It has been a blessed thing for the child and for humanity that the
former has at last attracted our attention in a way to force upon
us the conviction that it is time we found out what to do with him.
People of scientific bent think this can be done by measurement and
test experiments. Many fond and utterly unscientific mammas think it
can be done by an all-absorbing deference to the child's whims; by
setting the child on a pedestal and pouring ointments over him and
bringing him sweetmeats and nectar on silver platters. I am not sure
but it was this latter conduct on the part of the parent that called
the attention of teachers to the need of a thorough study of the child
and his requirements. For nothing else is so detrimental to the child's
development as this growing tendency to pamper him.
The old method of treating the child was to ignore him; to let him be
seen and not heard; to think that because he was young he could run
errands all day, eat what was left at table, sleep in the coldest bed
at night, and be thrust into the corner as an undesirable piece of
furniture. Now the custom is exactly the reverse. In most well-to-do
families the child is the central figure, and the parents stand around
to minister to him. Nothing is too rich for him, and he becomes the
darling, terror, and tyrant of the household.
As between the old boxing-glove method and this modern kid-glove method
of handling the child the former is preferable--the hardier ones
survive; but no character is proof against the seductive enervation of
pampering.
These facts in regard to the development of youth have not escaped the
notice of that keenest of observers, Rudyard Kipling. In "Captains
Courageous" he has given us his opinion as to the best means of
rescuing boys and girls who threaten to become utterly worthless, and
of transforming them into useful men and women.--_Child-Study Monthly._
[Illustration: YELLOW PERCH.
_Subject loaned by Chicago Academy of Sciences._
CHICAGO:
A. W. MUMFORD, PUBLISHER.]