El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1918-10-24

, very few dangerous snakes. and that
| most OF US pass our lives without en-
/ countering one OF them. wouldn't the
I really wise parent teach children how
! slight cause there really is no feare
/ Feather Pillow Brigade.
Then there is the matter OF tenn
I pests \ mother who is not ashamed
/ Of communicating fear often starts
the family self defence .driu at the
. mere si=nt Of black cloud gather
| ing. Every door and window is closed
/ tight. Every child is armed with a
Z feather pillow. Then the whole group
{ is mustered and taken to the cellar
I while countless stories are told of
I victims Of lightning strokes By the
I time the tempest is over the children
] are so thoroughly fear soaked that
I one could scarcely expect them ever
| TO enjoy 4 rainy day again.
The fear Of ghosts must have been
( passed along in this way. As q mat
/ ter OF fact, ghosts are no less harm
Z less than mice. and. as reliable statis-
/ tics viii convince you, quite as little
| given to murderOus assaults But
l children have been taught q fear OF
them, under many names. There's a
kind OF nursery phantom that has
been used 10 frighten children into
good behavior. though I hope this
[ is no longer done. It's spoken of as
n great; big, black something-or-
other. the name varying with time
and place. and 1t is supposed TO seize
| children after dark. or bite them. or
! take them away somewhere. If they
do not do just as they are told You
can make = child obedient by this
means. But YOU can also iniure his
nervous system so that he will never
thoroughly recover as long as he
lives.
Family Fear-HObbies.
Some families have their special
individual fear-hObbies. which they
4 "a ct nall III manT-
I perhaps bred into the children more
thoroughly than anything else that
they learn Sometimes it's the kid
naping fear. exaggerated TO 4 point
where the child is never left alone
10 play in peace Sometimes it's the
Z burglar fear, which causes a vast
amount OF time to be consumed in
boiling and barring doors and win
coWs and looking under beds. Some
times it's fear Of sickness. which is
particularly undesirable 10 get deeply
planted in a childs mind.
Happily, there have always been
few children who wOuldn learn the
fear lesson There have always been
/ wild" boys and 'tomboy" girls who
would climb TO the top OF the tallest
tree. whatever penalty might be i'm
posed, and who would be audaciously
ready to make friends with a burg
lar II they met one Children who re-
fuse TO learn fear should be highly
sure that If we could follow them up
We should find that they always are.
It is true that We are only just be-
ginning TO discover what an IN
wholesome thing fear is. It isn't so
long ago that fear was deliberately
made use Of in dealing with children.
not by mothers only. but by the
whole formidable conspiracy OF adults
And il wasn't merely fantastic fears
that were employed. fears OF bogies
and giants and Ogres and COLLINS.
but practical. painful fears. fears OF
ones own parents and of ones teach
ers at school
1t doesn't seem possible that par
ents could be willing TO have their
children afraid Of them. But parents
used TO believe. or many Of them did.
that n child had 20 be broken" like
n horse. That II It transgressed and
was made to feel pain. II would be
afraid to transgress again, and that
this was what bringing up" con-
sisted Of
FearIesSness the Best Gift.
The truth is, as the wisest people
viii tell you. that II you can keep
your child sound and fearless. you
are doing infinitely more for him
than II you should leave him n for
tune ] say him" but this is. OF
course. quite as true OF girls as OF
boys. II is just rs important for wo-
men to he fearless as for men.
And the best kind OF fearlessness
is always the invisible kind It isn't
on the end OF precipice. which. af-
ter all. won't do anybody any good
and Will merely prove that you have
strong nerves. as to have the kind
that won't tell lies or even sit still
and allow anybody else to tell them.