You can do very little toward helping an antagonistic child. You wish,
however, _to benefit every child under your care_. Then your duty is to
have every child look upon you as his friend. In giving him something he
likes, you are not buying him: Not at all. You are simply letting him
get a glimpse of yourself. You are telling him in a way that he can
understand that his pleasure is your joy.
Assume that no child is calling your statements into question simply to
tease you. You can not err in doing this, whereas, you may seriously
commit an error by supposing that you were questioned merely to display
impudence. Treating a boy as if he were “on the square” often causes him
to be so. Just as surely treating him as if he were a rogue makes a
rogue of him. If you treat an innocent boy as if he were a culprit he
has nothing to lose, so far as your influence goes, by actually being
one.