The sun., 1913-10-26
SEMI.MONTHLY MAGAZINE
The Handicap Of the Well>Born Child
((0ntqve ruu FiJt
continued ttom PGJc )

treatment given him being designed
not only to develop his mental pow
ers. nut still more to instil in him
s"lf'contidencc and habits of self
control. Three months after his al
mission he was entered in the third
grade OF IA Philadclphia public
school, and in less than nine months
was promoted to the sixth grade -
ne normal grad" for Il boy of his
age. Tie had been saved from life of
hopeless inadequacy and started on
tnc road To sane. complete manhood.
Or. again. experimenting parental
Ignorance of the Importance of prop, T.
adjustment of the environment. neg.
lcct of the physical condition of chill.
dr"n may be- most influential factor
in the misshaping of a life. Take.
Tor example, the case of a fourteen
year old boy. Harry NJ. likewise
saved for society. This boy. whose
mother died when h. WAS only five.
had been for several years in the
care of a stcpmother. who. as often
happens. had been somewhat unsym.
pathctic and perhaps unnecessarily
harsh in her treatment of him. The
elder he grew the more h. seemed
to justify her belief that h" was an
innatcly bad boy. and in tru,h his
conduct at last became such a. to
ill all who knew him with the dir,sl
torebodings.
Before he was twelve he displayed
reckl"Sslrss. maliciousncss. and ir.
ri'ability of temper that continually
brought him into trouble in st hool
and home. Still worse. he DEVELOPED
propensity for stealing valuable
articles from the house and selling
them for few cents, which he spent
in entertaining himself in not alto
gcther wholesome ways. The climax
came when H. was caught stealing
from a neighhor and hailed into the
Juvenile Court. where H. was put on
probation. All means of discipline
failing he Was finally. with littl"
hope that any good would come of it,
taken 10 the University of PennSyl.
yania's psychological clinic Tor .X-
animation.
One fact which was now discovered
for the first time was that his mouth
and teeth We're in such d"plorable
condition that they must long have
been a cause of constant and almost
unbcarable nervous irritation. Den
tai work was al once begun. with
the interesting result that aS il pro.
gressed the better boy he brcame
He was then placed in Il privat"
school, where. in less than Il year,
by the simpl" process of putting him
on his honor and trusting him in
matters great and small. his behavior
became that of Il normal, healthy
boy, and he justified in every way
the expectations of those in ,harg.
of him
co, too, with another case which
- has recently come to my knowl-
edge. and which is even NOR" dcscrv.
ing of the thoughtful consideration Of
parents. since II is representative of a
far more widely existent condition
than the retarded state of Edgar C..
or the nervousness of Harry NJ, and
a condition that is likewise entirely
preventable.
In this instance a Pennsylvania
schoOlmastrr of psychological in
sight and training Mr.. &. X. Taylor
had his attention disagrr.ably drawn
To one of his pupils, a boy of nearly
fifteen. by the latter's restlessncss
and mischievousness in class. his
habit of perpetually cribbing at eX
aminations, and his aversion to join.
ing in the sports of the school.