Richard L. Evans
The Spoken Word
1 March 1964

THE FRIENDS OF THE YOUNG

One of the most effective ways of conditioning the character and conduct of children, of youth, as well as of others, is to be what we would have them be— to be convincing in the counsel we give by living or keeping our own counsel, by the example of our lives.

Parents are initially most important in the lives of children, for theirs is the first relationship of life. Their power of example is great, as also are their attitudes, and the subtle and undefined influences.

In speaking of this in a negative sense, an ancient prophet said: “Ye have lost the confidence of your children, because of your bad examples before them.”

“The mind, like the body,” said William Ellery Channing, “depends on the climate it lives in, on the air it breathes.” “How about the home atmosphere?” asks another earnest observer. “This is the air the childplant breathes . . . home, and friends, and school: These make the soil in which these human plants are growing. . . . Reverence [respect] cannot be forced out of a child on demand or by saying it ought to be; but any mother [any parent] can command it by being the kind of person a child can reverence [or respect]. . .”

“The only rational way of educating,” observed Albert Einstein, “is to be an example.” “Whether it be for good or evil,” said John Jebb, “the education of the child is principally derived from its own observation of the actions, words, voice, and looks of those with whom it lives.— The friends of the young, then, cannot be too circumspect in their presence to avoid every and the least appearance of evil.”

This phrase, “the friends of the young,” must, of course, include parents, teachers, and others— all who deeply and sincerely would help youth make the most of their lives. This friendly or unfriendly aspect applies also to all private and public influences, to whatever appears in print, to whatever by any means or media is permitted to make its impressions upon young people. We all have responsibility for the images and influences that condition the character and conduct of others. Those who are truly the friends of the young will use their most earnest efforts to see that the lives of youth are not infused with adverse influences that tend to break down manners and morals, to glorify violence, or loose living, or to encourage adverse appetites, or add excitement without regard to character or consequences.

“The friends of the young . . . cannot be too circumspect.”