a treatise on parents and children(父母与子女专题研究)-第17章
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or to over…ride them as if they were the winds and the weather。 Such a
state of mind is incompatible not only with the democratic introduction of
high civilization； but with the comprehension and maintenance of such
civilized institutions as have been introduced by benevolent and intelligent
despots and aristocrats。
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We Must Reform Society before we
can Reform Ourselves
When we come to the positive problem of what to do with children if
we are to give up the established plan； we find the difficulties so great that
we begin to understand why so many people who detest the system and
look back with loathing on their own schooldays； must helplessly send
their children to the very schools they themselves were sent to； because
there is no alternative except abandoning the children to undisciplined
vagabondism。 Man in society must do as everybody else does in his
class： only fools and romantic novices imagine that freedom is a mere
matter of the readiness of the individual to snap his fingers at convention。
It is true that most of us live in a condition of quite unnecessary inhibition；
wearing ugly and uncomfortable clothes； making ourselves and other
people miserable by the heathen horrors of mourning； staying away from
the theatre because we cannot afford the stalls and are ashamed to go to
the pit； and in dozens of other ways enslaving ourselves when there are
comfortable alternatives open to us without any real drawbacks。 The
contemplation of these petty slaveries； and of the triumphant ease with
which sensible people throw them off； creates an impression that if we
only take Johnson's advice to free our minds from cant； we can achieve
freedom。 But if we all freed our minds from cant we should find that for
the most part we should have to go on doing the necessary work of the
world exactly as we did it before until we organized new and free methods
of doing it。 Many people believed in secondary co…education （boys and
girls taught together） before schools like Bedales were founded： indeed
the practice was common enough in elementary schools and in Scotland；
but their belief did not help them until Bedales and St George's were
organized； and there are still not nearly enough co…educational schools in
existence to accommodate all the children of the parents who believe in
co…education up to university age； even if they could always afford the
fees of these exceptional schools。 It may be edifying to tell a duke that
our public schools are all wrong in their constitution and methods； or a
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costermonger that children should be treated as in Goethe's Wilhelm
Meister instead of as they are treated at the elementary school at the corner
of his street； but what are the duke and the coster to do？ Neither of them
has any effective choice in the matter： their children must either go to
the schools that are； or to no school at all。 And as the duke thinks with
reason that his son will be a lout or a milksop or a prig if he does not go to
school； and the coster knows that his son will become an illiterate
hooligan if he is left to the streets； there is no real alternative for either of
them。 Child life must be socially organized： no parent； rich or poor；
can choose institutions that do not exist； and the private enterprise of
individual school masters appealing to a group of well…to…do parents；
though it may shew what can be done by enthusiasts with new methods；
cannot touch the mass of our children。 For the average parent or child
nothing is really available except the established practice； and this is what
makes it so important that the established practice should be a sound one；
and so useless for clever individuals to disparage it unless they can
organize an alternative practice and make it； too； general。
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The Pursuit of Manners
If you cross…examine the duke and the coster； you will find that they
are not concerned for the scholastic attainments of their children。 Ask the
duke whether he could pass the standard examination of twelve…year…old
children in elementary schools； and he will admit； with an entirely placid
smile； that he would almost certainly be ignominiously plucked。 And he
is so little ashamed of or disadvantaged by his condition that he is not
prepared to spend an hour in remedying it。 The coster may resent the
inquiry instead of being amused by it； but his answer； if true； will be the
same。 What they both want for their children is the communal training；
the apprenticeship to society； the lessons in holding one's own among
people of all sorts with whom one is not； as in the home； on privileged
terms。 These can be acquired only by 〃mixing with the world；〃 no matter
how wicked the world is。 No parent cares twopence whether his children
can write Latin hexameters or repeat the dates of the accession of all the
English monarchs since the Conqueror； but all parents are earnestly
anxious about the manners of their children。 Better Claude Duval than
Kaspar Hauser。 Laborers who are contemptuously anti…clerical in their
opinions will send their daughters to the convent school because the nuns
teach them some sort of gentleness of speech and behavior。 And peers
who tell you that our public schools are rotten through and through； and
that our Universities ought to be razed to the foundations； send their sons
to Eton and Oxford； Harrow and Cambridge； not only because there is
nothing else to be done； but because these places； though they turn out
blackguards and ignoramuses and boobies galore； turn them out with the
habits and manners of the society they belong to。 Bad as those manners
are in many respects； they are better than no manners at all。 And no
individual or family can possibly teach them。 They can be acquired only
by living in an organized community in which they are traditional。
Thus we see that there are reasons for the segregation of children even
in families where the great reason： namely； that children are nuisances to
adults； does not press very hardly； as； for instance； in the houses of the
very poor； who can send their children to play in the streets； or the houses
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of the very rich； which are so large that the children's quarters can be kept
out of the parents' way like the servants' quarters。
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Not too much Wind on the Heath；
Brother
What； then； is to be done？ For the present； unfortunately； little except
propagating the conception of Children's Rights。 Only the achievement
of economic equality through Socialism can make it possible to deal
thoroughly with the question from the point of view of the total interest of
the community； which must always consist of grown…up children。 Yet
economic equality； like all simple and obvious arrangements； seems
impossible to people brought up as children are now。 Still； something
can be done even within class limits。 Large communities of children of
the same class are possible today； and voluntary organization of outdoor
life for children has already begun in Boy Scouting and excursions of one
kind or another。 The discovery that anything； even school life； is better
for the child than home life； will become an over…ridden hobby； and we
shall presently be told by our faddists that anything； even camp life； is
better than school life。 Some blundering beginnings of this are already
perceptible。 There is a movement for making our British children into
priggish little barefooted vagabonds； all talking like that born fool George
Borrow； and supposed to be splendidly healthy because they would die if
they slept in rooms with the windows shut； or perhaps even with a roof
over their heads。 Still； this is a fairly healthy folly； and it may do
something to establish Mr Harold Cox's claim of a Right to Roam as the
basis of a much needed law compelling proprietors of land to provide
plenty of gates in their fences； and to leave them unlocked when there are
no growing crops to be damaged nor bulls to be encountered； instead of； as
at present； imprisoning the human race in dusty or muddy thoroughfares
between walls of barbed wire。
The reaction against vagabondage will come from the children
themselves。 For them freedom will not mean the expensive kind of
savagery now called 〃the simple life。〃 Their natural disgust with the
visions of cockney book fanciers blowing themselves out with 〃the wind
on the heath； brother；〃 and of anarchists who are either too weak to
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understand that men are strong and free in proportion to the social pressure
they can stand and the complexity of the obligations they are prepared to
undertake； or too strong to realize that what is freedom to them may be
terror and bewilderment to others； will drive
