observed a tendency among adults not to take seriously the
emotions of a child; for example, to look upon childish grief as
trivial, or fear as something to be laughed at? Is the child's emotional
life as real as that of the adult? (See Ch. IX, Betts, "Fathers and
Mothers.")

4. Have you known children to repress their emotions for fear of being
laughed at? Have you known parents or others to remark about childish
love affairs to the children themselves in a light or joking way? Ought
this ever to be done?

5. Note certain children who give way to fits of anger; what is the
remedy? Note other children who cry readily; what would you suggest as a
cure? (Why should ridicule not be used?)

6. Have you observed any teacher using the lesson in literature or
history to cultivate the finer emotions? What emotions have you seen
appealed to by a lesson in nature study? What emotions have you observed
on the playground that needed restraint? Do you think that on the whole
the emotional life of the child receives enough consideration in the
school? In the home?

CHAPTER XVI

INTEREST

The feeling that we call interest is so important a motive in our lives
and so colors our acts and gives direction to our endeavors that we will
do well to devote a chapter to its discussion.

1. THE NATURE OF INTEREST

We saw in an earlier chapter that personal habits have their rise in
race habits or instincts. Let us now see how interest helps the
individual to select from his instinctive acts those which are useful to
build into personal habits. Instinct impartially starts the child in the
performance of many different activities, but does not dictate what
particular acts shall be retained to serve as the basis for habits.
Interest comes in at this point and says, "This act is of more value
than that act; continue this act and drop that." Instinct prompts the
babe to countless movements of body and limb. Interest picks out those
that are most vitally connected with the welfare of the organism, and
the child comes to prefer these rather than the others. Thus it is that
out of the random movements of arms and legs and head and body we
finally develop the cooerdinated activities which are infinitely more
useful than the random ones were. And these activities, originating in
instincts, and selected by interest, are soon crystallized into habits.

INTEREST A SELECTIVE AGENT.--The same truth holds for mental activities
as for phy