The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1913-04-30
Where Is Your Child After Dark?

Where are the children of your home
after dark? We fear that in only too
many eases the parents must answer,
1--WE do not know" They may be at
a neighbours, they may be at church,
they may be at a moving picture show,
or they may be on the street, but the
parents do not know. They may be
learning something of what true man
hood and womanhood is or they may
be taking lessons in youthful depravity
from precocious but all too capable
teachers, but the parents do not know.
Where are the horses and cattle, or even
the chickens? Ali safe in well-fenced
pasture or secure building, for we can
not afford to run any risk of losing
them. But the children. Well, We do
not know lust where they are. And
vet, if any one on earth is responsible
for the welfare of those children, it is
the father and mother. And If damage
comes to those children because OF
thouohtlessness or carelessness, these
parents will stand condemned in the
sight Of God and man.
And yet there are children. little chill
dren of six and seven, and older ones OF
thirteen and fourteen, who are roaming
the streets at night unattended by any
save the ignorant, the foolish, or the
vicious, and their Godordained guard
ians. the parents. are seated comfort
ably at home. quietly reading the news
paper or it may be the Bible, or pleas
antly visiting at neighbor's, while their
little children are ignorantly wooing de-
structon. In regard to this matter, we
may lay down one or two things as
absolutely certain, says Christian Guar
dian.
The first is that the father and mother
are absolutely responsible for proper
oversight of their children. II makes no
difference whether the father be dis
tinguished preacher or an ordinary ar.
tisan nor whether the mother be wom-
an of genius or simply an ordinary
housewife, they are absolutely respon-
sible for exercising proper oversight
over their children; and If they fail, IL
is only too probable that the sword will
pierce their hearts. for which no sue
cess outside of the home shall have any
healing balm.
And this means that the father and
mother have a right to know, and ought
to know, where, and with whom, their
children spend their time This is not
so easy as il used to be, but the par
ents should find out in some way OF
other.
And then the young children should
always be at home before dark, unless
accompanied by some responsible party
or under the care of some one who IS
wholly Trustworthy. 1t not infrequently
happens that we sing Where Is My
Wandering Boy Tonight!" just few
years too late If we know where the
boy is during the first fifteen years, it
will not usually be hand to find out for
the after wears Every little while our
police courts see sad-iaced fathers and
mothers whose bots have been arrested
I for criminal offences. and the broken
hearted parents did not even know that
I the boy has been bad until then. Many
ruined boy has been ruined not by
the criminslitv of his young friends. but
bv the awful blindness and well-nigh in
credible earelessness of his own Chris
tian parents and no bitter tears can
ever blot out the sin and the shame Of
I a parents failure TO keep faith with his
God and with his child
Dorothy Dexter.