The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1914-04-14
e TOO OFTEN NEGLECTED.
Fathers and Mothers Pay No
Attention To What Their
Sons and Daughters Read
Exercise Little Care as To
The Sort of Plays They
Attend
(By II. A.

(By H.. A. MERFELD.)
A lesson which has of late heen
preached TO parents which has. in
fa"t, given rise to something like a
literature, is the warning against
leaving their children in Ignorance
concerning the inwardness and the
dangers of sex-life. One Of a parents
most delicate responsibilities consists
~ The duty of presenting this import-
aHt branch of self-knowledge to the
son or daughter as reverently and as
soberly as possible, as the child's
progress in years and intelligence on
ablcs 1t to receive and appreciate such
&nowiedge. Everybody is aware that
the average child will obtain distort-
ed and perverted notions Of these
iIdnss from vicious playmates who
Ar" oilE 100 eager to impart their
IDEAS, unless the parent forestalls
these peryersions and quiets a natural
ana not unwholesome curiosity by dis
closing the facts with their plain sci
"ntifc meaning. Many excellent books
have been written (Which | would no
&iad 10 recommend upon request) to
assist the conscientious parent in this
responsible task by supplying him
With such facts, parallels and other
Instructions as will be helpful to him
~ guiding his child over the great d.
vide hat leads into wholesome man
hood and womanhood.
The question is often asked wheth-
~ society is really serving the best
interests of humanity by banishine
II"tH pdrlor converse, from polite in
t@ertst' the whole range of discussion
tual relates TO sexual life, whether a
greater frankness, a lessening of re-
%stralnt, might not by the letting in
~ hSht' by the removal of wells that
seem only TO whet curiosity, whether
4 greater measure of candor and out
SPoAeIheSs OF such matters might not
'ttar the atmosphere of a good deal
- mlsunderstanding and take from
1H-se 'ulhgS some of the alluring
"lpudnC! Whlch is lent to them by
ne ihystifying silence of polite cir
Cles.
me Why OF Physical Shame.
me question is one of many that
10" out OF the great query, whether
pm sical name is a morbid. artificial
FfoouCt or whether it is the bloom of
4tInernent and a flower Of ciyiliza-
~ion. trustworthy explorers have
tanned That the unclothed savage is
f~"It-minded until civilization by fore
ing clothes upon him, creates for him
" C~oHSclousness that he had not be-
- \ dlntmer or clearer realiza-
t"l OF this change has given rise to
,1S'htrlc sects in many lands and
aseS which have advocated a reyer-
@toi 70 the natural state; theorists
41e up today in almost every civilized
'oihtry with rOposaI Of
t!"IillnS to man his lost innocence
clothes. ~ vi wearing
I't all present intents and pur-
r">es Such propositions can hardly ex-
81 10 get attention from anv other
.p'.ies IMAM that of the constitutional
t"uh; Civilization in every known
60 mas ended, consistently, to hide
iutg'l view all but the face and hands.
"rtler that undeniable fact is due
ne illness of colder climates for
ana progress, or whether it
+'lS an elimination of physical fac
ana "a concentration of attention
Soui-hfe and the need of labor,
t'Iiuicates emphatically enough, that
tt~"tioh prefers to place out Of
- as far as possible, the lower
uses OF mans animal life. The
at'lects Of religion and politics are
!. readily imported into social con-
Sdtlon because they are apt to
80 20 heated discussion; it is natu-
'htreiore, that references should
~, "soIoed as far as possible which
vi. pecuilafly apt to prove embar-
9tm"' ana which must be handled
tsn utmost skill and delicacy to
."id unpleasant situations.
IN Essential of Refinement.
'' distinction rests, to a great ex-
upon the sharp difference that
,L. dIWays exist, among refined peo-
1etween the subjects that are
,L+-,dpie for formal intercourse and
49, mat belong to the privacy Of
Nee converse with intimates. That
,sr, nee between publicity and pri-
tri,', open conversation and
"'e confidence, will and must con-
.ttlGte one of the primary conditions
'ciihement. 1t is entirely consist
WITH this difference that the pa
'VIt shall he thourbtf,I, fr,aL r-;th