Walter halted scarcely a second, but as he dived past the unfortunate man, he brushed hard against another pedestrian and fell toward the man with the crutches. All in a second the one crutch was knocked out of his hand and down he fell with a heavy thud to the walk. Walter did not look back until he was across the street and then he saw no sign of the lame man. At school Miss Wallis took a firm hand in the matter, by having Walter stand before the pupils of his room, tell his story, and let Miss Wallis rush past him and knock him down. The fall, plus the injury to his feelings, made him take a good cry on the spot. His teacher concluded the incident by saying: “Now, I guess you will not do that again soon, will you?” CONSTRUCTIVE TREATMENT Instead of the negative instruction, _i. e._, telling what not to do, teach a positive lesson; let one pupil impersonate a lame man; have several pupils or all of them rushing past him; let some one or two offer to pilot him across the “street,” which may be marked off on the floor. In discussing the matter, if discussion seems needful, assume that all of the pupils really want to be courteous and kind but forget it in their haste. COMMENTS The attempt to impress the lesson, by dramatic exhibition, may easily fail because the wrong theme is presented or the realistic feature is carried too far. Particularly when working with young children, the negative types of action should not be dwelt upon if it is avoidable. Acquirement of polite manners can be attained only by gradual steps. Assisting a lame man on the street is a matter that every child in school can comprehend. For young children the lessons in politeness should bear on the obvious and most necessary points of contact between persons. Although many impulses to courteous treatment arise in a child, there is always need to teach him how to perform the acts which convention has fixed upon as necessary to good breeding. The greatest advances will be made by helping the child to take the other person’s point of view. This will be certain to elicit sympathetic responses. ILLUSTRATION (THIRD GRADE) Verna Gielow was a black-haired eight-year-old, who made progress in her school work none too easily. She had only brothers at home with whom she played out-of-doors nearly all of her spare time. [Sidenote: Dramatizing Effectively] At school came her first serious lessons in courtesy. Miss Johnson, the primary teacher, had her whole room organized as a family, father and mother, aunts and uncles and children. It was a birthday celebration for grandmother, there were songs, a “piece” to speak and a “dinner” to be eaten. Only thirty minutes were devoted to the whole thing, and no extra school time preparation was needed. The “dinner” was made up of dishes produced by the imagination. The necessary instructions as to good behavior were given as needed.