Evening star., 1924-06-15

most obvious cause for loss of temper
is that the child sees older people
ay into RACES. If by initiating them
ae gets what he wants the precedent
Is established and he continues to
use the powerful weapon. -.
The report with its array of cases
shows that few parents realize what
home conditions and family examples
do to the personalities of children.
of some family in his own experience
families of intelligence and COM
Portable finances, as well as famiiles
handicapped by ignorance and pow
erty.
over and over again the clinic
workers hear mothers deceiving the
children brought in for treatment; !;
Don't touch the telephone; 1t Will
bite you" IF you are good the doc
tor has lots of nice things in his bag
for you"
Child Learns to Lie.
II the child is timid he becomes
afraid of telephones, and the thought
less mother cannot imagine why he
is SO queer. If he is inclined to be
fearless the baby touches the tele-
phone and it doesn't bite. He answers
all the doctors questions, and he
doesn't get any presents. He realizes
that grown people tell lies. He tries
it.
One mother came to the clinic in
alarm because her little girl had
begun to cheat and to be sly about
it. In one instance she had given
the child a nickel and told her to
take the street car to go to the
dentists Office. Later it was dis
covered that the little girl had spent
the nickel for candy and had avoided
the trip to the dentists entirely.
Only the week before the same
mother had told the child that she
was going to take her on q nice
automobile ride and the ride had
| ended unhappily at the dentists g
chair. The child had learned from
vivid experience that her mother
often said what was not true, and
| with a normal child's imitativeness
she had begun to copy the mother.
The clinic reports that careless
parents are responsible for many un-
children The mother who laughs
| when Jimmie brings an armful OF
bricks into the parlor today and puts
| him to bed for doing the same thing
| tomorrow probably never thinks any
| a vague sense of injustice. A sense
| Of injustice breeds resentment, and
that in. turn may lead the child to
| destructfveness or to playing mali
| oious tricks that will worry. or annoy
the family. The child develops a de-
| Termination to get back at" people
and, IL conditions are such that the
| tendency growS more pronounced, he
| grows up to be antagenistic and sus-
picious.
Parental MisanderstandinS. =
| Lack of understanding on the part
Of parents and uncertain co-opera.
| tion from them are the clinics grest.
est handicaps. A mother will tAks
her child with q toothaohe to q
dentist, even if she has to make q
| trip across the city. A child whose
personality is awry makes life mis-.
erable for itself, the family. and
often for the neighbors and his
teachers. But it H. not yet custom
ary to regard such q child 81 q. csss
for expert attention.
Parents who learn about the habit
clinics are interested in having the
disposition or habits Of their children
improved. But it is difficult for them
to grasp the idea that personality
defects are most often due to some
prevehtable defect in the home life
Busy mothers who have large fam.
lilies or who work away from home
I all day are not inclined to 60 to vers
much trouble to bring about the de.
sired end.
Still, the clinics have proved q
successful experiment. In the pas
: year 130 cases were studied, and
in seventy-thre of these the parents
co-operated satisfactorily with tht
workers, so-that results were good
In only nineteen cases were the re.
suits considered altogether dIscour.
aging, and no improvement In the
patients shown.