Article October 18, 1952 Issue

TRUE DISCIPLINE

[From a Sunday School teacher in a branch church]

The Sunday School teacher needs to understand true discipline. True discipline is divine order within. It comes of inward purposing and not from outward restraint. I have found that even the youngest pupils respond to this approach.

Harmony in children is normal. They love intelligently directed, purposeful activity when it is presented to them in an appealing way. This was proved to me when I was assigned to a primary class of the littlest ones. Heretofore during the assembly exercises they had talked, dropped Hymnals, moved their chairs about, and so on. Aware of the fact that true discipline is divine order in consciousness, I promptly enlisted their co-operation.

Entering the atmosphere of childlike, fun-loving thought, I proposed, "Let's find out who knows how." They were eager in their anticipation of opportunities to evidence dominion. And I continued, "First let's put our hands on the table." There was instant compliance and attention. Then, "Who knows how to sit when the superintendent reads at the desk?" Shoulders straightened, hands stopped toying with objects. "Oh, my," I smiled approvingly, as I began to magnify good, "isn't this grand? All of you know how." Turning to a small lad, I said, "How nice you look when you sit tall." Next I inquired, "Who knows how to hold the Hymnal?" I commended a little one because he held his Hymnal "just like the precentor." Each point needing attention was covered until unity prevailed. Then I concluded, "The wonderful thing about this class is that all of you know how to do all these things."

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