In last week’s column, we brought our readers up-to-date on the educational outlook in 1901. It seems fair then to include some of the thinking at that time about what we’d these days refer to as child or developmental psychology. The April 26, 1901 issue of the Norway Advertiser ran this item. Below, the author identifies what we would today call a “kindergarten teacher” as a “kindergartener,” which we would take to be a child. Because this is a source of some confusion, so we added the word “teacher” in brackets to help the reader keep it in mind.                 

Punishing A Child

“What is the best method of punishing a child?” is the question often put to kindergartener [teachers] by anxious mothers.

They go on to say that despite all their admonitions and threats Johnnie will continue to pull the cat’s tail until the animal is removed from his reach.

Physical pain they have not the heart to inflect on their darling and this fact he seems too know and take advantage of. The result is that Johnnie soon develops into a small sized despot, a nuisance to himself and to those around him.

Of course this is all wrong and the mother knows it to be so herself, but she is practically powerless to prevent the result of her ignorance, and so both she and her child suffer the consequences, which are sometimes awful indeed.

The kindergartener [teacher], no less than the mother, finds the question of rewards and punishments an exceedingly difficult one. Only the former is aided by her knowledge of child nature of which the mother in many cases is woefully ignorant. In addition to that one should have a tactful and discerning nature far the material to be handled is not senseless clay, but an immortal human soul.

In the first place, the kindergartener [teacher] knows that each child has an individuality all his own, and that in consequence he requires individual treatment. For example, two children may do exactly the same thing, but one may have a good and the other a bad motive. Hence one is culpable and the other is not. A child-student knowing both incentives would be able to act accordingly. Only practice can enable the mother or kindergartener [teacher] to make the proper decision.

As to the punishment itself it, too, must depend on the individuality of the child, for what would prove to be a serious affliction to one child might be just the opposite to another. Try to find out the dispositions of your children, whether they are inclined to be affectionate, inclined to be self-opinionated, or proud, and then you will find out how best to impose punishment. But as far as possible, let the child suffer the consequences of his act. If he has torn up his picture book, do not scold him and then buy another, but allow him to do without for awhile, and show him the reason. Rest assured that he will take better care of the next one.

So many mothers make a practice of threatening their children and then failing to carry out their word. Naturally the little ones come to regard a threat as a meaningless thing, and so it is. It is far better not to give any warning of the impending blow, but if a child does a thing that he has been told once before not to do administer the punishment at once.

Whipping is still thought of by some parents as an effective means of correcting evil tendencies. The kindergartener [teacher] has long pointed out the fact that its only result is a stubborn determination to get even in some way and greatly lessened for the hand that wields the slipper. To say the least, it is an inhuman method of treating a human being, and at once places one’s victim on the level of a dog or cat.

Children are so easily ruled by their affection that it would seem that, if for no other reason than this, every mother should seek to gain it. Simply showing a child that he has caused you much sorrow by his act will often be a sufficient reprimand. It is much better to punish infrequently and severely than often and ineffectually.

Above all things let the little offender clearly understand that no matter what he does he can never affect your love for him, that it is only his act that you hate, and that it is your desire that he hate it too. Too much stress cannot be laid upon this point for it has been the means of wrecking many human lives.

It’s well to keep in mind, reading that item, that in the very early 20th century, the idea of a kindergarten or pre-school was rather novel and there was nothing but popular demand that enabled a school district to sponsor one. Also, it was a time when teachers didn’t necessarily graduate from a college or university, but studied at what was called a normal school, often for only two years or on a work-study arrangement of summer classes over several years.

Meanwhile, life went on for the grown-ups. The April 12, 1901 issue of the same paper brought word of an industrial accident.

              Boiler Explosion at West Paris

The fifty-horsepower boiler in the clothespin factory of Lewis M. Mann and Son at West Paris exploded at 10 minutes past 7 o’clock on Thursday morning, April 11. The factory stood at a good distance from other buildings, and the power-house was separated from the rest of the plant.

The power-house is a total wreck.

One person hurt, Herbert Emmons, who was badly scalded and had both legs broken. He died from the injuries. He was forty years old and had a family.

Cause is not yet determined. The boiler was supposed to be all right, having been inspected on the previous day. Twelve to fifteen men are thrown out of work.

In retrospect, one has to wonder how the boiler inspection was conducted. The casting of boilers in those days still had not been perfected, nor were the standards for inspecting them. At this point in time, we’ll likely never know.

There was no further word, at least in that issue, of what became of Mann’s family. Workers’ compensation was not even a dream yet in this country. Employers who “took care” of injured workers were few and far between, although some went far beyond the extent to which an employer today would go. In addition, there was no Office of Safety Health Administration or an engineering college course anywhere on safety in industrial design. They weren’t seen as necessary.

Hopefully, next week we will wow our readers with more senior sagacity.

As is our custom, we try to exactly reproduce the grammar, spelling, punctuation and style of the original. Commas might appear where least expected and remain absent where we’d expect them if the item was written nowadays. On the other hand, consistency was not considered of utmost importance, so variations of a spelling might appear within one story. In addition, some words were abbreviated differently than today. Where brief explanations of terms are considered necessary, they are presented in brackets [] within the quote. Otherwise, explanations appear at the beginning or at the conclusion, without quotes. Parenthesis () used in a quoted passage appeared in the original.