Benson, Arthur Christopher, 1862-1925 / 2008-07-22 00:00:00
The thing to avoid, for
all who are responsible in the smallest degree for the nurture of
children, is to call in the influence of fear; one may speak
plainly of consequences, but even there one must not exaggerate, as
schoolmasters often do, for the best of motives, about moral
faults; one may punish deliberate and repeated disobedience, wanton
cruelty, persistent and selfish disregard of the rights of others,
but one must warn many times, and never try to triumph over a fault
by the infliction of a shock of any kind. The shock is the most
cruel and cowardly sort of punishment, and if we wilfully use it,
then we are perpetuating the sad tyranny of instinctive fear, and
using the strength of a great angel to do the work of a demon, such
as I saw long ago in the old magazine, and felt its tyranny for
many days.
As a child the one thing I was afraid of was the possibility of my
father's displeasure. We did not see a great deal of him, because
he was a much occupied headmaster; and he was to me a stately and
majestic presence, before whom the whole created world seemed
visibly to bow.
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