CHAPTER VIII 



CIVIC TRAINING BY MEANS OF THE INDIVIDUAL PLOT 



Up to the time when the child reaches school age 

 it has been very dependent upon everyone it comes in 

 contact with, especially the mother, and for several 

 years after this it will be a dependant and an infant 

 in the eyes of the law. At no period of its life in 

 civilized communities will it ever be strictly independ- 

 ent, but there should be a well-developed sense of 

 self-reliance and desire to carry on independent think- 

 ing and effort. Before teaching co-operation, in- 

 struction should come in developing individualism. 

 The higher and more complex the civilization the more 

 dependent is each upon all the rest of the community. 

 Co-operation and independence go hand in hand, but 

 without an early and sound instruction in personal 

 privilege and duty the enforced dependant tends to- 

 ward a shirking of public responsibility, except in those 

 of most pronounced character. Therefore, it should 

 be the duty of the system of education to train indi- 

 viduals to know their rights. A community, like a 

 chain, is only as strong as its weakest link and the 

 effort should be made to raise the standard of the 

 average and the mass rather than to add more strength 

 to those already strong. 



33 



