Page:American Journal of Psychology Volume 21.djvu/153

Rh have figures, stars, or anchors, tattooed on their arms. The finger nails are painted, pointed and notched in peculiar ways, and a favored nail may be allowed to grow long and be protected with considerable care. The girls are sometimes solicitous about the size of their hands and the shape of their fingers, and they are squeezed to make them small and of proper shape. This attitude is sometimes taken towards their whole body. One girl lamented her small stature and asked to be lifted by the head, while another sat much because she thought it would prevent her from growing tall.

It seems hardly necessary here to mention the analogy between these activities on the part of children and those of primitive man. There is perhaps not a single trait here mentioned that could not also be found among savages. The awakening of the sense of self in primitive man through long ages, is probably duplicated in a somewhat telescopic fashion by each child.

The one thing which such a study as this reveals is that children have their own point of view, many times radically different from that of the adult. One must first try to understand children and get their point of view if one is to treat them sympathetically and be helpful to them. Pedagogy sins more just at this point than perhaps in any other way. Many a parent may love his child and want to do all that is necessary for its welfare and yet utterly fail because of this inability to see things from the point of view of the child's psychic evolution. The same might be said of teachers.

From the returns, one must conclude that Whittier's "Barefoot boy with cheek of tan," tells only half the story, and that the barefoot girl with cheeks of tan is also to be found. Of the 350 children reported upon almost two-thirds were girls, and there was not any less enthusiasm among them for going barefoot than among the boys. From about four or five to 12, and even later, the desire to go barefoot seems to be universal among both boys and girls, although they are not all allowed to do so. This feeling is strongest in the spring when the days begin to turn warm, and just after a rain. The first hint of warm weather seems to awaken the desire to go barefoot, and in many cases parents can scarcely induce their children to wait until the days are warm enough. One boy of 12 wants to go barefoot in spring as soon as frogs croak. All sort of excuses are made by the children to accomplish this end. Some go away from home and indulge in this for a few minutes when parents do not know it. Others take off their stockings and put their shoes back on. Those children who