The Beaver herald. [volume] (Beaver, O.T. [Okla.]) 1895-1923, 1906-10-11
Mistake to Humor
a "SensitiUe" Child
The LaW Must Accompany Loue-- Yielding too Much to
temperament viii Soon Be Matter for Regret
TO Both the Parents and the Offspring.

pears III tue SCnOOlroOm TO ask some
concession to Lucy's nerves, or Eva's
feelings, and although she is a very
charming women l dread her as / do
the east wind"
In cases without number a child
who has borne the label sensitive
loses 1t completely when t~ransplanted
to the atmosphere of a boarding
school, or sent on a visit to grandpar-
ents in an old homestead where he is
allowed to do as he pleases when out
of doors, and is under proper ~restric.
tons within them. Love is the best
atmosphere, it is true, for a sensitive
child, but law must accompany love
in the training of children.
Sensitive means responsive to influ.
ence and the word has to do with
quick feeling and swift receptiveness
on the part of a human being. All
things considered, a sensitive child or
a sensitive woman or man belongs to
a higher order han does a blunt, ire
~sponsive and dull-natured person who
is difficult of access and slow of
brain. The finer the type the greater
will be the constituencies. The farther
we advance in civilization the more
rapid will be the march of sensation
and the swifter the rush of emotion,
and yet this means only that the pro-
founder must be the need for disci-
pline. Discipline should not be
thought Of as harsh. 1t never need
be unkind. 1t implies training in do
ing the same thing over and over UNI
til doing it perfectly has become auto
matte. 1t implies drill and self
restraint and a thousand nameless
chances and opportunities for thinking
of others before thinking of ones self.
When the sensitive child has learned
to be altruistic, to deny self that oti-
ers may be happy, he or she mas
reached a level on the uplands of life
well worth attainment. The corona
ton of happy living at home is en-
bodied in the word harmony. There
cannot be harmony where there is in
justice. Every child of Adam, young
and old, yearns for justice. We do
not ask that people shall treat us with
forebearance or pity or even generosi-
ty. We ask that they shall be just.
The youngest member Of the family
has as much right to justice as the
oldest. Oversensitiveness il I'M
checked is sure to make it's possessor
both miserable and despotic, a COM
bination that works like a leaven of
evil in the individual and in the home.
An April child all sudden smiles
and tears may be a darling, but
April's onward progress is to months
in which we may anticipate settled
weather.
Beware of yielding too much to tenn
permanent. In the present direction
toward ~individualism in education
there is just the danger that the indi-
vidual may be studied to the disad.
vantage of the whole. An eminent
doctor who had given much thought
and study to the management of
youth once said to me: After all, it
is a comfort that children scramble
up the hill very much as they always
have, Notwithstanding our painstak-
ing, and perhaps the best thing that
ever befalls them is a little whole
some neglect"
SullulCH W luudtC WhCH tHcy
are introduced into a world full of
cousins about their own age. When
several families of kinsfolk reside in
the same locality and there is a good
deal of visiting, of running to and
fro and of informal fellowship, the
children are early made members of
a sort of youthful republic. Big
brothers n older sisters look out
for the Juniors, and if there is a child
with a tendency to morbidness or to
discomfort the healthy activity in the
environment soon exercises the haunt
ing demon.
A merry circle Of cousins is a cause
for congratulation, and next to this,
the best thing for any child. whether
sensitive or not, is to be thrown into
the companionship of a school filled
with the children of townspeople
somewhere on the same plane, as to
age and condition. When everything
has been said on the subject that can
be said, there still remains this truth
that children educate each other far
more successfully than grown people
educate them.
! Copyright. 1906. by Joseph B. Bowles)