may be overstimulated. He may not be sleeping enough, or may not
get enough outdoor air and exercise. In some cases the fault appears
because the child lacks the discipline of young companionship. Even
the most exemplary adult cannot make up to the child for the influence
of other children. He perceives the difference between himself
and these giants about him, and the perception sometimes makes him
furious. His struggling individuality finds it difficult to maintain
itself under the pressure of so many stronger personalities. He makes,
therefore, spasmodic and violent attempts of self-assertion, and these
attempts go under the name of fits of temper.

The child who is not ordinarily strong enough to assert himself
effectively will work himself up into a passion in order to gain
strength, much as men sometimes stimulate their courage by liquor. In
fact, passion is a sort of moral intoxication.

[Sidenote: Remedy--Solitude and Quiet]

But whether the fits of passion are physical or moral, the immediate
remedy is the same--his environment must be promptly changed and his
audience removed. He needs solitude and quiet. This does not mean
shutting him into a closet, but leaving him alone in a quiet room,
with plenty of pleasant things about. This gives an opportunity for
the disturbed organism to right itself, and for the will to recover
its normal tone. Some occupation should be at hand--blocks or other
toys, if he is too young to read; a good book or two, such as Miss
Alcott's "Little Men" and "Little Women," when he is old enough to
read.

If he is destructive in his passion, he must be put in a room where