26
Child Guidance
world, they have done their duty. They are too much occupied with
business or pleasure to make the education of their children the study
of their lives. They do not seek to train them so that they will employ
their talents for the honor of their Redeemer. Solomon did not say,
“Tell a child the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not
depart from it.” But, “Train up a child in the way he should go, and
when he is old, he will not depart from it.
[39]
Educate for Self-control—No work ever undertaken by man re-
quires greater care and skill than the proper training and education of
youth and children. There are no influences so potent as those which
surround us in our early years.... The nature of man is threefold, and
the training enjoined by Solomon comprehends the right development
of the physical, intellectual, and moral powers. To perform this work
aright, parents and teachers must themselves understand “the way the
child should go.” This embraces more than a knowledge of books or
the learning of the schools. It comprehends the practice of temper-
ance, brotherly kindness, and godliness; the discharge of our duty to
ourselves, to our neighbors, and to God.
The training of children must be conducted on a different principle
from that which governs the training of irrational animals. The brute
has only to be accustomed to submit to its master, but the child must be
taught to control himself. The will must be trained to obey the dictates
of reason and conscience. A child may be so disciplined as to have,
like the beast, no will of its own, his individuality being lost in that of
his teacher. Such training is unwise, and its effect disastrous. Children
thus educated will be deficient in firmness and decision. They are not
taught to act from principle; the reasoning powers are not strengthened
by exercise. So far as possible, every child should be trained to self-
reliance. By calling into exercise the various faculties, he will learn
where he is strongest, and in what he is deficient. A wise instructor
will give special attention to the development of the weaker traits, that
the child may form a well-balanced, harmonious character
[40]
[41]
24
The Review and Herald, June 24, 1890
.
25
Fundamentals of Christian Education, 57
.