It is what foolish little children, as little as you, very often do.

I suppose you thought it would be good fun to run out a little way in the street.

And it is good fun; but it is not safe.
By-and-by, when you grow a little larger, you won't be so foolish, and then I can trust you in the yard at any time without having to watch you at all.
And now what can I get for you to amuse you while you stay in the house with me ?" Punishment coming in this way, and administered in this spirit, will irritate the mind and injure the temper comparatively little; and, instead of being less; will be much more effective in accomplishing the _right kind_ of cure for the fault, than any stern, severe, and vindictive retribution can possibly be.
_The Question of Corporal Punishment_.
The question of resorting to corporal punishment in the training of the young has been much, very much, argued and discussed on both sides by writers on education; but it seems to me to be mainly a question of competency and skill.

If the parent or teacher has tact or skill enough, and practical knowledge enough of the workings of the youthful mind, he can gain all the necessary ascendency over it without resort to the violent infliction of bodily pain in any form.

If he has not these qualities, then he must turn to the next best means at his disposal; for it is better that a child should be trained and governed by the rod than not trained and governed at all.