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The Rural Science Series
Edited by L. H. Bailey
FARM BOYS AND GIRLS
* * * * *
The Rural Science Series
THE SOIL.
THE SPRAYING OF PLANTS.
MILK AND ITS PRODUCTS.
THE FERTILITY OF THE LAND.
THE PRINCIPLES OF FRUIT-GROWING.
BUSH-FRUITS.
FERTILIZERS.
THE PRINCIPLES OF AGRICULTURE. 15th Ed.
IRRIGATION AND DRAINAGE.
THE FARMSTEAD.
RURAL WEALTH AND WELFARE.
THE PRINCIPLES OF VEGETABLE-GARDENING.
FARM POULTRY.
THE FEEDING OF ANIMALS.
THE FARMER'S BUSINESS HANDBOOK.
THE DISEASES OF ANIMALS.
THE HORSE.
HOW TO CHOOSE A FARM.
FORAGE CROPS.
BACTERIA IN RELATION TO COUNTRY LIFE.
THE NURSERY-BOOK.
PLANT-BREEDING. 4th Ed.
THE FORCING-BOOK.
THE PRUNING-BOOK.
FRUIT-GROWING IN ARID REGIONS.
RURAL HYGIENE.
DRY-FARMING.
LAW FOR THE AMERICAN FARMER.
FARM BOYS AND GIRLS.
THE TRAINING AND BREAKING OF HORSES.
_Others in preparation._
* * * * *
[Illustration: PLATE I.
FIG. 1.--At least once each day the busy farm father may think of a way
to combine his work with the children's play.]
FARM BOYS AND GIRLS
by
WILLIAM A. McKEEVER
Professor of Philosophy
Kansas State Agricultural College
New York
The Macmillan Company
1913
All rights reserved
Copyright, 1912,
by the Macmillan Company.
Set up and electrotyped. Published February, 1912. Reprinted
August, 1912; January, June, 1913.
Norwood Press
J. S. Cushing Co.--Berwick & Smith Co.
Norwood, Mass., U.S.A.
DEDICATED
TO THE SERVICE OF THE
TEN MILLION BOYS AND GIRLS
WHO ARE ENROLLED IN
THE RURAL SCHOOLS
OF AMERICA
PREFACE
In the preparation of this book I have had in mind two classes of
readers; namely, the rural parents and the many persons who are
interested in carrying forward the rural work discussed in the several
chapters. It has been my aim to give as much specific aid and direction
as possible. The first two chapters constitute a mere outline of some of
the fundamental principles of child development. It would be fortunate
if the reader who is unfamiliar with such principles could have a course
of reading in the volumes that treat them extensively. Nearly every
suggestion given in the main body of the book is based on what has
already either been undertaken with a degree of success or planned for
in some rural community.
I am very greatly indebted to the following persons and firms for their
kindness and generosity in lending pictures and cuts for illustrating
the book: E. T. Fairchild, State Superintendent of Public Instruction,
Topeka, Kansas; J. W. Crabtree, Principal State Normal School, River
Falls, Wisconsin; George W. Brown, Superintendent of Edgar County,
Paris, Illinois; O. J. Kern, Superintendent of Winnebago County,
Rockford, Illinois; Miss Jessie Fields, Superintendent of Page County,
Clarinda, Iowa; A. D. Holloway, General Secretary, County Y.M.C.A.,
Marysville, Kansas; Dr. Myron T. Scudder, of Rutgers College; Doubleday,
Page & Company, Garden City, New York; _Rural Manhood_, New York City;
_The Farmer's Voice_, Chicago, Illinois; _The American Agriculturist_,
New York City; _The Oklahoma Farmer_, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; _The
Inland Farmer_, Lexington, Kentucky; _The Farmer's Advocate_, Winnipeg,
Canada.
My thanks are also due _Successful Farming_, of Des Moines, Iowa, for
permission to use excerpts from President Kirk's article on the model
school, and portions of a series of brief articles written for the same
magazine by myself.
The references given at the close of the chapters have been selected
with considerable care. It will be found in nearly every case that they
give helpful and more extended discussions of the several topics treated
in the preceding chapter.
WILLIAM A. McKEEVER.
MANHATTAN, KANSAS.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
I. BUILDING A GOOD LIFE 1
What is a Good Life? 2
1. Good Health 3
2. Usefulness 3
3. Moral Strength 4
4. Social Efficiency 5
5. Religious Interest 5
6. Happiness 6
Is the Human Stock comparatively Sound? 7
II. THE TIME TO BUILD 12
What of the Human Instincts 12
The Dawning Instincts 12
Social Sensitiveness Helpful 19
III. THE RURAL HOME AND CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT 26
What Agencies build up Character? 26
1. Play 27
2. Work 30
3. Recreation 33
Moving to Town for the Children 36
A Back-to-the-country Club 38
IV. THE COUNTRY MOTHER AND THE CHILDREN 41
Poor Conditions of Women 42
For the Sake of the Children 44
1. Surplus Nerve Energy 44
2. A Rest Period 45
3. The Home Conveniences 46
4. The Mother's Outings 47
5. The Home Help 48
6. The Children shield the Mother 49
7. Planning for the Children 50
8. A Common Conspiracy 51
V. CONSTRUCTING THE COUNTRY DWELLING 54
Plans and Specifications not Available 55
What appeals to the Children 57
The House Plan 59
How One Farmer does It 60
Outbuildings and Equipment 61
Human Rights prior to Animal Rights 61
The Children's Room 64
The Evening Hour 67
VI. JUVENILE LITERATURE IN THE FARM HOME 69
How Good Thinking grows up and Flourishes 70
Types of Literature 72
A Selected List 75
Literature on Child-rearing 79
1. Periodicals on Child-rearing 80
2. Books on Child-rearing 80
VII. THE RURAL CHURCH AND THE YOUNG PEOPLE 82
Decadence of Rural Life 83
Work for the Ministry 84
The Country Minister 86
A Mistake in Training 89
Rural Child-rearing 90
The Churches too Narrow 92
Constructive Work of the Church 93
An Innovation in the Rural Church 95
Spiritualize Child Life 97
A Summary 98
VIII. THE TRANSFORMATION OF THE RURAL SCHOOL 101
Radical Changes in the View-point and Method 102
All have a Right to Culture 103
Work for a Longer Term 105
Compulsory Attendance Laws Needed 106
Better Schoolhouses and Equipment 107
1. Location 108
2. The Water Supply 109
3. Size and Adaptation of Grounds 109
4. Improvement of School Grounds 110
A Model Rural School 112
The Cornell Schoolhouse 115
Help make a School Play Ground 117
General Instruction in Agriculture 120
Domestic Economy and Home Sanitation 122
Consolidation of Rural Schools 123
More High Schools Needed 124
Better Rural Teachers Needed 125
IX. THE COUNTY YOUNG MEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION 129
Boys leave the Farm too Young 130
Purposes of the County Young Men's Christian
Association 131
How to organize a County Organization 132
1. Select a Good Leader 133
2. Local Leaders Necessary 134
3. A Committee on Finance 134
4. Little Property Ownership 135
How to conduct the Work 136
1. Local and County Athletic Clubs 136
2. Debating and Literary Clubs 137
3. Receptions and Suppers 138
4. Educational Tours and Problems 138
5. Camping and Hiking 139
6. Exhibitions 139
Spirituality not lost Sight Of 141
Work in a sparsely Settled Country 143
X. THE FARMER AND HIS WIFE AS LEADERS OF THE YOUNG 146
Preparation for the Service 147
Work persistently for Social Unity 149
Corn-raising and Bread-baking Clubs 150
Other Forms of Contests 151
The Improvement of the School Situation 152
Home and School Play Problems 154
A Neighborhood Library 156
Holidays and Recreation for the Young 158
Many over-work their Children 160
Federation for Country-life Progress 161
The Vocations of Boys and Girls 162
Other Local Possibilities 164
The Boy Scout Movement 165
Rural Boy Scouts in Kansas 166
XI. HOW MUCH WORK FOR THE COUNTRY BOY 171
See that the Work is for the Boy's Sake 172
Not Enforced Labor, but Mastery 174
Provide Vacations for the Boy 176
A Tentative Schedule of Hours 178
Think out a Reasonable Plan 179
XII. HOW MUCH WORK FOR THE COUNTRY GIRL 183
A Balanced Life for the Girl 185
Work begins with Obedience 186
Working the Girls in the Field 188
Some Specific Suggestions 189
Do you Own your Daughter? 190
Difficult to make a Schedule 191
Teach the Girl Self-supremacy 192
Summary 194
XIII. SOCIAL TRAINING FOR FARM BOYS AND GIRLS 197
A Happy Mean is Needed 197
A Social Renaissance in the Country 199
Conditions to guard Against 200
1. The Social Companionship of Girls 201
2. Bad Companionships for Boys 202
3. Secret Sex Habits 204
4. The So-called Bad Habits 205
A Center of Community Life 207
Invite the Young to the House 208
How to conduct a Social Entertainment 209
What about the Country Dance? 211
Additional Forms of Entertainment 212
1. The Social Hour at the Religious Services 212
2. A Country Literary Society 213
3. The Social Side of the Economic Clubs 215
Some Concluding Suggestions 215
XIV. THE FARM BOY'S INTEREST IN THE BUSINESS 220
What is in your Boy? 220
Much Experimentation Necessary 221
1. Willingness to Work 222
2. Ability to Save 223
Start on a Small Scale 224
Give your Son a Square Deal 225
Keep the Boy's Perfect Good Will 226
Some will be retained on the Farm 227
The Awakening often comes from Without 229
An Awakening in the South 229
Partnership between Father and Son 231
Summary and Concluding Suggestions 232
XV. BUSINESS TRAINING FOR THE COUNTRY GIRL 235
Is the Country Girl Neglected? 236
Why the Girl leaves the Farm 237
Certain Rules to be Observed 239
1. Teach the Girl to Work 239
2. Teach her Business Sense 240
3. Train her to transact Personal Business 241
4. Make her the Family Accountant 242
5. Miserliness to be Avoided 243
6. Teach her to Give 244
7. Teach the Meaning of a Contract 245
8. Prepare her to deal with Grafters 246
Should there be an Actual Investment? 247
XVI. WHAT SCHOOLING SHOULD THE COUNTRY BOY HAVE 250
Changes in Rural School Conditions 250
The Boy a Bundle of Possibilities 252
Classes of Native Ability 253
The Great Talented Class 254
Round out the Boy's Nature 256
Other Important Matters 257
Develop an Interest in Humanity 259
XVII. WHAT SCHOOLING SHOULD THE COUNTRY GIRL HAVE 262
Special Problems relating to the Girl 262
Protecting the Girl at School 263
Lessons in Music and Art 265
The Reward will come in Time 267
The Mother's Office as Teacher 268
Home-life Education 270
Education for Supremacy 271
An Outlook for Social Life 272
XVIII. THE FARM BOY'S CHOICE OF A VOCATION 275
Should the Farmer's Son Farm? 275
Impatience of Parents 276
What of Predestination? 277
Three Methods of Vocational Training 279
1. The Apprentice Method 280
2. The Cultural Method 280
3. The Developmental Method 281
The Farmer Fortunate 282
What College for the Country Boy? 283
The Foundation in Work 284
Clean up the Place 285
Money Value of an Agricultural Education 286
A Successful Vocation Certain 287
XIX. THE FARM GIRL'S PREPARATION FOR A VOCATION 290
What is the Outlook? 290
Desirable Occupations for Women 292
1. May teach the Young 293
2. May take up Stenography 294
3. May do Social Work 295
4. May secure Clerkships 296
A College Course for the Girl 298
Associations with Refined Young Men 299
Make the Daughter Attractive 300
Summary and Conclusion 301
XX. CONCLUSION AND FUTURE OUTLOOK 306
Strive for Preconceived Results 306
Consult Expert Advice 308
Meet Each Awakening Interest 310
Work for Social Democracy 311
The Outlook very Promising 312
The Modern Service Training 314
The State doing its Part 316
The New Era of Religion 319
Final Conclusion 319
INDEX 323
ILLUSTRATIONS
PLATE
I. Fig. 1. At least once each day the busy farm
father may think of a way to combine his
work with the children's play _Frontispiece_
FACING PAGE
II. Fig. 2. Canadian boys breaking young oxen 6
III. Fig. 3. An attractive Kansas home 28
IV. Fig. 4. A day nursery in the country 42
V. Fig. 5. A rural home in the South 56
VI. Fig. 6. A well-equipped farmhouse 64
VII. Fig. 7. Children playing under the shade trees 72
VIII. Figs. 8-9. Rural church, Plainfield, Illinois 86
IX. Fig. 10. Village church at Ogden, Kansas 92
X. Fig. 11. Corn Sunday in an Illinois church 96
XI. Fig. 12. A country schoolhouse in California 108
Fig. 13. Type of model rural school used in
Kansas 108
XII. Fig. 14. Model rural school at Kirksville, Missouri.
Normal 112
XIII. Fig. 15. Rear view of the Kirksville school 114
XIV. Fig. 16. Using Babcock tester 120
XV. Figs. 17-21. Consolidated school and those it
displaced 124
XVI. Fig. 22. The Cornell rural schoolhouse 126
XVII. Fig. 23. A.Y.M.C.A. play club 132
XVIII. Fig. 24. Y.M.C.A. Convention in Ohio 138
XIX. Fig. 25. Jerry Moore, champion corn raiser 150
XX. Fig. 26. A lonely schoolhouse 164
XXI. Fig 27. Tennis in the country 180
Fig. 28. Country play festival 180
XXII. Fig. 29. Industrial exhibit in rural school 192
XXIII. Fig. 30. Agricultural and domestic science club 208
XXIV. Fig. 31. School and church in Canada 212
XXV. Fig. 32. Kansas prize winners 230
XXVI. Fig. 33. Girls' doll display 238
XXVII. Fig. 34. Boys whittling 252
XXVIII. Fig. 35. Study of corn 256
XXIX. Fig. 36. School gardeners 270
XXX. Fig. 37. Country schoolgirls 290
XXXI. Fig. 38. A girls' class in sewing 300
XXXII. Fig. 39. Girl sowing seed 312
Fig. 40. Boy thinning vegetables 312
FARM BOYS AND GIRLS
CHAPTER I
_BUILDING A GOOD LIFE_
If you were about to begin the construction of a dwelling house, what
questions would most likely be uppermost in your mind? If this house
were intended for your own use, you would doubtless consider among other
important matters those of comfort, convenience of arrangement,
attractiveness of appearance, strength, and durableness. The great
variety of dwellings to be seen on every hand is outwardly expressive of
the great variety of ideals in the minds of the people who construct
them. No matter what means there may be available for the purpose, it
may be said that he who builds a house thereby illustrates in concrete
form his inner character.
With practically the same quality of materials, one man will construct a
house apparently with the thought that its chief purpose is to be looked
at. Much work and expense will be put upon outer show and embellishment,
while in its inner arrangements it may be exceedingly cramped and
thoughtlessly put together. Another will erect his building with a
thought of placing it on the market. Cheap workmanship, weak and faulty
joinings, and the like, will be concealed by some thin covering meant to
last until a profitable sale has been made and some innocent purchaser
caught with a mere shell of a house in his possession. Occasionally,
however, there is found a man whose plans conform to such ideals as
those first named.
WHAT IS A GOOD LIFE?
As with the construction of a house, so it is in some measure with the
building of a character. Some lives apparently are constructed to look
at; that is, with the thought that outer adornment and a mere appearance
of worth and beauty constitute the essential qualities. Other lives are,
in a sense, made to sell. Not infrequently parents are found developing
their boys and girls as if the chief purpose were to place them
somewhere or other in the best possible money market. A life is worth
only as much as it will bring in dollars and cents, is apparently the
predominating thought of such persons. And then, occasionally, a life is
built to _live in_; that is, with the idea that intrinsic worth
constitutes the essential nature of the ideal character.
But what _is_ a good life? And why is not this precisely the question
for all parents to ask themselves at the time they begin the development
of the lives of their own boys and girls? Assuming a fairly sound
physical and mental inheritance on the part of the child and the given
environment as the raw materials of construction, what ideals should
parents have uppermost in mind before undertaking the tremendously
important and interesting duties of constructing worthy manhood and
womanhood out of the inherent natures of their children?
1. _Good health._--It is a difficult task to develop a sound, efficient
life without the fundamental quality of good health. So it may be well
to remind parents of this fact and to urge them especially to avoid in
the lives of the children, first, the beginnings of those lighter
ailments which frequently grow into menacing habits--for example, the
diseases that become chronic as a result of unnecessary exposure to the
weather--and second, those various contagious diseases which so often
permanently deplete the health of children, such as scarlet fever and
whooping cough. It is now held by medical authority that every
reasonable effort should be made to prevent children from taking such
infectious ailments--that the so-called diseases of children can and
should be practically all avoided.
2. _Usefulness._--The newer ideals of character-building call for the
early training of all children as if they were to enter permanently upon
some bread-winning pursuit. Such training is a most direct means of
culture and refinement, provided it be correlated with the proper amount
of book learning and play and recreation. Such uniform and
character-building discipline tends to preserve the solidarity of the
race, and to acquaint all the young with the thoughts and feeling of the
great productive classes. It may be this is now regarded as both a
direct means of culture and of leading the young mind into an intimate
acquaintance with the lives of the masses. Such training is regarded
also as one of the best means of preserving our social democracy.
Therefore, although on account of inherited wealth the child may
apparently be destined for a life of comparative ease, even then there
is every justification for teaching him early how to work as if he must
do so to earn his own living. Much more will be said about this point
later.
3. _Moral strength._--In the construction of a good life, moral strength
must be estimated as one of the important foundation stones. But this
quality is not so much a gift of nature or an inheritance as it is an
acquisition. It cannot be bought or acquired through merely hearing
about it, but it must come as a result of a large number of experiences
of trial and error. The child acquires moral self-reliance from the
practice of overcoming temptation in proportion to his strength, the
test being made heavier as fast as his ability to withstand temptation
increases. As will be shown later, it proves weakening to the character
of the growing child to keep him entirely free from temptation and the
possible contamination of his character in order that he may grow up
"good."
4. _Social efficiency._--The good life is not merely self-sustaining in
an economic way, but it is also trained in the performance of altruistic
deeds. In building up the lives of the young it will be necessary and
most helpful to think of the matter of social efficiency. Therefore, it
will be seen to that the child have practice in assuming the leadership
among his fellows, in taking the initiative on many little occasions,
and in some instances to the extent of standing out against the combined
sentiment of his young associates. Of course, during all this time he
will be backed strongly by the advice and the insistent direction of his
parents, the idea being to induce him to think out his own social
problems and to carry forward any suitable plans of a social nature that
he may devise.
5. _Religious interest._--Few parents will deny that religious
instruction is just as essential to the development of a good society as
is intellectual instruction. Indeed, there is much evidence to bear out
the conviction that religion is a deep and permanent instinct in all
normal human beings. This being the case, it is fair to say that such an
instinct should have some form of awakening and indulgence in the life
of the child. However, there is no thought or intention of prescribing
any particular form of religious faith. He might at least be sent to
Sunday school and to church regularly where he may be led to do a small
amount of religious thinking on his own account.
6. _Happiness._--The good life is a happy life. But nearly all the
students of human problems seem to think that happiness eludes the grasp
of the one who seeks it in a direct way. "I want my children to be happy
and enjoy life," is often the remark of well-meaning parents. They then
proceed as if joy and happiness could be had for money. It is true that
during his early years of indifference to any serious concern or
personal responsibility, the child may be made extremely happy by giving
him practically everything his childish appetites may call for and
allowing him to grow up in idleness. But there comes a time when the
normal individual begins to question his own personal and intrinsic
worth. The instincts and desires of mature life come on and if there be
not available the means for the realization of the better instinctive
ambitions, then bitterness and woe are likely to become one's permanent
portion.
However, it may be put down as a certainty that happiness and
contentment will naturally come in full measure into the life that has
been well built during the years of childhood and youth. If the good
health has been conserved, a life of usefulness and service prepared
for, moral strength built into the character, social efficiency looked
after continuously, and something of religious experience not
neglected--it will most certainly follow as the day follows the night
that the wholesome enjoyments and the durable satisfactions of living
will come to such an individual.
[Illustration: PLATE II.
FIG. 2.--These Canadian lads are enjoying their first lessons in
live-stock management. We call their conduct play, but surely no one
was ever more in earnest than they.]
IS THE HUMAN STOCK COMPARATIVELY SOUND?
There are now among the students of the home problems many who are
seriously interested in the matter of breeding a better human stock.
Many noteworthy conclusions have already been reached, and ample proofs
have been produced to show that the human animal follows the same
general lines of evolution as do the lower animal orders. It is shown in
general, for example, that little or nothing that man has learned or
acquired during his life is transmitted to his offspring. That is, even
though a man devote many years to the intensive study of music or
mathematics or the languages, such study will not affect the ability of
his child in the study of the specialized subject. The same unaffected
result obtains in respect to any other form of expertness of the merely
acquired sort. For example, the fact that a man through long practice
becomes expert in the use of the typewriter does not affect the
character of the child in respect to such ability. It is a no less
difficult task for the child to learn to master the use of the
typewriter keyboard.
On the other hand, it is shown very conclusively that physical and
mental characters inborn in the life of a parent tend at all times to be
transmitted to the child, although many traits are known to be wanting
in the first generation of children and to appear in the second or
successive generations. According to the law of Mendel, the traits of
the parents are transmitted to the child about as follows: one-half of
the elements of one's physical and mental natures are inherited from his
parents, one-fourth from his grandparents, one-eighth from his
great-grandparents, and so on. In any given case, however, there might
be great variation from this rule of the averages, just as actual men
and women vary more or less widely from the average human height of so
many feet and inches.
There is no thought here of discussing the intricate problems of
eugenics. The purpose of this brief dogmatic sketch is that of
attempting to induce parents to believe that the great mass of our
American-born children are comparatively sound in their physical and
mental inheritances. The pathologists profess to be able to prove that
nature is most kind to the new-born child in respect to inheritance of
disease. In fact, it is shown that very few diseases are directly
transmitted through the blood, and that many once so regarded are now
found to be infectious in their natures. There is considerable
indication, however, that the children of the diseased--tuberculous
parents, for example,--inherit a weakened power of resistance for such
disease. But this matter is somewhat foreign to our present discussion.
Best of all, for our present consideration, is the great mass of
evidence sustaining the theory that about ninety-nine per cent of our
new-born infants are potentially good in an economic and moral sense.
That is to say, this great majority of the young humanity have latent
within their natures at the beginning of life the possibilities of
development into sound, self-reliant manhood and womanhood.
So, the writer of these lines would gladly lead rural parents to the
point of being very courageous and optimistic about their infant
children. He would have them see in the latter all the possibilities of
good and efficiency that they may care to attempt to bring out by
thoughtful and conscientious training. For that matter, it can be shown
that many of the leaders of men are constantly springing up out of the
ranks of the common masses and from those of humble parentage. Some of
these great leaders, it is true, are what may be called accidental
geniuses in respect to their native strength and their persistent life
purposes. But many others, and perhaps the majority of them, are merely
men and women who have been reasonably sound at birth and who have been
trained from childhood to maturity in a manner that best served to build
up strong, efficient character.
REFERENCES
The references given at the close of each chapter are meant
to direct the reader to specific treatment of the topics
named. It is thought that nearly every chapter or book
referred to will be found helpful and instructive to such
persons as may naturally become interested in this volume. In
some instances a line of comment is given to make clearer the
contents of the reference.
Must Children have Children's Diseases? Newton. _Ladies' Home
Journal_, April, 1910.
_Dietetic and Hygienic Gazette._ Gazette Publishing Company,
New York. $1 per year, monthly.
The Miracle of Life. J. H. Kellogg, M.D. Good Health
Publishing Company, Battle Creek, Mich. Read especially pp.
363-388, "How to be Strong."
Our Duty to Posterity. Editorial. _The Independent_,
February. 1909.
Relation of Science to Man. Professor A. W. Small. _American
Journal of Sociology_, February, 1908.
Character Building. Marian M. George. A. Flanagan Company.
Treats the ethical problems of the home.
Through Boyhood to Manhood. Ennis Richmond. Chapter 1,
"Usefulness." Longmans.
Making the Most of Our Children. Mary Wood-Allen, M.D.
Chapter IX, "Keeping the Boy on the Farm." McClurg.
Youth. G. Stanley Hall. Chapter XII, "Moral and Religious
Training." Appleton.
The Contents of a Boy. E. L. Moore. Chapter VI, "Social
Interests." Jennings & Graham, Cincinnati.
Mind in the Making. E. J. Swift. Chapter II, "The Criminal
Natures of Boys." Scribners.
The Young Malefactor. Dr. Thomas Travis. Chapter II, "The
Child born Centuries Too Late." Crowell.
The Family Health. M. Solis-Cohen, M.D. Chapter I, "The
Preservation of Health." Penn Publishing Company,
Philadelphia.
The Durable Satisfactions of Life. Dr. Charles W. Eliot.
Crowell. Points out ably the higher way.
The Study of Children. Francis Warner, M.D. Chapter IV,
"Observing the Child. What to Look at and For." The
Macmillan Company.
What makes a Liberal Education. Editorial. _The Independent_,
July 1, 1909.
Relation of the Physical Nature of the Child to His Mental
and Moral Development. George W. Reed. _Annual Report
National Educational Association_, 1909, p. 305.
CHAPTER II
_THE TIME TO BUILD_
We shall continue to assume that the reader, if a parent, is thinking of
his child as being in the position of one whose character requires
constant attention in order that it may be built up through the right
sort of training and the right sort of practices. Just as certainly as
there is a best time in the season to plow corn and also a time not to
plow, as there is a time to plow deep and another time to plow shallow,
so there is unquestionably a best time to give the child any particular
form of training or to withhold it. In general, it may be said that the
most effective training in respect to the human young is that which
centers most closely around the childish interests and instincts.
WHAT OF THE HUMAN INSTINCTS
By observing critically for a few days the conduct of an infant child,
one may notice two or three pronounced instincts at work producing
helpful results in the little life.
1. There is the instinct to nurse, which is so fundamental in securing
the food with which to sustain and build up the body.
2. There is the accessory instinct of crying, also often necessary as
nature's signal for another intake of the food supply. Associated with
these two instincts are a number of reflexes which take care of the
important organic processes, such as digestion, assimilation, and
excretion. Now, we have practically all there is to the "character" of
the human infant. He has, as yet, no instinct for fighting, for sexual
love, or for business. And any effort to arouse and make use of the
last-named dormant qualities would be futile as well as ridiculous. In
respect to a vast majority of the things to be learned, the child is a
mere bundle of potentialities, all of which must bide their time for an
awakening. In short, wise parents soon learn that the center of life in
the infant child is in the stomach, and that if he be fed rightly, kept
much in the open air, clothed comfortably, and bathed frequently, the
body-building processes will usually go on in a satisfactory manner.
3. Although the little life seems so tiny and the daily round of
infantile activities so simple and monotonous, the character-developing
processes are already making their subtle beginnings. For example, the
first lessons in habit are being inculcated through the comparative
rhythm in the infant's life. It will be found both conducive to good
health and helpful to character-development to attend to all the
infant's needs with strict regularity. Let us follow the new-born child
around his little cycle and see what happens. First, he is given a
hearty meal, which is followed at once by perhaps two hours of profound
sleep. Then, there is a gradual waking, the body writhes and wiggles
slightly, and then more, and then still more, until a loud cry is set
up. Under healthy conditions the crying should go on for a very few
minutes, as it helps to send the good blood through every part of the
body, purifying and building up the parts and carrying out the effete
matter. The function of excretion is not only thus much aided, but the
nervous equilibrium is completely restored. The little life has now
swung completely round to the beginning point of two hours previously
and it is ready to start on another journey with the intake of another
hearty meal.
It will be found that the life circle described above continues with
slight variations for the first few weeks, the child sleeping probably
twenty to twenty-two hours out of twenty-four, if it be in a natural
state of health. But slowly the conduct of the infant will become more
complex, and that in response to the growths and changes taking place
within his body. It will be found that he can take a heartier meal, can
stay awake longer, kick harder, wriggle more, and cry louder as the days
multiply. In a month or so his eyes will be seen following some
brilliant or attractive moving body, while the impulsive movements of
the hands will begin to suggest some slight definition of their conduct.
Not long thereafter, the baby smile will break out in a reflex fashion
and the hands will likewise grasp objects placed in the little palms.
Coordinate with these new activities, nature is at work storing up new
nerve structures and cells, especially in the region of the spinal cord
and the cranial centers.
4. The child is all the while learning. As yet, there is little for the
caretaker to do other than to feed the infant with exceeding care and
regularity, and to enjoy the awakening of the new infant activities. In
four to six months, the young learner will lead a much more complex
life,--sitting alone, holding things in his hands, and looking about the
room. But it must be understood that he still hears and sees very few
things in a definite way. Then, in the next two or three months he will
first creep,--he should in time be induced to do so if possible for the
sake of his health,--at length he will stand upright, and finally walk.
None of these processes must be hastened, although they may be aided
when the inner prompting and strength warrant such conduct.
5. During the second year there will probably break out with sudden and
surprising strength the new instinct of anger. It has been latent there
all the time, but the low degree of intelligence and of nerve structure
has not given it proper support and indulgence. But on an occasion there
is perhaps taken from the child some cherished plaything, when he
suddenly flies into a rage, yelling, screaming, kicking, and growing red
in the face. This outburst of rage is a most interesting and enjoyable
aspect to the parent who rightly understands children, although some
ignorantly make it a matter of deep concern, regarding it as significant
of a vicious character in the coming boy and man.
The purpose of this present discussion is to illustrate how the human
instincts come into their functions at various times during the life of
the growing child. And the further purpose is to urge that such thing be
_watched for and met with just the sort of training necessary for
permanent and helpful results_.
Now, let the little child fly into a rage two or three times and have
his anger appeased through indulgence in the thing he cries for, and he
has acquired his first lesson in the management of the parent or nurse.
He has learned that if he wants a thing, all he needs to do is to squall
or yell and the desired results will be forthcoming. But this childish
rage really furnishes the occasion for the beginning of some
disciplinary lessons. "Should I give the child everything he cries for,
or withhold the desired object until he quits?" asks an anxious parent.
Neither rule is necessarily the right one, and yet both, on occasions,
may be correct. Suppose, instead of the infant you have a five-year-old
boy who cries for a loaded revolver he happens to see in your hand.
Would you give it to him to stop his crying, or withhold it? Suppose
again he should cry for the return of his own plaything which some one
unjustly snatched from him. Would you return his plaything to stop his
crying, or let him cry it out? Now, here is implied the correct answer
in dealing with the outburst of anger in the infant. It is all a matter
of justice and fairness. If some agency, human or otherwise, snatches
his food from his mouth, and the child squalls for its return, indulge
the infant at once. If he has been well fed, comfortably clad and
bathed, and under every proper consideration should lie still and behave
himself, then do not run and take him up because he happens to be trying
your patience with his squalling. Hold him to it and let him bawl it
out. There is really nothing better coming to him if you are thinking of
the development of his character--and your own.
6. So, somewhat later on you will find this same instinct of anger
showing itself in the various forms of fighting and quarreling. The
parent who understands the true natures of healthy children will not
worry for a moment because the children show natural dispositions for
contention and combativeness. On the other hand, it will be understood
that these very tendencies furnish the occasion of many a lesson in
social ethics. How can the child ever learn to be just and fair to his
mates or square and considerate in his dealings with adults unless it be
through the give-and-take experiences that come from attempting to get
more than his share,--and failing much of the time,--and from attempting
to over-ride the rights and privileges of others, and having such
attempts properly thwarted? Indeed, it may be regarded as a great
misfortune to the child if he has to grow up as the only one in a home
and is denied the daily companionship of those of his own age from whom
he may learn justice and fairness as a result of his attempts to get
more than is just and fair for himself.
7. The watchful parents will observe that perhaps some time during the
second half year, and with some pronounced repetitions later, there will
be clear manifestations of the instinct of fear on the part of the
child. Again, there is nothing for deep concern other than to meet this
instinct in a general way as has been observed for the others named and
to give the proper training. Fear must have been a human necessity
during many years of savagery and barbarism. It still has its positive
and negative values in the development of character. It serves as a
deterrent from dangerous and criminal acts. It is also found to deter
the growing infant from doing many a thing which he ought to be learning
to do. Fear shows its most interesting aspects in the form of what has
been called social sensitiveness; that is, bashfulness, shyness,
reticence, and the like.
Parents should by all means watch closely the various childish and
youthful tendencies to fear, allowing those fears which promise to be
helpful to remain in the life or to die out slowly through counteracting
conduct; and eliminating those other forms which would seem to serve no
useful purpose. Examples of the latter sort would be the fear of
ferocious animals and of murderers. Such mortal enemies are so uncommon
in this civilized land that fear of them will probably be of no service
to life. On the other hand, it may stunt and deter the development of
courage. Especially do such fears tend to induce the habit of
unnecessary concern and deep worry, thus destroying the peace and
happiness and cutting off the length of years of many members of our
society.
8. There is no questioning the value of social sensitiveness in respect
to the development of character in the young. Some degree of bashfulness
and embarrassment in dealing with people, especially those regarded by
him as of superior worth, may be considered an actual asset in the life
of the growing boy. This bashfulness will give him a rich inner
experience of doubts and fears, and of hopes and triumphs. Slowly, under
proper guidance and direction, the sensitiveness wears away through
repeated experience of a contrary sort, and such qualities as create a
self-reliance take its place.
On the other hand, it is doubtless a misfortune, especially for the boy,
to become blase--indifferent and unembarrassed in the presence of people
of all ranks and conditions--while he is yet a mere lad. Under our
present organization of society, the boy who would win the life race
must have much experience of trial and error, of failure and success,
and of tribulation and triumph; and all that for the sake of a
self-reliant character. Now, the boy who has lost all sense of
embarrassment in the presence of others is likely to be denied the
stirring inner experiences just named, and to settle down in an
indifferent, self-satisfied attitude toward the big problems of human
conduct. It may be counted, therefore, as an indication of much promise
and advantage that the country youth and the country maiden continue to
be comparatively "green" and bashful during the period of their
adolescence.
9. The instinct of sexual love will manifest itself at the proper time
and age. Before so doing, certain organic changes and inner nerve
developments must take place. Parents may learn some lessons from
observation of this instinct that will apply to practically all the
others. For example, there should be no attempt to hurry the
manifestation and the functioning of the instinct, nor should the
training necessary for its development and refinement be denied or
withheld. Of all the many inner awakenings that come to the developing
human being, there is probably none that quite matches the surging
energy of sexual love in healthy young manhood and womanhood. And to an
extraordinary degree, opportunities for instruction and development of
the character become present at this time.
First of all, parents need to be reminded of the naturalness and
wholesomeness of the sex instincts in adolescent boys and girls. They
must be urged to provide carefully for its natural growth through the
proper commingling of the sexes in a social way, and yet there must be
preserved in the young lives just enough strangeness and mystery about
the sex matters as to indulge the poetic and the romantic aspects of the
unfolding natures. It need not, therefore, be a matter of worry and
unusual concern to parents if their fifteen-year-old son and a
neighbor's thirteen-year-old daughter show pronounced tendencies to be
"crazy in love" with each other. However, this situation furnishes most
fitting opportunities for teaching the boy courtly manners, gallantry,
consideration for women of all ages; and that through and by means of
his own personal experience. In fact, this stirring period of sex-love
opens up in the mind of the boy reflections that tend to run out into
every possible avenue of his future life.
Likewise, the girl. That same little girl who shortly ago hated boys and
declared she would never have anything to do with them is now
manifesting much interest in the youth of her acquaintance. This thing
cannot be laughed to scorn, or scolded away, or whipped out of the life
of either boy or girl. Its roots are in the sex organs as well as in the
heart. This first love period furnishes the rarest opportunities for
teaching the girl proper lessons in respect to her comeliness, her
purity of thought, and the sweetness of her own personal character. If
during this time she be withheld entirely from wholesome association
with boys and young men, there is a probability that she may become a
drone or a mope, and especially that she may lose valuable training in
the acquisition of those winsome ways so helpful to young women in the
matter of their obtaining suitable life companions.
Perhaps less need be said in respect to giving the growing son those
forms of social training which make it possible for him to win to his
side an attractive helpmate. But beyond the question of a doubt there
can and should be much done by way of training the daughter in this
respect. In addition to her good health, her moral self-reliance, and
those other desirable qualities illustrated in a preceding paragraph,
the young woman who is thoroughly prepared for meeting successfully the
issues of life has had careful training in all the practices that refine
and beautify her character.
This duty of rural parents to the growing daughter is no less imperative
than in the case of city parents. It may be considered as an excellent
way of planning for the future happiness and well-being, not merely for
one, but doubtless for an entire family, if the growing girl be indulged
and directed reasonably in social matters during this period of
greatest strength of her natural sex instinct. This thing cannot be
safely put off a few years with the thought that the family will move to
town and then the girl may have her proper opportunities of training.
After such procrastination and neglect, it becomes too late ever to
correct the many faults of omission.
10. There develops somewhat late in the lives of young men and young
women what might be called the "homing" instinct, which amounts to
nothing other than a deep and pronounced prompting from within to set
definitely about the matter of getting into a home of one's own and
providing for and building it up. This is different from the mere sex
instinct named above, although perhaps an outgrowth of it. It must be
noted in passing that this homing instinct, when at its strongest,
furnishes the proper occasion for instruction in respect to the home and
the home-building affairs. Happy indeed is the young man or the young
woman who, after a period of such instruction, may have the opportunity
of settling down in a suitable dwelling place and there beginning the
establishment of the ideal family life.
11. Unquestionably there dawns in the life of normal young men--and
perhaps to a milder degree in respect to young women--a pronounced
instinct of a business and economic sort. This inner prompting is
doubtless associated with the two last named. It may be observed by any
person who knows how to study the lives of children and young people
that some particular youth who a few months ago was a spendthrift,
indifferent of his future needs and welfare, is now heard to declare
emphatically again and again that he must get into business, must save
and invest his means and provide for his future needs. So, there is not
a little evidence in effect that we have here another inner development
of the nerve mechanism. And the time is most fit and opportune for the
parents to exhaust every reasonable effort to discover what the youth is
best suited for as a life practice and to guide him on toward the
realization of that purpose. Much more will be said in another chapter
in respect to the choice of a vocation.
REFERENCES
Rural parents who develop an intensive interest in the
child-training problems will find it most profitable to read
somewhat extensively in the texts that are not too direct but
that give a careful treatment of the fundamental principles
of child psychology. King's and O'Shea's books listed below
are of this special character. For a fuller list, see Chapter
VI.
The Child: A Study in the Evolution of Man. A. F.
Chamberlain. Chapter IV, "The Period of Childhood." Scribner.
A sound and somewhat scholarly treatment.
Boy Wanted. Nixon Waterman. Chapter I, "The Awakening";
Chapter II, "Am I a Genius?" Forbes & Co., Chicago.
Education of the Central Nervous System. Reuben P. Halleck.
Chapter VII, "Special Sensory Training." American Book
Company.
The Moral Life. Arthur E. Davies. Chapter V, "Motive: The
Beginnings of Morality." Review Publishing Company,
Baltimore.
Psychology. J. R. Angell. Chapter XVI, "The Important Human
Instincts." Holt.
Essentials of Psychology. W. B. Pillsbury. Chapter X,
"Instinct." Macmillan. Rural parents will find this entire
text a non-technical and fundamental help.
Development and Education. M. V. O'Shea. Chapter XII, "The
Critical Period." Houghton, Mifflin Company.
Psychology of Child Development. Irving King. Chapter on
"Instinct." University of Chicago Press.
Your Boy: His Nature and Nurture. George A. Dickinson, M.D.
Chapter II, "Elements of Character." Hodder & Stoughton, New
York.
An Introduction to Child Study. W. B. Drummond. Chapter XII,
"The Instincts of Children"; Chapter XIII, "Instincts and
Habit." Longmans. The book is worthy an entire reading.
A Study of Child Nature. Elizabeth Harrison. Chapter I, "The
Instinct of Activity." Chicago Kindergarten College.
Observing Childhood. A. S. Draper. _Annals American Academy_,
March, 1909.
Are we spoiling our Boys who have the Best Chances in Life?
Henry van Dyke. SCRIBNER'S MAGAZINE. October, 1909.
How to civilize the Young Savage. Dr. G. Stanley Hall. _Mind
and Body_, June, 1911.