are not only the norm, they are a mark of social status, with the richest people having backhouses with ornate woodwork. When Papa orders a flush toilet (called a "water closet") from Sears Roebuck and has a cesspool built, the whole town at first thinks it is an unwise placement of a backhouse indoors, until they see it work and then become fascinated. Child discipline. Most families gave their children "whippings". In The Great Brain Reforms, Parley Benson says that his pa gave him "the worst whipping" for letting Tom cheat him out of his repeating air rifle, as do Danny Forester says his father gave him the same treatment for losing his baseball glove to Tom in a bet, and Jimmie Peterson says his mother "gave him a horsewhipping" for losing his baseball to "that Fitzgerald kid". The better-educated, more progressive Fitzgeralds are a notable exception with their use of the silent treatment. This means that Mr. and Mrs. Fitzgerald will not talk to or acknowledge those who are punished. It often lasted from a range of one day to one week depending on the infraction, but could be longer. J.D. frequently describes the silent treatment as worse than a whipping because of the emotional impact of being ignored by his parents, and at times says that he wishes his parents would just give them a whipping and get it over with. One chapter dealt with Frankie being subject to the silent treatment and misconstruing it as being disinherited from the Fitzgeralds, causing him to run away from home. In later books as Tom and J.D. age, Papa admits the silent treatment is becoming outmoded, and now resorts to extra chores or revocation of allowances as punishments. In loco parentis. School is often shown as having little tolerance for child hijinks. In The Great Brain, a teacher is shown who paddles boys who break school rules. Girls who break school rules are slapped on the palm with a ruler and made to stay after school to clean it. When Tom gets paddled for refusing to tattle on a friend, this sets events in motion where he swears to have the teacher terminated. In The Great Brain at the Academy, the Jesuit priests assign boys who break school rules with jobs such as cleaning the latrine or peeling potatoes in the early morning hours. In addition, demerits are assigned, with