View source for After the sixteenth year the parents shall treat their child as a friend, and the child is allowed to gradually develop his adult responsibility and independence

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<div id="Correspondence" class="section" sec_index="6" parent="compilation" text="Correspondence"><h2>Correspondence</h2>
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<div id="1969_Correspondence" class="sub_section" sec_index="4" parent="Correspondence" text="1969 Correspondence"><h3>1969 Correspondence</h3>
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<div id="LettertoVibhavatiLosAngeles15July1969_1" class="quote" parent="1969_Correspondence" book="Let" index="449" link="Letter to Vibhavati -- Los Angeles 15 July, 1969" link_text="Letter to Vibhavati -- Los Angeles 15 July, 1969">
<div class="heading">The basic idea of raising children as they are described in the Vedic literature is that from birth till the age of five years the parents may be very lenient with the child. From the ages six to ten they should tighten the discipline of their child, and from the ages of ten till the sixteenth year the parents should be as strict as a tiger with their child so that he will be afraid to be disobedient at all. Then after the sixteenth year the parents shall treat their child as a friend, and the child is allowed to gradually develop his adult responsibility and independence.
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<span class="link">[[Vanisource:Letter to Vibhavati -- Los Angeles 15 July, 1969|Letter to Vibhavati -- Los Angeles 15 July, 1969]]: </span><div style="display: inline;" class="text"><p style="display: inline;">My Dear Vibhavati,</p>
<p>Please accept my blessings. I thank you for your letter of July 11, 1969, and I have noted the contents carefully. Regarding your proposal of writing a book about child-raising, I do not think this is required with all the other writings that we have to do. And besides that, you are not the master of this subject, so who will read such a book? I have seen in your article on Mr. Lennon that you have a very nice gift for writing, so better you should utilize this God-given talent for writing articles for our Back To Godhead. There is immediate necessity for this, and for this writing you are qualified because you are a sincere devotee of this Krishna Consciousness Movement. So why not write nice articles of this philosophy as you have assimilated it? This will be a very great service because we are now converting BTG to exclusively contain articles by my disciples and myself, along with many pictures of our Sankirtana activities. So if you can write some words about Krishna consciousness and send them to Brahmananda in New York, that will be very nice engagement for you.</p>
<p>Regarding your questions about sex life, the basic principle is that in executing Krishna Consciousness sex life should be avoided as far as possible, and it may be utilized only for begetting Krishna Consciousness children. This is the basic principle that should be followed as far as possible by all married individuals. During the period of pregnancy sex life should be strictly avoided. The basic idea of raising children as they are described in the Vedic literature is that from birth till the age of five years the parents may be very lenient with the child. From the ages six to ten they should tighten the discipline of their child, and from the ages of ten till the sixteenth year the parents should be as strict as a tiger with their child so that he will be afraid to be disobedient at all. Then after the sixteenth year the parents shall treat their child as a friend, and the child is allowed to gradually develop his adult responsibility and independence. Regarding your other questions, yes, you may wear any clothing that you find comfortable; no, it is not very good to use yeast in preparing prasadam. It is better to prepare bread in the process as you have seen done in the temple. I hope this will answer all of your important questions. I have also received one letter from Isanadas dated July 4, 1969, and his camp program sounds interesting. I am anxious to know what are your plans for going to London because now I understand they have facilities to accommodate you and your husband. So either yourself or Isanadas may write to me to inform me.</p>
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