The Child and its Enemies
- Language:
- English
- Status:
- Complete work
- Authorship:
- Written by the author
- Condition of the text:
- Clean text
- Extent:
- ~2,950 words · 14 passages
Cite this work
- APAEmma Goldman. (n.d.). The Child and its Enemies. SigPhi. https://sigphiai.com/en/works/emma-goldman/the-child-and-its-enemies
- MLAEmma Goldman. "The Child and its Enemies." SigPhi, https://sigphiai.com/en/works/emma-goldman/the-child-and-its-enemies.
- ChicagoEmma Goldman. The Child and its Enemies. SigPhi. https://sigphiai.com/en/works/emma-goldman/the-child-and-its-enemies.
What it is about
On education as a factory of obedience: school, family and Church as the child's 'enemies'.
Context and history
From 1906, in direct line with Ferrer's Modern School, which Goldman would champion after his execution. Much of later libertarian pedagogy descends from this. This is a short article, not a book: its size in the catalogue is no defect of the copy. Much of Goldman's work took this form, in her magazine Mother Earth and in pamphlets.
Editorial context, not a citable source: unlike the passages of the work itself, these statements cannot be checked against the corpus.
Is the child to be considered as an individuality, or as an object to be molded according to the whims and fancies of those about it? This seems to me to be the most important question to be answered by parents and educators. And whether the child is to grow from within, whether all that craves expression will be permitted to come forth toward the light of day; or whether it is to be kneaded like dough through external forces, depends upon the proper answer to this vital question. The longing of the best and noblest of our times makes for the strongest individualities. Every sensitive being abhors the idea of being treated as a mere machine or as a mere parrot of conventionality and respectability, the human being craves recognition of his kind. It must be borne in mind that it is through the channel of the child that the development of the mature man must go, and that the present ideas of the educating or training of the latter in the school and the family even the family of the liberal or radical are such as to stifle the natural growth of the child. Every institution of our day, the family, the State, our moral codes, sees in every strong, beautiful, uncompromising personality a deadly enemy; therefore every effort is being made to cramp human emotion and originality of thought in the individual into a straight-jacket from its earliest infancy; or to shape every human being according to one pattern; not into a well-rounded individuality, but into a patient work slave, professional automaton, tax-paying citizen, or righteous moralist. If one, nevertheless, meets with real spontaneity (which, by the way, is a rare treat,) it is not due to our method of rearing or educating the child: the personality often asserts itself, regardless of official and family barriers. Such a discovery should be celebrated as an unusual event, since the obstacles placed in the way of growth and development of character are so numerous that it must be considered a miracle if it re
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