The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1903-02-01
HPNOI|Sk N
The SCHOOLS
Suggestion Shown to be Inval-
liable in Certain Cases.
EXAMPLES PROVE 1T
EXAMPLES PROVE
Should Not be Used Without
Full knowledge Thereof.

awake person Will also readily submit TO
and obey suggestion, and especially is this
true of children who have neither judg
snent nor experience TO put up against IL,
and, though il is clear that suggestion
for this reason ought TO be used as much
as possible in educating children, il is q
fact that very few teachers use il.
A teacher said to me few weeks ago:
1T is first of all necessary to give the
child robust health and strong body
After that you must by instruction so TO
speak furnish if memory. cultivate its in
telligence and develop its brain, and ex-
perience viii do the rest If the child has
been burned once by touching a hot stove
II will be very careful not to touch II
again, and it is only necessary for you TO
keep it away from things that might en-
danger its life. OF course, If a child has
bad instincts. you must train and punish
1t just as you would train any young
animal
These words express fairly well the opin-
Ion of most teachers. Ii is very true that
they do not deny that the child is infiu-
enced by its surroundings and that it has
an unconscious tendency to initiate the
acts of others that il perceives, az We'll as
those suggested by words but very little
attention has been paid 10 studying these
tendencies and applying them in practical
education.
Very often you will find that children of
parents who have spared nothing TO give
them the very best education turn out bad
and then you have a right to suspect that
they have inherited bad tendencies; but il
may a. well have ben the result of bad
suggestions from people they have met.
Az soon as a child commences to per-
eeiye that there is a world outside its
own self. st Immediately proceeds to imi-
tate the acts of others. In fact. this
instinct OF initiating others is not limited
60 children. but is found in all sociabie
beings. and is especially highly devel-
oped in all the animals who live In focks,
end enable them TO solidarize their acts.
30 that it, for instance one of them
perceiyes a danger. the whole flock will
FEE
The first movements OF baby are all
automatic and instructive, but at the age
OF four months it will begin TO initiate.
and though its limitations for the first
succeeding months are purely mechanical.
the very act OF imitation will awaken
the corresponding thought. and it will
soon show a preference for certain acts
AS the child grows older. 1t initiates less
and il stops TO think before acting, and
does not always carry out its first i'm
pulse, but there are children in whom
the instinct of imitation is still very
strong. and even stays with them after
they have grown Up. whether this comes
from lack of instruction and education as
In savage and illiterate man. or is a re-
suit of mental ability. In the idiot il Is
the very last trace of intellect 10 disap-
pear.
In fact(. all you can do for idiots 10 edu-
este them in any way is TO make them
see the same act performed innumerable
times; words having little or no effect on
them; example is all.
In this way they may even learn 20 copy
the letters Of the alphabet without ever
knowing how TO read.
AS soon as the child commences to I'M
derstand words these also become sources
of action Every human being responds 10
verbal suggestion TO some extent. and the
more readily the less he IS gifted with
power of reasoning. self-control and will
power In persons who possess these
developed. the effect suggestion is only
rnomentary; the Ger. esponding act does
rot follow, as 1t is immediately stopped
by the will.
But a child who Possesses neither exper-
fence nor Judgment is always strongly in
fsueneed by verbal suggestion. and any
EDUCATOR who thoroughly understands this
Is able to form the brain of the child TO
suit his wishes.
He will begin his work by trying 10
eliminate all bad suggestions. he viii get
his Inspirations from the popular Chinese
book "lae-hio." which tells the eyes not
70 look at evil forms and the ears not 10
listen 10 bad sounds
II is a fact that children have been
thrown into commissions by witnessing a
person having an attack of hysterfa, ard
Il is also known that they have developed
rnyopia by witnessing the acts of persons !
suffering from this disease.
Parents should never leave their chill g
dren 10 the care OF domesGcs who abuse
their creaulity by telling them stories of
ghosts. robbers. etc. and develop in them
the first feeling of fear. but they should
themselves make use of suggestion.
Every mother knows the power Of imi-
taticn and makes use Of 1t when she
makes her baby eat by pretending 10
eat herself or when she makes the child
study its lesson by working alongside il
Persuasive suggestion becomes very use
ful as soon as the child has grown old
enough to grasp the meaning of words.
and the wise mother understands how
10 Influence the heart Of her child by ju-
dicious use of praise and blame.
The successful educator Will soon find
out what kind of suggestion il most
powerful with his pupil This is more
important than anything Csc Let Us.
for instance think OF the old Spartans.
VIII. let their children look like intoxi-
Gated slaves 20 teach them sooriety. This
method would undoubtedly be very sue
cessful with sentimental children. bat at
the same time il would be more than
harmful il used on a child OF initiative
disposition
Equally dangerous WIS the method used
hysour ancestors in the sixteenth century.
WIN. whenever there was a public execu-
ton or punishment, would bring their
children out TO witness IL and afterward
whip them to frnplsnt in them the fear Of
punishment
In calculable harm IS worked in the
minds OF chilaren by letting them see that
Il b justihabIe TO xii a human being
even as a punitive measure.
There has just come to my knowledge
= case OF boy having strsngled his own
Drether because he had seen this act per-