Chapter 53—A United Front
Responsibilities in Government to Be Shared—Unitedly and
prayerfully the father and mother should bear the grave responsibility
of guiding their children aright
Parents are to work together as a unit. There must be no division.
But many parents work at cross-purposes, and thus the children are
spoiled by mismanagement.... It sometimes happens that, of the mother
and father, one is too indulgent and the other too severe. This difference
works against good results in the formation of the characters of their
children. No harsh force is to be exercised in carrying out reforms, but
at the same time no weak indulgence must be shown. The mother is
not to seek to blind the eyes of the father to the faults of the children,
neither is she to influence them to do those things which the father
has forbidden them to do. Not one seed of doubt should the mother
plant in her children’s minds in regard to the wisdom of the father’s
management. She should not, by her course of action, counteract the
work of the father
If fathers and mothers are at variance, one working against the other
to counteract each other’s influence, the family will be in a demoralized
condition, and neither the father nor the mother will receive the respect
and confidence that are essential to a well-governed family.... Children
are quick to discern anything that will cast a reflection upon the rules
and regulations of a household, especially those regulations that restrict
their actions
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The father and mother should unite in disciplining their children;
each should bear a share of the responsibility, acknowledging them-
selves under solemn obligations to God to train up their offspring in
such a way as to secure to them, as far as possible, good physical
health and well-developed characters
1
Counsels to Teachers, Parents, and Students, 127
.
2
The Review and Herald, March 30, 1897
.
3
The Review and Herald, March 13, 1894
.
4
Pacific Health Journal, April, 1890
.
236