There hangs in the bedroom of the children of a certain devout mother a large frame which contains, in illuminated letters, the twentieth verse of the third chapter of Paul’s “Epistle to the Colossians”: “Children, obey your parents in all things; for this is well pleasing to the Lord.” In commenting on this visual injunction she said: “Obedience is the chief cornerstone of child-training and I have thus endeavored to fix it in the memories of my children for all time.” The commandment--“Honor thy father and thy mother”--is just as real and vital today as it was in the time of Moses, although present-day home conditions are not always conducive to its observance. Too many children of the present, especially during adolescence, regard their parents with an attitude of tolerant sufferance--as necessary evils to be endured by them but exhibiting little patience in their toleration. They consider them old-fogy, behind the times, uncomprehending and unsympathetic with their interests, plans, and aspirations. Father is esteemed largely in proportion to his success as a producer; while mother is valued in accordance with her contributions to their physical comfort; and this imperfect recognition of parental aid comprises the sum total of their gratitude; for no acknowledgment is ever made of their obligation for the years of watchfulness of health or solicitude for morals or cultivation of the spiritual life. This attitude is due partly to the psychological unbalance of the adolescent and partly to the slovenly, inconsistent, and wishy-washy methods of government used by the parent, which inspire in the youth not only disobedience but contempt for parental authority which is as vacillating as a weather cock. Without obedience the child drifts aimlessly and develops a character as unstable as the parental system of training is fluctuating. Confirmed cases of juvenile disobedience can be traced, almost without exception, to the jellyfish methods of spineless parents. An increase in rigidity of parental backbone will result in a corresponding increase in filial obedience. Obedience is the fundamental law of child-training and upon it the development of future character is predicated. Obedience in children is too frequently regarded by parents as the chief end of training, and not as the means to the end, which is character. The young child has neither code of morals nor a standard of ethics, but is a rule unto himself, propelled only by impulses of selfish interest. The chief objective of child-training is the cultivation and fixation of a high moral code which produces character. The secondary objectives are the conservation of health and discipline of the intellectual faculties, the latter including the communication of knowledge.