There is far too little humor in our schools and certainly in our
educational journals. I know that humor can have its dangers;
and that some men use humor to cover up more serious matters
in life, for it is so easy to laugh something off instead of facing
it. Children do not use humor for that purpose. To them humor
and fun mean friendliness and comradeship. Stern teachers, re-
alizing this, banish humor from their classrooms.

The question arises, Can a stern teacher have a sense of humor
at all? I doubt it. I find in my own daily work that I use humor
all day long. I joke with each child, but they all know that I am
deadly serious when the occasion presents itself.

Whether you are a parent or a teacher, in order to successfully
deal with children you must be able to understand their
thoughts and feelings. And you must have a sense of humor--
childish humor. To be humorous with a child gives him the
feeling that you love him. However, the humor must never be
cutting or critical.

It is delightful to watch how a child's sense of humor grows.
Call it fun rather than humor, for a child has a sense of fun
before humor develops. David Barton was practically born in
Summerhill. When he was three, I would say to him, "I'm a
visitor and I want to find Neill. Where is he?"

David would look at me scornfully, "Silly ass, you're him."

When David was seven, I stopped him in the garden one
day. "Tell David Barton I want to see him," I said solemnly.
"He's over at the cottage, I think."

David grinned broadly. "Righto," he replied, and went over
to the cottage. He came back in two minutes.

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