New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1914-06-19

main so until they are well along In
years. Whatever justification ones
ingenuity may find for using sarcasm
with adults, there is absolutely none
for addressing it to children. A child
seldom understands sarcasm on the
Intellectual side, sld seldom fails to
be hurt by it.
Wise people know that in matters
of taste there is no disputing. But
how many parents are wise enough TO
refrain from making disparaging re
marks about the friends OF their
children? A childs friend is a mat
ter of taste, a matter of admirations
and aspirations. No doubt your taste
is superior to your child's; neither
can there be any doubt that when your
child reaches your present age his
taste will be better than it is now.
To cast any reflection upon the other
child is to wound your own child's
pride and self-esteem in way that IS
hardly ever warranted. Even if the
choice Of playmate is entirely bad
which would be very lre case, in
deed-your task is to develop your
child's standards, and not to tear away
the friend upon whom the heart is
for the time being set.
Do Not Make 0ispsrasins Comment.
To make disparaging comments
upon people in general is likely to
hurt the child's censibilities in a way
that is undesirable. Unkind remarks
about acquaintances made in the
presence of children will at first hurt
them. In time, however, this pro-
cedure will probably make the children
cynical. If they lose their faith in
human nature with the advancing
years, if they lose their feeling of
reverence, to what extent are these
losses due to the singing and cynical
conversation that they hear at home?
Another source of needless wounds
to children is ridicule directed against
their games or other activities. How
silly it would be for a business man
of woman to sit on the floor and
roll a ball against the wall and catch
it on its return! But how amusing
it is for little girl or boy to do just
that! The silly thing is for grown
up people to gauge the activities OF
children in terms of their own ma
turer judgment wider experience and
trained, not to say sophisticated,
tastes. The child's game is the game
for him, here and now. If you know
better game for him, teach it to him,
play it with him; but do not kill the
joy of all play by laughing at what is
after all a good enough activity
since the child finds in it satisfaction.
dlSe HCSQSdbiOUo
No intelligent parent would will
Ingly hurt a child by means of false
accusations, or even by insinuations.
Aside from the unnecessary suffering
this may cause at the time, we must
recognize how easy it is for the child
to assume the attitude expressed by
the saying, 1--WE got the name, l may
as we'll have the game"
Parents can afford to make great
sacrifices for the sake OF retaining
the confidence and companionship Of
their children. One of the essential
means to this end is the patient effort
TO understand the effect of seeming
triles upon the feelings Of the child.
We should seek to avoid unnecessary
suffering that is just as real and just
as acute, withal it is childish. We arc
certainly anxious to avoid the resent
ment and the arrangement that mus-
follow repeated heartbreaks and mis-
understandings. And we must con-
slider, finally, how much of the cal
lousness and indifference we fnd
among men and women are not the
direct result of the constant bruising
that their feelings suffered during
childhood.