Concerning Children

by Charlotte Perkins Gilman

Index.

• Absence of mind, [54].
• "Acquired traits not transmissible," [9].
  • experiments with guinea-pigs, [11].
• Action, bodily, directed by mental processes, [57].
• Adult, our houses built only for the, [121].
• Age, the presumption of, [156].
  • not necessarily superiority, [159].
• Aged persons, cause of the respect and care for, [160].
• Ambition of youth a force to lift mankind, the, [23].
• American Revolution, the, mentioned, [35].
• Animal mother, the authority of the, [42].
• Animals, obedience in, [29].
• Arbitrary punishment, effect on the moral sense of, [84].
• Authority of the animal mother, the, [42].
  • effect of, coming between the mind and action of the child, [60].

• Babies confided to the care of lower races, [134].
• Baby, impressions of a, [49].
  • considered as a plaything, [175].
  • our disrespectful treatment of the, [171].
  • often neglected mind-growth of the, [250].
• Baby-garden, a public, [124].
  • example of the advantages of a, [139].
  • a private, [125].
• Babyhood, education not thought of in connection with, [135].
• Bible, the, [114].
• Biological advantage of a longer period of immaturity, the, [18].
  • law of reproduction, [296].
• Bodily action directed by mental processes, [57].
• Boston, [289].
• Brain, effect of obedience on the, [41].
  • training of children, the, [46].
  • the office of the, [47].
  • in early forms of life, [48].
  • function of the child, [49].
  • improvement, progress of humanity made through, [149].
• Breakfast, unpunctuality at, [149].
• Bushmen, the, [293].

• Callous child, treatment of the, [92].
• Casabianca, [30].
• Census Report, United States, [233].
• Character, comparatively small progress in the human, [251].
  • development of, assisted by right education, [252].
• Chastity, the virtue of, [26].
• Child, importance of the first fifteen years of the life of the, [21].
  • exercise of the will of the, in games, [22].
  • trained to obey, [31].
  • reasons why obedience is demanded from the, [37].
  • brain function of the, [49].
  • the, should be trained to presence of mind, [55].
  • advantage taken of the credulity of the, [56].
  • what the, feels and thinks ignored, [57].
  • the mind of the, [57].
  • effect of authority coming between the mind and action of the, [60].
  • culture of the, [63].
  • table manners, teaching the, [63].
  • early impressions of a, [77].
  • result of the deed of a, dependent upon parental knowledge, [82].
  • the naughty, [90].
  • a group of growing faculties, [90].
  • treatment of the callous, [92].
  • games, the daily lessons of the, [108].
  • teaching generosity to the, [109].
  • delicacy of perception of the, weakened by false impressions, [111].
  • perception in the place of the State of the, [119].
  • mother and, no separation of, [125].
  • treatment of the, at home, [170].
  • attitude of the family towards the, [171].
  • personal rights of the, [174].
  • no excuse for contemptuous treatment of the, [177].
  • necessity for recognising the citizenship of the, [182].
  • treatment at table of the, [183].
  • teaching a, consideration, [187].
  • the need for consideration between mother and, [187].
  • tendency to repetition of a, [191].
  • excessive sacrifice of the mother injurious to the, [193].
  • harmful effect of the mother's sacrificial devotion to the, [197].
  • effect of association with domestic servants on the, [235].
  • influence of surroundings on the, [237].
  • physical conditions of the household a danger to the, [238].
  • duty of the mother to benefit the, [261].
  • relation of the State to the, [278].
  • social responsibility of parents to the, [280].
  • gradual protection by society of the, [292].
• Child-culture and house service, the relation between, [233].
  • the study of, [265].
• Child-training, obedience in, [36].
  • honesty lacking in, [109].
• Childhood, the condition of the brain in, [49].
  • naturally inconsiderate, [91].
    • careless, [93].
    • clumsy, [93].
  • permanence of, as a human status, [119].
  • the status of, [180].
• Childish faith, an expression of, [56].
• Children, importance of the work of rearing, [37].
  • the most submissive, not the best men, [43].
  • trained to act without understanding, [51].
  • present brain-training of, discouraging to racial advancement, [62].
  • should be practised in reasoning, [68].
  • the punishment of, [74].
  • parents and the punishment of, [75].
  • over-indulgence of, [75].
  • learn before school-age, what, [77].
  • code of ethics among, [87].
  • the injured clothing of, [94].
  • lying to, [102].
  • ethics of, formed from the treatment they receive, [102].
  • open to instruction in ethics, [104].
  • sense of justice in, [105].
  • instruction of, in ethics, [106].
  • the teaching of ethics to, [115].
  • a permanent class, [118].
  • houses not built for, [120].
  • playgrounds for, beginning to appear, [120].
  • in institutions, [124].
  • mortality of, in institutions, [126].
  • expert care for, [127].
  • the care of, not servant's work, [127].
  • trained care for defective, [128].
  • a place for, to play in, [129].
  • a special house for little, [129].
  • the home as a place for, [180].
  • the private nurse not the proper person to have the care of, [132].
  • the mischievousness of, [137].
  • orderly development of the faculties of, [146].
  • travelling parties of, [150].
  • the demands of parents on their, [162].
  • errors of little, not grounds for humour, [172].
  • "impertinence" of, [175].
  • mother's lack of respect for her, [178].
  • the confidence of, not regarded, [179].
  • behaviour of women to, [179].
  • grown people and, [179].
  • discourtesy to, [181].
  • the balance of human rights should be understood by, [188].
  • the questions of, [191].
  • our love for our, [192].
  • benefit of mothers observing other peoples', [204].
  • method of observation of, [206].
  • the effect of the education of, by house-servants, [240].
  • improved environment of, a road to racial improvement, [264].
  • maternal instinct not sufficient to ensure good conditions for, [267].
  • the duty of the State to, [290].
• Chinese, the, [12].
• Christianity a social condition, [295].
• Citizenship of the child, necessity for recognising the, [182].
• Civic duties, ignoring of, by women, [154].
• Class, children a permanent, [118].
• Clothing, children's injured, [94].
• Collegiate Alumnæ, the Society of, [289].
• Combined motherhood, the possibilities of, [284].
• Conduct, all, right or wrong, [107].
• Confidence of children not regarded, the, [179].
• Conservatism, feminine, [169].
• Consideration between mother and child, the need for, [187].
• Consideration of others not identical with obedience, [40].
  • teaching a child, [187].
• Consistency, the desire for, [58].
• Constitution, our inheritance of, [15].
• Courage, the virtue of, [27].
• Credulity of the child taken advantage of, [56].
• Crime, retributive punishment of, [73].
• Cruelty to Children, Society for the Prevention of, [75].

• Defective children, trained care for, [128].
• Development, arrested social, [5].
  • race, and environment, [7].
  • of character assisted by right education, [252].
• Discipline, the question of, [70].
  • domestic, [77].
• Discourtesy to children, [181].
• Discussion between mothers, benefits of, [207].
• Doctrine of sacrifice, the, [194].
• Domestic discipline, [77].
  • relation, the small change in, [100].
  • Service Bureau, [254].
• "Don't Mary," [59].

• Education, obedience in human, [29].
  • not thought of in connection with babyhood, [135].
  • advantages of unconscious, [144].
  • nothing too expensive that improves, [150].
  • of children by house-servants, the, [240].
  • development of character assisted by right, [252].
  • better, for the young an imperative need, [253].
  • a social process, [280].
• Educational perception, lack of, among mothers, [249].
• Emulation, the love of, [23].
• Endurance, the virtue of, [26].
• Environment and race development, [7].
• Eskimo, the, [293].
• Ethics, code of, among children, [87].
  • our knowledge of, [97].
  • the cause of our small growth in, [97].
  • and social evolution, [99].
  • influence of religious custom on, [100].
  • children cannot learn, from the treatment they receive, [102].
  • a child open to instruction in, [104].
  • the science of social relation, [105].
  • the instruction of children in, [106].
  • sense of, shown in games, the, [108].
  • self-control one of the first essentials in the practice of, [107].
  • values, long association of, with religious text-books, [114].
  • the teaching of, to children, [115].
  • necessity for the study of practical, [114].
  • necessity for mothers to be grounded in, [116].
• Example better than precept, [51].
• Experience, [167].

• Faith, a childish expression of, [56].
• Father, the, awake to the duties of social parentage, [283].
  • the choice of a, [264].
• Family, attitude towards the little child of the, [171].
  • -life, primitive mental habits fostered in, [169].
• Feminine conservatism, [169].
• Foolishness of youth due to our training, [21].
• French Revolution, the, [53].

• Games, the child's daily lessons, [108].
  • ethical sense shown in, [108].
• Generosity, teaching the child, [109].
• Girl, reason for the majority of a, at eighteen, [293].
• God, Hebrew traditions of, [34].
• Goths, the, [61].
• Grown people and children, [179].

• Habit and tradition, the home the stronghold of, [35].
• Hebrew traditions of God, [34].
• Home, the, the stronghold of habit and tradition, [35].
  • as a place for children, [130].
• Homes, the mother the domestic servant in the majority of, [233].
• Honesty lacking in child-training, [110].
• Horse-training, [71].
• Hottentots, the, [293].
• Household, physical conditions of the, a danger to the child, [238].
  • labour, mental capacities developed by, [247].
    • employment of skilled labour for, [276].
• Houses not built for children, [120].
  • built for the adult only, [121].
• House-service and child-culture, the relation between, [233].
  • qualities developed by, [243].
• Housework, few women like, [245].
• Human behaviour, the whole scale of, is natural, [256].
  • character, comparatively small progress in the, [251].
  • conduct, the word natural applied to, [257].
  • creature, mental workings of the, [50].
    • a self-governing intelligence, [40].
  • parentage, selfishness of, [178].
  • -parenthood, prolonged, [8].
  • progress, youth the fountain of, [21].
  • rights, children to understand the balance of, [188].
  • status, permanence of childhood as a, [119].
  • stock, improving the, [263].
  • being, the, a social constituent, [19].
    • who does not work contemptible, the, [275].
• Humanity, degrees of, [3].
  • to improve, [6].
  • the time to develop the inheritance of, [17].
  • progress of, made through brain improvement, [149].
• Humour, errors of the child not grounds for, [172].

• Impertinence of children, the, [175].
• Immaturity, biological advantage of a longer period of, [18].
• Impressions of a baby, the, [49].
  • of a child, early, [77].
• Improve, humanity to, [6].
• Improvement, race, transmitted, [4].
  • all possible, in the individual to be made before parentage, [21].
  • of the human stock, the, [263].
• Individual rights, maintenance of, by the mother, [195].
• Individuals, social service must be given by, [20].
• Infant mortality shamefully large, [246].
• Inheritance of constitution, our, [15].
• Intelligence, the human being a self-governing, [40].
• Instinct, parental, [177].
  • our dependence on the maternal, [263].
  • maternal, not sufficient to ensure good conditions to children, [267].
• Institutions, children in, [124].
  • mortality of children in, [126].

• Jesuits, obedience of the, [34].
• Justice, sense of, in children, [105].

• Knowledge and wisdom, the difference between, [54].
• Koran, the, [114].

• Labour, the employment of skilled, for household, [276].
  • household, mental capacities developed by, [247].
• Law of parental love, the, [177].
• Life, the brain in early forms of, [48].
• Lifetime, the most important decade of a, [18].
• Love for our children, our, [192].
  • the law of parental, [177].
  • open to measurement by results, [192].
  • mother, [193], [197].
• Lying to children, [102].

• Majority of a girl at eighteen, reason for the, [293].
• Man, the distinctive power of, [53].
• "Mary Don't," [59].
• Maternal instinct, our dependence on the, [263].
  • not sufficient to ensure good conditions for children, [267].
• Maternal passion, need for restraint of the, [197].
• Maturity, early, a sign of bad social conditions, [294].
• Mental capacities developed by household labours, [247].
  • habits, primitive, fostered in family life, [169].
  • workings of the human creature, [50].
• Methuselah, [158].
• Modification, race, and individual modification, [10].
• Moral sense, effect on the, of arbitrary punishment, [84].
• Mortality, infant, shamefully large, [246].
• Mind, effect of obedience on the growing, [37].
  • absence of, [54].
  • presence of, [54].
  • connection between the, and behaviour, [54].
  • of a child, the, [57].
  • effect of authority coming between the child's, and his action, [60].
• Mind-growth of the baby, the often neglected, [280].
  • failure of the mother to keep in touch with the, [250].
• Mother, the authority of the animal, [42].
  • necessity for the, to be grounded in ethics, [116].
  • and child, no separation of, [125].
  • the, not trained as an educator, [135].
  • and child, the need for consideration between, [187].
  • excessive sacrifice of the, injurious to the child, [193].
  • maintenance of individual rights by the, [195].
  • the domestic servant in the majority of homes, the, [233].
  • the natural, [258].
  • duty of the, to benefit the child, [261].
  • the "unnatural," [265].
• Mother's lack of respect for her little children, [179].
  • sacrificial devotion to the child, harmful effect of, the, [197].
  • personality, the place for a, [286].
• Mothers, the need for union among, [201].
  • benefits of discussion between, [207].
  • benefit of, observing other people's children, [204].
  • lack of educational perception among, [249].
  • the term natural as applied to, [258].
  • necessity for enlarging the responsibility of, [287].
  • public duty of, [288].
• Mother's Congress, the, [76].
• Mother-love, [193], [197].
• Motherhood, progress in, [261].
  • preparation for, [268].
  • work during, [271].
  • possibilities of combined, [284].

• Natural law, the wisdom of following, [43].
• Natural, the use of the word, [255].
  • the word, applied to human conduct, [257].
  • the whole scale of human behaviour is, [256].
  • the term, as applied to mothers, [258].
• Nature, a state of, [256].
• Nurse, the private, not a proper person to have the care of children, [132].
• Nursery, a public, suggested, [123].
  • isolation of the private, injurious to the child, [132].
• Nursemaids, difficulty of getting suitable, [212].

• Obedience, [27].
  • the use of, [28].
  • in animals, [29].
  • in human education, [29].
  • the reason for, [31].
  • our reverence for, easily traced, [32].
  • in child training, [36].
  • of the Jesuits, [34].
  • is demanded from the child, reasons why, [37].
  • effect of, on the growing mind, [37].
  • the injurious reaction from, [39].
  • consideration of others not identical with, [40].
  • effect of, on the brain, [41].
  • qualities developed by, [45].
• Observation of children, method of, [206].
• Old, the advantage of the young over the, [158].
• Over-indulgence of children, the, [75].

• Parent, continued life of the, [6].
• Parentage, traits acquired before, transmissible, [14].
  • all possible improvement in the individual should be made before, [21].
  • not a profession, [165].
  • selfishness of human, [178].
• Parental knowledge, result of the child's deed made dependent upon, [82].
  • duty the gift of nature, [164].
  • instinct, [177].
  • love, the law of, [177].
• Parenthood, prolonged human, [8].
  • the work of, [37].
• Parents, want of publicity and community in the action of, [75].
  • the punishment of children by, [75].
  • duty of, to children, [161].
  • demands of, on their children, [162].
• Parents' Congress, the, [70].
  • social responsibility to the child, [280].
• Penology, the advance in, [73].
• People, need for a better kind of, [251].
• Perception, delicacy of a child's, weakened by false impressions, [111].
• Personal example, social duty shown by, [112].
• Personal rights of the child, the, [174].
• Personality, the place for a mother's, [286].
• Philadelphia water supply, the, [289].
• Playgrounds, childrens', beginning to appear, [120].
• Plaything, a baby considered a, [175].
• Precept, example better than, [51].
• Prepared Food Association, the, [254].
• Presence of mind, [54].
  • the child trained to constant, [55].
• Printing press, main value of the, [5].
• Profession, parentage not a, [165].
• Progress born into the race, [7].
• Protestant Reformation, the, [35].
• Public nursery, a, suggested, [123].
  • baby garden, a, [124].
  • duty of mothers, [288].
• Punishment, retributive, [73].
  • of children, the, [74].
    • by parents, [75].
  • arbitrary, effect of, on the moral sense, [84].

• Qualities developed by obedience, [45].
  • house-service, [243].
• Question of discipline, the, [71].
• Questions of children, the, [191].

• Race improvement transmitted, [4].
  • development and environment, [7].
  • progress born into the, [7].
  • modification and individual modification, [10].
• Racial advance, improvement in the environment of children a road to, [264].
• Reaction from obedience, the injurious, [39].
• Rearing children, importance of the work of, [37].
• Reasoning, children should be practised in, [68].
• Repetition, a child's tendency to, [191].
• Reproduction, biological law of, [296].
  • rapid, of the lowest classes resultant from their condition, [297].
• Respect to be commanded, not demanded, [166].
• Results, love open to measurement by, [192].
• Roman Catholic Church, obedience in the, [34].

• Sacrifice, the doctrine of, [194].
• Salisbury method, the, [37].
• Savage, the, as a social constituent, [19].
• Schools, the improvement of, [149].
• School age, what children learn before, [77].
• Self-control one of the first essentials in the practice of ethics, [107].
• Servants, domestic, effect of association with, on the child, [235].
• Shelley's "Skylark" mentioned, [53].
• "Skylark," Shelley's, mentioned, [53].
• Skilled labour, employment of, for household work, [271].
• Social conditions, early maturity the sign of bad, [284].
  • constituent, the human being a, [19].
    • the savage as a, [19].
  • development, arrested, [5].
  • duty shown by personal example, [112].
  • evolution and ethics, [99].
  • parentage, the father awake to the duties of, [283].
  • relation, ethics the science of, [105].
  • service given by individuals, [20].
  • status, a, at the level of its main constituents, [20].
• Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, [75].
• Society of Collegiate Alumnæ, the, [289].
• Society, gradual protection of the child by, [292].
• Species, our power to improve the, [3].
• State of nature, a, [256].
• State, perception of the child's place in the, [119].
  • relation of the, to the child, [278].
  • the duty of the, to children, [290].
• Sunday-school, the, [117].
• Surroundings, influence of, on the child, [237].

• Table manners, teaching a child, [63].
• Table, treatment of the child at, [183].
• Talmud, the, [114].
• Teaching taken up only by women obliged to work, [148].
• Thompson's, Mr., story, [29].
• Thought and action, connection between, [56].
• Traits acquired before parentage transmissible, [14].
• "Traits, acquired, not transmissible," [9].
• Travelling parties of children, [150].
• Treatment of the baby, our disrespectful, [171].
  • the child, no excuse for contemptuous, [177].

• Unconscious education, advantages of, [144].
• United States Census Report, the, [233].
• Union among mothers, the need of, [201].
• "Unnatural" mother, the, [265].
• Unpunctuality at breakfast, [189].

• Virtue, all, made of necessity, [27].
  • of chastity, [27].
  • of courage, the, [27].
  • of endurance, the, [26].
  • of obedience, the, [27].
  • what is a, [25].

• Weissman, theory, the, [9].
• Will, power of the, [47].
• Wisdom and knowledge, [54].
  • of following natural law, [43].
• Woman's brain modified by its kind of exercise, [245].
• Women, ignoring of civic duties by, [154].
  • the care of children the duty of, [155].
  • behaviour of, to children, [179].
  • few, like housework, [245].
• Work, the, of parenthood, [37].
  • during motherhood, [271].
  • the human being who does not, contemptible, [275].

• Young, advantage of the, over the old, [158].
  • better education of the, an imperative need, [253].
  • ambition of the, a force to lift mankind, [23].
  • respect due to the, [172].
• Youth, the foolishness of, due to our training, [21].
  • the fountain of human progress, [21].

• Zend-Avesta, the, [114].

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THE BOOKS OF CHARLOTTE PERKINS STETSON
(Mrs. G. H. GILMAN)

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