Psychologists believe that the combative and aggressive instinct is permanent in all human beings; but it is probable that, with a correct understanding of children, the instinct for aggression need not survive childhood. It’s certain that to repress the aggressiveness of a child will make him later more aggressive and anti-social; he will later on […]
In 1911 a penniless young music-hall artist left England for America. His future was uncertain, but he did not believe it could be unhappier than his past. He had grown up in the slums of London’s East End and had experienced great poverty. His mother’s life had been so hard that she had finally gone […]
The children who are cared for by the Chain of Hope come from countries which are stricken by poverty or torn by conflict. They are children who have been injured by a mine or an exploding shell, who have been born with deformities, who have caught diseases or who suffer from the after-effects of injuries. […]
In most societies differences in play between boys and girls are not merely expected, but actively encouraged. In our own culture, only very young boys may be allowed to play with their sisters’ dolls occasionally without ridicule or remonstrance. And even they are rarely given dolls of their own, although teddies and stuffed animals may […]
Perhaps more swimmers have been drowned by cramp than by anything else, and only those who have suffered from it can conceive its fatal power. Even good swimmers, when seized with cramp, have been known to sink instantly, overcome with the sudden pain, and nothing can save the victim but the greatest presence of mind. […]
The computer is basically a device for ingesting, judging, and otherwise processing or usefully modifying knowledge. Thus it enlarges brainpower in the same way that other man-made machines enlarge muscle power. Like man, the computer expresses knowledge in terms of symbols; man’s symbols are letters and numbers, and the machine’s symbols are electromagnetic impulses that […]
Weaning is a very delicate process, important for the whole of a child’s life. It is not a problem of nourishment, but of the spirit. This side of the problem is all but neglected. We must be careful to substitute some other kind of pleasure to take the place of the original pleasure of the […]
In the early days of the settlement of Australia, enterprising settlers unwisely introduced the European rabbit. This rabbit had no natural enemies in the Antipodes*, so it multiplied incredibly quickly. It overran a whole continent, and caused devastation to herbage which might have maintained millions of sheep and cattle. Scientists discovered that this particular variety […]
In all civilizations, articles are consumed that have no nutrient value but make the food more attractive, or give pleasure. Spices, condiments, herbs, vinegar and pickles are used for this purpose. There is no objection to them for the normal stomach, and there is no evidence that they can cause damage to the normal stomach […]
It is advisable for parents to read to their children at preschool and early primary levels. When they read to a child from story books, comic strips of the better type, and children’s magazines, he becomes aware that books, magazines, and newspapers hold something of interest and amusement for him. He also comes to realize […]