The Infant System · Chapter 245. Be Strictly Accurate in Your Expressions
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One day when the children were assembled in the gallery, having none of their usual lessons at hand, I took from my pocket a piece of paper, and promised them that if they would answer me every question I put concerning the paper, I would at last make a paper boat. I proceeded in the following manner: "What is this?" "What colour?" "What is its use?" "How made!" "What made of?" &c. These questions being answered according to their different views, and having folded the paper into a variety of forms, and obtained their ideas upon such forms, I proceeded to fulfil my promise of forming it into the shape of a boat; but the children, seeing me at a loss, exclaimed, "Please, sir, you can't do it;" which proved the fact, as I had forgotten the plan, and was obliged to make the confession. "Then, sir," rejoined one of the boys, "you should not have promised."
In the course of my observations I had frequently enjoined the children to make every possible use of their thinking powers, but it appears I had at the same time forgotten to make use of my own, and consequently had been betrayed into a promise which I was not able to perform.
I remember some other instances:
One of the children happened to kick another. The injured party complained to the person who then had the charge of the school, saying, "Please, sir, this boy kicked me." It being time for the children to leave school, the master waved his hand towards the gate through which the children pass, thoughtlessly saying, at the same time, "Kick away;" meaning that the complainant was to take no more notice of the affair, but go home. The complainant, however, returning to the other child, began kicking him, and received some kicks himself. A friend was present, and seeing two children kicking each other, he very naturally inquired the reason. "Please, sir," replied the children, "master told us!" "Master told you," says the gentleman, "that cannot be; I'll ask him." He accordingly inquired into the truth of the affair, and received for answer, "Certainly not." "Yes," said the child, "you did, sir; did not I tell you just now that a boy kicked me?" "Yes," says the master, "you did." "Then, please sir," says the child, "you told me to go and kick away!" The master immediately recollected that he had said so.
This fact shews how improper it is to say one thing to a child and mean another. These children were under the influence of obedience, and in the light of truth, and being in that light, they could see from no other, and very naturally concluded the master meant what he had said.
One day some visitors requested I would call out a class of the children to be examined. Having done so, I asked the visitors in what they would wish the children to be examined; at the same time stating that they might hear the children examined in natural history, Scriptural history, arithmetic, spelling, geography, or geometry. They choose the latter, and I proceded to examine the children accordingly; beginning with straight lines. Having continued this examination for about half an hour, we proceeded to enter into particulars respecting triangles; and having discoursed on the difference between isosceles triangles and scalene triangles, I observed that an acute isosceles triangle had all its angles acute, and proceeded to observe that a right-angled scalene triangle had all its angles acute. The children immediately began to laugh, for which I was at a loss to account, and told them of the impropriety of laughing at me. One of the children immediately replied, "Please, sir, do you know what we were laughing at?" I replied in the negative. "Then, sir," says the boy, "I will tell you. Please, sir, you have made a blunder." I, thinking I had not, proceeded to defend myself, when the children replied, "Please, sir, you convict yourself." I replied, "How so?" "Why," says the children, "you said a right-angled triangle had one right angle, and that all its angles are acute. If it has one right angle, how can all its angles be acute?" I soon perceived the children were right, and that I was wrong. Here, then, the reader may perceive the fruits of teaching the children to think, inasmuch as it is shewn that children of six years of age and under were able to refute their tutor. If children had been taught to think many years ago, error would have been much more easily detected, and its baneful influence would not have had that effect upon society which at this day unfortunately we are obliged to witness.
At another time I was lecturing the children in the gallery on the subject of cruelty to animals; when one of the little children observed, "Please, sir, my big brother catches the poor flies, and then sticks a pin through them, and makes them draw the pin along the table." This afforded me an excellent opportunity of appealing to their feelings on the enormity of this offence, and, among other things, I observed, that if the poor fly had been gifted with the powers of speech like their own, it probably would have exclaimed, while dead, as follows:—"You naughty child, how can you think of torturing me so? Is there not room in the world for you and me? Did I ever do you any harm? Does it do you any good to put me in such pain? Why do you do it, you are big enough to know better? How would you like a man to run a piece of wire through your body, and make you draw things about? Would you not cry at the pain? Go, then, you wicked boy, and learn to leave off such cruel actions." Having finished, one of the children replied, "How can any thing speak if it is dead?" "Why," said I, "supposing it could speak." "You meant to say, sir," was the rejoinder, "dying instead of dead."
It will, of course be understood that in this case I purposely misused a word, and the children being taught to think, easily detected it.