TRAINING OF THE YOUNG.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 1878, 11 October 1913, Page 9

TRAINING OF THE YOUNG.

FLIPPANT AND'EMPTY AMUSEMENTS. A vigorous criticism upon those parents who have neglected the liome influence and religious training of their children was mado by Mr. William White, the incoming president of the Now South Wales Baptist Union, at the oponing of thp annual conference of tho union at Stanmore.

"Without overstating tho facts in any, way," ho said, "one may say that tho absence of homo religion, the scarcity of homo fellowship, tho growing irreverence for parents oil tlie part of children, tho seeming lack of parental interest in the spiritual welfare of children,. and the wholesale and general pursuit aftor worldly pleasure and amusement, which aro so manifestly rife in our midst to-day, aro simply deplorable. Tho lack of interest in Sunday schools, and tho difficulty in maintaining anything like regular attendance, are not explained by tho absence of socalled up-to-date methods, but aro duo in a greater degree to that iniluenco for Godly things, which the children aro deprived of .in their homes, and tho overindulgence in worldly amusements of a flippant and empty character. A genial climate, the growing tendency to make week-ond pleasure trips, the Governmental recognition of Sabbath desecration, and the continual attendance at picture shows and such liko entertainments during the week aro responsible in a large measure for tho lack of interest in and attendance at our Sunday services; and the remedy is very much in the hands of the parents—in fact, •it is their duty to see that religion is firmly established in the homo, and that their'children are brought under the influence of religious training and exercises at homo, where, after all, they look for and receive most of tho plans for' their future lives. In many homes the things of God aro not mado tho first things. Many of aro moro concerned with the commercial success or tlio educational attainments of our children than with the welfare of their souls, and, in fact, tho tVend of our existing education system, excellent though it be, leans that way, and aims at the production of smart and efficient business or professional men, but leaves out of the reckoning all religious training and teaching. Tho solo ambition of many parents for their children is that they may rise to the top rung of the ladder in some special branch" of commercial or professional life, regardless of tho desire to achieve moral worth and nobility of character, and very often at the expense of their Christian training. Mr.- White also referred to . the religious education of school boys and girls, declaring that it was plainly apparent that public schools were not 'meeting tho demands to provide the necessary moral training.