Alice Bailey & Djwhal Khul - Problems of Humanity - II - The Problem of the
Children of the World
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Problems of Humanity - Chapter II - The Problem of the Children of the
World
CHAPTER IIThe Problem
of the Children of the World
This
problem is, without exception, the most urgent confronting humanity today. The future of
the race lies in the hands of the young people everywhere. They are the parents of the
coming generations and the engineers who must implement the new civilization. What we do
with them and for them is momentous in its implications; our responsibility is great and
our opportunity unique.
This chapter deals with the children and adolescents, under sixteen years old. These
two groups are the most hopeful element in a world which has fallen to pieces before our
eyes. They are the guarantee that our world can be rebuilt and - if we have learned
anything from past history and its dire consequences in our lifetime - rebuilt along
different lines, with different objectives and incentives and with well-defined goals and
carefully considered ideals.
Let us remember, however, that visionary, mystical hopes and dreams, wishful thinking
and the formulation of highly organized plans upon paper are useful as far as they
indicate interest, a sense of responsibility and possible objectives but they are of small
importance in any effective, transitional enterprise unless there is a grasp of the
immediate problem and of the immediate possibilities, plus a willingness to effect those
compromises which will lay the ground for later successful work. This work is largely that
of education. Hitherto, there has been little effort to bring about a bridging between the
needs of the future and the present forms of education. These forms have apparently failed
to equip [33] humanity for successful and cooperative living and the newer aspects of
mental training; no scientific bridging has been done and little attempt has been made to
correlate the best of the present methods (and not all are bad) with future ways of
developing the youth of the world so that it can cope with a new civilization which is
inevitably upon its way. The visionary idealist has hitherto held the field against the
established modes of teaching; his impracticality and his refusal to compromise has thus
slowed up the process and humanity has paid the price. The day has now come when the
practical mystic and the man of high mental development as well as of spiritual vision
will take his place, thus providing a training which will enable the youth of any nation
to integrate successfully into the world picture.
We start
with the realization that our educational systems have not been adequate; they have failed
to train children for right living; they have not inculcated those methods of thinking and
acting which will lead to right human relations - those relations which are so essential
to happiness, to success and to a full experience in any chosen sphere of human
enterprise.
The best minds and the clearest thinkers in the educational field are constantly
endorsing these ideas; the progressive movements in education have done something to
remove old abuses and to instill new techniques, but they still constitute so small a
minority that they are relatively ineffectual. It is well to bear in mind that had the
teaching given to the young during the past few hundred years been of a different nature,
the world war might never have happened.
Many and differing reasons have been given for the total war which engulfed us. This
has raised the question whether the failure of our educational systems or the ineptitude
of the churches may not be the basic [34] causes behind the others. But - the war
happened. Our old civilization has been swept away. There are those who would like to see
that civilization return and the old structure again rebuilt; they yearn for a peaceful
return to the situation before the war. They must not be allowed to rebuild along the old
lines or to use the old blueprints, even though necessarily we must build upon the old
foundations. It is the task of the educators to prevent this.
Let us be
willing to recognize that those countries in which the old mode of education is still
peacefully practiced may be not only dangerous to themselves because they are perpetuating
the bad old ways, but that they also constitute a menace to those countries which are in
the happy position of being able to change their educational institutions and thus
inaugurate a better way of preparing their youth for total living. Education is a
deeply spiritual enterprise. It concerns the whole man and that includes his divine
spirit.
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