122 Heredity and Child Culture 



a nine-year old, serious ; from a twelve-year old, 

 tragic. 



If a point is once made, it must be carried out, 

 no matter how much of a struggle is required 

 and it is therefore wise to make an issue as 

 rarely as possible, and then only for really 

 essential points. The character of many a child 

 is injured by querulous rebukes, constantly 

 administered, until he comes to be considered as 

 a sort of outlaw, all perhaps for small offences 

 that involve no essential moral question. A 

 little judicial blindness and an occasional kindly 

 talk, combined mth efforts to gain the confidence 

 and interest of the child, and guide his exuber- 

 ant energy in proper directions will do much to 

 conserve his moral and social self-respect. 

 There is sometimes danger of too much as well 

 as too little discipline. We must be careful 

 never to break the spirit of the child. There 

 are only a few important dogmas that always 

 must be authoritatively enforced. 



There exists in many children a touch of bar- 

 barism that is merely an evidence of under- 

 development. Lombroso goes so far as to trace 



