I beg of you, stop ill-treating your children! Stop forcing them to work, and, even worse,
exploiting them to meet the needs of your families! It is not their role! Your children are neither your slaves nor your exclusive property!
I beg of you, you are responsible for their birth, for their future…
Do not impose on them a career, a course of life, etc.: for it is neither your pride nor your ambitions nor your dreams that should be lived out through them, but if you really want them to be happy, hold their hand to guide them along the path of their choosing, whether or not you like it.
Observe other animals, see the tenderness, attention and patience which they show to their young, and take a moment to ask yourself how it is possible that you are not capable of the same…
I beg you, give your children every tenderness, patience, respect and attention which they deserve from their parents. They have the right
to be happy as they play, to be carefree in the exuberance of youth, because worries will come soon enough!
I beg of you, see how they trust you, how they try to imitate you, how they drink in your words and believe all that you tell them. Stop telling them stories of monsters and witches, or princes and princesses (supposedly for their own good or to make them dream).
Do you know how many children come to hate their parents because they were lied to and deceived by them?
Simply tell them the truth in words they can understand. It is not necessary to induce fear in order to become wise—quite the contrary!
I beg of you, I am only an old man, but I ask you, for them all!
I beg of you, for them all!
– Richard Stelten
(Richard has been a free-lance musician in symphonic orchestras, also teaching chamber music in several music schools which put him in touch with all age groups. While speaking with pupils he understood that Western education should be completely reformed. He is preoccupied by the future of planet and of Life generally and is also a follower of Sri Aurobindo’s ideas, especially on Education.)
