A FATHER'S PART IN TRAINING A BOY

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1626, 29 April 1903, Page 70 (Supplement)

A FATHER'S PART IN TRAINING A BOY

Strange how fathers neglect the training of their boys. They shirk tho responsibility off upon the mother, expecting to assume it- when the child is older. But then it is too late —if the father loses his hold on the boy when yo;ung, he is seldom able to regain it later. The influence of the mother upon tho boy of five to twelve years of age is marvellous, but the fathers’ wise counsel and companionship at this age are also essential to ideal training. ‘No time to bother with children” is not an excuse for the busy father. My boy of ten has a bed in my room, or adjoining, so that in my very busy periods I see and associate with him in the morning and evening. Many confidences may be exchanged between father and son under these circumstances that would be missed and these interchanges are often quite as beneficial to the father as to the son. Father’s training must supplement mother’s. At five or six, one of our boys seemed disposed to develop into a sensitive, shrinking, weak nature, but through our combined efforts he is growing into as sturdy a character as he is strong physically. We early agreed not to say “don’t” to him except when absolutely necessary—to throw him upon his own resources, to let him play with so-called tough boys, to encourage adventure and daring, t-o discourage ms coming to us with complaints or whims, but yet to foster his confiding in us.