Intermediate passages 1 The best recruiting agents

21 To cure the cruelty of children

Psychologists believe that the combative and aggressive instinct is permanent in all human beings; but it is probable that, with a correct understanding of children, the instinct for aggression need not survive childhood. It's certain that to repress the aggressiveness of a child will make him later more aggressive and anti-social; he will later on revenge himself for his sufferings by criminality or by acts of cruelty. The desire to hurt living things generally appears in the child who has been given a strong hatred of authority. This problem of cruelty is very difficult to handle. It requires the parents to use good temper and good sense, trying to find out where the child's real interests lie and guiding its energy to these channels. Except in the worst cases, sympathetic treatment by parents and teachers will gradually suffice to cure, for it will give back self-confidence, self-love, and a belief in life, and it is the absence of these which is the cause of cruelty.

1. According to psychologists

1. 
   the instinct for aggression normally exists only during childhood
   
2. 
   if the child's aggressive instincts can't be eliminated, he'll revenge himself in his later life
   
3. 
   aggressiveness is an instinct which exists in all human beings
   
4. 
   the problem of cruelty is too difficult for parents to deal with on their own
   

2. Psychologists suggest that to cure cruelty,

1. 
   first of all, the causes of it should be found out so that the best results can be obtained
   
2. 
   the child should be directed to spending his energy on what he is really interested in
   
3. 
   the child should be persuaded to give up his desire to hurt living things
   
4. 
   parents and teachers should work in cooperation with psychologists
   

3. It's pointed out in the passage that

1. 
   aggressiveness is the result of parents using authoritative approaches against the child
   
2. 
   the aggressive instinct of a person can only be cured by psychologists
   
3. 
   parents are not aware of the dangers of repressing the aggressive instinct in the child
   
4. 
   in serious cases of cruelty, parents' or teachers' understanding approach won't be a sufficient cure