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Over the Back Fence By HANK HENRY Watson�s theories damaged many kids Last week, I wrote about how psychological theories regarding the rearing of babies had gone through a dramatic shift in the period from the late 1920s to the 1940s. The most widely publicized theories of the �20s and �30s were those of psychologist John Watson. He preached that babies should not be cuddled because paying too much attention to them could lead to weakness, and they would grow to be namby-pamby children. My mother employed these theories for a time because they were accepted practice. I�ve just finished a book written in 1990 by Mariette Hartley titled, "Breaking the Silence." Watson was her grandfather, and she was raised under his stringent rules. Hartley writes, "In big John�s ideal world, children were to be taken from mothers during their third or fourth week; if not, attachments were bound to develop." In his book, "The Psychological Care of the Infant and Child," Watson outlined a schedule for the younger offspring: "Children should be awakened at 6:30 for orange juice and a visit to the bathroom. Play until breakfast at 7:30 sharp. At 8 another visit to the bathroom, etc." Everything was done to a schedule. Hartley wrote of Watson�s theories, "By the age of 3, children were to begin to act like youthful men and women. They should have an early knowledge of the facts of life, including sex." Hartley�s family lived in a small Connecticut town where most folks had lots of money and flaunted it. The town also had many celebrities as residents. Authors, painters, sculptors, musicians lived among the bankers and stockbrokers. And, according to the book, many, if not most of them, were alcoholics � including Watson. Hartley moved to Hollywood in the 1970s and concentrated on getting acting jobs in made-for-television movies. She was nominated six times for an Emmy, and finally won one. She was co-host for a year on the "CBS Morning News." Her most widely seen performances, though, were a series of television ads for Polaroid cameras and film. In the ads, she played the part of James Garner�s wife. The scripts and the actors� abilities established a warmth between the two, and the audience thought they were married. She seemed to be on top of the world. She wasn�t. Her book is a tell-all to me. It shows that her supposedly sunny personality was only a front; that from early childhood, she suffered from emotional problems. I wish there had been MRIs back in the �20s and �30s. These imaging machines can show clearly where parts of the brain have not developed. The most dramatic illustration of this came following the fall of the communist countries in Europe in the late 1980s. When Romanian orphanages were opened to the public, reporters learned that the government had been warehousing babies in orphanages for years without giving them any cuddling or play. A team of doctors went to Romania and brought an MRI with them. The resulting images showed that the babies and children who had not received many human touches, other than changing diapers, had brains where the usual growth of certain sections after birth had not occurred. Since no one in the psychological world in the United States had used Watson�s theories for decades, the findings in Romania were of academic interest, but didn�t provide any solace for the victims of his theories many decades ago. I am not schooled in psychology, but I have experienced for most of my life the results of the theories of a con man who died an alcoholic, and whose patients as well as his own children and grandchildren were affected even to the third and fourth generation. (Hank Henry is a retired Jackson County commissioner and a former radio and television announcer. Call him at 772-9055.) Obituaries | Sports | Business | Classifieds | Tempo | Prime Times | So Oregon Sites | Outdoor Journal | Subscribe | Contact | Movies | Advertise | Real Estate Showcase | Archive | Editorials | Letters to the editor | Religion | Wake-up Call | NIE | Cyber Chef | Job Network | So Oregon Weather | WSJ Northwest | Forums | AP Wire | AP Money | F.A.Q. | Awards Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. The Community Newspaper Subsidiary of Dow Jones & Co, Inc Copyright �The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA