DIANA'S DIARY

Star (Christchurch), Volume XLIV, Issue 296, 14 December 1931, Page 9

DIANA'S DIARY

Keeping Children Under. THE WORM really does turn sometimes and astonishes everyone, and it is interesting to -watch a child who has previously been very much kept under. What an unmanageable asocial person he becomes when he is first allowed freedom to express his opinion. On the other hand, the previously free child, whose opinions are given consideration, who is not treated as if he had no intelligence, is apt to run amok when curbed and restricted too much. One charming child I knew who was never aggressive in any way when not on the leash —a most social rather quiet child, with eyes sparkling with merriment —when sent to a strict boarding school, immediately changed and became one of the naughtiest children in the school, destructive and difficult to manage. She probably got a bad name. Fatal even for a dog! I am rather inclined to think, where the other children are not free, they go like sheep and will ostracise another child for no particular reason. I was. told the other day by a school mistress that an only, and probably spoilt child in her school, was afraid to go out at playtime because the other children teased her so. She developed a pain which incapacitated her for playtime. When the children were asked why they teased her, they replied frankly “ We hate her.” !•: Lovers and Music. •’T'IIE AMOROUS influence of music among men and women has been discussed bv many philosophers and scientific ii**estigators. Music is the most emotional of the arts, and its effect upon the brain and the. nervous , and muscular systems has been repeatedly tested. The sound of a beautiful voice, however, has not a supreme love-appeal to the majority of men. Sight plays a much larger part in man’s attraction than hearing, and a lovely face is more esteemed than the sweetest voice. Allurement by music is a male method of courtship. Only a small proportion of men are aroused to love by the charm of a woman’s voice. With women the fascination of the masculine tone is extremely powerful. In novels written by women there is frequent allusion to the attraction of the lover’s voice. A woman with a golden voice may give full artistic delight to the men of her audience without evoking the admiration that leads to love. But an ugly man with a delightful voice can inspire a profound emotion in the hearts of women. Instrumental music has less sway upon the emotions of women than singing. Still, there is some orchestral and operatic music that incites to romantic dreams of love. Undoubtedly “ music is the food of love,” and the male musician is often a spell worker among sensitive and normal women. DIANA.