Bernadete F. Leal*
California – USA
Nowadays, we often find children and adolescents connected to the Internet, media, social networks, and TV, not realizing the significant influence they are receiving.
Many of them intensely desire to become. Become what? A star in a movie, TV series, a superhero, a YouTuber, or dances on TikTok and Instagram, hoping they will become famous with thousands of followers enjoying their videos.
Rarely do we find a child or young person who says, “Oh, I want to be like Mother Teresa, Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr., or Francis of Assisi,” and become someone who has or had inner beauty, selfless, and helps the world.
But, besides the influence a child receives from society or online, the greatest of all is in the family, at home, whether positive or negative. It is important to remember that the child is learning from birth through the experiences and relationships of its environment. Every reincarnation is essential, because it offers the spirit, in the material body, endless opportunities for moral and intellectual advancement until adulthood.
Hence, parents have great responsibility in their children’s education to select, the best way possible, how and in what subject their children are being educated so that in the future they will not be frustrated or regret what they could have done and did not do. What kind of books, conversations, movies, videos, and examples are your children exposed to today? Unfortunately, many parents leave this work solely to society, friends, and the school. The concern for the child’s future is essential, but do not forget that it is the result of the actions of the present.
For a child to develop responsibility, he needs an example. They need responsible people in their lives. Unfortunately, some parents complain that their children have vices but forget to look at their own model, drinking, smoking, using drugs, and exposing their children to this kind of education.
For a child to desire to have the qualities of Mother Teresa, it is necessary to educate him in spiritual-moral values and in doing good. Jesus was a great educator. He educated us about love and compassion and invited us to practice it. The Spirit Emmanuel spoke to the well-known Brazilian medium, Chico Xavier, about three important conditions to succeed in the Spiritist work. He needed to have discipline, discipline, and discipline. But to achieve this discipline, dear readers, we need to practice, practice, practice.
Unfortunately, we still see many people on this planet who ignore the teachings of Jesus. As a result, a great amount of pain and selfishness can be found on Earth as we see leaders who lack education in what really means to love thy neighbor. Question 75a in The Spirits’ Book reminds us that sometimes our reason is “corrupted by poor education, pride, and selfshness”. We have many individuals who “are lost in the food of a population without principles, or direction and are left to their own instincts on a daily basis. Should we be surprised by the disastrous consequences that result?”(L.E. Q 685)
Question 685 of the Spirits’ Book explains to us the importance of a moral education, not the moral education of books, “but moral education, that which consists in the formation of character and habits, which human beings do not learn from books. Education is the sum of the habits acquired.” And it continues, “When the art of education is properly understood and practiced, all human beings will have the habits of stability and prudence for themselves and for those who depend on them, and respect for what is worthy of respect. These habits will enable them to endure hard times with greater ease.”
When a child is educated in love, he transforms himself and the environment in which he lives. So, dear parents, plant good seeds in your children, watering them every day. You may not see the results now, but they will come, if not in this life, in another. The Spirit and learning are eternal! The power and fruits of a good and conscious moral and spiritual education are never in vain. As Paolo Mantegazza said, “Education is the hygiene of the spirit, just as hygiene is a true education of the body.”
Peace!
- Kardec, Allan. The Spirit’s Book. (Kardecpedia)
*Bernadete F. Leal, Master in Science of Education and teacher in California, USA, collaborates for over 25 years in the dissemination of Spiritism in the United States through articles, videos, courses and lectures.
