The Waterbury Democrat., 1936-07-06
Latest StyLes
Your ChiLdyeN
By OIlve ROberts Barton

A lady writes about her little girl Why is 1t that she insists on play- Ing alone and won't make friends with strangers?
 of course, don't know why There are several reasons tnat might account for the fact that 2 child prefers his or her own com. pany to that of others, but doubt if any parent. and certainty nct an outsider, could quite plumb the depths and put Q finger on the ex- act spot-and cause.
 Sometimes it is pue dlmdence another name for our old friend, inferiority. Tn this case stunning company'B iS "escape" or "selfspros lection" pure and simple.
 Retreat 10 Natural
 If experience with other chil- dren has proved uncomfortable, then 1t is as natural for . child to pull away and stay to himself as it would be for us. We Cldsters do the same thing. The only difs ference is that wO can look to other circles for companionship while the child's world is limited to nelghbors or Q few schoolmates. If his immediate group is uncongeilial or too old or too young, there isn'e anything queer in his seeking peace with Q book or toy.
 It Is good for children to play with other children, naturally, bes cause they meet life as 1t is afl0 not always as they would have it This miniature crowd is packed full of human nature n variety and our Johnny or Susie should learn how to meet it. Perhaps, But thero are times when tho iit- tle group causes too much irrlta- ton, or boredom, or takes too much fight to stand up to. Then 1t gets to be nuisance.
 Solitude No Blight
 After oil, many fine children grow up alone. Taking the flctional Anthony Adverse as example land he must have counterparts In real ilfe), you have Q case where tho soclally.starved youngster turned out to be c whale of c fellow and was neither Tnollyco6dle or conces- sionlst. "Well.rounded" is tho ex- pression.
 To go . bit deeper still into the argument, 1t seems to mo that there, is greater danger today to the average child from too.fnuch rubbing of elbows with others than from too little. Modern children, and especially in cities, are seldom lot alone long enough to give their nerves . rest. The school group, the camp crowd, the club, the dancing class, culture classes and improvement movea ments claim him. There are moro parties for children, more out ings, more everything. They have the movie and the radio, too, which, although merely ab- sorbed by an audience and not offering contact, still reflect tho ac- tons and voices of people.
 Books for Companions
 We thus All tho child's world for him today, 50 who can say that tho Tecluse is really alone9 By his very books, written espe" cially for him, he gains Q rather rich, though vicarious, experience. z
 Actually there must be many cases when more harm than good is done by forcing the meditative child out Into unchoSen company. any company, just because it is said to be good for him, We would resent 1t ourselves if someone strong-armed us day by day into groups that don't appeal to us and never will. And we cherish our hours alone, unless we are 30 restless and without resource that we can't keep ourselves company. We do not feel ignominious by free quently retiring to sanctuary, so why do we ear-mark children who crave the same rights9 There ia nothing odd about the child who likes peace.
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