The letter on punishment by Saint John Bosco is well known. If you haven’t read it, I highly recommend it as it will help you to better raise your children.

In the letter Don Bosco says the following, “Many times, rewarding diners with the cleanest table, for example, will have the same effect, if not a better one, than punishing the diners with the dirtiest table.”

Father Giovanni has placed in the statutes of the Missionary Servants of the Poor (MSP) that the manner of educating our children shall be through the “Preventative Method” of Saint John Bosco. And, obviously, the aforementioned letter falls within this method. We want to comply with and carry out the teaching of Don Bosco; for this reason we take care to apply it in the education we give our children.

One of the aspects we want to highlight is that of rewarding certain children. Instead of punishing the most rebellious (which sometimes we have to do for the good of the child), we try to reward those who make an effort to improve themselves. It’s not a matter of only rewarding those who do everything well, but also those who make the effort.

Father Guido Huamán, Director of our Saint Tarcisius Home, rewards a varied group of children monthly and offers them a little more special lunch and takes them on a short outing to the city of Cuzco. In this way Father tries to encourage the boys who try to do well and not just those who achieve it.