The Education of Our Children by Mrs. F. H. DeVinney

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Dec 19, 1912

The Education of Our Children

By Mrs. F. H. DeVinney

ONE of the great causes of anxiety in this field [Japan] is the education of our children. The government requires the attendance of all of school age at the public schools, unless especially excused. This means the attendance of all our children on the Sabbath, as school is held upon that day, unless the requirement for an excuse is conformed to. This is already very difficult, and is fast becoming impossible; so what we do to establish schools of our own must be done soon. The government will now allow us to maintain our own schools upon certain conditions, which we are unable to meet because of the lack of money, and laborers who can be given to this work.

Is it not a pity that heathen teachers can have the training of our children six days in the week, and we can have them but one day in which to instruct them in the things of God? In Japanese schools they are trained to worship the same picture of the emperor, and, in a number of cases of fire, the teachers have given their lives in attempts to save the picture from the flames. Every boy, from the time he enters the first grade until he leaves school, is drilled in military tactics, and patriotism, which, in its last analysis, means the worship of the emperor and of the spirits of his ancestors; and to give himself, body and spirit, to the state is constantly held before him as being the highest ideal of manhood.

We are seeking permission from the government now to establish a school where our boys and girls can be trained as loyal subjects of the kingdom of heaven, and we are praying for the help we must have to comply with the requirements of the government, and to build and equip the school.

MRS. F. H. DeVINNEY.