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Safeguarding the Young
From their infancy the youth need to have a firm barrier built
up between them and the world, that its corrupting influence may
not affect them. Parents must exercise unceasing watchfulness, that
their children be not lost to God. The vows of David, recorded
in the 101st psalm, should be the vows of all upon whom rest the
responsibilities of guarding the influences of the home. The psalmist
declares: “I will set no wicked thing before mine eyes: I hate the
work of them that turn aside; it shall not cleave to me. A froward
heart shall depart from me: I will not know a wicked person. Whoso
privily slandereth his neighbor, him will I cut off: him that hath an
high look and a proud heart will not I suffer. Mine eyes shall be
upon the faithful of the land, that they may dwell with me: he that
walketh in a perfect way, he shall serve me. He that worketh deceit
shall not dwell within my house: he that telleth lies shall not tarry in
my sight.”
Psalm 101:3-7
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The youth should not be left to learn good and evil indiscrimi-
nately, the parents thinking that at some future time the good will
predominate and the evil lose its influence. The evil will increase
faster than the good. It is possible that the evil which children learn
may be eradicated after many years, but who would trust to this?
Whatever else they neglect, parents should never leave their children
free to wander in the paths of sin.
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Choosing Associates
Parents should remember that association with those of lax
morals and coarseness of character will have a detrimental influ-
ence upon the youth. If they fail to choose proper society for their
children, if they allow them to associate with youth of questionable
morals, they place them, or permit them to place themselves, in a
school where lessons of depravity are taught and practiced. They
may feel that their children are strong enough to withstand tempta-
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