Licking Valley courier. [volume] (West Liberty, Ky.) 19??-current, 1918-03-21
GUMPTION, ~
Which is plain Common Sense, in United States
language without Educational FurbeIows.
BT l.. Il. TIOVERNIALE.
The Parents Duty to The Child.


To every boy the father is hero until he gets oil
enough to distinguish the feet of clay and sees his lido
tumble from it's pedestal In most boys hearts the mothe
retains her place OF veneraton forever It is the mos
natural thing in the world that the boy from his eares
period OF activity should seek to pattern his life afte
father and that the girl will try to grow into woman
like mother
In these first years Of the chlds life it is receiving
impressions of right and wrong that will shape it's whole
life 1t is in the days when the child looks to the parents
as Its example par excellence that the basic strata of its
character is formed The impressions that gets at home
dominate and control throughout its fe and are only in
degree modified by outside Influences
When the parent reflects upon the fact that in his dali
~ walk ne is not only shaping his life, but the lives
OF his children, how awful how impeng must appear the
responsibility Yet, unfortunately few parents give this
matter any thought whatever AS matter of fact most
parents teach their children by precept rather than bv
ample Few parents lax in the matter of giving their
children good advice, or in commanding them to do right
Dut tere are entirely too few who teach by example 1t
ofte use for the father to Stagger home intoxicated and
tell his boy not to drink or to remove the pipe from the
mouth to delivera lecture upon the evils of smoking
Il
1t one OF the tributes to the bencent influences of
the Christian religion that boys and girls sometimes grow
into splendid men and women from Goddess homes 1t is
proof that the good influence of the Cody home extends
beyond its own resde and helps Others But how differ
ent would be the world from every home the influences
OF Christianity radated If the child in its earliest davs
bfedght ssets beauties and the blessings Of the
Christian religion and its character builded upon that
foundation there would be danger of his making bad
citizen.
The childs character building begins much earlier
than most parents realize The little todder of two years
old, following daddy about and listening to his swear
ng is having tolerance for profanity woven into the
woof and web of his character that never be entirely
eliminated. The little fellow who sees that his parents
habtuay desecrae the holiness of the Sabbath is having
built into its character lack of reverence for hov thnos
that may keep him from God and damn his SOUL Hearing
questionable methods of acquiring money favoraby COM
mented upon by his parents will stamp on his growing
character the tendency toward dishonesty
Every act of the parent to the child of tender years
right and it is at this time of his unquestons en-
dorsement OF his parents acts that his character being
nodded and his future conduct determined Again Isav
the life the parent lives in his daily association is not lust
his own life but he is influencing and shaping the lives of
his children, either for bad or for good.
When we think of the future of our children how can
we neglect the most important thing to them To every
man. other than the mer who boards for love of cold the
desire to provide for his children is the motive that sus
tains his fes endeavors but we keep in view only the
temporal things, which pershabe and lose sight of
the spiritual things, which mpershable Wecan find
time to devote to hard grueng work to make the dollar
Tor our boy but can find no time for family prayer We
teach our boys the nearest route to the dollar but fail to
point to him the way of salvation We lead him in the
ways OF commercasm but leave him gope for instruc
ton in the way of religion We cothe his body but leave
his soul naked; feed his stomach but starve his spirit
And in the final Judgment shall have to give an ac-
count for the souls of the children ntrusted to us for guild
ance How are we going to answer?
~
In West Liberty we have parents who seldom, ever
attend church or Sunday school, who have no family pray
er, who have no home bible reading or religious nstruc
ton We have parents who sit it the hotel obbies and
other public places on the Sabbath during Sunday school
and church services and indulge profane and sometimes
obscene language in the presence of the bows whose par
ens have not taught them the habit of attending Sunday
services parents whose conduct show their lack of
ence for all things that are sacred
Still, so powerful is the influence of the Christian re-
gon that our Sunday schools are fairly well attended de-
spite the lack of interest by some parents
But what different picture could be painted if all
parents interested in their childrens soul welfare