The superintendent was notified of the plan, consented to it, and in fact waited with interest to see who was made chairman of the meeting. To his dismay the neatest scamp of the forty pupils was made chairman. After the superintendent retired, the chairman with great dignity shut and locked the door, and put the key in his pocket just in time to prevent the departure of two timid souls. For an hour and a half the conference continued with almost unflagging interest. At the end the door opened and the valiant chairman met the superintendent just emerging from a nearby position and reported: “That’s all been fixed up. It ain’t goin’ to happen again.” CASE 122 (HIGH SCHOOL) [Sidenote: Property Destroyed] The celebration of the decision of the school board to erect a new building caused the Culpeper High School principal no little anxiety. The bonfire was built on the schoolgrounds, it was started without permission and some property belonging to the neighbors was destroyed—three serious offenses. Mr. Peters called in the senior class and said to each member privately. “Did you witness the bonfire? Did you help build it?” There was no previous agreement, yet each pupil kept totally silent as to the information desired. Their only reply was: “Our class did it but I can’t say who.” As a consequence, hours of time were wasted and strained relations existed between pupils and teachers. Saddest of all there was no positive lesson in good discipline. CONSTRUCTIVE TREATMENT A better method is to let the matter rest so far as the class as a whole is concerned. In a casual way, say to the class president: “The bonfire built by the senior class involved some little expense for material. I have an itemized list of the articles destroyed and what seems to be a just estimate of value. I’ll turn it over to you for adjustment. “I want to ask you to present this question to the class at your regular meeting next Friday: ‘Shall we secure permission hereafter when we want to have a bonfire?’ The answer is ‘yes’ or ‘no.’ I want the answer, if you please, at the close of your meeting. I say this because the board of education insists that I bring word to them of your action.” COMMENTS The stories of student escapades of by-gone days have left a reputation that later pupils must live down. In fact, the pranks of today are, on the whole, not so serious as those of the past, although teachers many times are over-anxious about student conduct. It is safe to assume that there is no criminality in the ordinary public school pupil. By treating the breach of decorum of school rules as, in a way, accidental, the actual restraint of pupils from serious excesses is much more certain.