Courtesy to the Unfortunate.
An unfortunate friend of mine, who was born with an incurable deformity, said she would rather meet a herd of wild animals any day than to run the gantlet of a lot of cruel and critical children. She became almost a recluse, going out only at night and in lonely lanes, because of the unthinking cruelty of children. Another person of whom I heard committed suicide rather than live to bear the curious glances and brutal criticism which were her daily lot while pursuing her ordinary avocation. I insist that the parents of these children are to blame, and could so train their offspring that, no matter how peculiar by deformity passers-by might be, they should be allowed the right to go on their unfortunate way, unmolested by jeer or glance or comment. Children are, at best, largely brutal in their treatment of the lame, the halt, the blind. Teach them, as I have taught mine, to permit the most hideously deformed person to pass unheeded. Teach them to pay no attention, to withhold the second glance, the nudge to companion, the smile, the sneer, the outspoken wonder, because to the sensitive victim the slightest notice is as a physical stab. It is an easy matter to so teach and train children, and the mother who does not do so is a silent accessory when the overstrained nerves of the burdened martyr give way and some tragedy results. It's an easy matter to teach children that a cardinal principle of social life is a courteous regard for the feelings of others.—The Designer.