sees in all his conduct the natural result of an inborn disposition to
evil, while the other parent holds to the opinion that the child's
nature is good, and to the belief that all will come right, then often
enough the child's conduct shows the effect of these opposite
influences. In contact with the first he steadily deteriorates,
affording proof after proof that judgment against him has been rightly
pronounced. In contact with the other, though his character and
conduct are bound to suffer from such an unhappy experience, he yet
shows the best side of his nature and keeps alive the conviction that
he is not all bad.

The force of suggestion is still powerful to control conduct and
determine character in later childhood. The impetus given by the
parents in this way is only gradually replaced by the driving power of
his own self-respect--a self-respect based upon self-analysis in the
light of the greater experience he has acquired.




CHAPTER X

NERVOUSNESS IN OLDER CHILDREN


In older children the line which separates naughtiness, fractiousness,
and restlessness from definite neuropathy begins to be more marked.
The nature of the young child, taking its colour from its
surroundings, is sensitive, mobile, and inconstant. With every year
that passes, the normal child loses something of this impressionable