Parental Guidance In Social Affairs
357
Where Are the Evenings Spent?—Every son and daughter
should be called to account if absent from home at night. Parents
should know what company their children are in and at whose house
they spend their evenings. Some children deceive their parents with
falsehoods to avoid exposure of their wrong course
Weeds Predominate in an Uncultivated Field—Fathers and
mothers too often leave their children to choose for themselves their
amusements, their companions, and their occupation. The result is
such as might reasonably be expected. Leave a field uncultivated, and
it will grow up to thorns and briers. You will never see a lovely flower
or a choice shrub peering above the unsightly, poisonous weeds. The
worthless bramble will grow luxuriantly without thought or care, while
plants that are valued for use or beauty require thorough culture. Thus
[469]
it is with our youth. If right habits are formed and right principles
established, there is earnest work to be done. If wrong habits are
corrected, diligence and perseverance are required to accomplish the
task
Accustom Child to Trust Parents’ Judgment—Parents, guard
the principles and habits of your children as the apple of the eye. Allow
them to associate with no one with whose character you are not well
acquainted. Permit them to form no intimacy until you are assured
that it will do them no harm. Accustom your children to trust your
judgment and experience. Teach them that you have clearer perception
of character than they in their inexperience can have, and that your
decisions must not be disregarded
The Restraint to Be Firm, but Kind—The parents should not
concede to the inclinations of their children, but should follow the plain
path of duty which God has marked out, restraining them in kindness,
denying with firmness and determination, yet with love, their wrong
desires, and with earnest, prayerful, persevering effort leading their
steps away from the world upward to heaven. Children should not
be left to drift into whatever way they are inclined, and to go into
avenues which are open on every side, leading away from the right
8
Counsels to Teachers, Parents, and Students, 332, 333
.
9
The Review and Herald, September 13, 1881
.
10
Counsels to Teachers, Parents, and Students, 120
.