Manual Training
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the young to bear their share of life’s burdens, is most effective in
promoting the growth of mind and character.
The youth need to be taught that life means earnest work, re-
sponsibility, care-taking. They need a training that will make them
practical—men and women who can cope with emergencies. They
should be taught that the discipline of systematic, well-regulated labor
is essential, not only as a safeguard against the vicissitudes of life, but
as an aid to all-around development.
Notwithstanding all that has been said and written concerning the
dignity of labor, the feeling prevails that it is degrading. Young men are
anxious to become teachers, clerks, merchants, physicians, lawyers,
or to occupy some other position that does not require physical toil.
Young women shun housework and seek an education in other lines.
These need to learn that no man or woman is degraded by honest
toil. That which degrades is idleness and selfish dependence. Idleness
fosters self-indulgence, and the result is a life empty and barren—a
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field inviting the growth of every evil. “The earth which drinketh in
the rain that cometh oft upon it, and bringeth forth herbs meet for them
by whom it is dressed, receiveth blessing from God: but that which
beareth thorns and briers is rejected, and is nigh unto cursing; whose
end is to be burned.”
Hebrews 6:7, 8
.
Many of the branches of study that consume the student’s time are
not essential to usefulness or happiness; but it is essential for every
youth to have a thorough acquaintance with everyday duties. If need
be, a young woman can dispense with a knowledge of French and
algebra, or even of the piano; but it is indispensable that she learn to
make good bread, to fashion neatly-fitting garments, and to perform
efficiently the many duties that pertain to homemaking.
To the health and happiness of the whole family nothing is more
vital than skill and intelligence on the part of the cook. By ill-prepared,
unwholesome food she may hinder and even ruin both the adult’s
usefulness and the child’s development. Or by providing food adapted
to the needs of the body, and at the same time inviting and palatable,
she can accomplish as much in the right as otherwise she accomplishes
in the wrong direction. So, in many ways, life’s happiness is bound up
with faithfulness in common duties.
Since both men and women have a part in home-making, boys as
well as girls should gain a knowledge of household duties. To make a