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mischief that it does at present is produced by our efforts to ignore it； or to
smother it under a heap of sentimental lies and false pretences。
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A TREATISE ON PARENTS AND CHILDREN
Childhood as a State of Sin
Unfortunately all this nonsense tends to accumulate as we become
more sympathetic。 In many families it is still the custom to treat
childhood frankly as a state of sin； and impudently proclaim the monstrous
principle that little children should be seen and not heard； and to enforce a
set of prison rules designed solely to make cohabitation with children as
convenient as possible for adults without the smallest regard for the
interests； either remote or immediate； of the children。 This system tends
to produce a tough； rather brutal； stupid； unscrupulous class； with a fixed
idea that all enjoyment consists in undetected sinning； and in certain
phases of civilization people of this kind are apt to get the upper hand of
more amiable and conscientious races and classes。 They have the
ferocity of a chained dog； and are proud of it。 But the end of it is that
they are always in chains； even at the height of their military or political
success： they win everything on condition that they are afraid to enjoy it。
Their civilizations rest on intimidation； which is so necessary to them that
when they cannot find anybody brave enough to intimidate them they
intimidate themselves and live in a continual moral and political panic。
In the end they get found out and bullied。 But that is not the point that
concerns us here； which is； that they are in some respects better brought up
than the children of sentimental people who are always anxious and
miserable about their duty to their children； and who end by neither
making their children happy nor having a tolerable life for themselves。 A
selfish tyrant you know where to have； and he （or she） at least does not
confuse your affections； but a conscientious and kindly meddler may
literally worry you out of your senses。 It is fortunate that only very few
parents are capable of doing what they conceive their duty continuously or
even at all； and that still fewer are tough enough to ride roughshod over
their children at home。
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A TREATISE ON PARENTS AND CHILDREN
School
But please observe the limitation 〃at home。〃 What private amateur
parental enterprise cannot do may be done very effectively by organized
professional enterprise in large institutions established for the purpose。
And it is to such professional enterprise that parents hand over their
children when they can afford it。 They send their children to school； and
there is； on the whole； nothing on earth intended for innocent people so
horrible as a school。 To begin with； it is a prison。 But it is in some
respects more cruel than a prison。 In a prison； for instance； you are not
forced to read books written by the warders and the governor （who of
course would not be warders and governors if they could write readable
books）； and beaten or otherwise tormented if you cannot remember their
utterly unmemorable contents。 In the prison you are not forced to sit
listening to turnkeys discoursing without charm or interest on subjects that
they dont understand and dont care about； and are therefore incapable of
making you understand or care about。 In a prison they may torture your
body； but they do not torture your brains； and they protect you against
violence and outrage from your fellow prisoners。 In a school you have
none of these advantages。 With the world's bookshelves loaded with
fascinating and inspired books； the very manna sent down from Heaven to
feed your souls； you are forced to read a hideous imposture called a school
book； written by a man who cannot write： a book from which no human
being can learn anything： a book which； though you may decipher it；
you cannot in any fruitful sense read； though the enforced attempt will
make you loathe the sight of a book all the rest of your life。 With
millions of acres of woods and valleys and hills and wind and air and birds
and streams and fishes and all sorts of instructive and healthy things easily
accessible； or with streets and shop windows and crowds and vehicles and
all sorts of city delights at the door； you are forced to sit； not in a room
with some human grace and comfort or furniture and decoration； but in a
stalled pound with a lot of other children； beaten if you talk； beaten if you
move； beaten if you cannot prove by answering idiotic questions that even
when you escaped from the pound and from the eye of your gaoler； you
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A TREATISE ON PARENTS AND CHILDREN
were still agonizing over his detestable sham books instead of daring to
live。 And your childish hatred of your gaoler and flogger is nothing to his
adult hatred of you； for he is a slave forced to endure your society for his
daily bread。 You have not even the satisfaction of knowing how you are
torturing him and how he loathes you； and you give yourself unnecessary
pains to annoy him with furtive tricks and spiteful doing of forbidden
things。 No wonder he is sometimes provoked to fiendish outbursts of
wrath。 No wonder men of downright sense； like Dr Johnson； admit that
under such circumstances children will not learn anything unless they are
so cruelly beaten that they make desperate efforts to memorize words and
phrases to escape flagellation。 It is a ghastly business； quite beyond
words； this schooling。
And now I hear cries of protest arising all round。 First my own
schoolmasters； or their ghosts； asking whether I was cruelly beaten at
school？ No； but then I did not learn anything at school。 Dr Johnson's
schoolmaster presumably did care enough whether Sam learned anything
to beat him savagely enough to force him to lame his mind for Johnson's