Don Bosco launched his project with the cooperation o f large groups o f people. In the utopia o f a w orld-w ide m ovem ent, he dream ed o f the collab- oration and the d o s e involvem ent o f all m ilitant C atholics, and o f all m en o f good will w ho w ere concerned about the future o f hum anity. In practice, how ever, his experience was, for the m ost part, that o f the institution: an
“in stitu tio n a l” system , closed, separate, n o n -p o litical, and au to n o m o u s, w here everything took place w ithin a precise self-su fficien t educational setting w here the recognised teachers were D on B osco and his “Sons” and w here there reigned a single sim ple culture: that o f the C atholic w orking classes, w hose only aspiration was to be able to provide for their earthly needs, in anticipation o f a heavenly reward for such a life.
Today, on the other hand, to be able to practice the Preventive System w hat seem s to be needed is the m axim um involvem ent, w ith the relevant moral responsibility, o f all the educational “operatore”, hopefully, o f all the adults w ho, in various capacities have an influence on the education o f the young and on th eir ability to m ake decisions ab o u t th eir lives: p arents, teachers, educators, assistants and social health w orkers, politicians,
econo-m ists, ad econo-m in istra to rs at all lev els, e d u catio n al ag en cies and o rg an isers, people ru nning the m ass m edia, cu ltu ral, sporting, recreatio n al associa- tions, religions, churches.
To take full advantage o f thè educational role o f such a galaxy o f adults an educational project/plan is necessary, one that takes into account ethical guidelines, ju rid ical structures, econom ie grants, structures capable o f co- ordination, netw orking effectively, all the active forces ready to m ake their contribution to the hum an developm ent o f youth. M aking alliances, sharing strategies, tim etables, m ethods, all this creates not a few problem s, bearing in m ind the lack o f hom ogeneity and the differences there are am ong the forces in question. But is a conditio sine qua non in order to gath er the fruits o f our educational efforts.
4. A new anthropological and theologieal foundation for “honest citizen and good Christian”
Don B osco’s Preventive System is based on a view o f m an, o f the Citi
zen and o f the C hristian that is traditional, sim ple, belonging to an histori- cal era that is no longer ours and w hich today reveals all its lim itations.
The honest citizen o f the third m illennium is no longer the sort o f person understood by Don Bosco, a man o f a tim e in which any kind o f “politicai activity” w as not dream ed of, except as the occupation o f a rich and privi- leged minority, which the poor preadolescents and adolescents o r the w ork
ing classes in his houses w ould have undertaken w ith difficulty. N or is it the sort o f person who, in the analysis and evaluation o f the problem s o f so
cial need, tends, as D on B osco did, to find the causes solely in the moral and religious responsibility o f individuals and not in the conditioning and determ ining factors o f an econom ie, politicai, social or juridical nature etc.
N or is it the person w ith the rather passive attitude who obeys the laws, doesn’t cause any trouble to the authorities and is only interested in things that concem him. The transition from absolute m onarchy to a liberal parlia- m entary system , first o f all, and then to dem ocracy; the rise o f the “social question” w ith socialism , m arxism , trade unionism , the social doctrine o f the C hurch, the dem and everyw here for an active and dem ocratic citizen- ship etc have certainly left their m ark. In a sim ilar w ay that nowadays the im placable advance o f pluralism , of globalisation, o f m odern Inform ation technologies and w idespread m ulti-cultural situations are leaving theirs.
F rom the same points o f view, it is clear that the good Christian o f to
day is no longer the sort understood by Don B osco and m any others like him: w ith only a m inim um o f religious education, habitual reception o f the sacram ents, devotions to the saints as m odels and ideals o f the C hristian life, reading only “good” books, practising absolute obedience to the legiti- m ate ecclesiastical authorities w ithin the one ark o f salvation (the C atholic C hurch), and a life o f progress in virtue that w ould then be happily con- cluded w ith a virtuous death. A century o f theological thinking and a Sec
ond Vatican C ouncil would have com e and gone in vain and the m ulti-reli- gious and m ulti-confessional state o f today’s w orld w ould have m ade no im pact if this were the case.
It is n e c e ssa ry th e re fo re to accep t th a t th e w e ll-k n o w n fo rm u la o f
“honest citizens and good C h ristian s” today reshaped on both the anthro- pological and theological levels, has to be rein terp reted historically and politically.
A new anthropology w ould have to identify am ong the traditional val
ues those w hich are to be em phasised in a post-m odem society, and those new ones w hich, on the other hand, need to be proposed; a theological re- evaluation would need to determ ine the relationship betw een faith and pol- itics, betw een differen t faiths; a new h isto rical-p o litical an aly sis w ould need to com bine education and politics, education and social com m itm ent, politics and civil society. In other words it w ould need to respond to the follow ing questions:
• w hat does it m ean, at the daw n o f the third m illennium , to be a “ m an”,
“w om an”, “young person”, “C hristian” , “m em ber o f the church” ?
• w hat does the concept going back two hundred years “duties o f the Citi
zen” m ean today? Can the m odern concept o f m oral and social “respon- sibility” be translated - and in w hat way - on a supernatural level?
• in a secularised, pluralistic, m ulti-ethnic and m ulti-religious context, is the subordination o f tem poral ends to transcendent ones, o f the pre-em i- nence o f individuai values to social ones, o f religious factors in relation to earthly ones, thè C atholic elem ent in relation to those sim ply C hrist
ian or not even C hristian, o f E uropean “v alues” in relation to those be- longing to other areas in the w orld stili acceptable today?
• how does one overcom e the alm ost total absence in Don B osco’s experi
ence - who w ith the intention o f form ing good citizens tended to “re
m ove" the pupils from daily contact with what was going on outside the Salesian house - o f a reai education in the “social” and “politicai” fields?
• how in this m odern w orld does o ne fili in the e v id e n t gaps in Don B o sco ’s Preventive System in the question o f educating young people in the area o f ajfectivity, o f sexuality, o f human love, given that, accord- ing to the practice o f the tim e it was being applied in a single sex envi- ronm ent, and there w as alw ays great em phasis on reticence aim ed at sim ple self-control and “ silence” , even though “loving k indness” had been m ade one o f its corner stones?
5. Pedagogical and psychological concerns
L ooking back over 20 years w orking w ith the young, D on B osco wrote in 1862:
“To understand the results obtained from these schools, from the Oratories and from the house known as the O ratory o f St. Francis o f Sales it is necessary to divide the students into three categories: difficult and disobedient, easily distracted, and good.
The good ones remain good and make rem arkable progress. The easily distracted, those already accustom ed to w andering about, working little, also make a success o f things w ith care, assistance, instruction and being kept occupied. The difficult and disobedient ones then take a lot o f hard work; if you can give them something o f a taste for work, for the most part they are won over. U sing the m ethods men- tioned, results such as the follow ing can be obtained: 1° they don’t get any worse:
2° many o f them becom e sensible and are able to earn an honest crust; 3° those who, while one keeps an eye on them, seem to rem ain indifferent, with time be
come more docile, if not entirely, at least to a fair extent. Time will teli w hether they put into practice the good principies they have been taught” . (Piccola Bibliote
ca d ell’ISS, n. 9, pp. 74-75).
In describ in g the differen t kinds o f y oungsters D on B osco norm ally m akes use o f the short form ulae m entioned here, alm ost exclusively as the fruit o f his ow n personal experience. N ot being able to m ake use o f the psycho-sociological sciences, then in their infancy, not having undertaken specialist personal studies on the subject, his fram e o f referen ce fo r the analysis o f the society in w hich he lived w as devoid o f technical criteria.
He w as “consecrated” to the education o f the individuai youngsters, m ost o f them brought into his institute and therefore “protected” on the physical, psychological, intellectual and spiritual piane.
Today all those w ho w ish to practise the Preventive System need to re
fer to a theoretical fram ew ork that is extensive and w ell organised, suited to the requirem ents o f our days. O ne need only think o f the areas that com e to m ind w hen one talks about: anthropological m utations, deconstruction o f thought, a universal ethical code, tolerance, globalisation, interdepend- ence, inter-culturation, pluri-ethnicity, new paideia.
N o w a d a y s it is p o s s i b l e to h a v e I n f o r m a tio n a b o u t th e y o u th scen e/state o f y o uth - chan g eab le and d iv ersified th ough the situations and problem s may be - thanks to sophisticated m ethods o f research, and o f social and psychological analysis. This data tells us that the period o f youth has becom e extended beyond m easure, th at given the present situa- tion o f young people and the context o f conflict in w hich they are grow ing up, alm ost all the young people in the w orld could be considered “aban- doned” , “in danger and «dangerous» (= at risk )” as D on B osco w ould say.
O ne could say the sam e about the effective “p o ten tiality ” o f the infant, child, teenager, adolescent, youngster, young adult fo r w hom thè ed u c a
tional process is intended.
It fo llo w s th a t th ere is thè p o ssib ility o f a g re a te r in d iv id u a lisa tio n process in relation to the effective “freedom ” o f the one being educated, to his dem ands for autonom y in choosing objectives and the m eans to reach them , to the “energies” w ith w hich he is endow ed (vitality, ideals. desires, as well as anxieties, contradictions, rights, passions) w hich need to be re- spected and assisted to develop w ith helps and m eans adapted to the differ
ent stages o f life. It is then alw ays to be hoped that there will be a m ore positive appreciation and a m ore explicit use m ade o f the inner energies o f the young person, w ith greater recourse to the autonom y o f the person and o f the group in a process o f educational cooperation. T here w ould also fol- low greater attention being given to the educational pluralism in w hich the young people are grow ing up.
6. Holiness and salvation
In D on B o sc o ’s p e d a g o g ic a l theology, the sa lv atio n o f souls is the g u id in g fo rc e th a t is at the h e art o f his a c tiv itie s and h is e d u c a tio n a l m ethod, in co m p lete harm ony w ith the n in eteen th cen tu ry p asto ral ap- proach w hich m ade concern for salvation a categorical im perative in o n e ’s activities.
The ultim ate aim o f Don B osco’s Preventive System o f education - which today we would describe as living a hum an life that is at the same time per
sonal, social and religious - is historically expressed in the classic phrase “the salvation o f souls” . That is the goal o f a long joum ey begun on this earth, through a life o f grace which the Church guarantees, which can develop, even to heroic levels, in the love o f God and o f o ne’s neighbour. In this case we find ourselves faced with a holiness worthy o f the altars, canonised holiness.
But holiness, w hich is ju st as reai and genuine and the m ost w idespread, is that o f som eone w ho lives in an habitual state o f grace because s/he has succeeded w ith their ow n efforts and w ith the help o f the Spirit to avoid the sort o f sins m ore com m only found am ong the young: bad com panions, bad talk, im purity, scandal, theft, intem perance, pride, hum an respect, failure in carrying out o n e’s religious d u tie s... The ability to achieve this “ salvation- h o lin ess” is conditioned by the different dispositions or readiness o f the different above-m entioned categories o f youngsters “the difficult and dis- obedient, the easily distracted and the good” . H ow w ise therefore is the pedagogy o f D on B o sc o ’s Preventive System w hich, in relation to the dif
ferent capacities for understanding, assim ilating and living, adopts a gradu- ated approach, one suited to the various levels, w ith different aim s, pro- gram m es and recom m endations!
B ut even straightforw ard “holiness” is not som ething proposed only to som e “good” youngster, to som e aristocratic élite, but to all the youngsters at Valdocco, students and young w orkers alike: “it is the will o f G od that we all becom e saints; it is easy enough to do so; a great rew ard in heaven aw aits those w ho becom e saints” . It is ju st that only the best took this vo
cation literally; one am ong them, D om inic Savio, living in the "little sem i
nary o f Valdocco” “I feel the need to becom e a saint, and if I d o n ’t do that, then I do nothing. G od w ants m e to be a saint and I m ust becom e one” . O thers achieve it m ost laudably, (Francesco B esucco, M ichele M agone), others as well as they can. It will be Don B osco w ho gives each one an ap
propriate pian o f life, from the highest form s o f constant union w ith God to the m ore sim ple ones o f carrying out o n e ’s daily duties.
7. The familiar trilogy
a. The educator follow ing Don B osco believes that reason is a gift from G od, and it is thanks to reason, that one can discover the value o f w hat is
good, set o neself a goal to aim at, and find the w ays and m eans to reach it.
To reason and reasonableness (w hich can easily becom e com m on sense, being realistic, having genuine respect for people) is linked the ed u cato r’s ability to adapt h im se lf to the different circu m stan ces and situ atio n s in w hich he is called upon to w ork and to respond to the individuai needs of different youngsters. In the Preventive System reason is a fundam ental ed
ucational m eans in so far as it takes the place o f any forced im position of any unquestioning acceptance o f orders. The pow er o f reasoning also needs to be educated through study, teaching, instruction, respect fo r hum an and C hristian values. In the introduction to one o f his first books Storia Sacra, D on B osco wrote: “On every page I always had this guiding principle: to enlighten the m ind in order to m ake the heart good” .
B ut reason, like the other w ords in this expression, should be consid- ered in the light o f the undoubted revolution in concept and m entality. In D on B o sco ’s tim e and for a large part o f the follow ing century Salesian
“ed u catio n ” is seen to be very traditional, co n serv ativ e, and even m ore very functional as suited to the practical requirem ents o f the students or ar- tisans; and the way this “education” was transm itted w as prevalently au- thoritarian, closed to any w ider reading, personal research, discussion and debate.
Today faced w ith technological rationality, w ith escape into the em otion o f the m om ent, w ith the advent o f “weak thought” and together w ith the dem ands o f “criticai thought” w ithin a “fluid society,” reason needs to re
cover its full significance and its role of: observing, reflecting, understand- ing, experim enting, evaluating, changing, adapting, deciding, developing, quickly and flexibly assim ilating all the suggestions and proposals com ing from the educational experience and from academ ic reflection.
A nd it is precisely w ith “reason” that an updated and integrated anthro- pology as m entioned above is put together, w ith w hich the educator atten
ti vely reads the signs o f the tim es and identifies the em erging values that attract to d a y ’s young people: peace, freedom ju stic e , solidarity in v o lv e m ent, the prom otion o f w om en, ecological issu e s...
b. T he highest form o f the reasonable use o f hum an reason is the ac
ceptance o f the m ystery o f God. F or Don B osco religion w as the highest aim, the elem ent that held his w hole educational system together. R eligion understood both as a religious attitude and as positive religion is the culm
i-nation o f the educational process, and at the sam e tim e a m eans o f educa
tion, leading to a C hristian life directed tow ards union w ith G od the C re
ator and Jesus the Redeem er. D on Bosco is convinced that a reai education is not possible w ithout its being open to the transcendent. It is not a ques- tion o f a speculative or abstract religion but o f a living faith, rooted in real- ity, consisting in a presence, in com m union, in listening and in docility to grace. It is not by chance that the “pillars” o f the educational edifice are the E ucharist, Penance, devotion to M ary, love for the C hurch and for her pas
tore. Education then is a “jo u rn e y ” o f prayer, the liturgy, sacram entai life, spiritual direction: for som e a response to a cali to a life o f special conse
cration; for all the possibility and the achievem ent o f holiness.
D on B o sco ’s concern at being faced w ith the phenom ena o f indiffer- ence, anticlericalism , irreligion, protestant proselytism , paganism co u ld n ’t have been very different from that o f educatore today who, how ever, need a m uch m ore solid cultural and faith foundation if only because betw een them and D on B osco, as has been pointed out, there has been a century w hich has w itnessed m odernism , the liturgical m ovem ent, the foundation and the strong developm ent o f m oral theology and spirituality, a return to the sources o f the C hristian m essage proclaim ed in the Scriptures, the S ec
ond Vatican Council, ecum enism , the rediscovery o f the role o f lay people in the C hurch ... and also, at the sam e tim e, w ars and politicai and social revolutions on a planetary scale, the spread o f a relativist m entality in the area o f know ing and living, recurring fundam entalism s and short circuits betw een religion, the state, politics, crises o f International la w ...
c. The term Loving kindness is found everyw here in Salesian literature even if understood in different ways. It consists in a genuine availability to the young, deep concern for their w elfare, an ability to dialogue, goodness, kind-heartedness, understanding. Proper to the solicitous “preventive” ed u cator, it translates into a com m itm ent to being a person “consecrated” to the good o f the students, alw ays present am ong them , ready to accept sacri
fice and fatigue in accom plishing o n e ’s ow n m ission.
So we have arrived at another “classic” term : assistance, often only un
derstood as a harassing constant physical presence defending a young per
son or protecting a w eak im m ature one, w ithout giving sufficient attention to the danger of blocking the naturai and legitim ate process o f a develop
son or protecting a w eak im m ature one, w ithout giving sufficient attention to the danger of blocking the naturai and legitim ate process o f a develop