The Marietta journal. [volume] (Marietta, Ga.) 1866-1909, 1889-12-05
SPARE THE CHILDREN.
DO NOT STUFF THEIR HEADS BE-
FORE, THEIR BODIES ARE STRONG

"But she is five years old, and don't
know her letters"
"Well, good woman" replied our f>n,.
iiy doctor, ''ycur little 5-year-od h =.
blooming rs rose Why nc4 kee7 her
50 for lifetimee"
MY wife was sure sAs weaA only be
Zoo glad 10 do 20, Baa hswi The wiss
old man replied; "By keeping her out of
the hot, oioss schoa rooua juss as long
as possible"
The child never entered a school ho.,sa
till she was years old. She could read
at Z, but how she learned no one knowa
No effort whatever was made TO teach
the child anything from books Yet
within one year she swiftly travsrsod
ell THAI many children are compelled to
drag themselves over In dzudgery from
1--WE to ten years Nor Is she any more
than ordinarily inssllectually endowed
She is. however, Of robust health, Of iron
nerve, Of great vitality. The physician
was right. Thanks to him. the little gin
is well launched.
Nothing can exceed the unspoken mis-
cry OF childhood sent into the prison OF
school before its tinae Mute, inglorious
suffering. A little fellow 81 my Aocuaint-
anoe recently caught slxhs Of "weoping
willow as we sScppeA ~ . railway sta
ton On the Rsssea and Mdne raAhead.
10 stood Reax baaoksnassA's sAapA why
DO they call tAen weeping wiilowsr
asked lady Of eur pasty. Cause tAsy
gently grow neaw ScAosa heeses." was
the LADS instant reply.
The useless grAnd, as n seems to the
child, before aay Sest 81 Interest Is taken
in the ssudies, mast appear 10 hin roth
ing else but pure cruelty A tyranny
that he Is powefloss 10 resist fastens him
into seat-for what? He 10 a reason
able little creature and he can see no rea-
son whatever for this imprisonment.
There is no motive whatever. Men toll
for motive. The child Of five or six
years can have no motive for the school
toll, except to crafty the unreasonable
7pars-@e
To make child love school is irnpossi-
BILE. To entice his interest forth with
skillful effort 10 possible with almost any
child. BY eight years old, say, he can be
made aware Of the great world into
which learning is the window. He loves
a story by that tiIne. He wants you to
read to him as often as you can find
time these three or four years past Now
tell him TO read 10 himself. He wants
nothing % much rs 10 "bs q man like
father" Well, what deNs his father, all
day at the Officer He practices this "hate-
full arithmetic" adding and subtFacting,
multiplying and dividing. Yos can't be
a man, my boy, unless yoH have whiskors
and know the multiplication table
"You ere - tail % ara" says his
mother; ''kxt Gn o vsnAsa, who can
add ana sabsAreeA VIII you allow mo
Their 10 distance yeu1 Yea ere head and
shoulders above ASaAs YeM, Eqwel hin,
in knowasdgss he can speak plees Hike
an crater" In short. PEA Mnt1at and cow
can eastiy toaoh kA self esteem Be-
sides, yea win not succeed And II you
should sssoossd, your child weald be
sort Of uanA*uGM cSsatzra, neither In
fantils AAr manly. Everybody caa be
enticed, charmed, led into q good course
far better than drives.
why arc Hoa he sood thiass ali ~
lovely as the bed thinSsg eAild once
asked mo. They ace-fAr more SO Ig-
norancs Is hatefaL Knowledge s love
ly. But we are j,sst beginning 10 pro-
coed ON this line ia schooling All, that
old red schooi hsaASs 1t the GROSS roads.
where many Of us bsSGAl Contrast it's
hard bench, its SnAaA windows, it's box
stove, rosy hot On oas side and emitting
smoke through crack GA the other
contrast 1t with the new elegance Of the
modern kindergarten. Think OF the
mean books, the learning by rote with
out particle Of understanding-the COM
mingling Of big boys and little, girls and
boys indeed; the culture of rudeness by
strength toward weakness; and remem-
Der that even the pretty farmers girls
took on bearish manners In the struggle
of the promiscuous playground. The
world moves. No one thing in this great
century deserves more notice than the
emancipation Of the school child from
many of his woes which we fathers re-
member.
Yet the forcing process remains. Too
young, they are sent to school. Hear
me, all you ambitious parentsl l plead
for a little more time to expand the
chest, to stretch the limbs, to preserve
and strengthen the young eyes, to attune
the young spirit with a sure belief that
there is such thing as having good
jolly time in this toilsome world.
BY every sigh that escapes q weary
mans hps: 81 wish were q child
again." BY every golden sky that glows
on woman's vision as she takes the back
ward look. By the memory of sleep
that came as soon as we touched the pill
low, and a waking as fresh as a new
birth By the echo of Joy that comes
even now as you hear far off the cry of
eli spy!" and the shout of the victor in
the happy games of the past that will
never come to you again. By the hope
of Saturday, and no school," which
thrilled you once as no hope Of fortune
ever did in later, sterner years. By