W e generally think old folks and home belong together. To think of one is usually to think of the other; Stephen Foster immortalized this thinking in his famous song, “ Old Folks at Home.” But it is high time we began thinking a little more seri ously about young folks and home. Young people need an anchor, and home is the anchor God has provided for jtheir mooring. When the home disintegrates, the child loses his secur ity and his foundation. When there ceases to be home life and family closeness, so that the youngsters drop by only long enough to eat or sleep or get a dole from their father, then home has deteriorated into a filling station. Home Established First The oldest institution on earth is the home. God established the first one in the garden of Eden long before a church or a school was established. It is the Tome and family that sets man apart from the beasts of the field. Beasts generally run in packs and sleep in dens. While the offspring are very young, the mother protects and defends and provides for them a fierceness that is a marvel even to man. But as soon as the offspring grow larger the parental instinct disappears and the young beast must fend for himself. The parent soon forgets re sponsibility and deals with his off spring according to the law of the jun gle. The young must fight against his brothers, his sisters, or even his father and mother for his morsel of food. Love, care and responsibility are soon gone and there is neither home nor family. But that is in the jungle. Man is not supposed to live according to jungle standards. The Juvenile Problem I am not an alarmist, crying that our young folks are going to the dogs. I remember these apt lines of an un known writer: My grandfather in his house of logs Said the young folks are going to the dogs. HIS grandfather in the Flemish bogs Said the young folks are going to the dogs. And HIS grandfather in his long, skin togs Said the young folks are going to the dogs. There is but one thing that I have to state: The dogs are having a mighty long wait. It is a common pastime for old folks to point out the faults of young folks. Even Plato wrote: “ The children now love luxury, they have bad manners, contempt for
authority. They show disrespect foi elders and love chatter in place of exercise. They no longer rise when elders enter the room. They contradict their parents, chatter before company, gobble up dainties at the table, cross their legs and t y r a n n i z e t h e ir teachers.” W hy Teenagers Get Out of Hand A poll was taken recently by George Gallop on “Why Teenagers Get Out of Hand.” The conclusions of the poll were: 1. Parents are not strict enough. 2. Parents do not provide proper home life. 3. Parents have too many outside interests. 4. Parents are too indulgent; give children too much money. 5. Both parents work, even though the mother is needed at home. Read these points over again care fully and note that each reason for our juvenile problem begins with the par ents. Then examine your own home. Don’t think that these errors do not invade the Christian home. They often do. 1. It is all too easy for a Christian home not to be strict enough, or else to have strictness that is either (a) inconsistent, (b) unreasonable, or (c) hard-boiled instead of loving. 2. It is easy for Christian parents to fail in providing proper home life by allowing home to become boring or unpleasant or even too much like a church. Children need a home where they can have fellowship and fun as well as devotion. 3. It is easy for Christian parents to have so many worthy outside interests that they neglect their own children. Remember this: the first responsibility of any parent is his own home and his own children—be he preacher, teacher, leader or layman. His home should have a greater influence on his work than his work has on his home. 4. It is easy for Christian parents to be so “ good” to their children that they let them go to the devil. They become so indulgent that they spoil and ruin the life they love. It is easy to give too much of things and too little of correction. 5. It is easy for Christian mothers who do not really need to work to do so in order to bring more “ conven iences” and mechanical gadgets into the home. Love, care and attention are often sacrificed in order to provide more of material things. The greatest anchor a young person can have is a personal experience with the Lord Jesus Christ. The best place to receive that experience and that acquaintance is in his own home. END
teenagers need a home
by Rev. Charles W. Conn
"Today, home is where the youngsters only drop by long enough to eat, sleep and get a dole from their father
JULY, 1960
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