December 5, 1901

The Use of the Rod

EGW

“If as teachers in the home the father and the mother allow children to take the lines of control into their own hands, they are held responsible for what their children might otherwise have been. From babyhood the child should be taught that the mother is master. Never should the mother allow Satan to arouse or strengthen the disagreeable passions of her child. She should not use the rod, if it be possible to avoid doing so. But if milder measures prove insufficient, punishment which will bring the child to its senses should in love be administered. Frequently one correction will be enough for a lifetime to show a child that he does not hold the lines of control.PUR December 5, 1901, par. 1

“This question of discipline should be understood in the school as well as in the home. We should hope that in the school-room there would never be occasion to use the rod. But if in a school there are those who stubbornly resist all counsel and entreaty, all prayer and burden of soul in their behalf, then it is necessary to make them understand that they must obey.PUR December 5, 1901, par. 2

“Some teachers do not think it is best to urge or enforce obedience. They say that it is their duty merely to educate. True, it is our duty to educate. But what does the educating of children amount to if, when they disregard the principles placed before them, the teacher does not feel that he has a right to exercise authority.”PUR December 5, 1901, par. 3

Talk to Church-school Teachers, September 8, 1901.

by Mrs. E. G. White