Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1889-12-27
Trimming II Child to SELF Control.

vidual and the several powers that 90 to
make his individuality, begins in every
child at his very birth, and continues so
long as his life in the flesh continues. On
the outcome of this struggle depends the
ultimate character Of him who struggles.
1t is. to him, bondage or mastery, defeat or
triumph, failure or success, AS result of
the battling that cannot be evaded. And
Ms matter Of fact the issue Of the life
long battle is ordinarily settled in child
hood
a child who is trained to self control AS
child may be-is already true man in
his ii ness for manly self mastery. A man
who was not trained in childhood to self
control, is hopeessly child in his combat
with himself; and he can never regain his
vantage ground which his childhood gave
to him, in the battle " hich then opened be
fore him, and in the thick of which he still
finds himself 1t is in childs earlier
struggles with himself that help can easiest
Ice given to him, and that it is of greatest
value for his own developing of character.
Yet at that time child has no such sense
of his need in this direction as is sure to he
his in maturer years: hence it is that 1t
rests with the parent to decide, while the
child is still child, whether the child shall
he IA slave to himself, or "a master of him
self: whether his life. 50 far shall he
worthy or unworthy Of his high possibilities
of manhood
4 child's first struggle with himself
ought to be in the direction of controlling
his impulse to give full play to his lungs
and his muscles at the prompting of his
nerves. If a parent realizes that the child
must he induced TO control himself, and
seeks in loving firmness 10 cause the child
to realize that same truth, the child will
feel the parents conviction, and will yield
to it, even though he cannot comprehend
the meaning of his parents words as words
To leave a child to himself in these earliest
struggles with himself, is to put him at
sad disadvantage in all the future g, mbats
Of his hfe's warfare; while to give him
Use help in these earliest struggles, is to
| give him help for all the following strug
| giles
As soon rs IA child is able to understand
What is said to him, he ought to be taught
aud trained to control his impulse to cry
| and wrthe under the pressure of physical
| pain When a child has fallen and hurt
| himself. or has cut his finger, or has
| burned his hand or has been hit 10y an i'll
directed missile it is natural for him to
shrek with pain aud fright But even at
such time as this, a mother has an unmis
taxable duty of helping her child to gain n
measure of control over himself, so as to
repress his cries and to moderate his ex
hiht of disturbed feeling. Because of the
lack of help just here, many child is IA
sufferer through life in his inability to con
troll himself under physical pain. And be
cause of this inability many Il person has
actually lost his life, at Il time when calm
ness of mind was essential to that endur
", ...l L.
only hope of prolonged existence
Coaxing and rewarding IA child into
quiet at such time is not what is needed
but it is the encouraging Il child into an in
telligent control of himself that is to be
aimed at by the wise parent. DR.. Bush
nell, protesting against the method of coax
ing child out of state of irritation in a
tit of i'll nature by "dainties that please the
taste, says forcefully: 1t must be very
duh child that will not cry and fret great
deal, when it is so pleasantly rewarded.
Trained, in this manner, to play i'll nature
for sensations sake, it will 90 on rapidly
in the course Of double attainment, and
will be very soon perfected in the double
character of an i'll -natured, morbid sensual
ist, and a feigning cheat besides By
what methods, or means, can the great
themes of God and religion get hold Of 4
soul that has learned to be governed only
by rewards of sensation, paid to affecta-
tions of grief and deliberate actngs of i'll
nature.
That control of himself which is secured
by child in his intelligent repression Of
an impulse to cry and wrthe in physical
pain, is of advantage to the child in all his
life long struggle with himself; and he
should be trained in the habit Of making
his self control available to him in thi,
struggle. IL buffet my body Tor give it a
black eye or bring it into bondage lest by
any means, after that | have preached "a
others, | myself should he rejected, says
the Apostle Paul; as if in recognition of
the fact that mans battle with his body
is "A vital conflict, all his life through The
appetites and passions and impellings of
the outer man are continually striving for
the mastery over the inner man; and unless
one is trained to master these instead of
being mastered by them, he is sure to fail
in his life struggle
parent ought TO help his child to re-
frain from laughing when he ought not 10
laugh; from crying when he ought not to
cry; from speaking when he ought not To
speak; and to be ready to say aud to do
Just that which it is hest for him to say and
do at the time when it needs to be said
and done. Self control in all these things
is possible to "a child. Wise training on
the parents part can secure it. And by
means of this self control the child is made
happier and is fitted for his duties in active
life, as otherwise he could not be. Many a
mans life course is saddened through his
hopeless lack of that self control to which
he could easily have been helped in child
hood, if only his parents had understood
his needs and been faithful accordingly. -
] The NllMdnu SchOOL Times