During the past year the Bahá'í Institute Board of the Atlantic launched a program to increase the number of Ruhí trained teachers of children's classes and it achieved a measure of success. We have reflected on our actions and we have learned from them.

As we begin a new year we think it's time to shift our concentration. Bahá'u'lláh tells us to "Be anxiously concerned with the needs of the age ye live in, and center your deliberations on its exigencies and requirements." In that same tablet He revealed "The All-Knowing Physician hath His finger on the pulse of mankind. He perceiveth the disease, and prescribeth, in His unerring wisdom, the remedy."^[1] We are witness to the decay of our civilization and the decline of our cultures. One aspect of the remedy prescribed by Bahá'u'lláh is the proper attitude we take towards children and their welfare, an attitude the House tells us "should be far removed from that of a rapidly declining order." So important is that attitude that we are told that if we ignore it, we risk losing the victories won in a generation. The House of Justice wrote to us,

Strategies to advance the process of entry by troops cannot ignore children and junior youth, if the victories won in one generation are not to be lost with the passage of time. It is imperative, then, that at this point in the process of systemization of the teaching work, definite steps betaken to ensure that the vision of the community fully embraces it younger members. The education of children, an obligation enjoined on both parents and institutions, requires special emphasis so as to become thoroughly integrated into the process of community development.^[2]

We have a system. We have the tools. The Bahá'í Institute Board wants to encourage everyone to study Ruhí book 3. That's the book entitled "Teaching Children's Classes - Grade 1." Now, why should everyone study book 3? Isn't it obvious that it is for children's class teachers? We think there are 3 sound reasons why you and your friends should study this book.

1) Ruhí book 3 is part of the full sequence of courses. The International Teaching Centre and the National Spiritual Assembly are encouraging us to study all the Ruhí books.^[3]

In order to bring about a more vigorous institute process in different clusters of the country, efforts need to be made not only to involve more believers in institute courses but also to ensure that a greater number proceed through the full sequence. ^[4]

There are skills learned in book 3 that are valuable in the study of all the courses - skills that are especially valuable to tutors. Storytelling, memorization and the use of the arts, especially music, are three key capabilities that we learn about in book 3 -- three key skills stressed in the other courses that are critical to walking a path of service.

2) Children's education is the responsibility of "individuals and institutions at all levels," not just children's class teachers.

The community that bears the responsibility for children's education needs the knowledge, spiritual insights and skills to shoulder it. The Universal House of Justice has stressed the importance of children, notably in its Ridvan message of 2000 (BE 157). When we first studied that message, we saw the need to train children's class teachers. Didn't we read:

Even though children's activities have been a part of past Plans, these have fallen short of the need. Spiritual education of children and junior youth are of paramount importance to the further progress of the community. It is therefore imperative that this deficiency be remedied. Institutes must be certain to include in their programmes the training of teachers of children's classes, who can make their services available to local communities.

Did we think that teachers were the focus of that message? Did we stop there? How many went on to consider:

"But although providing spiritual and academic education for children is essential, this represents only a part of what must go into developing their characters and shaping their personalities."

If we are not children's class teachers, we still have a part to play -- a part we must play. The House of Justice goes on to note,

"The necessity exists, too, for individuals and the institutions at all levels, which is to say the community as a whole, to show a proper attitude towards children and to take a general interest in their welfare."

Some communities have developed lines of action which reflect a serious consideration of this message. The Community Learning Events held in the greater Moncton area is but one praiseworthy example. Much more needs to be done however if we are to integrate children into the life of our communities. The House of Justice noted:

But beyond giving attention to these tasks, there is a pressing challenge to be faced: Our children need to be nurtured spiritually and to be integrated into the life of the Cause. They should not be left to drift in a world so laden with moral dangers. In the current state of society, children face a cruel fate. Millions and millions in country after country are dislocated socially. Children find themselves alienated by parents and other adults whether they live in conditions of wealth or poverty.

The Universal House of Justice is speaking of all children. It is saying that children are socially dislocated or alienated not only in Malaysia, Honduras and Burundi but also in North America -- in Canada. The children in the Atlantic region of all backgrounds and economic conditions suffer this condition. What is this alienation, this form of estrangement?

This alienation has its roots in a selfishness that is born of materialism that is at the core of the godlessness seizing the hearts of people everywhere. The social dislocation of children in our time is a sure mark of a society in decline; this condition is not, however, confined to any race, class, nation or economic condition -- it cuts across them all. It grieves our hearts to realize that in so many parts of the world children are employed as soldiers, exploited as labourers, sold into virtual slavery, forced into prostitution, made the objects of pornography, abandoned by parents centred on their own desires, and subjected to other forms of victimization too numerous to mention. Many such horrors are inflicted by the parents themselves upon their own children. The spiritual and psychological damage defies estimation. Our worldwide community cannot escape the consequences of these conditions. This realization should spur us all to urgent and sustained effort in the interests of children and the future.

If children are to be integrated into the life of the Cause, our programs and community events will do more than relegate them to another room with teachers we are so often, so hard-pressed to recruit. If we think that children's education is the realm only of children's class teachers, are we not supporting a form of alienation? Are we attempting to put too much of our responsibility on the shoulders of the teachers and, by doing so, maintaining a distance between children and adults. Do our considerations of children's education, or lack thereof, reflect the alienation the House speaks of, or have we truly begun to consider how children can be integrated into the life of the Cause? The study of Ruhí book 3 is an excellent starting point both as a commitment to begin such a consideration and as a foundation for our consultations.

The Institute Board sees that a focus of Ruhí book 3 training which only targets children's class teachers is missing the mark. We believe that members of the community must be trained if we are to effect a transformation of the social environment in which our children find themselves. The House wrote, "An atmosphere needs to be maintained in which children feel that they belong to the community and share in its purpose." That atmosphere is not confined to a room or a school. It is generated and mirrored as an attitude in everything that we do as community. Children, "bear the seeds of the character of future society which is largely shaped by what the adults constituting the community do or fail to do with respect to children. They are a trust no community can neglect with impunity." Pretty strong words. Impunity means free from punishment or harm. By failing to promote a study of book 3 we may be neglecting a significant segment of the population. Studying book 3 may well be a protection. By developing our knowledge, spiritual insights and skills of service we are much less likely to neglect that trust. Only a community can maintain such an atmosphere. Parents and teachers can't do it by themselves.

3) You don't have to be or to become a children's class teacher!

Ruhí book 3 is also for parents. Note how the House of Justice says that the support of children's classes is "in addition to the efforts made at home". The knowledge, insights and skills developed in book 3 can be, and need to be applied in the home which is even more of a learning environment than the classroom. The House of Justice notes that,

Independent of the level of their education, parents are in a critical position to shape the spiritual development of their children. They should not ever underestimate their capacity to mold their children's moral character. For they exercise indispensable influence through the home environment they consciously create by their love of God, their striving to adhere to His laws, their spirit of service to His Cause, their lack of fanaticism, and their freedom from the corrosive effects of backbiting. Every parent who is a believer in the Blessed Beauty has the responsibility to conduct herself or himself in such a way as to elicit the spontaneous obedience to parents to which the Teachings attach so high a value. Of course, in addition to the efforts made at home, the parents should support Bahá'í children's classes provided by the community.

Ruhí book 3 can be of great assistance to parents. But, you don't have to be a parent to study the book. And just because you study book 3 doesn't mean you have to be a children's class teacher or become one.

Maybe Ruhí book 3 needs another title. It isn't only about Teaching Children's Classes. Unit 1 of Book 3 is entitled, "Some Principles of Bahá'í Education." It is for "individuals and institutions at all levels." How can we, members of the community, "show a proper attitude and take a general interest", how can we better respond to the Universal House of Justice without some awareness of the spiritual principles of child education? We are engaged in developing a culture of growth. We are engaged in the transformation of our civilization. Isn't this reason enough? Ruhí book 3 is for parents, grandparents, and youth, aunts and uncles, treasurers and vice-chairpersons, educators and coaches, Bahá'ís and non-Bahá'ís. Ruhí book 3 is for you.

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^[1] Bahá'u'lláh, Gleanings, p. 213
^[2] Universal House of Justice, to the Bahá'í World, 2 November 1999
^[3] The National Spiritual Assembly notes that the Ruhí courses build upon one another and recently asked those gathered at the Unit Conventions, "What is needed to assist increasing numbers of people to go through the full sequence of Ruhí courses currently available?"
^[4] International Teaching Centre, letter of 24 Sept 2001 to Counsellors Dr. David Smith & Dr. 'Abdu'l-Missagh Ghadirian