Article August 2, 1913 Issue

The children of the Puritans grew up oppressed by fear...

Boston (Mass.) Herald

The children of the Puritans grew up oppressed by fear of an impending future punishment which should afflict their souls. The children of the present day are shadowed by the fear of the impending ills which may afflict their bodies, and are oppressed by the anxiety which on all sides surrounds their physical existence. Instead of frightening them with visions of a personal devil, we frighten them with tales of deadly germs ready to pounce upon them, and myriads of microbes lying in wait for them. In our desire to give them healthy little bodies we are forgetting that we must also aid them to develop courageous little souls.

It has been truly said, "No man is brave who believes physical suffering to be the greatest evil." This belief modern educational methods seem likely to inculcate. Proper instruction in hygiene is most desirable, but we need to remember that the schoolroom and the nursery should furnish light and air for the expanding soul as well as the expanding body. By focusing attention too persistently upon the dreadful ills that "flesh is heir to," we may convert the classroom into a chamber of horrors and set the children shuddering; but we shall never by this means supply them with the strong mortal equipment with which to fight their future battles, or the bright inspiration to awaken in them the love of purity, integrity, and honor. A healthy body is very incomplete unless it is inhabited by a glad, healthy spirit, and in the house of much "plain speaking" we need also habitual "high thinking," lest we forget, and teach the children to forget, that life's equipment calls for something higher than hygiene.

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