St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1885-11-11
TRUE AND FALSE MoDEsTY.

Nothing so becomes man or woman as
modesty. But there is sometimes a mock
or false modesty which is as bad in its eff
fects as the lack of modesty. When it
comes to practical question concerning so
important a matter as the health of our
children, there is no sort of excuse for
permitting ourselves to be betrayed by a
false sentiment into an exclusion of knowl-
edge from our own minds. or from the pub
lie, which will lead to better results. The
strained position taken by the chamber of
commerce on Monday in relation to the
medical report presented to that body con-
corning the health Of children in the public
schools seems to have had tinge of
over-sensitiveness about it. In the
first place. reputable newspapers can
always be relied on to discriminate wisely
in regard to the kind of matter which is to
be published in their papers. They know
the tastes and sensibilities of their patrons
and know how to respect them. In the
next place, there is false sentiment which
too frequently governs parents in the mat
ter of rearing and educating their children.
The physical training of the child is of just
as vitafimportance as its mental education.
In fact the two should go hand in hand.
There are many things which the child
ought to know about itself. and which the
parent fails to communicate, because of the
false idea that it is wrong to talk to a child
about such things. How often it is that
children are permitted to remain in absolute
ignorance of their physical organism
until that very ignorance is the cause of
the child exposing itself to dangers which
result in premature death, and which could
have been avoided if the parent had taken
the pains to explain to the little one the
mysteries of its being. How often does it
occur that when questioned by their chill
dren respecting matters which so shock
this false modesty of parents that they
altogether evade their queries or give them
a direct falsehood for an answer, and leave
the innocent little things to go out into the
streets where, from the arabs and the
slums, they learn secrets which ought to
have been learned at the parents knee. We
cannot be too careful in instilling virtue and
right action into the hearts and souls of
our children, nor can we be too vigi-
liant in impressing upon their young
minds lessons of chastity. But in this
endeavor we should not be betrayed
into concealing from them facts which are
absolutely essential to a healthy develop
ment of their physical natures. Nor is it
right that the public should be in ignorance
of facts which are important in establishing
an educational system which will be bene-
fetal to the health of the pupil as well as
the development of its mental faculties.
There is nothing immodest in making pub
lie unerring truths which bear directly upon
the training and education of the little ones
who are given to us ''a heritage from the
LORD, and who are the olive branches
around about our tables"
ssTrue modesty is a discerning grace.
And only bushes in the proper place;
But counterfeit is blind, and skulks thro' fear.
Where it's shame to be ashamed t. ap-
pear"