The commonwealth. (Scotland Neck, N.C.) 1896-1929, 1897-03-04
ABOUT EDUCATION.
sTUFT1NG THE CHILD'S MIND.
LIKE srRAsBURG GEESE.
Some Rambling Thoughts.
(Copyrighted.)
BY "NEMO."

BY 'NEMO."
(Copyrighted.)
, Shall we search around for an Illus
, tratlon that portrays a too common ide'
of the child-mind?
To produce the famous Strasbur{
pates de foie gras, luckless geese art
shut up in coops, SO small that the
birds can neither turn, nor flap thei1
wings, nor even preen the feathers
Several times day each unhappy
goose is forced full of food by a feeding
machine. The result of this concen.
tration Of effort upon one organ is very
quickly seen. In two weeks a large
sturdy bird is reduced to foul and
living skeleton but the desired effect
has been produced upon the liver,
which now weighs two to three pounds.
Is there not something akin to this
in the methods applied to children by
machlne-teachers, and tacitly approved
of by indeffirent parents? Without
thought of a child being possessed of
any other organ besides brain, and
any other function beyond the acquire
ment of facts, and any other RESPONSE
billty apart from earning a living, the
little creature is stuffed with instruction
NOT education in its best sense-untll
its limbs jerk from overstrained nerves
A sure proof of the actual damage OF
such training both to the child and to
the community is found in the fact
stated by Forbes Winslow, the famous
authority on the brain, that Infant
Prodigies seldom do we'll in after life,
because OF over-development in one
direction and neglect OF training in
another, the result being that they are
easily led away by temptation and often
'sgo to the bad" when thrown on their
own resources. All thinkers most
fully acknowledge the need of brain
culture as means of broadening the
life and enabling the individual to ac-
quire consciousness of other things
beyond those that he can touch and
taste and handle in his own neighbor-
hood. For instance: Without the
power to read, our lives are apt to
remain as narrow as those of savages.
But it is mere dream to suppose that
a knowledge OF all the rivers of all the
continents, with length, breadth, and
characteristics, will deter little pilfer,ng
fingers from taking another scholars
lunch. You may drag the child
through miles of arithmetic and over
mountains of spelling; you may whirl
it through the universe until Its knowl-
edge is marvellous to relate, but all such
brain development will not save your
sweet little girl from the corruption OF
those whose thoughts are low. Where
is the uplifting power of vulgar frac-
the bounds of the Mediterranean sea ?
Though we speak with the tongues OF
savants, and treasure facts like the
miser treasureth gold though we cop-
pass all knowledge so that we can name
the stars in their courses and the strata
IN their order, yet without judgment
we>are nothing. And judgment COM
eth not by knowledge forced into the
brain and appealing only to memory.
Judgment and conscientious conduct
are part of the heritage of the race,
inherent and capable of development in
each normal child. They are strength
ened by the playground and the home,
by the personal influence of the teacher
and the parent so that any who think
duty to the child completed by books
alone are cruel to the child and traitors
to the race. Far be it from me to
belittle the brain, for by its powers the
material progress OF the world has
reached its present height; and far be
1t from anyone else to belittle the heart
with its social instincts, and the char
acter with its fateful powers. Mental
giants are capable of being moral dwarfs,
and possibly fiends. The very forcing
to which they have been subjected
hides, hinders, even destroys their
better capabilities of usefulness OF
brain and honor of conduct.
Be not deceived Nature is not mock
ed! The different elements Of our
being body, mind and spirit-have to
be trained up together. Each child
has the tendency within it to slip back
to wild, untrammeled defiance of the
things that are right, unless all sorts of
influences are brought to bear upon 1t.
With it and with us as with the uni
verse there is no such thing as standing
still. We are either moving forward
physically, mentally, and morally or
i boolxuord CO ~, ,.or