Mr. Briggs did well to search for underlying causes and effective
remedies, because the use of authority in such a case is a mistake, as
he found. Make no attempt to suppress the practice, but proceed at once
to the constructive plan of building up a good sentiment.
Whatever you do, do not assume that the pupil is disrespectful to you.
If the pupils have shown such disrespect in the past, simply set about
gaining their confidence.
Face-making is largely an outgrowth of the play impulse, no matter what
its motive. Substitute a better form of play. Dramatizing a story that
emphasizes the opposite of the undesirable characteristics, is one of
the best ways of overcoming the fault. Read “The Little Knight of
Kentucky” during the twenty-minute periods just before school closes.
Dramatize parts of it. When the children are imbued with the chivalrous
spirit of the story, suggest the incongruities of face-making and other
spiteful acts, by saying to the boy whom you “catch”: “Harold, the
little knights of Kentucky did not make faces at each other. Would we be
as proud of them as we are, had they done so? Then, let’s not have any
one who makes faces play that story today.”