Page:The Sunday Eight O'Clock (1916).pdf/81



UR neighbor across the street, who was the mother of nine children all of whom were a credit to themselves and to the community, used to say when asked how she succeeded unaided in rearing her family so successfully, that there was nothing better for children than a good dose of neglect. I have wondered sometimes if the fact that youngest sons and only children have so little independence and initiative is not because they have never been let alone. The host of parents and grandparents and aunts and uncles which incessantly hovers around makes any moments of heavenly neglect impossible. The child is never given a chance to think for himself or to work himself out of a difficult corner.

A student with whom I talked only a short time ago assured me that he thought