The herald., 1896-07-05
CONCERNING MODERN CHILDREN

The art, or more properly speaking.
the science, of raising children is much
discussed by persons who don't know
anything about it. The individuals who
are most prolific in ideas and views on
this question are those who have never
enjoyed the opportunity Of acquiring
practical knowledge concerning 1t. 1t is
very easy to build up a theory or a sys-
tenn as to the training of youth, but 1t
is wholly another thing to apply it and
render 1t effective. 1t Is no simple task
to guide and direct the juvenile mind,
ana when one pauses to consider the
difficulties attending the process, it is
surprising that there are not fewer model
and well-regulated families. A clever
ana capable woman who lives in Kansas
City has made a lovely and attractive
home where there are half a dozen chill
dren of strong but diverse personalities.
This achievement will never bring fame
to the mother who has brought it about,
but she has performed work which Is
greater than has been accomplished by
many of her sex who are called great.
How did she do it? BY the exercise of
tact, by an intelligent study of the ma
terial with which she had to deal, and
by sensible allowance for the peculiari-
ties and the limitations of human ma
ture.
Much has been written about the debt
of gratitude which children owe to their
parents, but the weight of obligation is
chiefly on the other side. Children are
not responsible for their parents, but
parents are responsible for their chill
dren. That. if nothing else, fixes the
great debt of paternity. 1t is proper for
children to honor, revere and obey their
parents, but even their failure to do
this does not absolve parents from the
responsibility which they inherit with
the nf hoi nd
blood.
There is difference of opinion as to
the merits of the old-time and the latter
day plan of rearing children. A writer
of some note in popular magazine con-
trasts the advantages enjoyed by the
girls and boys of this generation with the
somewhat barren lives of the children
a century or half a century ago, and he
expresses the belief that. on the whole,
children have lost and not gained by the
glfts which prodigal civilization has
showered upon them. 1t is pointed out
by this writer that the old-fashioned
children were severely let alone; that
their reasonable wants We're supplied,
but that they We're not ministered to with
that measure of indulgence which, as he
views it, now destroys their innocence
and simplicity. There never was time
When children were not spoiled by fond
ana foolish parents and that mistake
was as common a hundred years ago
as it is now
The rule that children should be seen
and not heard has been pretty widely
abrogated, but what excuse was there
Tor ever setting up such a regulation? /?
having come into the world without
their own motion or consent, children
nave a right to all of the kindnesses
which their natural protectors can be-
stow upon them, and they are not spoil
ed by this considera ton if it is exercised
with judgment. The old practice of for
bidding children to ask questions surely
dld not contribute to the sum of their
intelligence or stimulate their love for
knoWledge. The enlarged liberty which
the children of the present age enjoy,
the ample appliances for their amuse-
ment, their inclusion in the pleasures
and amusements of their elders, all tend
to expand their faculties and to add to
their graces. These advantages will
not cause children to become pert or OBJ
trusiVe unless their parents encourag ge
that result The little girl who has a
sensible mother will not be spoiled any
quicker with a French doll than with a
rag baby. The pretty picture books and
the ingenious toys with which the mod
ern nursery is furnished will not cloy
or satiate the taste for pleasure unless
they are used with senSeless profusion
AS the girls and boys of today pass
beyond the period of early youth they
are instructed in the little civilities and
amenities which are practiced in polite
society. and they take on an air of self
possession which no Intelligent parent
would desire to see them exchange for
the awkward restraint and the diffidenca
Of what may be called old-fashioned