success in life; that on these all success is
predicated? If they do, surely they cannot regard the problems which
arise as mere incidents; surely they will provide for the culture of the
moral life as definitely as for the culture of the physical or the
intellectual!

Sec. 2. LESSONS IN HONESTY

But children also acquire habits from their playmates. Whenever the act
of pilfering appears, the wrong must be made clear. Some sense of
property rights is necessary; not the right, as some assume, to do what
you will with a thing because you have it, but the right to enjoy and
usefully employ it. Help children to see the difference between mine and
thine. Slovenly moral thinking often comes from too great freedom in
forgetful borrowing within the family. In this little social group the
members must first acquire the habits of respect for the rights of
others. Through toys, tools, and books the lesson may be learned so
early that it becomes a part of the normal order of things.

Children can learn that the game of life has its rules and that the
breach of these rules spoils the game and prevents our own happiness.
They can learn, too, that these are not arbitrary rules; they are like
the laws of nature; they are the conditions under which alone it is
possible for people to live together and to make life worth while.
Gambling is wrong because it is unsocial; it is the attempt to gain
without an equivalent giving. Cheating is wrong, no matter how many
practice it, just as surely as cheating is wrong in the game on the
playground.

Children are really peculiarly sensitive to the social consciousness. In
school under no circumstances will they do that which the school custom
forbids or the older boys condemn. In the home, despite contrary
appearances, the opinion of elders, brothers, sisters, and parents is
the recognized law. Every small boy wants to be like his big brother.
Children's conduct may be guided by an understanding of the social will
outside the school and home. Help them to know that all people
everywhere in organized society condemn cheating and dishonesty.[49]

Sentiment and emotional feeling must back up all teaching of conduct.
Your stories and readings should be selected with this in mind. The
approbation of parents and of the great Father of all enters as an
effectual motive.

But parents seldom understand these problems; they attempt to deal with
each one as it arises until they are weary of the seem