Testimonies for the Church, Volume 2 - Ellen G. White

their labor? No, no! Yet the parents indulge these
children in their complaints, and release them from
labor and responsibility. This is the very worst
thing that they can do for them. They are thus
removing almost the only barrier that prevents
Satan from having free access to their weakened
minds. Useful labor would in some measure be a
safeguard from his decided control of them.
We have some knowledge of Satan's manner of
working and how well he succeeds in it. From what
has been shown me, he has paralyzed the minds of
parents. They are slow to suspect that their own
children can be wrong and sinful. Some of these
children profess to be Christians, and parents sleep
on, fearing no danger, while the minds and bodies
of their children are becoming wrecked. Some
parents do not even take care to keep their children
with them when in the house of God. Young girls
attend meetings and take their seats, it may be, with
their parents, but more frequently back in the
congregation. They are in the habit of making an
excuse to leave the house. Boys understand this,
and go out before or after the exit of the girls, and
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