Page 71 - Counsels to Parents, Teachers, and Students (1913)

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Right Education
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interest in the physical, mental, moral, and spiritual education of his
pupils. In order to exert the right influence, he should have perfect
control over himself, and his own heart should be richly imbued
with love for his pupils, which will be seen in his looks, words, and
acts. He should have firmness of character, and then he can mold
the minds of his pupils, as well as instruct them in the sciences.
The early education of the youth generally shapes their characters
for life. Those who deal with the young should be very careful to
call out the qualities of the mind, that they may better know how
to direct its powers so that they may be exercised to the very best
account.
Close Confinement at School
The system of education carried out for generations back has
been destructive to health, and even to life itself. Many young
children have passed five hours each day in schoolrooms not properly
ventilated, nor sufficiently large for the healthful accommodation
of the scholars. The air of such rooms soon becomes poison to
the lungs that inhale it. Little children, whose limbs and muscles
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are not strong and whose brains are undeveloped, have been kept
confined indoors to their injury. Many have but a slight hold on life
to begin with, and the confinement in school from day to day makes
them nervous and diseased. Their bodies are dwarfed because of the
exhausted condition of their nerves.
And if the lamp of life goes out, the parents and teachers do not
consider that they had any direct influence in quenching the vital
spark. When standing by the graves of their children, the afflicted
parents look upon their bereavement as a special dispensation of
Providence, when, by inexcusable ignorance, it was their own course
that destroyed the lives of their children. To charge their death to
Providence is blasphemy. God wanted the little ones to live and be
disciplined, that they might have beautiful characters, and glorify
Him in this world and praise Him in the better world....
To become acquainted with the wonderful human organism, the
bones, muscles, stomach, liver, bowels, heart, and pores of the skin,
and to understand the dependence of one organ upon another for
the healthful action of all, is a study in which most mothers take