anything about permissiveness.

'Corrective' terminology is quite often found in the Preventive System. Educators are thought of as' 'giving advice' and as 'correcting in a loving manner'. References are made to 'corrections given', 'threatened punishments’, 'friendly advice', a benefactor who gives a warning', ‘good nights' wherein some advice or warning is given about things to be done or things to be avoided.1216

Correction in its more general and common form is of the essence of the preventive system. As a matter

of fact, if boys were not to make mistakes, with few exceptions they would not be boys anymore and

they would have no need of education.

While being assisted, therefore, the boys should be granted an opportunity to freely express

their thoughts. But we should be careful to rectify and also correct those expressions, words

and actions which may not be suited to a Christian education.

1217

Correction therefore is necessarily present at all the steps of the e ducational activity: the word

whispered in a boy's ear, private and public warnings, the good nights, the small written notes,

reminders during the study period or in the classroom, recreation time or walks, in church, in the

dormitories and everywhere.

Th e ways of correcting are the ways of loving kindness, reason, discretion; the ways of patience,

charity and grace.

1218

“Corrections and punishments should never be given publicly but always privately and in the absence of companions...to bring the pupil to see his fault with the aid of reasons and religion”.1219

“Never give any correction out of impulse but wait until your emotions have subsided. Above all, make sure that the pupil leaves us satisfied and in a friendly manner.1220

The circular letter On punishments to be inflicted in the Salesian houses was not written by Don Bosco but by a Salesian, one of his earliest followers. This letter however, is inspired by Don Bosco's way of thinking and it does bring up the following two points as far as the use of correction is concerned: “See to it that you choose the most opportune time to correct and remove any suspicion which might make someone believe that we are acting out of emotions”.1221

For several years already Rectors of Salesian houses knew the rules about correcting boys. The rules had been gradually drawn up in the regular meetings they held:

“Respect the pupils' reputations”; “never reprimand them unless you are sure about their faults” ; “Do not act on impulse, but examine things cold-bloddedly”. “They should recognise us as their 'Superiors' .. if we were to humiliate them with words, mainly because we are 'the superiors', we would make a laughing stock of ourselves”.1222

5. On punishments

Punishments, instead, seem to be forced into the theoretical framework; part of a kind of publicity almost, relating to the pedagogy of reason, religion and loving kindness. Don Bosco dedicated the final pages of his Preventive System to 'A word on punishments'. But punishments were already dealt with in

1216 Il sistema preventivo (1877), p. 46, 48, 50, 56 and 58, OE XXVIII 424, 426, 428, 434 and 436.

1217 Regolamento per le case..., p. Articoli generali, art. 3, p. 15, OE XXIX 111.

1218 Regolamento dell'Oratorio....per gli esterni, part I, Chap X Dei pacifatori, art. 2 and 5 p. 20 and 21, OE XXIX 50

and 51.

1219 Il sistema preventivo (1877), Una parola sui castighi, art. 2, p. 64, OE XXVIII 442.

1220 Letter to a young teacher, 28 January 1875, E II 448.

1221 Cf J.M. Prellezzo, Dei castighi da infligersi..., pp. 294-300.

1222 Rules given by Don Bosco before 1870, in the appendix to MB XIV 847-849.