THE ENGLISH AND AMERICAN CHILD.
The first thing that struck: about American family life was the; constant presence of children with' their parents," says Lady Henry j Somerset, in an interesting article on "Child’s Development, which ap-j pears in the Christmas number of m' the "Windsor Magazine." " This seemed an ideal state of things, and! 1 contrasted it with the way iu' which many English children are kept in nursery and schoolroom, with a set hour for visiting the drawingroom, and a routine life which seiv dom varies. "I congratulated myself that this American habit was gaining in England, and that children were, on the whole, far more in the company of i their elders, than of old,; but my) M theories have no maturer observation, received some rude awakentrigs. The society of adults is good lor children, only in so far a s ihcyj realise that they dare not disturb the child s point of view, that their focus of vision is a different one, and that to adjust life for child eyes as it suits their own is to distort it hopelessly. "In later years the benefit derived by the prolonged period of home life Cannot be exaggerated. The evidence is seen in the w'ay in which woman is regarded, due, L believe, almost entirely to the fact that American boys and girls a re not separated almost from babyhood, as is the case in England. "The American boy is not taught front his earliest years to regard his sisters as agreeable adjuncts to his holiday pleasures, and to accept their sacrifices with kind a nd indulgent complacency. The certainty of his male superiority is not fostered as it is in England. Jn later life he attends lectures given bv women,
and to his educational career he owes some of his success in college to their wisdom and brains. All { this has a very distinct influence in the formation of a character which from earliest, childhood is taught to regard woman with respect and admiration. 'lhe diflerenccs that the whole system of education engenders a re too great, to be dealt with in his short, article, but that they are of supreme importance it would be idle to deny. From babyhood the English hoy believes himself superior to bis little sisters, and this idea does not diminish with Oxa, years."
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Northland Age, Volume VI, Issue 3, 6 September 1909, Page 2
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392THE ENGLISH AND AMERICAN CHILD. Northland Age, Volume VI, Issue 3, 6 September 1909, Page 2
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