Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1909-12-22
A FORsAKEN DUTY OF PARENTS.

The following plain talk to parents
appeared as Saturday night sermon
in the Des Moines Tribune, and it is
excellent advice and counsel:
One day boy fifteen years of age
went to his father and mid tears and
sobbing told that father a story that
made his blood chill in his veins, IT.
was story of sexuaI contamination
"a story which any boy might dread
to tell his father-a story of the re-
suits OF boyish ignorance and parent
al indifference. When the real con-
dition Of the lad was revealed to
him by his father, and he was in
formed as to its dangerous character,
the boy exclaimed, why didn't you
| tell me about this before?"
Why didn't he?
Because he did not do his duty as
a father A man told us the other
day, that he had four boys, some of
them just developing into manhood, ,
and he confessed he had never been
fair with them, because he did not
PANTY tell them the dangers that
surrounded them. He said he had
| always hesitated to do so from a.
sense of false modesty, but that he
was going to trample that feeling
under his feet and deal squarely with
his sons. Why shouldn't a father
point out to his sons the pitfalls
awaiting them along the road of
life? And what greater danger con-
fronts them than that which every
boy must face when he reaches the
age of puberty and steps out from
the home circle to mir gle with the
world?
Tell the boys
Many a young girl has been ruinedl
because her mother did not, at the
most critical time in the life of
girls, tell her a secret she should
never learn from lips other than
that of her mother! How many
girls have fallen easy prey to vile
and immoral men because their
mothers did not take them into
their condolences and explain to them
the dangers every girl must con-
front. Too often girls are never in
formed regarding the delicate or
ganism which God has given them,
and the necessity for care and eau.
ton during the developing years.
Mothers will exert every effort to
teach their daughters how to playI
the piano or paint water colors or
dance, and neglect teaching them |
how to care for their physical and
moral natures.
Tell the girls!
There would be less wrecks
among our boys and girls if parents
would keep in closer touch with
their children. Some of us will go i
TO our graves with aching hearts and
sad regrets because we did not follow
this rule. If girls best friend is |
her mother, 80 should boys best
friend be his father. How many
today would give all they possess i'll
they had by precept and practice and
kind advice been square" with their
sons. 1t isn't enough that we edu-
cate them, that we provide them
with money, that we humorN their
whims and dote on them. We should
stand before them every day asI
models of manhood and purity and
sobriety, as good citizens and good
fathers. A boy naturally initiates
his father. He does this intuitively.
What a terrible responsibility rests
on the fathers of this country!
Some of US have learned this lesson
too late, but it is well to warn those
who have not yet made the mistake. |
BE chummy with your boys.
Go among the women of the rn-
derworld and ask them how they
came to be living lives of shame,
and nine out of ten will tell you that
1t Is because their mothers did not
keep strict watch on them and COM
pei them to remain off the streets at
night. 1t was while the mothers
eye was not watching, while she was
Indifferent concerning her daughters
welfare that the crucial moment
came and soul was started on the
toboggan slide to hell. Cannot
mothers awaken to the terrible res
possibility God has placed ON their
shoulders in the persons of their
daughters? Indifference on the part
OF mother concerning her daugh-
ter's moral welfare is criminal. II
peoples dens of vice, wrecks woman
hoods fondest hopes, blights lives
that might have blessed the world
and driven parents with gray hairs
in sorrow to their graves.
Look out for the girls.
Charles Nelson Crittendon. who
has spent rs years in mission work
and who has cared for tens of thous-
ands of unfortunates, says that fully
80 per cent OF the unfortunate girls
OF the land took their first steps in
their sad careers because of lack of
knowledge. Darkened parlors in
which courtshius are conducted; long
promenades after church; staying
away from home at night with girl
companions; these are things which
pave the way of young girls to sin
and shame. Lack of knowledge con-
corning affairs of which they should
be more thoroughly informed is a
prime factor In the downfall of many
girls. So says one of the best in
formed men on the subject in the
United States. What a terrible ar
raignment of the American mothers.
Bread and meat and clothes are
not all our children need. They need
kind advice and counsel and, the
closest attention. They need to be
taught obedience and love of home
and its surroundings. They need
example as well as precept, living
truths and not living lies. THEW