In plain words
They toil hard to shape them into ideal people. But because of the modern system of education, the minds of children are growing foul little by little. In former days, when their children began their letters, mothers taught them the holy mantras “Oṃ namaḥ Śivāya, Oṃ namo Nārāyaṇāya”. So the holy Name of God stayed for ever in the hearts of those children. But what are these modern studies like? First of all, they teach children “Baa.. baa.. black sheep” and things like that.
In the old days, after the children came home from school, the parents would take them into the shrine room and have them read over again what the teachers had taught. But parents today are not teaching their children good things. The parents themselves are leading the children astray. The moment the son comes home from college, the mother switches the TV ‘on’. Father and son sit watching TV. Are these the things parents ought to teach children? In former days parents hoped that their children would become good. But parents today hope that their children will become great; they do not wish them to become good. “Hey, boy! You must get a grand education and take a double degree. Then you will land a father-in-law worth lakhs,” they say. In the old days they wished for a virtuous wife for their children; they did not hope for a wealthy father-in-law. In those days children would bow to the elders who came to their home and bid them welcome. In the children of today such humility and obedience have come to nothing. They want only wealth, friends and might; they do not seek virtue. If virtue itself is lacking, what use are wealth, friends and might, however great? First of all, you must foster virtue in children. What is the reason the world today has fallen into so many troubles? Children of virtue are not being formed. The home itself is the chief school for children. The second is society.