their coat pockets.

Money

Mr. Arnold asked the girls to wait for several days; by that time he would probably have some light on the affair. In the meantime, he asked the head of the lunchroom if any pupil had been eating his lunch there the past three days who had never done so before. Several were named.

He then asked the janitor to watch the dressing-rooms during the school session. The teachers who had had charge of the assembly-room the past three days were asked to report the name of any girl who had repeatedly asked permission to leave the room. The three sources pointed to a certain little girl who was known to come from a poor family where no thought was given to proper training of the children.

341Incidentally in a conversation with the girl, Mr. Arnold asked her to stop in his office the last period of the day. Before the interview was over, he had, through this effort, secured the whole story from the child.

“I never have any money of my own for a hot lunch. One day when I was in the dressing-room I happened to think, ‘Why not take money from the pockets of the girls who never know what it is to be hungry for something good to eat?’”

“I am very glad you have told me this,” said Mr. Arnold. “The matter will go no farther than this office. It is an affair between just you and me. Mrs. Arnold wants someone to take care of the children in the afternoon after school. Wouldn’t you like to earn some money? Well, come over to our house with me and talk it over with Mrs. Arnold. When you have earned enough money to pay back what you have spent, I shall return it to the girls and they need never know who took the money.”

END OF PART I

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