Chapter 8 Emile (Volume Two) Section Three

However careful you are, if a child makes a mess and breaks something useful, do not beat him or scold him for your negligence; do not let him hear a word of reproach, and at last Better not let him feel that he hurts you; act as if the furniture broke of its own accord, and in the end, if you can keep silent, I think it will have a great effect. May I here boldly state the most important and useful laws of education?This law is: not only should time not be bought, but time must also be let go for nothing.Readers, please forgive me for this strange theory, because when a person thinks over and over again, he must make such a strange theory; and no matter what you say, I would rather be a strange person than a of a prejudiced man.The most dangerous period of life is from birth to twelve years old.If the means of destroying all kinds of errors and vices are not taken during this period, they will sprout and grow, and when measures are taken to correct them later, they will be so deeply rooted that they can never be pulled out. .Your present system of education might well suit children if they were brought up from baby-baby to the age of reason; The education practiced is exactly the opposite.They should not be allowed to use their minds before their minds are equipped with all kinds of powers, because when it is still in a state of ignorance, you give it a torch and it cannot see, and, in the vastness of thought, In the wilderness it cannot find the way which reason leads, for the traces of that way are so vague that the best eye cannot discern them.

Therefore, the first years of education should be purely passive.It consists not in teaching the student morality and truth, but in protecting his heart from sin and his mind from errors.If you can adopt the policy of not teaching yourself and not letting others teach, if you can bring your student to the age of twelve, at this time, even if he still can't tell which is the left hand and which is the right hand, as soon as you teach He, the eye of his wisdom, will be opened to reason; and as he is not infected with prejudice or habit, nothing in him will counteract the effect of your education.In your hands he will soon become one of the wisest men; and if you teach nothing at first, you will end up working an educational miracle instead.

You can do pretty much anything you set out to do pretty well by taking an uncharacteristic approach.Because everyone does not want to educate a child to be a child, but to educate him to be a doctor, so whether fathers or teachers scold him, praise him, frighten him, teach him, correct his shortcomings, promise him things and treat him He was reasonable, but he acted too hastily, and did not do it at the right time.You can do better by doing this: do everything justly, and don't argue with your student for reasons, especially don't reason with him to get him to agree with something he doesn't like, because often in unpleasant situations Talking about the truth in the matter will only make him feel that the truth is a disgusting thing, and make his heart that has not yet understood the truth doubt the truth from an early age.You must exercise his body, his organs, his senses, and his physical strength, but keep his mind as idle as possible, as long as he can.What needs to be worried is that he has all kinds of emotions before he has the ability to judge emotions.Do not let him get strange impressions; to prevent evil, he cannot be so eager to do good, as he can only do so when he understands reason.All these delays are advantageous, and bring him much nearer to the ultimate end without loss; what, in the end, has to be taught him?If it doesn't matter much to postpone teaching until tomorrow, it is best not to teach today.

In addition, the usefulness of this method can also be affirmed from the perspective of the child's unique talents. To know which method of cultivating morality is most suitable for him, it is necessary to have a full understanding of his unique talents.Every soul has its own form, according to which it must be directed; it must be educated in its own form, and not in any other, before the pains you expend on it will bear fruit.Prudent people, explore nature a lot. You must get to know your student well before you can say the first word to him. Let the seeds of his character express themselves freely, and don't be afraid of them. There is no restraint in order to observe it in full detail.Do you think setting him free in this way is a waste of his time?On the contrary, this time is well spent, because it is necessary to know how not to waste a moment in the most precious time; but if you start before you know how to start, then you must You will engage in it blindly, easily make mistakes, and have to do it all over again. Therefore, if you are eager to achieve the goal, the result is not as fast as proceeding cautiously.Don't be like those stingy people, they don't want to spend a single coin, and the result is even greater losses.Some time sacrificed in childhood will be recouped doubly in adulthood.A smart doctor never prescribes medicine in a daze at the first sight of a patient. He first studies the patient's physique before prescribing the medicine; although he starts to treat the patient later, he can cure the patient; The doctor will cure the patient to death.

But where should we place the child in order to raise him as an insentient being, as a robot?Put him on the moon, or on a deserted island?separate him from all men?Will not the world continue to see situations and instances of lust in others?Shouldn't he be allowed to see children of his age from now on?Keep him from seeing his parents, neighbors, nurses, nurses, servants, and teachers (he can't be an angel anyway)? There are good reasons for this objection.But where did I tell you that nature education is an easy task?Everyone!Can you blame me if you take everything good to be difficult?I too feel these difficulties, and I agree that they may be insurmountable, but I firmly believe that they can be avoided to a certain extent if we try our best to prevent them.The reason why I put forward the goal we must set is not to say that we must be able to achieve that goal, but to say that the more one moves towards that goal, the more successful one will be.

You have to remember that before you dare to take on the task of cultivating a person, you must become a person yourself, and you must be a model worthy of admiration.When the child is still ignorant, you can do all the preparations as quietly as possible, so that the first things he sees are suitable for him.You must make yourself respected by everyone, and you must start by making others love you, so that everyone will want to satisfy you everywhere.You cannot be a child's teacher if you cannot control those around you; and this authority can never be fully exercised if it is not based on the moral respect that others have for you.This is not to say to give generously to others what is in your own pocket. I have never seen money buy people's hearts.However, you should not be so stingy and ruthless, and relieve the pain of others when you can relieve his pain, instead of just expressing your concern there.It is in vain if you open only your cash drawer without opening your heart at the same time. The hearts of others are always closed to you.You have to sacrifice your time, your heart, your love, and yourself, because no matter what you do, people will always think that your money is not who you are.Shows of concern and kindness to others can produce more effect than any gift, and have more practical benefits for others than any gift.How many poor and sick people need our consolation instead of our charity!How many oppressed people need our protection but not our money!Make reconciliation between quarrelsome, persuade others not to go to court, set children to do their duty, make fathers tolerant, make happy marriages, prevent others from getting into distress, make use of the parents of your pupils as much as possible. Fame to support the weak who have been wronged and bullied by the strong.Proclaim loudly that you are the protector of the unfortunate.You are to be just and good.You don't just give alms, but you have to treat people with kindness at the same time.Acts of charity can relieve other people's suffering better than money: if you love others, others will love you; if you help others, others will help you; if you treat him like a brother, he will treat you like a father and son.

Here is another reason why I should take Emile to the country to be trained, that is, I want to keep him far away from the crowd of servants who are the last ones besides their masters. Vile; I would keep him far from the bad manners of the city, which are more apt to seduce and infect children with their fine garments; whereas the peasants, with all their faults, appear so crude because they do not conceal them. , so, as long as you don't intentionally imitate them, they will not only not attract you, but will also make you disgusted. In the country a teacher is better able to arrange what he brings to the children; his reputation, his talk and his manners, will give him a prestige not enjoyed in the city; Therefore, everyone is grateful to him, wants to be valued by him, and wants to show in front of the students how the teacher treats him; therefore, even if he does not correct his shortcomings, at least he will do less shameful things. thing; this is exactly what we want to achieve.

Don't blame others for your own faults: the children are corrupted by the bad things they have been exposed to, but to a lesser degree than they are by your bad education.In order to instill in them your so-called good ideas, you have been preaching and peddling all day long, and as a result, while instilling your idea, you have also instilled in them twenty ideas that are of no value at all: Although you have The mind is full of ideas, but they don't see what effect will be produced in their minds.Do you think they can hear a word when you talk to them endlessly?Do you think they won't have their way of commenting on the things you've babbled about?Do you think they won't find some material out of it to form a body of their understanding that they can use against you if they get the chance?

You have just taught this child a lesson, now listen to what he has to say; let him talk, let him ask, let him talk all he likes, and you will be surprised at once What a strange way the reasoning has changed in his mind: he simply speaks gibberish, makes you angry, and sometimes asks some unexpected rhetorical questions to make you feel sad; don't make you speechless , so that you had to tell him to stop talking.How would he feel if, at this moment, he found that a talkative man like you suddenly fell silent?If he gets the upper hand and realizes that he has the advantage over you, there is no need to talk about education in the future; from then on, everything is over, and he will not only not be educated by you, but will try to find trouble with you.

Enthusiastic teacher, you have to be simple and careful in your words and deeds.You can act only when you are preventing the influence of others over your pupils, and I will repeat this again and again; throwing away, if possible, even a salutary education, lest a harmful one be imparted to them.Take care in this world, which nature has made man's first paradise, that in teaching innocent children the difference between good and evil, you yourself are not a tempting devil.Since you cannot prevent a child from imitating other people's forms outside, you must concentrate your efforts on imprinting those forms on his mind in an image suitable for the child.

Impulsive emotions, seen by the child, have a great influence on him, because they stimulate him with such obvious manifestations that he must pay attention to them.Especially when the anger reaches its peak, it will appear so violent that people nearby can't help but notice it.In this case, you should not ask whether it is time for the teacher to give a good speech.well!Don't say anything nice, don't say anything, don't say a word.Let the child come up, for the sight has surprised him, and he cannot help asking you.Keep the answer simple, and answer him directly on the things that touch his senses.He saw a man shouting with red faces, sparkling eyes, and a menacing figure, all of which indicated that the man's body had lost its normal state.So, with neither airs nor mysteries, just tell him calmly, "The poor fellow is sick, and he has a fever." You can take this opportunity to give him an idea of ​​the disease and its effects in a few words. Ideas, for this also belongs to nature, are one of the necessary shackles to which he must suffer. This concept itself is not wrong. With this concept, has he regarded excessive emotional indulgence as a disease since he was a child, and thus developed a feeling of disgust?Do you think that, even if in due time such an idea could be acquired in him, it would not be able to have as good an influence as your lecturing?However, you have to pay attention to the effect that this concept will have.As a last resort, a rebellious child can be treated as if he were sick; he can be shut up in a room, and if necessary, kept in bed all day, his diet prescribed, and his His own growing defects frighten him, making him feel that they are very repulsive and terrible; so that he does not make him think that the severe measures you have to take to correct his defects are justified. a punishment.If, in a moment of excitement, you have lost the coolness and steadiness with which you should teach, don't try to cover up your error; you can say to him frankly, with a mild reproach: "My friend, How you make me sad." In addition, it must be known that such a simple concept accepted by a child may cause him to have all kinds of innocent thoughts, so never talk about his innocent words and deeds in front of him, even if Talk about it, and don't let him find out.One light laugh can ruin six months of work and cause a mistake that will last a lifetime.I can't help but point out repeatedly that in order to be a teacher of your children, you have to strictly discipline yourself.I think that when two neighbours' women quarreled most violently, my lovely Emile would go up to the woman who quarreled the most, and say to her in a sympathetic tone: "My dear neighbour, You are sick, and I am very sorry for you." No doubt this witty remark had to have an effect on the spectators and the two quarrelers.Then I neither laughed, nor reproached him, nor praised him; He took it away, and quickly distracted him with other things, so that he soon forgot about it. It is not my plan to go into all the details, but to state general principles, and to illustrate examples only when difficulties arise.I think it is impossible to bring up a child in society until he is twelve years old without giving him a little idea of ​​the relationship between people and the right and wrong in human behavior.It is therefore only necessary to inculcate in him the necessary concepts as late as possible, and when it is unavoidable to acquire them, only instill in him those concepts which are necessary at that time, with the sole purpose of enabling him to understand Realizing that he is no one's master, he should not casually injure others, or injure others without knowing it.Some children are so mild-mannered that we can bring them up from their innocence to old age without trouble; but there are others who are violent, and their fierceness develops Early, therefore, they must be brought up as soon as possible, before chaining them is obligatory. We are first to do our duty to ourselves; our primordial affections are centered in ourselves; all our instinctive activities are first and foremost to preserve our existence and our happiness.Therefore, the first sense of justice does not arise from how we treat others, but from how others treat us; another mistake in the general education method is that first of all, children only talk about their responsibilities, and never talk about their responsibilities. Right, so the beginning is reversed: nothing is told to them what they should know, and everything they should not know and has nothing to do with them is told to them. If I had to teach a child of the kind I have just described, I would have this in mind: a child who does not hit, but hits; His people, but he doesn't necessarily care about things.The first idea, therefore, that should be given to him is not that of liberty, but that of property; and in order for him to acquire this idea, he must be given something private.It is pointless to tell him what clothes, furniture, and toys he has, because, though he uses them, he does not know why or how he has them.Even if you further tell him that the reason why he has these things is because you gave them to him, it may not be able to explain the problem, because if you want to give something to someone, you must have something yourself. It can be seen that a thing belongs to him before it belongs to him. It is the principle of this property that we are going to explain to him; as for giving gifts, that is a social custom, and there is no need to tell him about it, because children don't know what social customs are at present. of.Consider, reader, on the basis of this example, and thousands of others, how children are taught very well by merely stuffing their heads with words which they cannot understand. What? We therefore trace the origin of property, from which the first idea arose.A child who lives in the country acquires some notion of field labor; he can do this if he has the faculties of observation and leisure time; and he has both.People of any age, especially children like him, really want to create, imitate and make, and exert their physical strength and lively spirit.So, as long as he saw once or twice how other people hoe, sow, and grow vegetables, he wanted to grow vegetables himself. According to the above principles, I will never oppose his will; on the contrary, I will fully agree, share his pleasure, and work with him, the purpose is not to please him, but to please myself; At least it looks like this to him: I will be his assistant in planting vegetables, and I will help him hoe the ground until he has enough arm strength to hoe the ground; when he plants a broad bean in the ground, he will Occupy this piece of land, this kind of occupation, of course, is more respectable and inviolable than the occupation of South America when Nunez Balboa planted the flag on the coast of the South China Sea for the King of Spain. We water the fava beans every day, and when we see them grow, we are absolutely delighted.I said to him, "It belongs to you," and he was all the more pleased when he heard it; and when I explained to him the meaning of the word "belongs," I made him realize that he had invested his life here. time, his labour, his toil, and his character; to make him realize that there is something of his own in this land, and that he has the right to stop anyone who violates it, just as his own hand, which anyone who comes to force Pull, he can retract it. One fine day he hurried there with a watering can.Ah, how bad it is!Ah, what a pain!All the beans had been shoveled and the ground turned over so that it was no longer recognizable where the beans were grown.what!Where are my labors, my achievements, the sweet fruits of my care?Who took my property?Who took my broad beans?A revolt rose in the boy's heart; the first encounter with such an injustice filled him with sorrow, and the tears streamed down like a flood, and the sad child wept loudly.I also felt pain and indignation for him; we searched everywhere, asked everyone we saw, traced everywhere, and finally found out that it was the owner of the garden; immediately, we sent someone to call him. However, it turned out that we made a big mistake and made a big mistake in this matter.When the owner figured out why we were angry with him, he started to get even more angry with us. "Why, gentlemen, you have spoiled my things! Here I grow Maltese melons, which were given to me as treasures, and I hoped to entertain you when they were ripe; but you See, in order to plant your cheap beans, you have ruined the melons I have grown, so that I can no longer replant them. You have done me an irreparable loss, and you have lost your food. The sweetness of melon." Jean Jacques: My poor Robert, please forgive us.You have worked hard and sweated a lot here.I've seen that we shouldn't spoil what you've planted; but we'll get you some Maltese melon seeds, and we'll have to see if anyone's already planted there when we plant. Robert: Oh!Come on, gentlemen, come on; there's no more free land left.I, I plant the land that my father cultivated; everyone does, you see, all the land has long since been taken. Emile: Monsieur Robert, do you often lose the seeds of your melons? Robert: No, my dear boy; for naughty boys like you come to us not often.None of us disturbed the neighbour's field, and each respected the labor of the other so that his own might be secured. Emile: But I, I have no garden. Robert: What does that have to do with me?If you want to spoil my vegetable garden, I won't let you go there in the future, because I don't want to work in vain for a while and not get anything. Jean Jacques: Can we discuss a solution with the honest Robert?Ask him to set aside a small area in this vegetable garden for us to let my little friend and I grow things, on the condition that we share half of the harvest with him. Robert: I give you a piece of land unconditionally.But you have to remember, if you touch my melon again, I will shovel your broad beans. In trying this method to teach some primitive ideas to children, we can see how the idea of ​​property goes back naturally to the rights of the first man who labored to occupy that land.This point is very simple and clear, and can be fully understood by children.From here to property rights and exchange, there is only one step, after this step, it should be stopped immediately. We can also see that what I have described here in two pages may take a year to actually do; because in the process of cultivating moral concepts, we cannot be blamed for walking too slowly, and we cannot be blamed Every step is too steady.Young teachers, I ask you to think about this example, and remember that in everything your education should be more about action than precept, for children are apt to forget what they say and what others say to them. what they say, but what they do to them and what others do for them is not easily forgotten. Such education, as I said, must be effected sooner or later, but be advanced or delayed according to the temper of the pupil; However, in order not to overlook important things in these difficult matters, let us give another example. Your violent child destroys everything he touches, don't be angry, and put everything he can destroy out of his reach.If he breaks the furniture he used, don't rush to give him another piece of furniture, making him feel inconvenient without furniture.If he breaks the window of his room, let him be exposed to the wind day and night, and don't be afraid of the cold, for it is better to let him catch cold than to let him go mad.Never complain about all the troubles he has caused you, but make him the first to feel them.In the end, you call someone to fix the window, and you don't say anything the whole time.If he broke it again, do it another way; don't be angry, just tell him straight up, "These windows are mine, and I put them in there with painstaking efforts, and I can't let them break." Then, you put He was locked in a dark room without windows.In doing so, if he continues to be rowdy and lose his temper, then ignore him.Presently he would lose heart and change his tone, and there would be moaning and complaining; a servant would go there, and the rebel would ask that servant to let him go.Tell the servant not to make any excuses that he cannot let him go, but just answer him: "I don't want people to break my window." Then go away.Let the boy stay there for a few hours, long enough to disturb him in it, and take the matter to heart, before sending someone to make him make a treaty with you, by which you will return his free, and he will never again break your windows.In doing so, he felt that nothing could be better.He sends for you to come and see him; you go to him, and he offers you his treaty, which you immediately accept, saying to him at the same time, "It's a good idea, and it's good for both of us; why don't you I never thought of that!" Then, without asking him if he still has any objections, or saying that he is determined to keep his promise, you just embrace him joyfully, and immediately take him to his room, as if Once this treaty is sworn to be kept, it is sacred and indestructible.Taking this approach, what do you think he would think of these agreed beliefs and their uses?In this world, as long as I can find a child (of course, a child who has not been pampered) who breaks the window on purpose after such a lesson, I will be wrong.Do it in this order.When this naughty boy dug a hole in the ground to plant broad beans, he never thought that he was digging a prison cell for himself, and let his own knowledge quickly lock him in it. We have now entered the world of morality, which has opened its doors to sin.The acts of cheating and lying will come along with social customs and obligations.A man who can do what he shouldn't do also wants to cover up what he should have done but hasn't done.One interest makes a promise, and a greater interest makes a promise broken.The problem is not simply that a broken promise can go unpunished, but that there are natural means; he can hide, he can lie.Since we cannot prevent crimes in the first place, so far we have had to punish crimes.All kinds of misfortunes in life start simultaneously with human mistakes in this way. I have said enough in this respect to make it clear that we cannot punish children for the sake of punishing them, but that they should feel that these punishments are the natural consequences of their misbehavior.So you don't reprimand them for lying, never punish them just because they lie, but make them understand that if they lie, all the bad consequences of the lie will fall on them, for example, even if they tell the truth , and no one believes it; even if you don't do anything, you will be accused by others that you have done something bad.However, we need to explain clearly to children what lying is.