The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1902-02-25
About Children's Ewes,

"A childs eyes are far-sighted. saws
Harvey Switzerland in Ainsley's. "and IL
Is only for few moments that II should
look at anything nearer than II yards.
And yet from the time il begins 10 take
notice we are forever trying to get a. TO
see things close TO IL, playthings. our
own foolish faces. and / don't know what
not. The day after IL Is weaned we start
In TO teach IL to read. AS soon as ever
we can we pack il off to the kindergar-
ten, there TO be instructed I'm the health
giving arts of braiding colored paper and
Wprbns at SUCH tasks as would make a
grown persons eyes ache. Then we send
IL 10 public school | have seen pubic
school buildings In New York city that
dark, unsanitary holes We put the child
IN the public school and tell Il TO sit right
sur with Its nose In book, and be nice
and not make n noise, when we know
that it's nature clamors TO run and play
ana jump and halloo so as to grow up
10 be made of meat and not of putty. In
some public schools the great truth that
play Is wicked waste OF time has been
recognized TO the extent OF abolshing
even the stingy 15-minutes' recess doled
out in most instances. When there are
Fairgrounds. they are neatly paved with
artlncial stone, and almost big enough TO
swing a cat In. Sometimes the playroom
IL a nice. dark cellar. where the toilet
But the child may play after school
hours. oh, bless your heart, we have
hxed that all right Home work. We
brains over by artificial light. And If
the child is a girl we plan how we can
make her suffer the most prolonged ago.
ny possible I'm her adult life We choose
the critical time and set her at the piano.
Paper can be out OF play better than she
ever Will, but that isn't II. We want to
come as near as possible to killing her
without actually doing
mo. your hour isn't up yet Dorothy.
You march right back and don't you
come out OF that parlor again till you
have practiced a full hour. Do you hear
meY' We keep the poor little things up
Till all hours, excite them with novels and
theatres. feed them on stimulating and
relatively nutritious foods. and encour-
age them to poison themselves with
candy. crunched and gulped down before
the cane sugar has been d'gested In the
mouth. We give them coffee and tea to
set their nerves on a twitter. Good Lord!
What don't we do 10 kill them? We act
like a pack OF fools. we parents, and IL
any OF our young ones live to be 20, are
tolerably sound OF mind. aren't sick more
than half the time and have at least
seven teeth that don't ache, IL Is more
by good luck than good jadgmss5 sar asps
with the rest Of the body?
But most OF all IL Is the crazy notion
that the child's mind Is developed by
the dt gencracy of the eye. Observing aud
comparing are what develop the mind.
but YOU can't beat that into teachers
head. one OF them told me the other
day how much better the schools were In
Germany than In this country. Little
children there, she said. do sums In long
division much faster than American chill
dren I wanted TO shake her. They Keep
the German children In school almost all
the waking day. and the barbarous type
they print books I'm Increases tho snort
sightedness from 20 per cent In the lower
grades TO so and even 20 per cent In
the upper grades. No wonder Germans
are so nrone 10 suicidesl They had rather
go 90 the bad place forever than live
little while I'm Germany.