Discipline in children’s ministry can be a challenging element of what we do. There is a fine line between being appropriate and inappropriate, and between “discipline” and “punishment.
We’ve got a post about this coming up in the next few weeks, but today I thought I’d share this list found of punishments at List of Note. It’s from a school in North Carolina in 1848.
I’m pretty certain that our kids are glad we don’t consider using the same standard!
RULES OF THE STOKES COUNTY SCHOOL
Offense
|
Lashes |
---|---|
1. Boys & Girls Playing Together |
4
|
2. Quarreling |
4
|
3. Fighting |
5
|
4. Fighting at School |
5
|
5. Quarreling at School |
3
|
6. Gambling or Betting at School |
4
|
7. Playing at Cards at School |
10
|
8. Climbing for every foot over three feet up a tree |
1
|
9. Telling Lies |
7
|
10. Telling Tales Out of School |
8
|
11. Nick Naming Each Other |
4
|
12. Giving Each Other Ill Names |
3
|
13. Fighting Each Other in Time of Books |
2
|
14. Swearing at School |
8
|
15. Blackguarding Each Other |
6
|
16. For Misbehaving to Girls |
10
|
17. For Leaving School Without Leave of the Teacher |
4
|
18. Going Home With Each Other without Leave of Teacher |
4
|
19. For Drinking Spiritous Liquors at School |
8
|
20. Making Swings & Swinging on Them |
7
|
21. For Misbehaving when a Stranger is in the House |
6
|
22. For Wearing Long Finger Nails |
2
|
23. For not Making a Bow when a Stranger Comes in |
3
|
24. Misbehaving to Persons on the Road |
4
|
25. For not Making a Bow when you Meet a Person |
4
|
Click over to List of Note to see the rest of the list…yes, there are 23 more lash-worthy offenses listed! Of course, this would not be considered “discipline that disciples” in our children’s ministry. So . . .
Share one discipline tip you use in your KidMin
that does help disciple kids.
And definitely don’t get caught playing cards or “misbehaving to girls”!!