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Show OUR CHILDREN 88 By ANGELO PATRI A BROKEN DAY MISS MAUIA made out her dally plan. After morning exercises arithmetic drill, special emphasis on minus seven. Written arithmetic special emphasis on, a man had and a man gave away with special attention atten-tion to I'eter and Katherine. Miss Maria felt the first setback of what was to be a broken day when the principal escorted two Indians in full regalia to the platform. "Dear, dear. I suppose they will talk half an hour. There goes my arithmetic drill." They did talk a half hour and the children leaning far over the edge of their seats took In every word, war whoops and all. "Well," said Miss Maria, as the class filed Into their seats with rather more noise than usual, "we are a little bit behind this morning but we will work hard to make up. Row one, stand Seven take two " The door opened and In walked the superintendent note book In band, spectacles adjusted to the seeingest angle. "Good morning, Miss Maria. I've Just come in to see how well these children are getting along. Perhaps they would like to read for me." Miss Maria groaned In secret This meant getting out the readers. Somehow they got through the morning. The afternoon session opened In comparative calm. "1 may as well try to get In the drawing lesson. The supervisor will be along and those spring pictures aren't ready for her," thought Miss Maria. "Monitors, give out drawing material." The monitors did. Bang. hang, hang, bang. BANG, went the rapid dismissal gongs. All out on record time, lined up in the yard for inspection. When the class tronped back the classroom was a sight. A stray breeze had wandered in and the clean white drawing sheets were littered about the floor. "Monitors, pick up the papers. Martha, fill the pans. I'eter, bring a fresh package of paper. We will paint spring pictures." "I'll let them paint as long as they like. There's no sense In trying to stick to a schedule on a day like this," said Miss Maria to her astonished and bewildered self. That afternoon as Martha put the blackboard rubbers away and Peter counted the readers, and the class sat ready for the hell, Clarabelle looked up at her teacher and said, "Didn't we have a good time today? Just like a party." A broken day comes as a welcome break In the child's routine. He doesn't feel as bad about It as you do. perhaps. Anyway It Is not wise to allow a routine to become so firmly set that It cannot be broken without catastrophe. When It comes make the best of It THE WEAK BROTHER tt vr ESTERDAY my Jimmle went 1 Into the candy store and spent a half dollar that be had taken from my purse. lie gave all the candy to two boys In his class. I find that he has been doing like this for a long time. Well, all this term. Since he has been In the class with these boys They make him steal for them. He Is afraid of Ihem I want them locked up right away. If they are no! locked up my boy will get Into serious trouble." When such n thing as that happens to your child sit down by yourself, and think Think the thing through. Why nns It this child was selected to do the pilfering' Why was II not one of the other children? Why did the child not tell you about his troubles? Because he was the boy or she was the girl, ready for the Job. Nol that the chd willed to do such a thing It Is possible thai he never thought of It. Hut that he was mentally mental-ly weak enough, spiritually weak ' enough, to fall under the pressure of the stronger spirits. Arguing that he was afraid 'of them gets us nowhere. Fear Is the expression of weakness. What we must discover Is the cause of his fear n nit the reason of tils weakness weak-ness WHY wns this child ready for this kind ol a Job? Wasle no time In berating the children chil-dren who used the child for their own ends. Children have no understand Ing of the moralities In question. 1 They must he trained Into them and tie leading can safely be left to the lenrliers and parents while you attend to the weak child. Sometimes n child Is driven beyond his powers In school. The pnrcnts nre so noxious to have tlielr children shine that they push them on. make Ihem lake courses they nre not filled to take, muke them try to adjust to situations sit-uations for which they are mentally, socially and physically unfilled and the children worry themselves Into weakness and Illness and trouble. These things are likely to happen even when we have done our besl to provide good associations tor die chll dren. Even I lie best nelghboihood pro duces Us wayward ones. Hut the weak child Ih till' victim every llnie. If he Ih weak the other children soon find II out ami pick on Mm They chase hlui mid make him redeem hlmselt with a raiisoiii. Have the weak child examined anil treated. Change his school. Change his associates Say noihluu about his old trouble. I'liild him up lo standard mid his fear will vanish nllli bin weakness. tt llxll HynilkBlo. WNU Hervlca. |