Raising Moral Children—Is It Still Possible?

“WE NOW live in a very complex society, a very heterogeneous culture, where there is no uniform code of morality,” observes Robert Glossop of the Vanier Institute for the Family in Ottawa, Canada. With what result? A report in The Toronto Star newspaper says: “Teen pregnancies, youth violence and teen suicide are all on the increase.”

The problem extends beyond North America. Bill Damon, director of the Center for Human Development at Brown University in Rhode Island, U.S.A., has studied these issues in Britain and other European nations, as well as in Australia, Israel, and Japan. He points to the decline of churches, schools, and other institutions in providing guidance for the young. Our culture, he believes, “has lost touch with what children need to forge character and competence.” Citing parenting experts who teach that “discipline is hazardous to children’s health and well-being,” Damon maintains that this is “a recipe for raising wilful, disobedient children.”

What is it that youths of today need? They constantly need loving training that corrects the mind and heart. Different youths require different kinds of discipline. When motivated by love, discipline often can be conveyed by reasoning. That is why we are told at Proverbs 8:33 to “listen to discipline.” Some, though, are not “corrected by mere words.” For them, the appropriate punishment for disobedience, administered to the proper degree, may be needed. (Proverbs 17:10; 23:13, 14; 29:19) In making this recommendation, the Bible is not endorsing angry whippings or severe beatings, which may bruise and injure a child. (Proverbs 16:32) Rather, a child should understand why he is being corrected and sense that it is because the parent is with him, on his side.—Compare Hebrews 12:6, 11.

Such practical and sound Biblical advice is highlighted in the book The Secret of Family Happiness.