Every individual who assumes responsibility for the care of human life, but 

 more especially of 



YOUNG HUMAN LIFE, 



should be aware that the processes of that life are governed by laws, as are com- 

 munities and nations. Among these laws are those of 



Heredity, which control the general resemblance of a child to his ancestors : 

 Variation from a common type, so- that each child has qualities peculiar to 



himself : 

 Modification by surroundings, by which strong points may be developed or 



destroyed by the conditions of life: 



Adaptability, or the power we all possess to adapt ourselves more or less success- 

 fully to our surroundings: 



Predisposition, or individual tendency to certain lines of conduct ; to contract or 

 to resist certain kinds of disease; or to excel in certain arts, crafts, or 

 professions. 



As a knowledge of the existence of these laws has dawned gradually on the 

 world, thanks to the wonderful work and discoveries of scientific observers during 

 the past sixty or seventy years, it can no longer be a matter for surprise that all 

 life becomes more dignified in our eyes, and that 



THE RESPONSIBILITIES OF PARENTHOOD 



assume a greater importance. We can no longer pretend that a child comes into the 

 world resembling a sheet of white paper, upon which we are free to write the habits 

 and tastes we choose. We are now aware that each infant is a mass of inherited 

 tendencies, the development or repression of which depend upon the surroundings 

 we provide, the food we furnish, the activities we encourage, the sleep and play we 

 permit. To train for the 



RIGHT REARING OF CHILDREN 



is a duty imposed, not upon parents only, but upon all those who are in any way 

 concerned with their nurture and education. The subject is as vast as it is full of 

 absorbing interest. Several years of my own life have been devoted to gathering 

 information on its many characteristics and phases, and in passing on this informa- 

 tion to those whose lives did not allow them to secure it at first hand; to busy 

 parents, to hundreds of teachers, to many of the workers for the world's advance- 

 ment. One of the first points to claim our attention is 



THE DURATION OF CHILDHOOD. 



Under the several names of infancy, childhood, and adolescence, this phase of 

 life actually covers the whole period of immaturity in physical development, which, 

 in the human being, extends for twenty-five years after 'birth (birth itself being a 

 stage in life, not its beginning, as is popularly and conventionally assumed) though 

 it is customary to limit it to a much shorter time. 



Two facts of great consequence arise out of this knowledge : 



(1.) The significance to the child's welfare of its antenatal life: 



(2.) The recognition that definite training and guidance should be extended to 



our young folk to a later period than is now usual. 



The most critical years of mental growth are those from fifteen to twenty-two 

 or twenty-three; it is during these years that the faculties of moral self-control 

 should develop. If they are left unexercised they fail to do so, for it is exercise 

 which stimulates normal growth. The result is a population prone to following the 

 line of least resistance, content with a lower standard of ideals and attainments than 

 it should be. 



Do not assume that I am advocating a i>olicy of 



"LEADING STRINGS"; 



far from that. Young folk must try their wings, must buy their experience. My 

 point is that, by comradeship with their elders, by means of suitable hobbies, recrea- 



o 



