Jasper County Democrat, Volume 21, Number 3, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 10 April 1918 — PROTECT THE CHILDREN [ARTICLE]

PROTECT THE CHILDREN

The injury that war works to nations does not stop with the destruction of life and property. The j greatest injury is in its blighting influence on character. America J should be truly thankful that this war is to be fought in other lands and on foreign soil. Were the con-| ditions here as in France, we would indeed have cause to fear for the future of our country. Survivors of our civil war, who were children growing up When that conflict was raging, can and will testify to the destructive es- j feet of war and war talk on the - i i plastic minds of the young. It has been noted with surprise by many that the children of enemies harbor enmity and animosity' long after all trace of bitterness has departed from the hearts of the combatants. There is a perfectly natural reason for this. Men who have met each other in the shock of battle, I who have given and taken blow for blow, have learned to respect a brave foe; and when hostilities have ceased and the cause of strife has been removed or settled, there has been little enmity left in their hearts. This, however, is not the case with th,e child who has grown up under war’s influence. To the young, impressionable mind an enemy is invested with all the attributes of the evil one himself. None but the worst characteristics Qf that enemy are brought to the child's notice, and in time he comes to'

look upon such enemy as altogether bad. The people of this country should take extra precautions to the end that the young people be disturbed as little as possible by talk of war and preparations for war. They should be discouraged from all discussion of the war or its causes. There will be plenty of time for them to acquire all this information when this struggle shall have passed, into history. In fact, the pages of history is the proper source of their information, because only there can they be reasonably sure of any accuracy.

The teacher who is really consecrated to his calling will, in this crisis, devote all his energy to the task of keeping the minds of the children under his care as near the normal as circumstances will allow. Keep the yo'ung mind so busy with the vital matter of acquiring an education in the practical affairs of life, that war and its horrors will find no place in his thoughts. We would not be understood as discouraging the teaching of patriotism to the child. Every child should be early imbued with a love and reverence for his homeland. But this can be inculcated in a natural manner and the child's mind still be detached from the concrete facts of this or any other conflict. Eor the sake of the child's welfare, let us confine this war to the adults. The children have no place in it.