The rearing of children should consist of filling their lives with worth-while projects. Society is determined by the behavior of its citizens. The social life of today is sick, and this means that there is something wrong with the way we bring up our children. Since this type of education comes from within the family circle, we feel that the trouble lies there--thus we shall examine the relationships of family life.

Present conditions have broken down family life to a certain extent. This has naturally hurt the social education of the children, and yet [the demands of]society are an essential [factor]in the lives of the parents. Without proper social education the rearing of a child is impossible. Parents must stop this neglect of social education if they want their children 2to be well-educated and refined. Good behavior is taught in very few families because the parents refuse the responsibility, and are interested only in their own enjoyment. They neglect the proper education of their family. In many cases the parents are incapable of educating their families, and in some cases the parents themselves need education.

Parents must prepare themselves for their parental duties. In certain parts of the world the lives of children are so regulated that by the time they become parents they are well prepared for this task. Today we are confronted with serious problems. Instead of our children being interested in family life and preparing themselves for future marriage, entertainment, dancing, and other worldly interests take up most of their time. The activities of our children and the parents of today are certainly no credit to us. They live for worldly enjoyment and have no respect for the needs of family life. The fact that family life is degenerating should not be astonishing.

The initial impetus for the decline of the family was the emancipation of women. Many women took advantage of their new liberty and thereby lost 3their womanly charms. Although every woman can't be a mother, every mother is a woman. So naturally the pitfalls of"liberty" also befell the mothers.

The emancipated women became emancipated mothers who misunderstood the responsibilities of parenthood. They were led to believe that it was sufficient that they were mothers. The emancipated mother refers to marriage as a sport; she is independent of her family and her duties to her family. She becomes a slave to style and society. She loves cafes, coffee-houses, and dance halls. These are the things these mothers enjoy, not their homes and families.

The emancipated woman does not care to have children; her home is no more than a place of entertainment. The emancipated woman when she becomes a mother will not discard her worldly pleasures in order to take care of her child; she hires a nursemaid or a housekeeper to raise her child. If it is a crime to neglect parental care when the child is a baby, it is a much 4greater crime to neglect an older child when the parents should be setting an example for the child to follow. The only parents who can raise children are those who know the realities of life from which is derived the strength necessary to raise a child properly. Among the many problems of life the problem of parenthood seems to be a natural one. The reason people see this picture in an upside-down manner is because parenthood and the sacred institution of marriage have been misrepresented.

The parents who baby their children are at fault also, because the children become spoiled and selfish.

There are pessimistic and optimistic parents. The optimistic parent is one who is completely satisfied with the child and is continually praising him. The pessimistic parent is one who is continually reforming the child and is very strict in his teachings; withou concern for the [natural]tendencies of the child he constantly "drives" him. By this method the child becomes dependent, or alienated from the parents.

Many parents deal very severely with their children, scolding, beating, and ridiculing them for the least little thing. The child becomes mean and crude and resembles the parents. This is harmful to the parent also.

There are parents who continually threaten, but never act--then there are those who are unsympathetic. All these parents are injurious to the welfare of family life. A child's education is made hazardous by the leniency of one parent as opposed to the strictness of the other.

A great mistake is made by those parents who allow their children to taste of worldly pleasures before they are of age. The young people who are allowed this liberty, lose their self respect; they also lose what respect they had for their parents since their attitude toward life is changed.

How can children respect the mothers who run around with their hair cut short, and wearing their dresses still shorter, imitating young ladies and trying to prove that they can still attract attention.

Even those parents who rear their children properly at home are threatened by many harmful outside influences. One of the most dangerous of these is the company the child keeps. It will happen more than once that the child is judged by his associates. It is easy to understand the potential danger of bad company.

Secular education has great effect on a child also for he learns that his parents aren't the smartest people in the world. Such knowledge does not lessen the respect he holds for his parents but increases his understanding.

As the child reaches puberty with its accompanying psychological havoc, the parent is forgotten temporarily, but if sex education were properly taught the child, his respect for his parents would begin anew. At this time great care should be taken by the parents because whatever noble work may have been done can be ruined very easily with improper handling of the child.

It is not enough that one is the parent of the child--one must assume the 7responsibilities of parenthood. Worldly riches should be set aside-children should be raised and trained for the future. Our children's virtues mean more than all the wealth of the world. These facts should be given careful thought by parents so that their lives may be regulated for the benefit of their children.