[226.] Frequently the burden of necessary and useful studies is made excessively heavy, a fact which the members of the teaching profession try to conceal from themselves, but which attracts the attention of outsiders. A few hours of gymnastics do not sufficiently counteract such evil effects. As an offset we have at best the prevention of the vices of idleness. From every point of view, for the mere reason that this matter calls for special attention and that the method of procedure has to be determined in accordance with the results of observation, the home must do its part toward relieving that natural strain which even good instruction exerts—and the school must not encroach on the time necessary for that purpose. In extreme cases, to be sure, it may be expressly demanded that the school engage the whole of a boy’s time. But, as a rule, outside school-work should take up, not the largest, but, on the contrary, the smallest amount of time possible. How the remaining hours are to be employed is for parents and guardians to decide according to individual needs, ascertained by observation; and it is on them that the responsibility for the consequences rests.
[ CHAPTER IV
Youth]
[227.] Whether instruction comes to an end or is continued during this period, all it can accomplish depends now on the fulfilment of the condition that the young man himself regard the retention and increase of his attainments as something valuable. Accordingly, the interrelations of knowledge, as well as its connection with action, must be brought before his mind with the greatest possible distinctness. He must be furnished, also, with the strongest incentives to reach the goal determined upon, provided the question is merely how to overcome indolence and thoughtlessness. For it is just at this stage that the teacher needs to fear and to prevent those wrong motives which would issue merely in an artificial semblance of talent.
[228.] Moreover, the allowance made for the child and the boy can no longer be made for the youth. His whole ability is to be put to the test, and his position in human society determined according to the outcome. He must experience something of the difficulty of obtaining a foothold among men. Positions for which he does not seem quite prepared are contested; he is surrounded by rivals, and is spurred on by expectations, which it is often difficult to moderate when most necessary.
[229.] If now the young man puts his trust in favorable circumstances, and, in spite of all appeals, gives himself up to the pursuit of ease and pleasure, education is at an end. It only remains to conclude with precepts and representations which future experiences may possibly recall.
[230.] If, on the other hand, the youth has his eyes fixed on a definite goal, the form of life which he is striving to attain, and the motives that impel him, will determine what else may be done for him. According as the ideals of honor that he makes his own are directed more outwardly or inwardly, they stand more or less midway between plans for actions and maxims.
[231.] The youth is no longer pliant, except when his failures have made him feel ashamed of himself. Such cases must be made use of for the purpose of making good deficiencies. But on the whole, duty requires that the stern demands of morality be held up to him without disguise. Perfect frankness can hardly be looked for any longer, and to insist on it is out of the question entirely. The reserve of the age of adolescence marks the natural beginning of self-control.
These brief paragraphs on the development of the individual through infancy, childhood, boyhood, and youth, mark an early interest in what is now known as child-study, the literature of which has become voluminous. For a dissertation on the experimental study of children, and a bibliography of the subject, the reader is referred to the monograph by Arthur McDonald, of the United States Bureau of Education, entitled “Experimental Study of Children.” A smaller but more useful bibliography has been compiled by L. N. Wilson. It is found in Pedagogical Seminary for September, 1899.