from ignorance due to his own neglect, or to his wilfulness, it should
be met directly by an act of authority on the part of the teacher (and
without an appeal to reason). An appeal should be made to the
understanding of the pupil only when he is somewhat mature, or shows by
his repetition of the offence that his proclivity is deep-seated, and
requires an array of all good influences to reinforce his feeble
resolutions to amend.

Sec. 37. Reproof, accompanied by threats of punishment, is apt to
degenerate into scolding.

Sec. 38. After the failure of other means, punishment should be resorted
to. Inasmuch as the punishment should be for the purpose of making the
pupil realize that it is the consequence of his deed returning on
himself, it should always be administered for some particular act of
his, and this should be specified. The "overt act" is the only thing
which a man can be held accountable for in a court of justice; although
it is true that the harboring of evil thoughts or intentions is a sin,
yet it is not a crime until realized in an overt act.

Sec. 40. Punishment should be regulated, not by abstract rules, but in view
of the particular case and its attending circumstances.

Sec. 41. Sex and age of pupil should be regarded in prescribing the mode
and degree of punishment. Corporal punishment is best for pupils who are
very immature in mind; when they are more developed they may be punished
by any imposed restraint upon their free wills which will isolate them
from the ordinary routine followed by their fellow-pupils. (Deprivation
of the right to do as others do is a wholesome species of punishment for
those old or mature enough to feel its effects, for it tends to secure
respect for the regular tasks by elevating them to the rank of rights
and privileges.) For young men and women, the punishment should be of a
kind that is based on a sense of honor.

Sec. 42. (1) Corporal punishment should be properly administered by means
of the rod, subduing wilful defiance by the application of force.

Sec. 48. (2) Isolation makes the pupil realize a sense of his dependence
upon human society, and upon the expression of this dependence by
cooeperation in the common tasks. Pupils should not be shut up in a dark
room, nor removed from the personal supervision of the teacher. (To shut
up two or more in a room without supervision is not isolation, but
association; only it is association for mischief, and not for study.