DUTY OF CHILDREN TO PARENTS
T. E. C. JR. M.D.
A little more than a century ago New England children between 10 and 13 years of age read and memorized passages in their readers which were frequently pious admonitions from the sermons and writings of the leading contemporary ministers, none of whom was more respected than William Ellery Channing (1780-1842). Yet children today, if their reading skills are up to it, will usually roll on the floor with disbelief and laughter when they read statements such as these taken from Channing's essay on the Duty of Children to Parents.
What greater monster can there be than an unthankful child, whose heart is never warmed by the daily expressions of parental solicitude; who, instead of requiting his best friend by his affectionate conduct, is sullen and passionate, and thinks his parents will do nothing for him, because they will not do all he desires?
Consider how much better they (parents) can decide for you than you can for themselves. You know but little of the world in which you live. You hastily catch at every thing which promises you pleasure; and unless the authority of a parent should restrain you, you would rush into ruin, without a thought or fear. In pursuing your own inclinations your health would be destroyed, your minds would run to waste, you would grow up slothful, selfish, a trouble to others, and burdensome to yourselves.
