In the past, my main work was not teaching but the giving of
"Private Lessons." Most of the children required psychological
attention, but there were always some who had just come from
other schools, and the private lessons were intended to hasten
their adaption to freedom. If a child is all tied up inside, he can-
not adapt himself to being free.

The P.Ls. were informal talks by the fireside. I sat with a
pipe in my mouth, and the child could smoke, too, if he liked.
The cigarette was often the means of breaking the ice.

Once I asked a boy of fourteen to come and have a chat with
me. He had just come to Summerhill from a typical private
school. I noticed that his fingers were yellow with nicotine, so I
took out my pack of cigarettes and offered it to him. "Thanks,"
he stammered, "but I don't smoke, sir."

"Take one, you damned liar," I said with a smile, and he
took one. I was killing two birds with one stone. Here was a boy
to whom headmasters were stern, moral disciplinarians' to be
cheated every time. By offering him a cigarette, I was showing
that I approved of his smoking. By calling him a damned liar, I
was meeting him on his own level. At the same time, I was at-
tacking his authority complex by showing him that a headmas-
ter could swear easily and cheerfully. I wish I could have photo-
graphed his facial expression during that first interview.

He had been expelled from his previous school for stealing. "I
hear you are a bit of a crook," I said. "What's your best way of
swindling the railway company?"

"I never tried to swindle it, sir."

"Oh," I said, "that won't do. You must have a try. I know lots

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