CHAPTER  XI   .sx
THE  PROBLEM  OF  DISCIPLINE  DURING  ADOLESCENCE   .sx
THE  consideration  of  some  of  the  delinquencies  of  adolescents  has  revealed  certain  principles  that  are  important  for  the  prevention  , which  after  all  is  better  than  the  cure  , of  maladjustments .sx   The  accession  of  energy  characteristic  of  the  period  may  result  in  a  temporary  lack  of  control  of  some  instinct  ;  and  if  this  occurs  , it  is  no  use  pretending  that  the  primitive  impulse  does  not  exist .sx   The  adoption  of  such  an  ostrich-like  policy  may  but  help  to  turn  a  difficulty  of  control  into  a  repression  , a  more  insidious  failure  of  development .sx   Re-direction  , and  not  negation  , is  the  key  to  the  discipline  of  adolescents .sx   For  example  , Stanley  Q.  might  have  been  helped  in  the  early  stages  of  his  maladjustment  by  the  provision  of  legitimate  opportunities  for  the  expression  of  his  love  of  wandering  and  of  adventure .sx   A  freer  open-air  life  , a  holiday  abroad  with  understanding  parents  , or  membership  of  a  Boy  Scout  troup  or  a  school  boys'  camp  , so  that  he  would  have  had  companions  in  adventurous  explorations  and  would   .sx
thus  have  been  disciplined  by  his  relationship  to  a  social  group  , might  have  saved  him  from  disaster .sx   
The  genius  of  Baden-Powell  , now  Lord  Baden-Powell  of  Gilwell  , led  him  to  realize  and  to  embody  in  practice  the  most  fundamental  principle  of  good  discipline  , namely  , that  the  very  dynamic  impulses  , which  might  cause  trouble  between  young  boys  and  adult  society  , should  be  directed  and  used  for  their  education .sx   What  adolescents  need  is  a  simpler  kind  of  society  in  which  to  learn  to  control  their  instincts  and  to  try  their  powers .sx   Their  natural  love  of  adventure  , their  tendencies  to  wander  , their  need  to  construct  and  create  with  their  hands  as  well  as  with  their  minds  , their  instinct  of  self-display  , and  their  growing  social  impulses  can  all  find  legitimate  avenues  of  expression  in  the  organization  of  which  he  is  the  founder .sx   Instead  , then  , of  the  herd  instinct  expressing  itself  in  the  formation  of  such  gangs  , as  have  been  troublesome  to  adult  society  from  time  to  time  , such  as  the  Hell  Hounds  , the  Black  Hand  League  , and  the  Belt  and  Pistol  Club  , the  names  of  which  are  sufficiently  indicative  of  their  nature  , it  has  frequently  been  directed  by  the  Scout  Organization  into  socially  useful  channels .sx   Not  only  may  there  be  a  negative  result  -  the  prevention  of  outbursts  of  burglaries  and  street  fights  -  but  there  may  also  be  a  positive  discipline  of  each  individual  who  becomes  a  member  of  a  legitimate  social  group .sx   
The  new  Central  and  Senior  schools  , delivered   .sx
from  an  over-intellectualist  tradition  , have  a  marvellous  opportunity  for  embodying  in  themselves  the  newer  ideals  of  discipline  which  have  so  far  been  mainly  expressed  in  voluntary  organizations .sx   They  must  start  with  the  recognition  of  the  growing  power  and  independence  of  adolescents  , side  by  side  with  their  strong  social  impulses .sx   Whatever  may  be  true  of  children  who  , it  is  sometimes  claimed  , take  kindly  to  external  authority  when  they  are  in  the  habit-forming  stage  of  life  , there  can  be  no  doubt  that  with  adolescents  the  only  discipline  that  is  appropriate  rests  on  a  recognition  of  their  independence  and  their  strong  sociability .sx   They  need  freedom  ;  but  not  freedom  as  conceived  of  by  Rousseau  in  his  description  of  the  education  of  the  boy  Emile .sx   Emile  was  to  be  brought  up  alone  by  a  tutor  ;  he  was  never  to  be  taught  anything  until  he  expressed  a  wish  to  learn  it  ;  he  was  to  be  free  to  develop  according  to  Nature .sx   What  Rousseau  did  not  realize  was  that  a  boy  who  is  denied  the  companionship  of  other  boys  and  girls  , and  who  is  not  provided  with  opportunities  for  co-operation  and  service  , is  neither  free  nor  being  educated  for  freedom  ;  for  the  social  side  of  his  nature  , which  becomes  more  important  in  youth  , is  being  consistently  repressed .sx   The  freedom  that  is  appropriate  for  adolescents  is  that  kind  of  social  freedom  that  is  possible  through  membership  of  a  vitally  organized  group .sx   This  may  sound  a  contradiction  of  terms  until  it  is  remembered   .sx
that  the  social  instincts  are  just  as  much  a  part  of  the  inheritance  of  an  individual  as  are  the  egoistic  impulses  , and  consequently  the  adolescent  can  never  really  grow  up  until  he  has  learned  to  co-operate  with  his  fellows .sx   
What  , then  , is  meant  by  a  vitally  organized  group   ?sx   Mr.  Homer  Lane's  Little  Commonwealth  for  delinquents  is  one  of  the  best-known  examples  of  a  self-governing  juvenile  community .sx   On  arriving  at  a  farm  in  Dorsetshire  to  which  they  were  sent  to  be  re-educated  , young  boys  and  girls  were  given  almost  complete  freedom  to  govern  themselves .sx   They  lived  as  a  self-contained  community  , working  on  the  farm  for  their  living  , receiving  payment  for  their  work  , and  shouldering  responsibilities  for  the  upkeep  of  the  Commonwealth .sx   If  any  one  of  their  number  did  not  work  , he  was  a  burden  to  the  rest  of  the  community .sx   They  made  their  own  laws  and  administered  them .sx   Mr.  Homer  Lane  acted  throughout  on  the  belief  that  , given  freedom  and  social  responsibility  , even  delinquents  would  learn  to  control  their  powerful  instincts  , and  would  eventually  re-educate  themselves .sx   The  partial  success  of  his  experiment  is  proof  of  the  value  of  freedom  in  education   :sx   its  partial  failure  suggests  that  curative  treatment  or  more  guidance  by  adults  is  necessary  , at  least  in  certain  cases .sx   The  educators  must  be  real  members  of  the  organized  group  as  well  as  the  adolescents   :sx   and  as  such  they  must  play  their  part   .sx
in  forming  public  opinion .sx   Mr.  Lane  tended  to  encourage  the  staff  , and  to  try  himself  , to  remain  psychologically  outside  the  group .sx   He  realized  the  tremendous  danger  that  exists  when  the  adult  imposes  his  views  on  the  group  and  obtains  outward  obedience  , without  there  being  that  inner  discipline  which  alone  results  in  the  moral  improvement  of  the  individual .sx   In  order  to  avoid  this  danger  it  does  not  , however  , seem  to  be  necessary  that  the  educator  should  remain  outside  the  group  , but  only  that  the  group  , including  the  adult  or  adults  , should  be  vitally  and  not  mechanically  organized .sx   
The  Prussian  kind  of  discipline  , which  results  in  a  school  or  group  appearing  to  have  a  regular  formation  and  a  military  precision  of  action  , is  too  mechanical  for  educational  purposes .sx   Living  children  should  never  be  treated  as  though  they  are  things  obeying  laws  mechanically  , and  with  no  power  to  initiate  behaviour  on  their  own .sx   Even  if  , during  childhood  , they  give  exactly  what  is  demanded  of  them  without  demur  , they  would  be  almost  certain  to  rebel  during  adolescence  ;  in  any  case  such  treatment  would  not  help  in  the  fundamental  process  of  the  socializing  of  the  self  which  should  be  taking  place  at  this  stage .sx   Membership  in  a  vitally  organized  group  , consideration  of  the  moral  code  accepted  by  the  adult  members  of  the  group  , and  discipline  self-imposed  through  loyalty  to  the  group  are  what  the  adolescent  needs  most  of  all .sx   
Repressive  or  excessive  authority  defeats  its  own  ends  ;  the  adult  who  uses  it  may  obtain  outward  obedience  , but  he  is  put  outside  the  group  , and  therefore  has  little  influence  on  its  moral  evolution  , except  in  the  opposite  direction  of  encouraging  secret  , and  possibly  more  objectionable  , expressions  of  the  impulse  outwardly  prohibited .sx   He  is  up  against  the  pupils  , and  his  commands  , even  when  outwardly  obeyed  , have  the  effect  of  encouraging  a  double  standard  of  action  , the  boys  merely  waiting  their  chance  to  get  their  own  back .sx   
If  the  group  is  to  be  vitally  organized  , the  adult  cannot  be  a  military  dictator  , but  only  a  kind  of  elder  brother  , for  every  member  must  feel  himself  or  herself  to  be  in  some  degree  responsible  for  the  well-being  of  the  whole .sx   Prefect  systems  , patrol  systems  for  certain  work  , organized  games  , group  marks  and  prizes  , form  courts  and  school  parliaments  are  useful  devices  for  helping  individuals  to  feel  their  social  responsibilities .sx   The  pity  is  that  a  device  which  is  only  a  part  of  the  group  organization  is  sometimes  so  successful  , that  it  is  mistaken  for  the  life  of  the  group  itself  and  so  becomes  an  impediment  to  further  progress .sx   Instead  , therefore  , of  advocating  one  such  device  , which  might  lead  to  mechanization  , it  is  far  better  to  start  with  a  clear  view  of  the  meaning  of  discipline  as  applied  to  adolescents  , and  to  expect  a  rich  variety  of  methods  of  social  organization  in  the  new  schools  , one  condition   .sx
only  being  common  to  all  , namely  , that  each  adolescent  should  feel  himself  or  herself  to  be  a  member  of  a  social  group  , with  a  duty  to  each  and  all  its  other  members  , with  something  to  contribute  to  its  success  and  with  a  real  responsibility  for  its  good  name .sx   
In  the  matter  of  discipline  the  Little  Common-wealth  had  one  obvious  advantage  as  compared  with  an  ordinary  Secondary  school  , in  that  co-operative  and  purposive  work  on  the  farm  was  the  order  of  the  day .sx   In  the  majority  of  Secondary  schools  the  best  opportunities  for  co-operation  come  in  games  , and  the  social  discipline  of  co-operative  work  as  contrasted  with  co-operative  play  is  very  largely  missed .sx   It  is  to  be  hoped  that  in  the  new  Central  and  Senior  schools  the  disciplinary  value  of  the  handcrafts  will  be  clearly  realized  from  the  outset .sx   It  has  already  been  pointed  out  in  the  consideration  of  the  cases  of  Stanley  Q.  and  Nellie  Malone  that  one  of  the  most  usual  maladjustments  during  adolescence  is  an  excessive  tendency  to  day-dream  and  a  consequent  "  flight  from  reality .sx   " There  is  no  discipline  more  effective  in  correcting  this  tendency  than  training  in  some  craft  , where  there  is  scope  for  imagination  and  yet  a  constant  necessity  for  translating  thought  into  a  material  medium  , which  has  its  own  fixed  properties  and  to  which  accurate  adjustments  must  be  made  before  it  can  be  successfully  used .sx   It  is  not  only  true  that  " Satan  finds  some  mischief  still  for  idle  hands  to  do  , " but  that  idle  hands  in  adolescence  lead  an  individual  down  the  primrose  path  of  pleasure-thinking  to  mental  and  moral  inefficiency .sx   The  curative  value  of  hand-work  was  proved  conclusively  in  the  recent  treatment  of  shell-shock  cases  , but  the  educational  significance  of  this  fact  does  not  yet  seem  to  have  been  fully  realized .sx   
Not  only  is  the  practice  of  a  craft  a  corrective  for  excessive  day-dreaming  and  a  preparation  for  the  right  use  of  leisure  , but  it  also  provides  many  unparalleled  opportunities  for  co-operative  work .sx   Such  opportunities  may  come  in  any  subject  rightly  taught  ( as  will  be  shown  in  the  following  Chapter  ) ;  but  the  purposiveness  of  joint  work  in  the  production  of  some  beautiful  object  needed  by  the  school  , or  in  the  growth  of  flowers  and  vegetables  to  be  used  by  members  of  the  group  , or  in  the  making  of  cakes  and  other  delicacies  to  be  eaten  at  the  school  party  , is  so  self-evident  that  the  dullest  members  of  the  group  are  able  to  discipline  themselves  for  the  fulfilment  of  the  joint  aim .sx   
The  social  training  given  need  not  confine  itself  to  the  limits  of  the  school  group .sx   Adolescents  who  are  learning  to  practise  a  craft  will  desire  to  make  good  certain  gaps  in  their  homes  or  in  other  social  groups  to  which  they  belong .sx   The  war  work  done  by  the  boys  at  Oundle  brought  them  into  living   .sx
relations  with  the  national  group  , and  there  is  no  doubt  that  there  are  also  needs  in  peace  which  can  be  met  by  the  joint  efforts  of  adolescents .sx   These  must  be  seized  as  opportunity  offers  , if  the  one  advantage  of  the  older  apprenticeship  system  is  not  to  be  lost  , and  if  the  social  outlook  of  adolescents  is  to  be  sufficiently  broadened .sx   
The  problems  of  the  discipline  of  a  group  of  adolescents  cannot  be  solved  without  the  constant  co-operation  of  their  parents .sx   In  the  consideration  of  typical  cases  of  delinquency  it  was  shown  how  misunderstanding  by  parents  or  strained  emotional  relations  within  the  family  circle  affected  adversely  the  emotional  development  of  children .sx   Whether  the  professional  educator  wishes  it  or  not  , the  fact  remains  that  the  home  is  the  chief  training  ground  of  the  emotions  and  consequently  of  character .sx   This  is  particularly  true  in  the  early  years  , when  sentiments  are  being  formed  and  emotional  attitudes  are  being  set  ;  it  is  also  true  of  adolescence  , when  new  emotions  make  their  appearance  and  conflicts  between  loyalties  have  to  be  solved .sx