It was at Tolstoy Farm that Mr. Kallenbach drew my attention to a
problem that had never before struck me. As I have already said,
some of the boys at the Farm were bad and unruly. There were
loafers, too, amongst them. With these my three boys came in daily
contact, as also did other children of the same type as my own sons.
This troubled Mr. Kallenbach, but his attention was centred on the
impropriety of keeping my boys with these unruly youngsters.
One day he spoke out: 'Your way of mixing your own boys with the bad
ones does not appeal to me. It can have only one result. They will
become demoralized through this bad company.'
I do not remember whether the question puzzled me at the moment, but
I recollect what I said to him:
'How can I distinguish between my boys and the loafers? I am equally
responsible for both. The youngsters have come because I invited
them. If I were to dismiss them with some money, they would
immediately run off to Johannesburg and fall back into their old
ways. To tell you the truth, it is quite likely that they and their
guardians believe that, by having come here, they have laid me under
an obligation. That they have to put up with a good deal of
inconvenience here, you and I know very well. But my duty is clear.
I must have them here, and therefore my boys also must needs live
with them. And surely you do not want me to teach my boys to feel
from today that they are superior to other boys. To put that sense
of superiority into their heads would be to lead them astray. This
association with other boys will be a good discipline for them. They
will, of their own accord, learn to discriminate between good and
evil. Why should we not believe that, if there is really anything
good in them, it is bound to react on their companions? However that
may be, I cannot help keeping them here, and if that means some
risk, we must run it.'
Mr. Kallenbach shook his head.
The result, I think, cannot be said to have been bad. I do not
consider my sons were any the worse for the experiment. On the
contrary I can see that they gained something. If there was the
slightest trace of superiority in them, it was destroyed and they
learnt to mix with all kinds of children. They were tested and
disciplined.
This and similar experiments have shown me that, if good children
are taught together with bad ones and thrown into their company,
they will lose nothing, provided the experiment is conducted under
the watchful care of their parents and guardians.
Children wrapped up in cotton wool are not always proof against all
temptation or contamination. It is true, however, that when boys and
girls of all kinds of upbringing are kept and taught together, the
parents and the teachers are put to the severest test. They have
constantly to be on the alert.