124 Heredity and Child Culture 



necessary to know. Parents are the proper 

 ones to give this knowledge and they can pre- 

 pare themselves to impart it without much 

 trouble. They may start with explaining the 

 reproduction of new life in the vegetable world 

 and thence lead up to animals and man. It 

 can take its place in connection with general 

 nature-study which is always profitable and 

 desirable for the child. All manifestations of 

 life on the physical side must be presented in a 

 normal manner, so that nothing unclean may be 

 suggested. The handling of the sex organs, 

 except for cleanliness, can be brought in here in 

 a natural manner and linked up with general 

 hygiene. In this way one can avoid a sugges- 

 tion that might prove undesirable. Children 

 often know more on these subjects than their 

 parents think, although in a distorted, unwhole- 

 some form. Their views must be clarified, and, 

 at the same time, they can be taught the bad 

 results of evil habits. Most children wish to be 

 strong and excel in sports, and an appeal can be 

 made from this angle to avoid whatever will 

 lessen health and vigor. 



