hem to be.

Many people still confound ignorance with innocence, though these are
by no means related. The most ignorant person in the world might be the
least innocent, and the most innocent might very well be the most
enlightened. It not infrequently happens that the very children whose
mothers are most opposed to enlightenment on this subject are dangerous
companions for good children.

To guard against unprofitable or otherwise harmful teaching, the mother
should instruct the child not to listen to talk on this subject and not
to join in it, and at the same time tell him that in case he does hear
anything that troubles him he should come to her and she will talk it
over and explain, so that he may know what is right and what wrong. She
should promise to tell him _the truth_ about whatever he may want to
know.

Having made this promise she must keep it. There is nothing more
dangerous than to put a child off with evasive answers. He immediately
jumps to the conclusion that there is some reason why his mother is
afraid or ashamed to explain things to him, and if he has heard evil
rumors it is quite natural for him to suspect that what he has heard is
the truth and the whole truth, else why should his mother not help him?
He soon feels ashamed to ask her questions which she refuses to answer,
and he ceases to confide in her. There is nothing easier than to win and
keep the confidence of a child, and often there is nothing more
difficult than to regain it when once it is lost, particularly in this
direction. It is a loss the mother can by no means afford to sustain.

Mothers sometimes object that their young sons bring them the most
shocking or absurd stories which they have heard in school or elsewhere.
The mother who gives one moment's serious thought to such a situation
will be forced to the conclusion that for her to hear such tales is
nothing compared to the child's hearing them, and that his coming to his
mother is proof of his own innocence. It is surely her first duty, no
matter how difficult or unsavory the task, to sift out the wrong from
the right, to show the child wherein the story is absurd, wicked, and
harmful. At such a crisis the mother should be very careful not to show
any offence because the child has brought her the story. She may condemn
the story as severely as she likes, but she must be careful that the
child does not feel himself included in the condemnation. She must also
be careful in deny