Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1922-02-28
YOUR CHILD'S CHANCE
By H. Addington Bruce
x1OU ARE DESTROYS of seeing your ltt

V|OU ARE DESTROYS of seeing your little boy
7 develop into an all-round successful man
- You promise yourself that you will give
him real chance to do +hiS-in especial
through the advantage of thorough education
no matter at what sacrifice on your part.
In imagination you already see your boy in
school, acqutting himself well. You foretravel
with him from school to college, where again
he has credi+able career. And your fancy
leaps on from college to the life of the bust
ness world, in which he not only proSpers ma
terialy but gains the respect and admiration
of his fellow men.
A pleasing prospect, surely, on which you
fondly dwell. But let me remind you, it will
not do to assume that your dream is certain to
become a reality by merely securing for your
boy the advantages which certainly should &C
crue to him from school and college training
Much will depend-everything will depend
on what you do for him before ever he goes
to school and during the frs years of his
schooling. To omit doing certain things is
really to deprive him of the chance school and
college would otherwise be for him.
Suppose for instance, that through overload
ness you neglect to rear your boy hygenicaly
giving him his own way in such matters as food
preferences, the time of going to bed. etc
Suppose you fail to surround him with an en-
vironment truly stimulating to his mind, the
environment of home in which there are good
books and in which the family conversation is
not concerned merely with +rivalites.
Suppose, also, that your great love for your
boy misleads you into requiring from him moth
ing in the way of effort and Self-denia1-rnis-
leads you even into doing his thinking for him
And suppose that, into the bargain, you lavish
presents on him and take a particular pride in
providing for him clothing and amusements that
are perhaps a good deal more expensive than
you can afford.
Suppose you do all this, do you think it will
be without effect on his after life? 1t may
have such serious effect as hopeleSSly to
handicap your boy il school, college, and bust
ness, frustrating all your ambitions for him.
You know perfectly we'll that not every boy
who goes to school and college shines as stu
dent You know that good many are not only
dull but difficult 70 handle, being deficient in
self-control as we'll in ability to study. Do you
take it for granted that they must have been
born that way?
Some may have been. But the great majority
owe their deficiencies to things that happened
to them after they were born and before they
went to school. In particular they owe their
deficiencies to mistakes of upbringing such a.
those limited at above
The mistakes resulted in giving the unfor-
tunate boys faulty standards of value and bad
habits of thinking and behaving. They weak
ened their minds and their characters alike So
that now school can do comparatively little
for the boys, and serious trouble pretty surely
awaits them when they pass from school to the
world.
Don't let this befal1 your boy.
Start him right. Turn his thoughts, even as
child to worth while things. Adjust his sur
roundings to the real needs of mind that is in
the making. Don't give him an environment
and rearing that deaden and distort his men
tality-as SO many parents unwittingly give
their children.
posed always on those other parents and your
boy, unlike their children, will indeed be get
ting real chance to succeed.
Copyright, 1922, by The Associated Newspa-
perS.)