Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-06-20
BEFORE SIX.
BY DR.. FRANK CRANE.
Copyright, 1918, by Frank Crane.)

Almost all the qualities that are the
curse OF mankind are carefully taught to
children. The child gets his stock OF
cussedness we'll laid in before he Is six
years old Some psychologists say three
We overrate the inherited meanness
most of 1t is absorbed from his environ
ment by the child along with his first
ideas.
In the realm of fundamental moral
truths most families are medieval, some
OF them almost pre-Adamite.
The child's eyes are very sharp. his
through you and unconsciously repro
duces you.
Go away and don't bother. Stop that
noise and clear out Of here"' BY this the
child gets the principle that the ideal
condition. the one enjoyed by papa, is one
Of self-indulgence; that when one is at ease
one Is happy, and when any irritation is
at hand one is to be fretful and impa-
tfent. Children have to learn bad tenn
per. petulance and anger, and they are
we'll drilled in these arts.
They learn also the lie that while in
the realm of dead matter there is mex
orable and liked law, in the realm of
spirit there is only within. They soon see
that to put their finger in a candle fame
brings immediate pain; to disobey par
ents, to be bad may or may not bring
suffering; it all depends upon how his
rulers happen to feel. Moral painful eff
fects are to be lodged. This is the foun-
dation Of the criminal character.
He learns the medieval error that life
Is to be governed by rewards and pun
ishments. and not by an intelligent knowl-
edge OF consequences. "If you are a
good boy I will give you an apple. and
II you are naughty 1 will spank you" So
he grows up with the rotten spot in his
nd no MI cir,c
or dispensing some one in authority. and
do not mean his own consciousness of
moral quality.
He is carefully trained to obey author
ity and not to govern and obey himself.
The average parent has no conception of
the fact that democracy, or self-govern-
ment. is as essential in the family as in
the state.
Sometimes he learns that to fawn,
cringe. fatter and lie will bring him what
he wants, and to be honest will only
cause trouble. Having by their negli-
gence and selfshness thoroughly drilled
their child in the art OF lying and hy-
pocrisy. parents wonder why he is not
good" when he grows up.
What would company think If you
should act so before them? You must
practice being nice at home SO You can
act nicely before people, Thus is the
child trained in the most demoralizing
principle soul can have-namely, to
make what OInof people tn1nk MS
moral standard. In other words, he is
taught to be as wrong, unclean and un-
just as he likes, provided he Is not found
out.
The child bumps into a chair and cries
The mother says: Naughty chair
Mamma whip chair and beats the fur
niture Thus the little soul is taught tina,
barbarous principle Of veneance which
| is the curse and blindness Of all crimina
| law.
| When the child is good We do no
notice him: when he cries we pet hin
and offer him everything. Thus he Learnt
| the fatal principle OF government b.
| nuisance and how to attain his desire!
| by king himself disagreeable.
! Many are taught the vicious principle
| OF being burden upon others. They ar
never made to pick UP their strewn play
| things. attend to their own wants ant
| wait upon themselves, without which
| habits there can be no real brotherhood
nor religion.
| They are taught to rule when they can
| and serve when they must, yet no char
| acter Is sound when one does not &C
=, precisely in an opposite way. serve wher
| he can and rule only when he must
They are taught that lawbreaking l!
pleasant and only to be refrained from
! for fear of punishment; instead Of thu
truth that the only pleasure is in finding
! out the laws Of the universe and keeping
! them.
Take 1t all in all, grown-ups deserve &
| deal of credit for being as decent as they
| are.