The wise father and mother are those naturally indicated to convey
this information to their sons and daughters by word of mouth. By
analogy, by fuller development and description of the reproductive
processes of plant and animal life on which we have touched, the
matter of human procreation may be approached. Parents should stress
the point, when trying to present this subject to the youthful mind,
that man's special functions are only a detail--albeit a most
important one--in nature's vast plan for the propagation of life on
earth. This will have the advantage of correcting a trend on the part
of the imaginative boy or girl to lay too much stress on the part
humanity plays in this great general reproductive scheme. It will lay
weight on the fact that the functional workings of reproduction are
not, primarily, a source of pleasure, but that--when safeguarded by
the institution of matrimony, on which civilized social life is
based--they stand for the observance of solemn duties and obligations,
duties to church and state, and obligations to posterity. Hence,
parents, in talking to their children about these matters should do so
in a sober and instructive fashion. The attention of a mother,
perhaps, need not be called to this. But fathers may be inclined, in
many cases, to inform their sons without insisting that the
information they give them is, in the final analysis, intended to be
applied to lofty constructive purposes. They may, in their desire to
speak _practically_, forget the moral values which should underlie
this intimate information. Never should the spirit of levity intrude
itself in these intimate personal sex colloquies. Restraint and
decency should always mark them.
In making clear to the mind of youth the fact data which initiates and
governs reproduction in animal and in human life, the ideal to be
cultivated is continence, the refraining from all experimentation
undertaken in a spirit of curiosity, until such time as a well-placed
affection, sanctioned by the divine blessing, will justify a sane and
normal exploitation of physical needs and urges in the matrimonial
state. To this end hard bodily and mental work should be encouraged in
the youth of both sexes. "Satan finds work for idle hands to do," has
special application in this connection, and a chaste and continent
youth is usually the forerunner of a happy and contented marriage. And
incidentally, a happy marriage is the best guarantee that
reproduction, the carrying on of the species, will be morally and
physically a success. Here, too, the fact should be strongly stressed
that prostitution cannot be justified on any moral grounds. It
represents a deliberate ignoring of the rightful function of sex, and