a treatise on parents and children(父母与子女专题研究)-第13章
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begin too early and never leave off at all； obviously the worst of all
possible plans。 In any event we must finally reckon work； not as the
curse our schools and prisons and capitalist profit factories make it seem
today； but as a prime necessity of a tolerable existence。 And if we cannot
devise fresh wants as fast as we develop the means of supplying them；
there will come a scarcity of the needed； cut…and…dried； appointed work
that is always ready to everybody's hand。 It may have to be shared out
among people all of whom want more of it。 And then a new sort of
laziness will become the bugbear of society： the laziness that refuses to
face the mental toil and adventure of making work by inventing new ideas
or extending the domain of knowledge； and insists on a ready…made
routine。 It may come to forcing people to retire before they are willing to
make way for younger ones： that is； to driving all persons of a certain
age out of industry； leaving them to find something experimental to
occupy them on pain of perpetual holiday。 Men will then try to spend
twenty thousand a year for the sake of having to earn it。 Instead of being
what we are now； the cheapest and nastiest of the animals； we shall be the
costliest； most fastidious； and best bred。 In short； there is no end to the
astonishing things that may happen when the curse of Adam becomes first
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A TREATISE ON PARENTS AND CHILDREN
a blessing and then an incurable habit。 And in that day we must not
grudge children their share of it。
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A TREATISE ON PARENTS AND CHILDREN
The Infinite School Task
The question of children's work； however； is only a question of what
the child ought to do for the community。 How highly it should qualify
itself is another matter。 But most of the difficulty of inducing children to
learn would disappear if our demands became not only definite but finite。
When learning is only an excuse for imprisonment； it is an instrument of
torture which becomes more painful the more progress is made。 Thus
when you have forced a child to learn the Church Catechism； a document
profound beyond the comprehension of most adults； you are sometimes at
a standstill for something else to teach； and you therefore keep the
wretched child repeating its catechism again and again until you hit on the
plan of making it learn instalments of Bible verses； preferably from the
book of Numbers。 But as it is less trouble to set a lesson that you know
yourself； there is a tendency to keep repeating the already learnt lesson
rather than break new ground。 At school I began with a fairly complete
knowledge of Latin grammar in the childish sense of being able to repeat
all the paradigms； and I was kept at this； or rather kept in a class where the
master never asked me to do it because he knew I could； and therefore
devoted himself to trapping the boys who could not； until I finally forgot
most of it。 But when progress took place； what did it mean？ First it
meant Caesar； with the foreknowledge that to master Caesar meant only
being set at Virgil； with the culminating horror of Greek and Homer in
reserve at the end of that。 I preferred Caesar； because his statement that
Gaul is divided into three parts； though neither interesting nor true； was
the only Latin sentence I could translate at sight： therefore the longer we
stuck at Caesar the better I was pleased。 Just so do less classically
educated children see nothing in the mastery of addition but the beginning
of subtraction； and so on through multiplication and division and fractions；
with the black cloud of algebra on the horizon。 And if a boy rushes
through all that； there is always the calculus to fall back on； unless indeed
you insist on his learning music； and proceed to hit him if he cannot tell
you the year Beethoven was born。
A child has a right to finality as regards its compulsory lessons。 Also
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A TREATISE ON PARENTS AND CHILDREN
as regards physical training。 At present it is assumed that the
schoolmaster has a right to force every child into an attempt to become
Porson and Bentley； Leibnitz and Newton； all rolled into one。 This is the
tradition of the oldest grammar schools。 In our times an even more
horrible and cynical claim has been made for the right to drive boys
through compulsory games in the playing fields until they are too much
exhausted physically to do anything but drop off to sleep。 This is
supposed to protect them from vice； but as it also protects them from
poetry； literature； music； meditation and prayer； it may be dismissed with
the obvious remark that if boarding schools are places whose keepers are
driven to such monstrous measures lest more abominable things should
happen； then the sooner boarding schools are violently abolished the better。
It is true that society may make physical claims on the child as well as
mental ones： the child must learn to walk； to use a knife and fork； to
swim； to ride a bicycle； to acquire sufficient power of self…defence to make
an attack on it an arduous and uncertain enterprise； perhaps to fly。 What
as a matter of common…sense it clearly has not a right to do is to make this
an excuse for keeping the child slaving for ten hours at physical exercises
on the ground that it is not yet as dexterous as Cinquevalli and as strong as
Sandow。
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A TREATISE ON PARENTS AND CHILDREN
The Rewards and Risks of
Knowledge
In a word； we have no right to insist on educating a child； for its
education can end only with its life and will not even then be complete。
Compulsory completion of education is the last folly of a rotten and
desperate civilization。 It is the rattle in its throat before dissolution。 All
we can fairly do is to prescribe certain definite acquirements and
accomplishments as qualifications for certain employments； and to secure
them； not by the ridiculous method of inflicting injuries on the persons
who have not yet mastered them； but by attaching certain privileges （not
pecuniary） to the employments。
Most acquirements carry their own privileges with them。 Thus a
baby has to be pretty closely guarded and imprisoned because it cannot
take care of itself。 It has even to be carried about （the most complete
conceivable infringement of its liberty） until it can walk。 But nobody
goes on carrying children after they can walk lest they should walk into
misc
