Sant Premanand Maharaj of Vrindavan, in Mathura, frequently draws attention for his discourses and his guidance on how to live well. He counsels people on the right way to lead their lives and repeatedly urges parents to focus on raising their children with good values. Recently he voiced deep concern over the spreading habit of substance abuse and worsening conduct among today's children, and offered a remedy for it.
A Student's Confession That Shook Listeners
The saint recounted the case of a boy who had come to him. The child said he had fallen into alcohol and bad company right from the ninth grade, and that he was now studying in Class 12. Describing his helplessness, the boy said, ‘My condition has now become such that I feel I don't know when I might destroy myself’. Sant Premanand Maharaj stressed that this is not the story of just one child, but that thousands of children today are passing through exactly the same state.
Why Children Are Going Off Track
Pointing to the root of the problem, the saint said the biggest reason bad conduct takes hold in children is the absence of spirituality. His argument was that when parents themselves possess no spiritual knowledge, they have nothing to pass on to their children. Giving a common example, he said that if a teacher scolds a child at school, parents instead turn around and scold the teacher. This only emboldens the child and pushes him further toward the wrong path. He added that the very children who ought to be practising brahmacharya are spoken to dismissively by their parents, who sometimes even resort to violent behaviour.
The Way Back From the Wrong Path
Sant Premanand Maharaj warned that without spirituality, children will keep drifting in the wrong direction and will eventually slide into acts like theft. In such a state, he said, they will feel not the slightest pity while snatching a chain from someone's neck or earrings from their ears, indifferent to how much pain it causes the victim. His clear message was that the only dependable way to reform a young generation that is going astray is through spirituality.
