his life work without having reached a play interest in it."[1]
At an early period in life the child is not prepared to take a place in the great work of affairs and when called upon to do so, it is overwhelmed just as a day laborer would be if called upon to take charge of the New York Central Railroad. The task would be one outside of the scope of his development. So to the child, thrust out early into the rush and clamor of the market-place, the task is overwhelming. The child in monotonous, subdivided industry is out of its natural environment, and it gasps for its native air of play as a fish on the sand gasps for water.
III. The Intellect and Work
"A strong mind in a strong body" goes the old saying. How detrimental to the development of a strong body child labor may be, has already been indicated. That child labor may stunt physical development cannot be questioned,—having wrought havoc in
- ↑ Adolescence. By G. Stanley Hall. New York: Appleton, 1904. Vol. i, pp. 231-232.
