子供に対する(昔の)罰
キャロラインが駄々をこねているのがフェアチャイルド氏は,自分の子供たちが喧嘩をしているのを見つけた時には,「犬には好きなだけ吠えさせろ,噛み付かせろ」という歌に調子を合わせながら,彼らを杖でぶった。それから,子供たちを絞首刑台につれていき,絞首刑台に鎖でぶらさがっている死体を見せた。鎖が風でがちゃがちゃいうたびに,小さい男の子は震えあがり,家へ連れて帰ってくれとせがんだ。しかし,フェアチャイルド氏は,この光景は心に憎しみを持った人間がどういう目にあうかを示していると言いながら,無理やり男の子に長い時間見させた。その子は,将来牧師になるように決められていたので、おそらく,地獄に落ちた人びとの恐怖を,みずから経験した人のように生々しく描写できるように教えこまなければならなかったのであろう。 今日では,このような方法を擁護(主張)する人は,(米国)テネシー州であってさえ,ほとんどいないだろう。しかし,その代わりに,どういった方法をとるべきかについては,かなり意見が分かれる。相変わらず相当量の罰を擁護(主張)する人びともいれば,罰はまったくなしで済ませることが可能だと考える人びともいる。この両極端の間には,種々異なる意見の成立する余地がある。 |
Pt.2 Education of Character - Chap.9 PunishmentIn former days, and until very recently, the punishment of children and boys and girls was taken as a matter of course, and was universally regarded as indispensable in education. We have seen in an earlier chapter what Dr. Arnold thought about flogging, and his views were, at the time, exceptionally humane. Rousseau is associated with the theory of leaving things to nature, yet in Emile he occasionally advocates quite severe punishments. The conventional view, a hundred years ago, is set forth in one of the Cautionary Tales, in which a little girl makes a fuss because they are putting on her white sash when she wants her pink one.Papa, who in the parlour heardWhen Mr. Fairchild found his children quarrelling he caned them, making the cane keep time to the verse "Let dogs delight to bark and bite." He then took them to see a corpse hanging in chains on a gibbet. The little boy was frightened, and begged to be taken home, as the chains rattled in the wind. But Mr. Fairchild compelled him to look for a long time, saying that this spectacle showed what happened to those who had hatred in their hearts. The child was destined to become a clergyman, and presumably had to be taught to depict the terrors of the damned with the vividness of one who has experienced them. Nowadays, few people would advocate such methods, even in Tennessee. But there is considerable divergence of opinion as to what should take their place. Some people still advocate a fair amount of punishment, while others consider that it is possible to dispense with punishment altogether. There is room for many shades between these two extremes. |
(掲載日:2015.04.22/更新日: )