The Coconino sun., 1924-05-30

|! pr0Vlde more opportunities Tor chill
| dren to contribute. something to the
\ good of the home and thus train them
4 through their lives to take that re-
sponsibility and leadership which is
needed in society?
II For instance, frequently no oppor-
tunity is provided for children to
learn table manners in the home.
\ Food is eaten from the sinkboard or
the kitchen table instead of the din
ingroom table. Under these eondi-
tions the child has no opportunity to
form the habits which he is expected
to use when he becomes a member of
a group.
A boy who is never given an op-
portunity to serve his family in the
home will usually make selfish hus-
band. Service should be a part of his
daily life. He should not need Boy
Scout organization to encourage 80
important an act.
| Children in the home as we'll as in
school. should have good books, mag
azines (suitable for children) pictures
models of things girls and boys like
to make, lumber (often secured from
old boxes) tools, etc. Situations
should be created by the parents or
the teacher where the child will
| want to work. The choice is di-
rected by the wants of the child. If a
child once gets a chance to work out
what he has in his own mind he will
not be bad.
Mateer says: "There is no such
thing as a bad child. Either he does
not know any better or else he cannot
help it."
Evans says: Every child has a neg
ative character as we'll as a positive
or affirmative one. The negative
character of the child is sometimes
brought out and developed to the ut
most in some homes, while the at
mosphere of others does not furnish
the conditions for its growth. Most
parents are ignorant, through no
fault of their own, of the way IN
which their own actions affect the
children under their care"
The part of child training which is
so discouraging to parents is the
impossibility of seeing an immediate
concrete effect on their word or act.
It is impossible that the effort OF to-
day on the part of the parent should
4 have a result today upon the child
at any rate, a result considered ade-
quate and sufficient by the parent
When we reprove child for beng
noisy or restless, we are reprovlng
him for being a child, and are doing
our best to stunt his growth. We can
not allow him to shout and jump IN
the living room, but we should provide
a place and time for him to do so. We
should send the child out into the sum
light and under the blue skies, either
literally or figuratively.
Quite as inevitable as the effect of
Il the sunny atmosphere upon the child
is that of the cold, gloomy atmos-
4 phere which is spread by certain peo-
n nle. An irritable father, however
real may be the cause of his feelings,
d has no right to disturb the home at
/ mosphere.
The child must be free and yet have
4 respect for authority which leads TO
obedience. From force of habit we
impose unnecessary "don'ts" on chill
dren. The old story of Mary, go and
I see what the children are doing and
/ tell them to STOP" shows our selfish
ness and ignorance.
Feed the mind of child as careful
I ly as you feed his body. Parents US
i uallyI try to secure personal purity in
i their children through the motive of
fear. but their prevention of impurity
is worse than the disease itself.
! Sex education cannot be shiFked
without the risk of doing the greatest
harm to child in future years. but
equal harm may be done by flWng
4 childs mind with fear and horror.
! Opposition arouses opposition but
4 does not remove it's cause, so we must
work to arouse the desire in the child.
Show the child the way by love and
sympathy. Let him know when he
1 does right.
Understanding is a well-spring OF
/ life to him who hath t."-Proverbs.
The incorrigible child is never I'M
derstood and his nlaladjustment to his
surroundings is actually the fault OF
4 the parents, and is due to the fact
that he is rewarded for being incor-
rigible. He is given the only reward
/ he desires, the personal attention OF
other people. Only when he is
naughty is his personality consider
ed. Only If he is sick does he get at
tention. By opposition to things that
are asked of him he can obtain power
over people to the extent Of forcing
/ them to consider and take an interest
i in him.
| Frequently a child is called incor-
rigibie because he refuses to- meet
demands which are really not neces-
sary, and refuses to avoid doing that
which is useless for parents to forbid
when there is no sense in forbidding.
! Natural freedom of movement is IN
hibited by such procedure, and rat
ional action is obstructed by the par
ents' fanciful will.
Such children are often called ty-
rann;cal, but who are the real ty
rants? Children often know better
than adults what they need but their
course OF development is sometimes
disturbed by abrupt and injudicious
interference. This does not mean to
say that one should yield to them in
every Way. it only means that we