The Lancaster news. (Lancaster, S.C.) 1905-current, October 19, 1915, SECTION FIVE, Page 38, Image 38
1
NG UP A
y The dogma is a vicious importation
j into family and school of a t.-alulng
v h'ch is onlv lit for mili.^rv and
y ecclesiastical uses.
4 It is an ancient but detestable
- theory in education that no disclpe>
Hue or training that is eej?yable is
t useful; and that mental exercises
must be repulsive if they are to be
of use in training the poucr of application.
Precisely the opposite is
!
38
! j BRINGI
The right bringing up of a bo
needs on the port of the tether am
mother a constant, sympathetic stud
of the Individual boy's physical am
mental qualities, and of his tempera
ment or disposition. Sons of the earn
father and mother often e:;hibit grea
variety and sometimes marked con
trasts.
The inquiry into the boy's naturi
snouid reveal on the one Hand hu
natural excellences or gift*, nnd 01
the other his natural defects. It i:
much more important, however, tc
find the deficiencies; for one gifi
mar be the making of him, while tu
may get along very well through life
in spite of serious deficiencies.
Throughout the whole training ol
a boy, attontion should be chiefly
given to developing and increasing
his capacities, innate or acquired. In
giving directions to his studios, most
of his time 6hould be given to studies
he enjoys; and the same is true
of physical exercise.
If a boy is self-willed and masterful?highly
promising qualities?it
is best to give him employments in
which he can develop these qualities
in a safe, productive way. Then he
will nnt riAVpInn thpm in a mischie
vious way. If on the other haad. a
vous way. If on the other hand, a
tendency to weak compliance, it is of
the utmost importance to train him in
deciding things for himself; for it is
tho weak-willed boy that is in danger
of going astray when, by necessity,
he departs from the parents who
have been in the habit of deciding
everything for him.
"BREAKING" A CHILD'S WILL.
The most monstrous of educational
dogmas is the insistance on "break
ing" a child's will and then training
him to Implicit obedience. No greater
injury can be done a child than
this "breaking," for the moral end
of education in family, school, and
life is not obedience but self-control
<
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s M\c correct principle.
s The powei of concentrated attention
is ac i'J ied far more easily and
1 complete'}- in a study of sport which
5 interests the child thai in a study
> or sport which doer, not; and that
t power on *e Rained can be effectively
> applied in unattractive subjects.
Hoth children and adults undergo
* without injury hardships and fatigues
when they are enjoying them:
selves that would exhaust and depress
. them physically if they were not en,
joying themselves.
Hoys and girls will dance to* five
hours with pleasure and without
' harmful fatigue, when they would
be used up by running and hopping
without music for the same period
along a dull highway. This is just
as true of enjoyed studies as of
sports. In learning to write, for example.
more time should be given to
the letters the child can form well
than to -those it can not: for the
needed eve and hand skill will be
more rapidly developed in making
the first than the second. Writing
masters used to act on the opposite
principle; if a child could not make
a r or o well, it should make nothlnR
lint r's and o's.
In the training of children, whether
boys or girls, the effort should always
be to train their senses to accurate
observation, but to do this
through play and work which inter;
est the children. Those games or
| sports are always to be preferred
1 which cultivate the accurate use of
eye. ear and hand, rather than those
! which rely on chance or luck for
their interest. At school this train;
ing in exact observation would be
amply given through natural study,
i manual training and the laboratory
[ teaching of the sciences.
I HKIIAi OF HANDS, RYES, SENSES.
Any skill of eye and hand which a
e Bo
To Welc<
tell them
but we ha
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To The
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( OOeOOO$Q9Q<
THE LANCASTER NEWS
?0Y By Cho
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boy may acquire will be useful to
1 him all his life, even if he follows
no mechanical trade. In these days
; of high wages in the building trades
' it is important for every man who
| must earn bis living and wishes to
I own his house to be able himself to
i do many things instead of hiring oth|
er men to do them.else he will not be
' uble to ket>n his in ?nnit f?
pair.
Some of the most valuable aud
profitable professions are open only
to men who possess an unusual com|
bination of sense skills. Thus every
irtist must have great skill of both
ve and hand; every surgeon should
possess a combination of skills with
eye, ear- and hand, and a retentive
1 memory for forms learned through
the eye, textures learned through
the touch and sounds learned through
the ear. Many trades need special
sense and nerve skill. Thus, a
motoruian. a chauffeur or a locomotive
engineer needs a quick eye and
i a short time reaction; and every maj
chinist should possess similar facul]
ties. A painter should possess a disI
criminating eye for shades of color;
1 and without the same trained sense
a blacksmith can not temper properly
the drills and many other of the implements
he makes.
The early discovery by parents of
special sense gifts in their boy, if
wisely followed up. may assure his
success in life.
THE IMPORTANCE OF STRONG
MOTIVES.
Far the best thing the parents can
do for a boy is to develop in him a
firm character and a group of strong
motives which will lead him in the
great majority of cases to right action.
How many parents accomplish
this best of all services to their sons?
First, through Inheritance from
themselves. In the formation of
character both herdity and envioronment
count largely, but heredity
most. To be sure, parents are some- I
times confounded by the appearance
among their children of a child whose
powers greatly exceed those of its
parents or of any known ancestor, or,
on the contrary, fall much below
those of any progenitor.
ught
ame the visito
of the good tY
ive been too 1
ANYWAY, \
L c
Lancasl
ur Store. H
rters and eni
pect to.
LUV/1 PJ!
LANCAS1
3coeeoateooo<
i OOTOBKR 19, 1915.
rles W. Eliot
| The direct responsibility of psrents
is greatest, however, in deter
mining the environment of their chll
! flftm ATIH thn nVlnf . ->?*
I ??? ? ?? ? vu*va utvbvio iu ueirr
| mining that environment are the
moral characters and the habitual
manners and customs of the two pa
rente.
Children understand from a verj
early axe the moral qualities of theii
parertB, and are strongly influenced
thereby.
They know, for example, whethei
their mother is just or not in liei
dealings with her children. Thej
soon learn whether they can depend
on what she says, or must make al
lowances for her inaccuracy and ex
aggerations. They are mucn more
affected by her habitual conduct to
ward them than by her exhortations;
than by their substance.
A father who never exerts and
seldom commands may nevertheless
have a profound influence on his boys
all throueli their lives- hRMiieo
own way of life gives them complete
assurance as to the conduct in ttem
that he would approve or would condemn.
A son can only have a kind of
animal attachment to a peevish, selfindulgent,
irrltnble mother- and a
son will not have that affectionate!
feeling toward a luxurious, indolent
and selfish father. It Is the same
with the teachers of boys.
To have a good influence with boys
the teacher must be himself highminded,
altruistic, and just. He
may be an impatient or passionate
man, and yet have a good influence
on boys: but he must never fail as
regard truthfulness, courage and
moral vigor.
Active minded boys ofteu form a
clear opinion about their parents'
candor from the habits of the parents
in answering their frequent
questions. Downright confessions
of ignorance on the part of the parents
do no harm whatever. Imaginary
answers in imagined cases can
do but little harm; for at worst the>
are futile or absurd. False, misleading,
or shifty answers to serious
inquiries do inflninte harm, because
they destroy the boy's confidence Id
the parent. An intelligent boy Is al
ways indignant when he learns that
This
rs to the Fa
lings we have
Dusy to write
VE BID YOl
2 o
tor Couii
ope you'll r
oy the Fair
iirk 1
"ER, S. C.
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; his father or teacher put hint off \vith| T1
! a fable when he had asked for the aAjj}
| fact, or gave him a rigmarole instead to d
? of the Bimple truth. I hops
| THE IMPORTANCE OK KEEPING'*11 1
FAITH. aU I
Boys often love tenderly a foolish earIand
ignorant parent who has been ed 1
good to them; but insincerity, false motl
I pretense, or hyprocisy found out by ^
} children in their parents or teachers ^
j destroy the very foundation of respect
and confidence. er 11
Assuming conscientious parents, mos
f who wish to do their very best for j
. their sons, what are the qualities that ed 8
I they should aim to develop in each muu
j boy? The first is alertness of mind to
.1 and senses. All promising boys COUi
. show more or less of this quality in. re?fl
their early years. They are inquisi-| ^
I tive; their minds and senses are
wide-awake to see. hear and touch. matJ
I They want to try experiments; they cbiv
4 learn by experience. When they mus
first see a lighted candle they reach of 1
to touch the tlame. Prom morning iu ?
. till night they are active and excur-| cess
( sive. not dwelling long on the ?arae1 sica
object or the same subject, but unt*
, keeping all their faculties constant- ?Pet
. ly in play, and getting practice in ob|
serration. I>ut
The alert boy is often troublesome teiu
I to perents and teachers, but he is uo*
| the most promising boy, and great ^or
.: pains should be taken to direct his bio1
j inquiring mind and eager senses to
wholesome subjects, like plants. conl
( animals, books, forests, landscapes l'om
and the products and tools of hu- ,OUI
i man industry. Qew
Parents who are in constant and ',l *
'intimate companionship with their
I children can do them a great service ^
, by cultivating in them the habit of ^oyi
I .Initio Ihal- K . I_ 1-. ''
,i iuo?i ucoi iu r? uaiever occupa- *" "
, jtion is interesting them strongly. *'ie
It is not natural to" children to 3^0'
| devote continuous attention to any can
j subject for a long period. What is l'ic
important is that, while they work pors
on any subject they should work
hard with a concentrated attention ,lou
if it is only for ten minutes at a amc
j time. l^at
J Some parents are annoyed when a P?w
i child gets so absorbed in a book or 8ens
, a picture, or a game that it makes f?re
r! no response to a question or a com.|
maud, but they never should be.
( The child has unconsciously inhibit- Pres
, ed all sights and sounds external to evei
L its occupation for the moment; and #?
I 'success in such inhibition is a very duci
> | favorable sign in anv child nevi
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> Spa<
iir and to
j for them
i an ad.
T
ME
itv Fair
nake this
as much
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tie group of motives toward right
V HJAV t>)U3JBCT OHjM UO|)3V
eveiop in their children includes 1
t, love and lopalty, and inoBt of
he sense of duty; motives which
promising children feel rrom ah
l- mm ami whlnh whan wall train.
a youth, remain the domlnstlng
Ives of adult life.
EW STANDARD OF PURITY,
he promising boys of the future
ild be carefully trained to anothuoral
and mental quality of utt
value to society, namely, purThls
la a demand which civiliztoclety
and some barbarous comtitles
have long made with regard
women, but has been only
paratively lately suggested with
ird to men.
ho progress of biological science
tin the last twenty years has
le it clear that purity and
ilary in boys and men
t be made a specific object
raining in the rising geierations,
rder that civilized man may suefully
contend against the phyI
and moral evils which urban life
ine iactory system nave aevei1
in the whole race. z
orne of these evilB are ancient;
the grave menace of their exis:e
and growing prevalence has
been appreciated until lately,
tuuately. the same progress of
ogical science which has exhibthe
evils has provided means of
ending against them. The only
plete remedy, however, will be
id in the gradual acceptance of
standards ot purity and honor
he male sex.
SOURCE OF SATISFACTION,
inaly, in the bringing up of
?, parents and teachers ought
well on the sources and nature of
real satisfactions of life. They
iild point out that the best things
not be bought with money that
most enjoyable acquisitions are
tonal skills, mental capacities and
domestic joys, none of which Is
;rmined or greatly affected by the
>unt of one's material possessions
the possesion of wealth or of thte
er that raw wealth gives, is not a
tible object for any boy to set behimself,
since It proves a curse
ner than a blessing,
mong the life-occupations which
tent themselves to his choice, let
-t boy make sure tliat he chooses
occupation or business the prot
of which is always useful, and
er harmful to society at large.
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