Questions to Master Deshimaru

Question

What do you think about the education of children?

Answer

An important and difficult question. It's like a kite: sometimes you have to pull on the string, sometimes you have to let it pull you. If you pull too hard it falls down if you don't pull hard enough it falls down too. Modern children are spoiled, wasted. Parents must regulate their severity and their indulgence, strike a balance. If a mother has the strength to do that, the child will have it too. Educating the mother is most important. If she makes mistakes the child makes mistakes. Honesty is necessary too: the child must be able to see into its mother's mind. If she makes a mistake she must excuse herself to the child.