The Washington herald., 1914-06-21
Etiquette on Privacy in Life

Is due to wrongly directed affection.
Especially is this the case with ths
parents who. as their children grow UP.
do not allow them the privacy that every
normal child longs to possess These
parents are so used to thinking and act
ing for them that they dislike TO give
them a chance to think and act inde-
pendently.
II children. as they grow out Of baby
hood, cannot have rooms to themselves.
they at least ought to have their own
dressing tables, bureaus and chests Of
drawers, which they should be taught to
keep in or1er for themselves. 1t seems
needless to add-though there are many
cases where this is not the practice-that
children should have their own combs
and brushes. towels and manicure arti-
cles, as soon as they outgrow the dainty
articles of their baby baskets.
And no matter how much you love
your children you should never let them
intrude on your privacy. Even in the
humblest household they should be
taught that respect for the rights OF
their elders which was so necessary q
part Of a child's education two or three
generations ago Yet how many weary
mothers let their children spread their
toys through the entire house, and how
many doting fathers allow their young
sters to pilfer their handkerchief boxes
and appropriate their collar buttons un-
reproved?
How little privacy must men have IN
their own homes anyway? They seem
to be willingly shackIed by the everlast-
ing intrusion Of things feminine.
''Jimmy's den has been such a sue
cess!' I heard a young matron say q
year after they had built their subur-
ban home. Il never had a place to keep
my sewing machine before and 1t is such
a good place to hang the old pictures
that somehow don't like to throw
away. but that would just spoil the color
scheme in the living-room."
As the children in the family grow
older they should be taught to respect
each others possessions and each others
privacy, and any intrusion in these mat
ters should be regarded as a decided
break in the family etiquette.
At no time in the life of the children
in the household is there such a real
need for this spirit of privacy and re-
spcct for others rights as when. in the
course Of time, the older children enter
upon the serious business OF counting. for
no matter how amusing il may seem TO
US il IL always deadly serious to them.
The troublesome small brother comes to
be joke and assumes the proportion OF
real trial and mischief maker when he
has not been taught to have a fitting re-
women are given no end of uneasiness
owing to the vulgar intrusion OF the
young brother, who in a spirit OF teasing
rather than through any malicious
curiosity. intercepts his sisters love let
ters Is guilty OF a really grave offenss
which would not readily be excused IN
any one but a member OF the family.
1t Is partly through a lack Of sympathy,
and lack of understanding-partly through
natural curiosity-that brothers and sis
ters are so intrusive in each others af-
fairs; but, besides that, II Is lack OF
training, and a lack of breeding. the fault
of which lies not with the prying small
brothers and sisters, but with tie par
ents
So, too, in the matter Of the family
conversation there might well be a triis
more of the formality that was in vogus
a generation or so ago. We have be-
come too blunt in our speech, and too in
considerate Of the niceties that good
breeding has always demanded. Espe-
cially is this true of a family where OUT
siders seldom come within the gates
For instance, the mother OF the house
forgetfully discusses the symptoms OF
little Johnny's fever at the breakfast
table. and never realizes that perhaps lit
tie Johnny has some feeling Of delicacy
on the subject and longs with all his lit
tie heart to have her cease.
We smile sometimes at the old-school
formality and prudishness Of our Grand
mothers and sometimes go to the other
extreme Why not try to strike a happy
medium between the stiffness Of those
days and the free and easy over-familI-
arity Of these?