Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1916-01-25
Believe in Children.
BY H. ADDINGToN BRUCE.

BY H. ADDINGTON BRUCE.
I'll is unfortunately true that good many parents
treat their children though they were OF an
inferior order in the scale of humanity
They neglect them; they repress them-sometimes
they mercilesSly punish them as one might punish
malignant monster.
At the opposite extreme parents who re-
gard their children like fragile playthings They
converse with them in baby talk they are for
fussng about them; they discourage them
from thinking and acting for themselves
This likewise is eoquently indicative of parent
al distrust of children And ike the policy OF neg
ect, repression and cruelty, 1t is sure TO De pro-
ductive of harmful results.
What parents ought always to do is to believe
in their children-believe in their moral goodwin
and their mental power.
Children are not "innatey depraved." They are
Immoral, not immoral When they do wrong y
usually is because their parents nave failed to
teach them sound principles of morality ana u
train them in self-control.
Too often alas! the parents have by their own
conduct unconsciously given them lessons In wrong
doing.
Pascals words should be craven on the memory
of every parent:
Every child at the outset of his life is little,
impulsve being pushed indifferently toward good
evil, according to the influences which surround
him."
Children moreover, can be given definitely
formal instruction in morality at much earlier age
than many parents suppose Also, for that mattel 1
their formal education in general can be begun long
before they reach school age. -,
In point of fact, it should be begun while they
still are in the nursery.
Every parent, l repeat, ought to believe In the
mental power of his child. And he ought to begin
to develop that power during early childhood, py
deliberately encouraging the child to think for h-
self and training him to think correctly. TO de-
lay is a wrong and injustice to the child
More and more scientists and educators are
coming into agreement on this point To quote
one able investigator, Or. T. A. Williams OF wash
ington:
can impression prevails that growing organs
should not be subjected to work. This is a great
error for organs which do not work cannot grow
we'll
Even the bones become tough, hard, and large
in proportion to the stresses to which they are SUD-
jected by frequent and vigorous pulls Where the
muscles attached
What is true of structure is true OF functlonal
power. From ballet dancers to violin virtuosl ar
fists must be trained from early youth.
"Snce intellectual ability is also Fesult OF
orderly functioning of mental processes seated III
the brain it should be manifest that these, TOO
should reach excellence best when they are trained
by a capable hand during the formative period OF
early youth"
There is hint here for all parents To mis-
trust childs mental power, to fail to develop tnat
mental power by exercise during his first years,
may mean a lifelong stunning of the chtld's nina.
And to disbeeve in his moral goodwill 70 De
obsessed by the notion of innate depravity and to
treat the child accordingly is as sure way as you
could find for spelling his character
Your child, every child, needs discipline NO
child needs and no child should receive, repres-
sion and brutalizing coercion
Copyright, 1910, by H. A. Bruce