New Britain herald., 1928-09-08
woman Who Pursues Bootleggers
Layishes Her Love On Children
Mabel Walker Wilebrandt, Who Has Adopted Daugh'
ter, Has Well Defined Theories on How to
Raise Youngsters


clinations. she might adopt an en-
tire orphan asylum. The more the
merrier. in her estimation
In the adoption Of children" she
was asked. ARE you not afraid of
hereditary influences playing a part:
OF environment having cut a deeper
swath than you imagine, Of"
She did not use the word poppy
cock: but in her tone was the equi-
,aient.
Il think" said Mrs, Willebrandt,
that most people have shaken off
that old bogy. the fear of heredity-
that we have, as nation, if il can
be put that way, come out of the
shadow of the valley of hereditary
influences. AT least, we are up on the
hillside
Heredity influences. Environ
ment. Certainly they play their part
in life. but over and against these
are those other important factors In
the raising OF children-discipli
indulgence. example. good or bad,
love, neglect, sympathetic under
standing, misunderstanding, gui-
dance. and a world and wealth OF
contributing influence that help
shape and mold the young char
acter.
There is no more Interesting pas
time in all the world than watching
young life develop, the formation OF
character. the growing OF boy or
girl from infancy into adolescence
and then on into manhood or wom-
anhood. In an age when economic
conditions have brought about the
smaller family, Mrs. Willebrandt be-
lieves there are more people inter-
ested in adopting children than were
ever before engaged in this benevo-
lent work.
Children are wanted by those
who have not children of their
own" said Mrs. Willebrandt. In
America. especially. the supply and
demand are about equal. so that
children deprived of parents, or
whose parents cannot afford to
support them, have good chances of
finding splendid homes"
The home means so much to lit
tie children, according to Mrs.
Willebrandt. 1t plays an all-impor-
tant part in the shaping OF destiny:
far more than the average person
realizes. In her work as a school
teacher, she was seven years prin-
cipal of schools in northern Mis-
souri,. Mrs. Willebrandt declares that
most of her troubles in the class
room were the result of habits
formed and developed in the home.
At the mothers knee, in the
bosom of the family the child gets
started on the right or the wrong
track. Forces striving for recogni-
ton in later life gather momentum
there. In the formative years. GRIM
mails and highly esteemed citizens
are in the making and at home. Be-
cause she believes the first impress
sions in a child's life are the all-im-
portant ones. Mrs. Willebrandt lays
particular stress on the first years
of life.
Mother Love Greatest Factor
Mother love, in all its wide rang.
of emotion, can either make or
break child. So says Mrs. Willie
brandt. 1t means that mother, by
over-indulgence and by over-fond-
ling youngster, by placing too fire.
quently protective arms about it. by
trying to save it from all knocks
and bumps, may make weakling
Of her offspring. 1t means, too. that
properly directed mother love can
hoist to the very highest heights the
soul entrusted to its care. The case
of Col. Charles A. Lindberg is cited.
Had his mothers love contained too
much restraining caution, it might
easily have turned the boys fancy
into a more sombre and safer walk
of life
In the examination of criminals
during the course of her legal work.
Mrs. Willebrandt has had occasion
TO delve beneath the surface. She
presented itself. What We're the
underlying forces that brought this
man Or this woman to such posi-
tom" Always the answer pointed
back to infancy, to childhood days.
TO the home where, she says. for the
want of a better word, an inferiority
complex was developed
Il dislike the use of that word
complex" said Mrs. WiIlebrandt.
but it is the only one that applies.
BY fear. by unwarranted force, by
the exercise of malign influence over
the will of the child, by some odds
the youngster felt unequal to over
come, latent strength of character
was never quite developed-and
there was the beginning of cow
ard and later Of criminal. Over
fondling mothers. women who are
constantly picking up their children.
kissing them. caressing them, sooth-
ing their bumped heads and making
responsible for many of the sad
cases that appear in the police
courts OF the land They make
weaklings of their children.
Fathers, too. are to blame. With
some sort Of false pride. they wish
TO prevent their boys from going
through the same hardshIps they
had to endure and so they develop
SoftncsS instead of sta nina.