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Testimonies for the Church Volume 3
them. But parents become more and more careless in the education
of their children in the useful branches. Many parents allow their
children to form wrong habits and to follow their own inclination, and
fail to impress upon their minds the danger of their doing this and the
necessity of their being controlled by principle.
Children frequently begin a piece of work with enthusiasm, but,
becoming perplexed or wearied with it, they wish to change and take
hold of something new. Thus they may take hold of several things,
meet with a little discouragement, and give them up; and so they pass
from one thing to another, perfecting nothing. Parents should not allow
the love of change to control their children. They should not be so
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much engaged with other things that they will have no time to patiently
discipline the developing minds. A few words of encouragement,
or a little help at the right time, may carry them over their trouble
and discouragement, and the satisfaction they will derive from seeing
the task completed that they undertook will stimulate them to greater
exertion.
Many children, for want of words of encouragement and a little
assistance in their efforts, become disheartened and change from one
thing to another. And they carry this sad defect with them in mature
life. They fail to make a success of anything they engage in, for they
have not been taught to persevere under discouraging circumstances.
Thus the entire lifetime of many proves a failure, because they did
not have correct discipline when young. The education received in
childhood and youth affects their entire business career in mature life,
and their religious experience bears a corresponding stamp.
Physical Labor for Students
With the present plan of education a door of temptation is opened
to the youth. Although they generally have too many hours of study,
they have many hours without anything to do. These leisure hours are
frequently spent in a reckless manner. The knowledge of bad habits
is communicated from one to another, and vice is greatly increased.
Very many young men who have been religiously instructed at home,
and who go out to the schools comparatively innocent and virtuous,
become corrupt by associating with vicious companions. They lose
self-respect and sacrifice noble principles. Then they are prepared to