Evening star., 1937-03-17

Is Wrong
Sometimes
Children See Through
Pretense and Dis
dain It.
BY ANGELO PATRI.

IT is well for us to take account
Of the fact that now and then
we are wrong, that occasionally we
make mistakes. Usually when we are
most certain of our own rightness We
are farthest from the truth. In deal
ing with children We cannot always
be right, and when they prove us
IN the wrong we must gracefully
acknowledge it and go ahead from
there. 1t is foolish to try to main
tain semblance of perfect wisdom
in the face of the facts of life.
When children are of the age where
they reason a little, when there are
questions that they can safely settle
for themselves, it is best to let them
accept the responsibility for them
selves and accept the fact that per-
haps we do not know just what they
ought to do. For example, the
weather and the clothes it demands
Some people are very certain that they
are weather wise and announce with
decision fitting their convictions: 1T
Is going to be very cool day. Take
your topcoat and your sweater" Then
the sun comes out and gets hotter
and hotter and the sweater and the
coat get heavier and heavier, and
their owner thinks harsh things about
the person who knew and could not
be told otherwise.
The children's choice of lifework Is
another question, far beyond the
weather conditions in Importance,
but which many people decide In the
same spirit. There Is a lot Of money
in the law. That's the best profession
for you to take up. Just look at old
Whoseit, simply rolling in money OF
course, wouldn't wish you to be like
him, but you can make money and
not be like him. You be a lawyer"
This varies according to the prefer
ences Of the one giving advice, but the
certainty never wavers.
It Is best before one lays violent
hands upon young life to wrench
1t from its appointed course, to know
what one is about. If there Is grain
of sense in ones head the advice will
not be 80 freely or 50 decidedly given.
A reasonable doubt about another's
future course Is the sign Of wisdom.
When q child seeks question about
which there can be no definite an
swer because it involves his future, his
coming development and q different
background than our own, it Is best
to say: II do not know. My expert
ences have been thus and 80, and 1t
best way, or even good way. to begin.
Try it out and change it when you
f1nd that 1t does not work. That's
what we all have to do"
Some teachers and parents are
alarmed at the idea Of telling . child
that they do not know the answer to
his question. There Is no need for
that feeling. No child loses respect
for one who answers him honestly,
but he instantly loses all respect for
him when he finds him pretending to
know when he does not know. No
body can be all-wise. The encyclo-.
pedias are compiled by many fine
minds, not one. The wisdom Of the
world Is combined wisdom, not that
Of any single mind. The strength OF
the world is the combined strength
Of humanity, never that OF the
lone individual, however stalwart he
may be.
1t Is best then to temper self-satis-
faction with humility, especially in
association with children. Sometimes
we are wrong and 1t is better to say
80 and begin again than to attempt
to pretend. Children see through any
pretense and disdain 1t.