Home Life in Our Training-Schools
By Helen C. Conard
If in our association with the youth we could keep ever before us the fact that in each individual heart there is constantly being waged the “great controversy” between good and evil, then, indeed, we should “manifest zeal and earnestness proportionate to the prize at stake.” Unbending dignity and stiff formality would melt away, and we should find ourselves heart to heart with the struggling soul. Then would come to pass what we have been told: “When those in charge of our school homes appreciate the privileges and opportunities within their reach, they will do a work for God which heaven will approve.” While we should do all possible to direct the development of every noble trait, we must remember that no pressure from without can ever mold the character. Undue control sometimes defeats its own intention. The object of all disciplinary effort is to train to self-control. The first sign of self-government should be hailed as an omen of success, and encouraged and cherished as we would nourish a tender plant. On the life and healthy growth of this principle depends all the after life for good. The one thing that is most complained of by inmates of our school homes is the continual oversight, the constant watching. This sense of having a critical eye ever upon one is unpleasant. Now, we can not afford to be careless. The oversight is necessary. Eternal vigilance is the price of safety in this work. But the wise parent watches without seeming to watch. Demonstrative oversight in a home is unnatural and harmful. It lessens self-respect as well as respect for the parent. A little care in the study of human nature—child nature—will enable us to discern beneath the surface, and well-directed tact will prevent much trouble. And now in closing, just a mere suggestion upon another phase—a delicate phase of this subject. An old saying has come down to us from our Saxon ancestors that “every man’s home is his castle.” No element foreign to the best interests of that home should ever come in to meddle with its supervision. The loyalty of all members of the home should serve as an impregnable and perpetual safeguard against interference by any alien influence. This principle of loyalty should be respected by every one outside the sacred precincts. Those living in proximity to our school homes can do much toward making them ideal training places for those upon whom the burden of our message is soon to fall.