A child is the father of a man
In 1802, a famous poet William Wordsworth wrote a poem “My heart leaps up” discussing Rainbow. In that poem, he used this phrase “Child is a father of man”. He said that a small child is happy seeing a rainbow, the same is the case with a grown-up person because the small child is lying in every grown-up man which makes him cheerful. Without this small child, a person is better to die.
Childhood is like a morning:
As the morning of the day represents the whole day, the same is the case with the little child that represents what will he be as a grown-up man? Childhood is the future of a man. The way the child behaves shows the way he will behave in the future. What we do in the present life has a great effect on our future. Children represent our present and the man represents our future. So, a child is the father of a man is interpreted here.
Initial seven years of a person:
The Jesuits think that the initial seven years of a person are the most absorbing and important years in developing his personality. A child is a blank in itself. Whatever he does or thinks is copied from parents and the members living nearby. So if these seven years are spent with good people the child will behave virtiously.
Good habits lead to a disciplined life and vice versa:
If a child lives in a healthy and fair environment, he will learn virtuous habits and will go according to ethics. If he is living in a disgraced environment he will act immorally. If a child is given the right of a good upbringing they will lead a disciplined life. Children are seeds if these seeds are sown in the right way the harvest will be predestined and if the seeds are grown in the wrong way they will bring a dark future.
Children reprint their parents:
Children are the reflection of their parents. Whatever the parents do, the children reprint them. If the parents are cooperative, hardworking, loyal, loving, affectionating, good-hearted, role models, respectful and positive the children will carry the same qualities. If the parents are confident and living a cheerful life the children would live the same. If their parents are quarreling, and disputing ones the children will be fond of quarreling and will grow ill-mannered personalities.
Children are considered to be the learning source for adults:
Sometimes the children teach to smile, to laugh, to love and to forgive that we have forgotten in busy lives. In that sense, it can be proved that child is the father of the man. Children forget their disputes after a while which are the lessons for the elders not to keep hatred for one another in the heart. After quarrelling we should forget those disputes, forgive each other, and live together like brothers.
Responsibilities of the parents and teachers:
Parents and teachers should provide a healthy environment from which children absorb virtuous and fair qualities. They should discuss fine matters in front of the children. They should encourage the children on positive doings so that they could grow healthy personalities.