MISCHIEF IN A CHILD

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23213, 10 June 1937, Page 19

MISCHIEF IN A CHILD

RIGID CONTROL NOT ALWAYS WISE There is a serious undertone to this lightly-written article by Jefferson Farjeon in an exchange. The moral of it is that no child should be repressed without the parents investigating his impulse for apparent mischief. "And what," asked Patricia, "shall we do with Peter when he grows up? ' "Surely the question is a little premature," I ventured. , "Of course, he's still only a baby, she admitted, " but we ought to watch for any indication of special abilitv Have you noticed anything? " "I thought the alibi he established in the matter of the raspberry iam rather promising. If we develop the trait he ought to do well at the bar. "Henrv! He was telling lies. "And if jam wasn't sticky he would have been released without a stain on his character. Jolly clever. I thought "I suppose," she said reflectively "we have to thank heredity for that." ,„ ■ , " No," I replied, " it's a gift. I was always found out. We ought to develop this special talent. A successful barrister can earn £20,000 a year. ' f Money." declared Patricia, "is not everything. I don't care what profession he takes up, so long as he earns a living honestly. What is the lamb doing now " % "At this moment," 1 surmised. - he is so quiet that he is bound to be -n mischief." ,„ Dn) "Do you mind going to see? Patricia requested. "You may get some indication—" ... I found Peter in the bathroom, where he seemed so happy that I did not care to disturb him. It v was. I remembered, my boyhood's dream to play with those jolly little taps and make the water squirt just like a fireengine. , „ , "Peter's future is assured, 1 announced as I re-entered the drawing room. "He is going to be a plumber. " I beg your pardon? " said Patricia coldly. . "Plumbing is. i assure you, an honourable craft, not without considerable rewards. At present Peter lacks the repose of the perfect plumber, and he shows a penchant, which we must train him out of, for getting his two hands to the job instead of sending his mate for the tools. But he has undoubted talent. The bathroom hasn't been quite so wet since we had the real plumber I gathered that Peter had tired of plumbing, and was trying to swim by the time Patricia rescued him. "Why didn't you stop him? ' she demanded, when the discussion was resumed half an hour later. "I wished to discover his natural bent," I replied. "I admit my first assumption was hasty. Had I waited. [ should have recognised his ambition to swim the Channel. But we must wean him from that. It is an overcrowded profession." . . " I've put him to bed," said Patricia. "As I expected." I assured her. " But it is a mistake. We ought to be studying Peter's psychology, his natural aptitudes, his instinctive cravings, instead of punishing him." "Fancy thinking of Peter as a plumber!" she exclaimed scornfully. " He may outgrow it," I argued; " by punishing him you have suppressed a complex. You have, no doubt, forbidden him ever to play with taps again? " "I have," she admitted grimly. "In that case the desire to play with taps will ferment in his subconscious mind until he comes of age, when he will become a plumber just to spite you, and wear a cloth cap." "If that is modern psychology," she declared, " I'm glad I don't understand it. He's stopped crying now. Do run upstairs and see what he's doing." "Meditating revenge," I said cheerfully. "If he finishes up in a Borstal institution— "

"Will you go, or shall I?" she demanded. I crept upstairs. Peter had made an excellent tent of the counterpane, and was busy being a Red Indian. When Patricia went up to transfer him to a more desirable occupation he was a pirate, making preparations to walk the plank. "Of course," 1 admitted, "piracy is a very picturesque occupation. It is certainly not overcrowded, and he might very easily get to the top of the tree, or the yardarm, in that honourable calling. But I don't see how we can help him. There are no schools in piracy, and 1 don't remember any correspondence college with the Twelve Little Red Books. Anyhow, of course he can't really become a pirate. The impulse must be turned into another channel. With that temperament he would make an ideal income tax collector, a Chancellor of the Exchequer, or a motor salesman." But Patricia did not quite like any of these jobs. "We are not choosing a profession to suit us," I pointed out, "but one to suit Peter. Let me put it to him as man to man." "That's an idea," she admitted. " Now, Peter," I said sternly, " what are you going to be? " "A good boy," he replied in a little sleepy voice. So we left it at that. He might do worse.