WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.120 --> 00:00:05.719 Chapter thirty four. The under teacher discipline, train admonish, and courage, 2 00:00:05.839 --> 00:00:10.519 be long suffering. One of the first lessons a child needs to learn is 3 00:00:10.560 --> 00:00:14.160 the lesson of obedience. Before he is old enough to reason, he may 4 00:00:14.160 --> 00:00:18.719 be taught to obey by gentle, persistent effort. The habit should be established. 5 00:00:19.359 --> 00:00:23.199 Thus, to a great degree may be prevented those later conflicts between will 6 00:00:23.239 --> 00:00:27.760 and authority that do so much to create alienation and bitterness towards parents and teachers, 7 00:00:28.280 --> 00:00:32.439 and too often resistance of all authority, human and divine. The object 8 00:00:32.479 --> 00:00:35.840 of discipline is the training of the child for self government. He should be 9 00:00:35.840 --> 00:00:39.560 taught self reliance and self control. Therefore, as soon as he is capable 10 00:00:39.560 --> 00:00:43.840 of understanding his reason should be enlisted on the side of obedience. Let all 11 00:00:43.880 --> 00:00:47.119 dealing with him be such as to show obedience to be just and reasonable. 12 00:00:47.600 --> 00:00:51.320 Help him to see that all things are under law, and that disobedience leads 13 00:00:51.320 --> 00:00:55.439 in the end to disaster and suffering. When God says thou shalt not, 14 00:00:55.759 --> 00:00:59.439 he in love warns us of the consequences of disobedience in order to save us 15 00:00:59.439 --> 00:01:03.359 from harm and loss. Help the child to see that parents and teachers are 16 00:01:03.359 --> 00:01:07.079 representatives of God, and that as they act in harmony with Him, their 17 00:01:07.159 --> 00:01:10.680 laws and the home and the school are also His. As the child is 18 00:01:10.680 --> 00:01:14.319 to render obedience to parents and teachers, so they in turn are to render 19 00:01:14.319 --> 00:01:19.079 obedience to God. To direct that the child's development, without hindering it by 20 00:01:19.159 --> 00:01:22.640 undue control, should be the study of both parent and teacher. Too much 21 00:01:22.680 --> 00:01:26.439 management is as bad as too little. The effort to break the will of 22 00:01:26.480 --> 00:01:30.000 a child is a terrible mistake. Minds are constituted differently. While force may 23 00:01:30.000 --> 00:01:34.799 secure outward submission, the result with many children is a more determined rebellion of 24 00:01:34.799 --> 00:01:38.640 the heart. Even should the parent or teacher succeed in gaining the control he 25 00:01:38.680 --> 00:01:42.799 seeks, the outcome may be no less harmful to the child. The discipline 26 00:01:42.799 --> 00:01:46.200 of a human being who has reached the years of intelligence should differ from the 27 00:01:46.200 --> 00:01:49.760 training of a dumb animal. The beast is taught only submission to its master. 28 00:01:49.439 --> 00:01:53.040 For the beast, the master is mind, judgment, and will. 29 00:01:53.799 --> 00:01:57.159 This method, sometimes employed in the training of children makes them little more than 30 00:01:57.200 --> 00:02:01.400 automatons. Mind, will conscience are under the control of another. It is 31 00:02:01.439 --> 00:02:06.560 not God's purpose that any mind should be thus dominated. Those who weaken or 32 00:02:06.599 --> 00:02:10.719 destroy individuality assume a responsibility that can result only in evil. While under authority, 33 00:02:10.800 --> 00:02:15.159 children may appear like well drilled soldiers, but when the control ceases, 34 00:02:15.159 --> 00:02:19.520 the character will be found to lack strength and steadfastness. Having never learned to 35 00:02:19.560 --> 00:02:23.000 govern himself, the youth recognizes no restraint except the requirement of parents or teacher. 36 00:02:23.680 --> 00:02:27.319 This removed, he knows not how to use his liberty, and often 37 00:02:27.360 --> 00:02:30.479 gives himself up to indulgence that proves his ruin. Since the surrender of the 38 00:02:30.479 --> 00:02:34.680 will is so much more difficult for some pupils than for others, the teacher 39 00:02:34.680 --> 00:02:38.680 should make obedience to his requirements as easy as possible. The will should be 40 00:02:38.719 --> 00:02:42.439 guided and molded, but not ignored or crushed. Save the strength of the 41 00:02:42.439 --> 00:02:45.680 will. In the battle of life, it will be needed. Every child 42 00:02:45.719 --> 00:02:49.000 should understand the true force of the will. He should be led to see 43 00:02:49.039 --> 00:02:53.479 how great is the responsibility involved in this gift. The will is the governing 44 00:02:53.479 --> 00:02:55.840 power in the nature of man, the power of decision or choice. Every 45 00:02:55.879 --> 00:03:00.840 human being possessed of reason has power to choose the right and every experience of 46 00:03:00.879 --> 00:03:04.560 life. God's word to us is choose you this day whom ye will serve. 47 00:03:05.520 --> 00:03:07.879 Every One may place his will on the side of the will of God, 48 00:03:07.000 --> 00:03:10.520 may choose to obey him, and by thus linking himself with divine agencies, 49 00:03:10.560 --> 00:03:15.199 he may stand where nothing can force him to do evil. In every 50 00:03:15.240 --> 00:03:17.199 youth, every child lies the power, by the help of God, to 51 00:03:17.240 --> 00:03:22.080 form a character of integrity and to live a life of usefulness. The parent 52 00:03:22.199 --> 00:03:24.039 or teacher, who, by such instruction trains the child to self control, 53 00:03:24.080 --> 00:03:29.400 will be the most useful and permanently successful. To the superficial observer. His 54 00:03:29.439 --> 00:03:31.479 work may not appear to the best advantage, it may not be valued so 55 00:03:31.560 --> 00:03:35.120 highly as that of the one who holds the mind and will of the child 56 00:03:35.240 --> 00:03:38.280 under absolute authority, but after years will show the result of the better method 57 00:03:38.280 --> 00:03:43.159 of training. The wise educator, in dealing with his pupils, will seek 58 00:03:43.199 --> 00:03:46.879 to encourage confidence and to strengthen the sense of honor. Children and youth are 59 00:03:46.879 --> 00:03:50.520 benefited by being trusted. Many, even of the little children, have a 60 00:03:50.599 --> 00:03:53.560 high sense of honor. All desire to be treated with confidence and respect, 61 00:03:53.599 --> 00:03:55.439 and this is their right. They should not be led to feel that they 62 00:03:55.479 --> 00:04:00.800 cannot go out or come in without being watched suspicion to moralize, producing the 63 00:04:00.919 --> 00:04:05.159 very evils it seeks to prevent. Instead of watching continually as if suspecting evil, 64 00:04:05.240 --> 00:04:08.800 teachers who are in touch with their pupils will discern the workings of the 65 00:04:08.800 --> 00:04:13.800 restless mind and will set to work influences that will counteract evil. Lead the 66 00:04:13.800 --> 00:04:15.720 youth to feel that they are trusted, and there are few who will not 67 00:04:15.839 --> 00:04:19.480 seek to prove themselves worthy of the trust. On the same principle, it 68 00:04:19.519 --> 00:04:24.519 is better to request than to command. The one thus addressed has opportunity to 69 00:04:24.560 --> 00:04:28.439 prove himself loyal to right principles. His obedience is the result of choice, 70 00:04:28.519 --> 00:04:31.879 rather than compulsion. The rules governing the schoolroom should, so far as possible, 71 00:04:31.959 --> 00:04:35.759 represent the voice of the school. Every principle involved in them should be 72 00:04:35.800 --> 00:04:40.480 so placed before the student that he may be convinced of its justice. Thus 73 00:04:40.480 --> 00:04:44.040 he will feel a responsibility to see that the rules which he himself has helped 74 00:04:44.120 --> 00:04:47.759 to frame are obeyed. Rules should be few and well considered, and once 75 00:04:47.800 --> 00:04:51.319 made, they should be enforced. Whatever it is found impossible to change. 76 00:04:51.360 --> 00:04:56.639 The mind learns to recognize and adapt itself too, But the possibility of indulgence 77 00:04:56.720 --> 00:05:00.279 induces desire hope and uncertainty, and the results are restlessness, irritability, and 78 00:05:00.360 --> 00:05:04.680 insubordination. It should be made plain that the government of God knows no compromise 79 00:05:04.680 --> 00:05:09.279 with evil. Neither in the home nor in the school should disobedience be tolerated. 80 00:05:09.639 --> 00:05:12.560 No parent or teacher who has at heart the well being of those under 81 00:05:12.600 --> 00:05:15.279 his care will compromise with the stubborn self will that defies authority or results to 82 00:05:15.319 --> 00:05:20.759 subterfuge or evasion in order to escape obedience. It is not love but sentimentalism 83 00:05:20.839 --> 00:05:26.040 that palters with wrong doing, seeks by coaxing or bribes to secure compliance, 84 00:05:26.040 --> 00:05:30.240 and finally accept some substitute in place of the thing required. Fools make a 85 00:05:30.279 --> 00:05:33.480 mock at sin, we should be aware of treating sin is light thing terrible. 86 00:05:33.519 --> 00:05:36.959 Its power over the wrong doer. His own iniquity shall take the wicked 87 00:05:38.040 --> 00:05:41.399 himself, and he shall be holden with the cords of his sin. The 88 00:05:41.399 --> 00:05:44.480 greatest wrong done to a child or youth is to allow him to become fastened 89 00:05:44.480 --> 00:05:47.160 in the bondage of evil habit. The youth have an inborn love of liberty. 90 00:05:47.199 --> 00:05:50.839 They desire freedom, and they need to understand that these inestimable blessings are 91 00:05:50.879 --> 00:05:55.480 to be enjoyed only in obedience to the law of God. This law is 92 00:05:55.519 --> 00:05:59.160 the preserver of true freedom and liberty. It points out and prohibits those things 93 00:05:59.160 --> 00:06:01.720 that degrade and slave, and thus to the obedient it affords protection from the 94 00:06:01.759 --> 00:06:05.360 power of evil. The Psalmist says, I will walk at liberty, for 95 00:06:05.439 --> 00:06:10.720 I seek Thy precepts. Thy testimonies also are my delight and my counselors. 96 00:06:11.439 --> 00:06:14.879 In our efforts to correct evil, we should guard against a tendency to be 97 00:06:14.879 --> 00:06:18.879 fault finding or censure. Continual censure bewilders but does not reform. With many 98 00:06:18.920 --> 00:06:24.160 minds, and often those of the finest susceptibility, an atmosphere of unsympathetic criticism 99 00:06:24.279 --> 00:06:27.680 is fatal to effort. Flowers do not unfold under the breath of a blighting 100 00:06:27.680 --> 00:06:31.240 wind. A child, frequently censured for some special fault, comes to regard 101 00:06:31.279 --> 00:06:34.720 that fault as his peculiarity, something against which it is vain to strive. 102 00:06:35.360 --> 00:06:40.560 Thus are created discouragement and hopelessness, often concealed under an appearance of indifference or 103 00:06:40.560 --> 00:06:44.560 bravado. The true object of reproof is gained only when the wrong doer himself 104 00:06:44.639 --> 00:06:46.680 is led to see his fault and his will is enlisted for its correction. 105 00:06:47.240 --> 00:06:50.199 When this is accomplished, point him to the source of pardon and power. 106 00:06:50.759 --> 00:06:55.079 Seek to preserve his self respect, and to inspire him with courage and hope. 107 00:06:55.759 --> 00:06:59.519 This work is the nicest, the most difficult ever committed to human beings, 108 00:07:00.079 --> 00:07:02.759 requires the most delicate tact, the finest susceptibility, a knowledge of human 109 00:07:02.839 --> 00:07:06.000 nature, and a heaven bore faith in patience, willing to work and watch 110 00:07:06.040 --> 00:07:10.959 and wait. It is a work than which nothing can be more important. 111 00:07:12.160 --> 00:07:15.240 Those who desire to control others must first control themselves. To deal passionately with 112 00:07:15.319 --> 00:07:18.759 a child or youth will only arouse his resentment. When a parent or teacher 113 00:07:18.800 --> 00:07:23.480 becomes impatient and is in danger of speaking unwisely, let him remain silent. 114 00:07:23.959 --> 00:07:28.800 There is wonderful power in silence. The teacher must expect to meet perverse dispositions 115 00:07:28.800 --> 00:07:31.120 and obdurate hearts, but in dealing with them, he should never forget that 116 00:07:31.160 --> 00:07:34.279 he himself was one's a child in need of discipline. Even now, with 117 00:07:34.319 --> 00:07:39.519 all his advantages of age, education, and experience, he often errs and 118 00:07:39.680 --> 00:07:43.279 is in need of mercy and forbearance in treating the youth. He should consider 119 00:07:43.319 --> 00:07:46.519 that he is dealing with those who have inclinations to evil similar to his own. 120 00:07:46.000 --> 00:07:48.680 They have almost everything to learn, and it is much more difficult for 121 00:07:48.720 --> 00:07:51.759 some to learn than for others. With the dull pupil, he should bear 122 00:07:51.800 --> 00:07:57.800 patiencely, not censuring his ignorance, but improving every opportunity to give him encouragement. 123 00:07:58.240 --> 00:08:01.240 With sensitive, nervous pupils should deal very tenderly. A sense of his 124 00:08:01.279 --> 00:08:05.720 own imperfection should lead him constantly to manifest sympathy and forbearance towards those who also 125 00:08:05.800 --> 00:08:11.399 are struggling with difficulties. The Saviour's rule, as ye would that men should 126 00:08:11.399 --> 00:08:13.879 do to you, do ye also to them. Likewise should be the rule 127 00:08:13.959 --> 00:08:18.480 of all who undertake the training of children in youth. They are the younger 128 00:08:18.480 --> 00:08:20.399 members of the Lord's family, heir with us of the grace of life. 129 00:08:20.839 --> 00:08:24.279 Christ's rules should be sacredly observed toward the dullest, the youngest, the most 130 00:08:24.279 --> 00:08:28.160 blundering, and even toward the erring and rebellious. This rule will lead the 131 00:08:28.199 --> 00:08:31.240 teacher to avoid, so far as possible, make ye public the falter or 132 00:08:31.320 --> 00:08:35.879 errors of a pupil. He will seek to avoid giving reproof or punishment in 133 00:08:35.919 --> 00:08:39.159 the presence of others. He will not expel a student until every effort has 134 00:08:39.159 --> 00:08:43.000 been put forth for his reformation. But when it becomes evident that the student 135 00:08:43.080 --> 00:08:46.879 is receiving no benefit himself, while his defiance or disregard of authority tends to 136 00:08:46.879 --> 00:08:50.360 overthrow the government of the school, and his influence is contaminating others, then 137 00:08:50.440 --> 00:08:56.039 his expulsion becomes a necessity. Yet with many the disgrace of public expulsion would 138 00:08:56.120 --> 00:09:00.000 lead to utter recklessness and ruin. In most cases, when removal is unavoidable, 139 00:09:00.159 --> 00:09:03.279 the matter need not be made public by counsel and cooperation with the parent, 140 00:09:03.440 --> 00:09:07.039 let the teacher privately arrange for the students withdraw in. This time a 141 00:09:07.080 --> 00:09:11.039 special danger for the young. Temptations surround them on every hand, and while 142 00:09:11.080 --> 00:09:15.200 it is easy to drift, the strongest effort is required in order to press 143 00:09:15.240 --> 00:09:18.799 against the current. Every school should be a city of refuge for the tempted 144 00:09:18.799 --> 00:09:20.440 youth, a place where their folly shall be dealt with patiently and wisely. 145 00:09:22.200 --> 00:09:26.159 Teachers who understand their responsibilities will separate from their own hearts and lives everything that 146 00:09:26.159 --> 00:09:31.279 would prevent them from dealing successfully with the willful and disobedient. Love and tenderness, 147 00:09:31.399 --> 00:09:33.080 patience, and self control will at all times be the law of their 148 00:09:33.120 --> 00:09:39.639 speech. Mercy and compassion will be blended with justice when it is necessary to 149 00:09:39.639 --> 00:09:43.759 give reproof. Their language will not be exaggerated, but humble in gentleness. 150 00:09:43.759 --> 00:09:46.240 They will set before the wrong door his errors and help him to recover himself. 151 00:09:46.679 --> 00:09:50.279 Every true teacher will feel that, should he err at all, it 152 00:09:50.320 --> 00:09:52.960 is better to err on the side of mercy than on the side of sovereignty. 153 00:09:52.399 --> 00:09:56.720 Many youth who are thought incorrigible are not at heart so hard as they 154 00:09:56.759 --> 00:10:00.840 appear. Many who are regarded as hopeless may be reclaimed by wise discipline. 155 00:10:01.320 --> 00:10:05.200 These are often the ones who most readily melt under kindness. Let the teacher 156 00:10:05.240 --> 00:10:07.679 gain the confidence of the tempted one, and by recognizing and developing the good 157 00:10:07.720 --> 00:10:11.120 in his character, he can, in many cases correct the evil without calling 158 00:10:11.159 --> 00:10:16.559 attention to it. The divine teacher bears with the erring through all their perversity. 159 00:10:16.960 --> 00:10:18.679 His love does not grow cold, his efforts to win them do not 160 00:10:18.799 --> 00:10:22.679 cease. With outstretched arms, he waits to welcome again and again the erring, 161 00:10:22.840 --> 00:10:26.200 the rebellious, and even the apostate, his heart is touched with the 162 00:10:26.240 --> 00:10:31.279 helplessness of the little child's subject to rough usage. The cry of human suffering 163 00:10:31.559 --> 00:10:35.039 never reaches his ear in vain. Though all are precious in his sight, 164 00:10:35.200 --> 00:10:39.720 the rough, sullen, stubborn dispositions draw most heavily upon his sympathy and love, 165 00:10:39.840 --> 00:10:43.519 for he traces from cause to effect. The one who is most easily 166 00:10:43.519 --> 00:10:48.720 tempted and is most inclined to error is especial object of his solicitude. Every 167 00:10:48.759 --> 00:10:52.080 parent and every teacher should cherish the attributes of him who makes the cause of 168 00:10:52.080 --> 00:10:54.559 the afflicted, the suffering, and attempted his own. He should be the 169 00:10:54.600 --> 00:10:58.000 one who can have compassion on the ignorant and on them that are out of 170 00:10:58.000 --> 00:11:03.639 the way, for that he himself also is compassed with infirmity. Jesus treats 171 00:11:03.679 --> 00:11:05.440 us far better than we deserve, and as he has treated us, so 172 00:11:05.480 --> 00:11:09.240 we are to treat others. The course of no parent or teacher is justifiable 173 00:11:09.279 --> 00:11:13.159 if it is unlike that which, under similar circumstances the Savior would pursue. 174 00:11:13.919 --> 00:11:16.919 Beyond the discipline of the home and the school, all have to meet the 175 00:11:16.919 --> 00:11:20.519 stern discipline of life. How to meet This wisely is a lesson that should 176 00:11:20.559 --> 00:11:24.639 be made plain to every child and to every youth. It is true that 177 00:11:24.679 --> 00:11:26.679 God loves us, that he is working for our happiness, and that if 178 00:11:26.720 --> 00:11:31.080 his law had always been obeyed, we should never have known suffering. And 179 00:11:31.200 --> 00:11:33.000 it is no less true that in this world, as the result of sin, 180 00:11:33.240 --> 00:11:37.120 suffering, trouble burdens come to every life. We may do the children 181 00:11:37.120 --> 00:11:41.519 and the youth a lifelong good by teaching them to meet bravely these troubles and 182 00:11:41.559 --> 00:11:45.360 burdens. While we should give them sympathy, let it never be such as 183 00:11:45.360 --> 00:11:48.480 to foster self pity. What they need is that which stimulates and strengthens, 184 00:11:48.559 --> 00:11:52.120 rather than weakens. They should be taught that this world is not a parade 185 00:11:52.159 --> 00:11:56.360 ground, but a battlefield. All are called to endure hardness as good soldiers. 186 00:11:56.799 --> 00:12:01.080 They are to be strong and quit themselves like men. Let them be 187 00:12:01.120 --> 00:12:03.559 taught that the true test of character is found in the willingness to bear burdens, 188 00:12:03.720 --> 00:12:07.279 to take the hard place, to do the work that needs to be 189 00:12:07.320 --> 00:12:11.919 done, though it bring no earthly recognition or reward. The true way of 190 00:12:11.000 --> 00:12:15.799 dealing with trial is not by seeking to escape it, but by transforming it. 191 00:12:16.320 --> 00:12:18.480 This applies to all discipline, the earlier as well as the latter. 192 00:12:20.360 --> 00:12:24.720 The neglect of the child's earliest training and that consequent strengthening of wrong tendencies, 193 00:12:24.759 --> 00:12:28.759 makes us after education more difficult, and causes discipline to be too often a 194 00:12:28.759 --> 00:12:31.799 painful process. Painful it must be to the lower nature, crossing as it 195 00:12:31.840 --> 00:12:35.399 does the natural desires and inclinations. But the pain may be lost sight of 196 00:12:35.519 --> 00:12:39.039 in a higher joy. Let the child and the youth be taught that every 197 00:12:39.039 --> 00:12:43.440 mistake, every fault, every difficulty conquered becomes a stepping stone to better and 198 00:12:43.519 --> 00:12:48.000 higher things. It is through such experiences that all who have ever made life 199 00:12:48.000 --> 00:12:52.519 worth the living have achieved success. The heights by great men reached and kept 200 00:12:52.559 --> 00:12:56.360 were not attained by sudden flight, but they, while their companions slept, 201 00:12:56.360 --> 00:13:01.720 were toiling upward in the night. We rise by the things that are under 202 00:13:01.759 --> 00:13:03.960 our feet, by what we have mastered of good or gain, by the 203 00:13:05.000 --> 00:13:09.759 pride disposed and the passion slain and vanquished ills that we hourly meet, all 204 00:13:09.840 --> 00:13:13.360 common things, each day's event, that with the hour begin an end. 205 00:13:13.600 --> 00:13:20.279 Our pleasures and our discontents are rounds by which we may ascend. We are 206 00:13:20.320 --> 00:13:22.759 too. Look not at the things which are seen, but at the things 207 00:13:22.799 --> 00:13:24.840 which are unseen. For the things which are seen are temporal, but the 208 00:13:24.879 --> 00:13:28.480 things which are unseen are eternal. The exchange we make in the denial of 209 00:13:28.480 --> 00:13:33.360 selfish desires and inclinations is an exchange of the worthless and transitory for the precious 210 00:13:33.360 --> 00:13:39.639 and enduring. This is not sacrifice, but infinite gain. Something better is 211 00:13:39.639 --> 00:13:43.440 the watchword of education, the law of all true living. Whatever Christ asks 212 00:13:43.519 --> 00:13:46.440 us to renounce, he offers in its stead something better. Often the youth 213 00:13:46.519 --> 00:13:50.679 cherish objects, pursuits, and pleasures that may not appear to be evil, 214 00:13:50.759 --> 00:13:54.039 but that fall short of the highest good. They divert the life from its 215 00:13:54.039 --> 00:13:58.720 noblest aim. Arbitrary measures are direct denunciation may not avail in leading these youths 216 00:13:58.759 --> 00:14:01.960 to relinquish that which they dear. Let them be directed to something better than 217 00:14:03.039 --> 00:14:07.600 display, ambition or self indulgence. Bring them in contact with truer beauty, 218 00:14:07.639 --> 00:14:11.919 with loftier principles, and with nobler lives. Lead them to behold the one 219 00:14:11.039 --> 00:14:16.080 altogether lovely. When once the gaze is fixed upon him, the life finds 220 00:14:16.080 --> 00:14:20.440 its center, the enthusiasm, the generous devotion, the passionate ardor of the 221 00:14:20.519 --> 00:14:24.440 youth find here their true object. Duty becomes a delight, and sacrifice, 222 00:14:24.440 --> 00:14:28.080 a pleasure. To honor Christ, to become like him, to work for 223 00:14:28.200 --> 00:14:33.039 him is the life's highest ambition and its greatest joy. The love of Christ 224 00:14:33.240 --> 00:14:35.200 constraineth. End of Chapter thirty four.