CHILD WELFARE

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXI, 21 June 1926, Page 3

CHILD WELFARE

MOULDING OF CHARACTER INSTRUCTIVE LECTURER ■ BY BRIGADIER BLADIN A very instructive lecture un a must important subject, the religious requirements of children and how best to instil into them spiritual knowledge was given by Brigadier Bladin in the Salvation Army Citadel yesterday afternoon. About fifteen years' ago Brigad’er Bladin was stationed in Nelson, and 1m has been warmly welcomed back bv many who realised the earnest nets and conspicuous ability always associated witli his work. He spoke on die psychology of (lie modern child and the influence that proper religious eiluean m had on its diameter. He said that children should ho instructed in accordance with the laws of development and allowed that freedom of action that was so essential to their well-being. He appealed to parents to encourage the social life of the children in the homely sphere, providing the. natural outlet i n their gay spirits and at the same time educating mem on the right Christian principles. He said that those paven’s who would not allow their children social, gatherings because they vo Id have to clean the carpets, would at drwards have to clean the souls with whose care they were charged.

INSTABIILTY OF YOUTH They were handling very delicate cri/cKery when handling boys and g ris, and if not careful, were liable to snc.-ii them. The period of adolescence was the most plastic and the affocti a f. parents had to be replaced by lieipfu! guidance and good fellowship. ’ r le commented on the instability of youth, which was full of generous impulses one day and devoid of those feelings the next. That inconsistency should not he scorned and criticised, but fostered as in the Girl Guide and Boy Scout movements, which took advantage of U e opportunities presenting themselves for the promotion of life’s generous impulses. B tlinir efforts to guide .ilicir children to success and prevent tlu.ni from drifting aimlessly out hi to ;ho world were of no avail, their failure could be attributed to their ignorance of true temperament and conditions, aid the misunderstanding of the needs of their boys and girls. TYPE OF SUNDAY SCHOOL TEACHER 'Brigadier Bladin said child psychon>gy was becoming a feature of the work of the various denominations and tliey must recognise tiiat the Christian soldiers for the main part would < cine B'WU the ranks of youth. In ‘the past Sunday school work had been relegaled to inefficient teachers, stern disciplinarians or frivolous young "misses” whe were deficient in every quality for the work with which they were entrust-d That order of things had been abolished and the time had come when religious instruction should be given on more scientific lines, following the secular education of the schools. The children must be placed in the care of intelligent and efficient teachers who-had studied conditions and the Sunday school classes should be conducted by teachers (rained for leadership. When the child reached the age of proper reasoning he was oi.iy too apt to contrast the dreary Sunday school instruction with the -modern end. bright methods of the ordinary school teacher. Could they blame boys or g,i is for becoming sibkiof Sunday school i,n. der such conditions? Sunday school teachers would have to be .trained on scientific religious principles and be able to stir the ideals and stimulate the imagination of their pupils. Young people were wanted for the work, people with the courage, determination tind intelligence to set themselves to the mastery of those principles. He would say that practically SO per cent, of the work of conversion took place before the age of maturity was reached. To the lender of children it was not only essential to knovy the fundamental religious truths, hut also the minds of the pupils. .Many unsuitable lessons were taught in Sunday school, and did not appeal to the particular period of de velopment of a child. CHARACTERISTICS OF CHILDHOOD

Jn referring lo the dominant, char* acloristies <>t childhood, Brigadiei Bla<liri said ilia I -from birth (o maturily life widened out in an ever-broadening stream. No two children were identical. (!od never made children as man made a pound of nails. From his demonstrations it would be seen that the dominant, characteristics of the child were the same in essence, if not in aspect, till maturity. Restlessness, curiosity, imitation, Tun, yearning and appetite were the main instincts of habyhoqd. , CHILDREN'S NATTOAI RESTLESSNESS

No person had any more right to tell a child to sit still than to tell it to get drunk. - Some foolish parents tried to repress the restlessness of child, ren and confine them to uncomfortable attitudes. Later the child, as a consequence of their action, became sulky, morose, or bad tempered. He knew of some silly .mothers who had even gone to, the extreme of giving drugs to their children to induce them to keep still. Little they knew the damage they did. They could make the God-given instincts of the child develop along the right lines. That was why in Sunday school the small children were placed in comfortable little chairs allowing ease of movement, rather than being forced to sit in high chairs with their legs dangling down. ’Muscular activity was allowed its course in song and hand actions. Scope was given for freedom of movement, yet all the time that activity was being piloted in the right direction on Christian principles. They did not condemn the children to silently suffer a long monotone of .Bible reading, bid dramatised Bible glories by plasticine modelling. Activity directed along (lie right channel later manifested i! sc If in energy, or I lie desire U- do something. The. well-defined energy expanded into the power of youth to attain life’s objectives, later leading to the achievements of manhood. If the child’s restlessness was bottled tip and its initial energy crushed, its manhood was stunted and it went out at tlntsum on the ocean of life. Germinal character was developed in manhood. DEVELOPMENT OF CURIOSITY Natural curiosity was reflected in every phase of the baby’s life and de. velopecl later into the instinct of inquiry. At the age of four years, the great eternal ■ worry of the child to parents began and they were called upon to answer innumerable questions. Some people damped the ardour of their child, ren by refusing to answer and telling them to run away. The child had to learn step by step and make acquaintance with both animate and inanimate objects. How was that possible when parents would no: listen sympathetica!-

]y to the questions, twarting nature’s creation and damaging the development of the child? Children later arrived at the “examination” stage, when they sought to test the veroeity that their innocent questions should be answered properly and with simplicity and not avoided from a silly sense of false mockmodesty. What unhappiness had been rtixisisd hv parents' mistakes in that tv sped Examination developed into erii.. cisms which weiit on to ir.lelligt ncr 1 cxpcricn. t. •nd in many cases, Hu inventions and discoveries of maturity. TU-DAY'S iDEALS.' TU MORiHiub HABITS Every cliild soon learned to imitate other people’s actions. It was only a further step from that to observation. When the boy began to represent himself as the postman or butcher the innate faculty of imitation was apparent. Some day fond parents would be surprised to see their boy sneaking round the back of a shed for a smoke, purely out of a desire to imitate others. From observation sprang ideals, and the ideals of to-day were the habits of to-morrow. The habit forming period was the most, dangerous part of a boy or girl’s life. If a habit found a groove at the adolescent period of life it was fixed forever, except by a miracle of ‘God’s grace. From habits the character of manhood was formed, so that the imitation of baby hood provided the nucleus for the moulding of character.

SACRIFICE OF I DIVIDE ALITY Then came fun. That sparkling of eyes and the beaming smiles of the baby were fun, which was one of the foremost instincts of childhood. Fun made a child search for pleasures, which was at first self-centred, but often early in life company was preferred and frequently it was that of the small girl living next door. Later the boy forsook his girl playmate and sought the companionship of boys alone, playing their games. From that stage the child advanced to the athletics of youth. -Many of the older folk were rather narrow in their interpretation of the younger generation’s needs and desires. The craving for pleasure must find a neaany outlet in proper recreation. People, who ignored devotion to recreational purposes and professed to flunk only of the souls of their children were ignorant of I lie basic facts of life. No soul was ever made without a body to encompass it. The soul could only be reached through the mentality of a clean and well developed physical being. The athletic period of youth provided one of the means of reaching maturity. Individual interests were sacrificed for team-work, which developed the finest qualities of manhood. Those who sunk their personal welfare in favour of that of others would be able to stand up to the game of iife, play it clean, play it squarely, and play it safe. They became men and women of noble temperament and unselfish Instincts. Young people should not be allowed to pursue degrading sport, but must be catered for in a clean, healthy and satisfying way. LIFE’S COMPANIONSHIPS Yearning was another instinct created by good and later developed into the desire for company. The companionships of early youth expanded into thg friendships of later life. Life-long friendships were formed in a perfectly natural way and led to the family life, business partnerships and fraternity in the district life of a community.

FAITHS BECOME CONVICTIONS When he spoke of appetite lie. did not mean in the sense that he wished to be satisfied at the table at least, three times a day. He referred to n cntal desires which give, rise lo credit hty or beliefs of sweet simplicity which we should be careful not to destroy. Then followed as a natural sequence, faith in the unseen, and a ready acceptance of truths, even if they could not be understood within the limits of reason. A curious fact was that this faith later developed into a form of scepticism. A statement was faithfully accepted and a week later a person become sceptical. That was a period when great wisdom', tact and patience should prevail. If properly do- - veloped in .childhood, faith became the convictions of life and religion. These \vero the broad principles which Sunday school instruction should follow and the natural instincts of childhood should be fostered and matured, and not suffer repression, which was a noxious influence. The speaker gave several beautiful, (bough in eases pathetic, instances which bore out his contentions.