El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1911-12-26
Dorothy Dix On 4 9:. 81 e. 6 6 5;l5 parent

TN A speech before the National Asso-
citation for the Study and Education
Of Exceptional Children the other
night, DIR. Eaton said:
The weakest spot in America today
is the home. This weakness is due to
the sins Of American parents toward
their children. These sins are both Of
omission and commission. The pro-
found elementary realities Of life are
not taught i'm American homes today.
A simple sane, moral conception OF lie
should zoe U4ught. The cnllds moral
gristle should be hardened into a bone
These are words Of profound wisdom
which every father and mStner IN the
land should Law to heart The greatest
crime of modern civilization is the way
in which the average child Is being
brought up.
he or she is being reared a pagan
and a hoodlum. with neither the fear
of God nor man before his or her eyes
with no respect for authority, no re-
gard for law, no idea Of obedience no
recognition Of the rights OF others, 80
conception Of duty, no Vestlge OF selI-
control.
The grossest material philosophy goes
to no other such end as II s embodied
in the modern child whose sole theory
Of life is to take the best il can get LOT
itself without regard for the feelings or
the rights Of others, and TO get TINS
best by trampling rough shod over eV-
erybody who stands in its way
Tho Reason Why.
To any thoughtful person who re-
CARDS this system OF educating youth
il is no wonder that our prisons are
filled with boy criminals. or that on
every corner Of the streets we see that
most tragic Of figures little unde-
veloped, uniformed girl, still child IN
years, who has taken the easiest way
TO the finery and gayety she Graves OF I
that our divorce courts are crowded /
rHrrH is Of
and women who lack the courage TO en-
dure disappointment, and keep the obll- /
cations they had assumed
Sad as these cases are, common as
they are. when you see how the aver /
age family is reared the marvel is not I
that there are so many such instances, I
but that they are so few.
How can you expect boy who mas /
never been taught obedience at home I
to have any respect for law and au-
thority outside OF the homer How can
you expect boy who has never had
any regard for the rights OF others IN
stilIed into him, 10 keep his hand out
of the cash drawer Of his employer
when he gels the opportunity TO stealt
never been forced TO control himself to
resist temptation when IL comes ms
way2
How can you expect a girl who has
been taught by example, If not by pre-
cept that fine clothes are the ends OF
life TO a woman, not TO get them any
way she can2 How can YOU expect
girl who has had nothing in her cdl-
tivated except vanity and extravaganza
and seifishness, TO oe anything but
curse TO the husband who gets herr
How can you expect girl VINO mas
been INDUCED in her every Whlm all
Of her life to become anything but the
sort OF a woman who changes hus-
bands as often as she does fashions?
The Parents to blame.
Nine-tenths Of all the crime and sin
and misery Of the world can be laid
right at the door of the Wrougdoer's
parents, and for myself / confess that
when 1 hear about the pathetlc ola J.
father or the heartbroken old mother
IF the murderer or the thief, OF the
girl who has gone astray, 1 haven't got
many tears to shed. feel like saying
% the parent. You are the real sim
Ter It's your fault that this criminal
tands before the bar OF Justice If
-ou had done your duty this man or ,
woman would be living good useful !
humanity"
This sounds hard, but every word OF it I
s true. for, except in the case Of the in
ane, conEeuitive idiots, there is not a !
rhine committed in which the parents =
re not the aiders and abettoFs Of it;
here IS not crime committed that
hey could not have prevented had they
one their duty by their children.
When you let your little boy fly into
lind RACES in which he beats the furni-
ure, and bites, ard kicks everybody
DOuL nlIns you are raising up pOUen- L
ial murderer. When you let your little
oy have another piece Of pie because /
e cries for it, although you know that
win make him sick, you have start
d him on the way to become a drunk I
I'd and INDUCING his appetite at any
ost- When you let your little boy
i've up every little task because it's
ard, and because he wants TO play
lstead Of work. you fOredoOm him right
len and there to being one Of the fall
res in life ,
Given a normal child and is future
- in the parents hands. The boy that I
taught obedience and self control, re- G
oect for authority and regard for the
ghts OF others. never grows I'D to be I
drunken hoodlUm. The boy that is z
Fought up IN the knowledge Of the dig :
ty or labor and who is held respOnsi-
lie for the performance of certain du- {
es, and who IS taught that there IS no -
lame greater than that Of a man not =
sing able 10 stand on his own feet.
pes not degenerate into an idler and
loafer- The girl who is taught mod