Thought for today:
"There's only one place for a badly behaved puss like you, and that my dear friend is in the 'Naughty Corner.' So stay there until Mamma tells you when you can rejoin the rest of us.
I remember first coming across the concept of the 'naughty corner' by some jolly-looking television Supernanny who made a name for herself in the early 2000. Before then, it had entered my world thirty years earlier when I was training as a Probation Officer. At that time it was an academic construct called, 'Time Out.' This was a behavioural devise used to separate an unruly child from their usual environment until they were prepared to stop misbehaving.
Before that, I experienced it as a child way back in the 50s, when after doing something wrong, I was physically removed with a firm smack and sent to my bedroom until the next morning. Naturally, misdemeanours usually tended to be committed as close to bedtime as was possible and rarely occurred in the morning or early afternoon! In those days, this was callled 'being chastised.'
While parental physical contact has diminished today, this has been partly replaced by an increase in guilt inducement, emotional blackmail along with mum and dad developing new looks of utter disapproval and the occasional raised voice. As far as I can see, all three concepts essentially existed for the same purpose and in the main produced similar results in the unruly child, but I have an inkling that it produced quicker and more long-lasting results during the 50s. The only difference in parents then to parents now, was that the old timers never lost sight of who was the child, who the adult and whose rule prevailed during moments of conflict between the two!
The next time you find yourself in the 'naughty corner' with time to think, let me tell you a few things that might serve you well when you grow up and go out into the world as an adult."
The first thing I want to tell you is that the world works on the principles of either 'competition' or 'cooperation' and invariably both. If you are wise, you will learn to apply both effectively as your circumstances warrant. Forget about those silly statements that you may have been told at school that there are no winners and losers and that in this class everyone is a winner and everyone gets a medal for trying. By giving you an inflated mark of accomplishment of seven out of ten for a performance deserving of little more than a rating of four or five, like the Aunt Sally at the fairground, you are being set up to be knocked down as soon as you come into contact with the hard world of teenage and young-adult years.
Now, if you fail, you'll be marked a failure and even if you aren't, you will gradually grow to feel one. The second most important thing to think of in your 'naughty corner' and where you teachers are 100% on the ball is never dwell on uncomfortable feelings. When they advise to share with another, they are helping you in ways you cannot yet fully appreciate. Whenever troubled tell someone you trust what is bothering you. Learn to express your feelings honestly and you will grow into a heathy and happy adult.
You can come out of your box now puss and don't dare eat my cornflakes again!" William Forde: June 26th, 2015.
"There's only one place for a badly behaved puss like you, and that my dear friend is in the 'Naughty Corner.' So stay there until Mamma tells you when you can rejoin the rest of us.
I remember first coming across the concept of the 'naughty corner' by some jolly-looking television Supernanny who made a name for herself in the early 2000. Before then, it had entered my world thirty years earlier when I was training as a Probation Officer. At that time it was an academic construct called, 'Time Out.' This was a behavioural devise used to separate an unruly child from their usual environment until they were prepared to stop misbehaving.
Before that, I experienced it as a child way back in the 50s, when after doing something wrong, I was physically removed with a firm smack and sent to my bedroom until the next morning. Naturally, misdemeanours usually tended to be committed as close to bedtime as was possible and rarely occurred in the morning or early afternoon! In those days, this was callled 'being chastised.'
While parental physical contact has diminished today, this has been partly replaced by an increase in guilt inducement, emotional blackmail along with mum and dad developing new looks of utter disapproval and the occasional raised voice. As far as I can see, all three concepts essentially existed for the same purpose and in the main produced similar results in the unruly child, but I have an inkling that it produced quicker and more long-lasting results during the 50s. The only difference in parents then to parents now, was that the old timers never lost sight of who was the child, who the adult and whose rule prevailed during moments of conflict between the two!
The next time you find yourself in the 'naughty corner' with time to think, let me tell you a few things that might serve you well when you grow up and go out into the world as an adult."
The first thing I want to tell you is that the world works on the principles of either 'competition' or 'cooperation' and invariably both. If you are wise, you will learn to apply both effectively as your circumstances warrant. Forget about those silly statements that you may have been told at school that there are no winners and losers and that in this class everyone is a winner and everyone gets a medal for trying. By giving you an inflated mark of accomplishment of seven out of ten for a performance deserving of little more than a rating of four or five, like the Aunt Sally at the fairground, you are being set up to be knocked down as soon as you come into contact with the hard world of teenage and young-adult years.
Now, if you fail, you'll be marked a failure and even if you aren't, you will gradually grow to feel one. The second most important thing to think of in your 'naughty corner' and where you teachers are 100% on the ball is never dwell on uncomfortable feelings. When they advise to share with another, they are helping you in ways you cannot yet fully appreciate. Whenever troubled tell someone you trust what is bothering you. Learn to express your feelings honestly and you will grow into a heathy and happy adult.
You can come out of your box now puss and don't dare eat my cornflakes again!" William Forde: June 26th, 2015.
