There are occasions when a definite issue for the mastery occurs in the
school-room, and this was one of them. Miss Nelson had no right to break
her promise to a docile and obedient child, and reinforce the habitual
selfishness of a spoiled one. She should have insisted that Karen take
her turn with the rest, and if Karen had stormed it would have given her
a good opportunity to show her that her usual methods would not work in
school. The angry storming of a spoiled child is usually done with an
alert eye to the effect produced on the audience; therefore, if Karen
had wept and wailed, she should have been carried out into the hall,
where she might have been left in lonely state to recover her good
temper. Usually one or two such trials convince a spoiled child that he
has met his match, and if such children are followed by tactful
guidance, and especially if attention can be diverted away from
themselves, the worst-spoiled children can in time be thoroughly
socialized.