Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1892-01-20
CHILDREN OF THE PERIOD.

does not expend itself on political
forms or religious dogmas only, but
goes down to the very root-work OF
morality, to the very foundations OF
society, till not the most sacred institu-
tion is left untouched. Certain modes
OF thought and principles of action
which have been taught by the wisest
men whom the world has known, which
have been sanctioned by experience
and consolidated by time, the leaders
Of the lconoclasts deride as effete and
attack as tyrannicaL All restraints of
every kind are fought against, and
from the policeman who takes up a
drunken woman in the streets, to the
law which keeps the marriage tie in
tact-save under certain specified con-
dItions, tho cry is for individual
liberty, "down with all tyrants and
tyranny, and let the natural have room
for expansion and development"
The dissatisfaction with things as
they were, these blind attempts to con-
struct a new human nature on the lines
laid down by theorists, have penetrated
the nursery and the school-room, and
the result here is undoubtedly a new
phase of childhood and youth; whether
better or worse remains to be deter
mined by experience. So far there is
no evidence to show that it has created
more charming race of children than
those before them, but on the contrary
that they are very much behind the
past in manners, unselfishness, disci-
pine and modesty.
The most striking characteristic in
the children of the present day is their
total want of reverence and of disci-
pine. To call thing "old" is to pro-
nounce its condemnation, for old is
synonymous with unlovely, contempt
ible, ridiculous and that which is to be
disregarded and despIsed. And this
sentiment pervades the whole mental
life of the modern child.
(What was all very well for the
mother Is inadmissible for the young
daughter who knows SO much better
what ''the governor" stood from his
father, young Hopeful will not stand
from his. But indeed neither "the
mater" nor "the COVE nor" does much
in the way of restraint or coercion. }
The fashion of the day leans far too
much to the side of individual liberty
for any thing approaching to the dis
cipline OF the past; and from a very
early age the modern child is master of
the situation. Parental care is con-
fined to the most elementary protection
from those far more fatal evils-false
principles, moral dangers, protection
by enforced restraint-there is little or
nothing.
In the nursery and the school-room
like, punishment is out of date. The
rod, of course, is not to be thought of,
and Solomon was IN error when he ad-
vocated its use. To send q child to
bed is cruel, when fresh air and exer-
else are SO necessary for its well-being.
To deprive it of its share of fruit or
pudding is to lay too great stress on
the pleasures of the table, and to teach
1t future gluttony by present absti-
H-ce To put it in the corner is to de-
stroy its sense Of self-respect. To omit
the nightly caress is to sin against the
Scripture, which enjo1ns the angry
man not TO let the sun go down on his
wrath; and how would you feel if the
poor little thing died suddenly in the
night?
The same may be said of any pro-
posed form of coercion. According to
these mollusks, no child should be
made to do what it does not like to do.
1t never occurs to these people that
childhood is the period of education;
that judicious training can make fine
creature out of inferior material, while
injudicious indulgence can do Just the
reverse. They ignore all the good old
maxims, such as "As the twig is bent
the tree is inclined" "Train up child
in the way he should go, and when he
is old he will not depart from it, etc.
The child Is to them the father of the
man, and the father is not to he
coerced.
We all know families where the chill
dren are absolutely unfettered. From
the beginning the rule is liberty.
The whole mischief, sad to relate,
lies in the parents. The children are
plastic material, to be worked into
such shape as the parents will: but
what can be expected when the normal
rule is one of weakness, indulgence,
absence of restraint, lack of coercion
and a general predominance given to
the children over every one in the
house? From the first, these children
supreme importance. that life is made
up for them and them only.
They have not their own little world
apart, where they are cared for I'm sub
lection to the larger needs of the
adults; but their needs rule those of
the adults, and they are worshiped as
so many little idols, complete in them
selves, rather than loved for what they
are and what under good management
they may become. OF late, too, what
seems to us a most mischievous and
disastrous innovation has been made in
newspaper editing. We allude to the
"Children's Column" where little peo-
pie as yet uniformed and untaught, are
invited to send their drawings or their
written compositions for publication
and prizes. What can be the mature
fruit of such untimely forcing? 1t is
destruction to all quiet modesty, to all
deep-rooted growth, and to all thor
oughness, all love of work and art for
their sake only.
To foster the vanity of display in
children, not yet in their teens, seems
about one of the most iniquitAus meth
DDS of making money, for that is really
what it means, that has ever been de-
vised. 1t is of no use to condemn the
young people for manners, habits, and
qualities which the parents and guard
ians force, encourage, and foster In
every direction. With the crude essays
Of little children published in serious
earnestness, and their Uniformed pro-
ductions rewarded as of intrinsic merit,
with lads put into the responsible posi-
ton of experienced men, we have sure
ly laid the match to the mine, and the
virtues which have ever oeen con-
sidered needfuI for the young will soon
be among the things that have vanished
forever.
The whole thing hangs together.
The relaxation of domestic discipline;
the inability of the young people of the
period to do what they do not like to
do, or to give up what they want; their
notoriously rude and clumsy manners;
their as notorious want of selfrestraint
or reverence; their bold bearing and
fatal independence; the vanity which
rms ,hrouph the world of the Young,