It is generally recognized by scientists that the place of animals
in the scale of being is dependent upon the length of their period
of infancy. The lower forms of animal life are mature almost as
soon as they are born. Minnows never come under the care of their
genitors, but are independent as soon as they are hatched. The
young of the less developed quadrupeds are soon weaned and
forgotten by their parents. The longer the young remain in the
care of their parents the higher the form of the animal. The great
difference between men and most of the higher animals is thought by
many to be dependent upon the length of childhood, and the
consequent care and attention given by the parents. Even among
human beings it is scarcely too much to say that the longer the
time of education and training under proper supervision lasts, the
more successful finally at the end of life the man will be. When
one considers that Aristotle, who is perhaps generally accepted as
the world's greatest thinker, associated with his great teacher,
Plato, twenty years, until he was thirty-eight years of age and
produced nearly all his important works only after that time, we
may see one example of the profound importance of training. The
care of parents for their children throughout all of their early
years would naturally imply loyalty of children to the parents as a
mark of gratitude for the time and affection expended upon them.
In one of his characteristic poems, filled with wise suggestion,
Lowell speaks of obedience as that "great tap root" of the state
and civilization. The habit of obedience is one of the finest
characteristics in family life, and obedience to parents normally
becomes obedience to law in the citizen, one of the surest bonds of
society and one of the most necessary conditions of social progress.
This fact was so fully recognized in the patriarchal stage of
society that the head of the family within the tribe had the power
even of life and death over the members of his household. In
practically all early societies we find this authority of the
parent and the obedience of the child insisted upon as fundamental.
In the Orient, even to the present day, this respect of children
for their parents is closely bound up with their religion and their
civilization. The first wish of every man is that be may have a
son to sacrifice to his memory after he has gone. And not only in
China, but in many other states we find ancestral worship springing
from this relation of father and son.
The primitive Hebrew laws (Ex. 21:15, 17) made death the penalty
for a child who struck or cursed his parents. In many countries
parricide is considered the worse type of murder. The very old
Sumerian law of ancient Babylon punished with slavery the son who
repudiated his father. In the fifth commandment no penalty is
named for disrespect toward one's parents. The religious sanction
only is implied, though the penalty of death was inflicted by the
law of the tribe.
In society to-day our aim in education is to develop individuality
and for a country with a democratic form of government this type of
education should be encouraged. Disobedience or disrespect ho
parents has no longer a legal penalty, although the children may be
compelled by law to support their parents. But gratitude toward
parents and a normal affectionate family life are practically
essential to social welfare. Aside from its civic aspect, there is
nothing in society more beautiful than the right relationship
between parents and children. Jesus, who represented the kingdom
of God as a household, found that the best analogy for the
relationship of men to God and the best descriptions of the divine
nature are based upon this relationship.