Silence restriction

A disciplinary practice in which children were required not to speak to anyone but their adult shepherd for an extended period of time.

This was sometimes accompanied by having their mouths taped over, and being required to wear a sign around their neck indicating to others that the individual was not to speak or be spoken to. An example message is "Jesus is teaching me to be quiet" or "I am learning some lessons. Please don't talk to me".

In some cases silence restriction was used on an hourly basis, and use of tape over a child's mouth was typically restricted to such cases. In other cases silence restriction was used over a period of a few days or weeks.

In more severe cases, silence restriction was indefinite and lasted for weeks or months, and in some programs (such as the Victor Programs) there were cases of classes of children under this restriction en masse for months.