displayed by her daughter. She finds that
owing to her silence and neglect of opportunities her daughter has
obtained definite if entirely wrong ideas of sexual matters.

In other matters, too, the policy of silence or of arbitrarily
forbidding the daughter to indulge in certain pleasures, coupled with
the natural curiosity of the girl, tends to develop in her the habit of
deceitfulness. If she is forbidden some harmless amusements she very
frequently learns these diversions at the homes of her friends. The
mother was brought up in one generation, the daughter in another; what
was considered wrong in the first generation is looked upon in an
entirely different manner now. Many mothers seem to be unable to
realize this. They were brought up in a puritanical environment. The
puritan fathers forbade all indulgence in mirth and happiness. Their
ideas of the perfect life were to wear a stern, unsmiling countenance
and do those things that were unpleasant. If anything was uncongenial,
then it was their duty to overcome their inclinations. These puritans
expected to develop by repression. We have changed our ideas radically
since then, but some of the puritanical ideas still cling to us in our
treatment of children. To develop the child's character she must be made
to do the things she does not want to do and to refrain from the things
she most desires. Is it right?

We are most interested in those things that belong to us individually or
in which we have some share. If we wish a girl to remain at home then we
must see that she is interested in that home. The way to do this is to
make her feel that the home belongs to her in part and that some
portions of it are entirely hers. The majority of girls feel no real
interest in their homes. They are made to feel that it is their
parents' home and that they are only assistants. A girl to be interested
in her home must have some definite room that is hers alone and in which
she is allowed to exercise her individual tastes. She must have a place
in which she can entertain her friends without the feeling that whatever
she does and says is to be criticised afterwards. She should be assigned
to certain tasks and held responsible for them. She must have a certain
definite allowance out of which she is to buy certain things, otherwise
her desire for independence will arise and cause her to leave home. The
majority of girls have no income of their own. Perhaps their desires are
all fulfill