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
m ent in autonomy.
In the context o f loving kindness a special place in given to personal re
lationships. Don Bosco liked to use the term fam iliarity to describe the cor- rect relationship betw een the educators and the young people. The fram e- w ork o f aim s to be achieved, the program m e and directives to be follow ed acquire practical and effective features if they are m arked by a genuine fam ily spirit, that is if they are lived in an atm osphere that is serene, joyful, stim ulating. In this regard the am pie scope and the im portance given by Don B osco to recreation, to gam es, to m usic, to the theatre and to the play- ground should at least be m entioned. It is in the spontaneity and the cheer- fulness o f these relationships that the w ise educator finds opportunities to m ake his ow n contribution, through light-hearted com m ents that are none the less very effective in m aintaining and bu ild in g up a friendly atm o s
phere. A nd that w ithout saying anything about the group experience such a fundam ental aspect o f Salesian pedagogical tradition.
Today traditional loving kindness needs to be rethought both as regards its foundations and as regards its form and expressions. T his is necessitated by the new kind o f relationships betw een adults and young people and by the self-aw aren ess o f the la tte r ev e r m ore on th e ir g u ard ag ain st being
“snared” in their affections and dangerously so by adults (pedophilia), by the criticai situation o f their fam ilies, characterised by a lack o f a relation
ship w ith siblings (being an only child), the lack o f the norm al presence o f the m other (out w orking) and the lack of long-lasting relationships betw een their parents (divorces, separations).
A nd as the “fam ily sp irit” itself, relived and p u t into p ractice, o ught to overcom e th o se form s o f patern alism and sim ilar attitudes belo n g in g to the p ast in o rd er to arrive at living out “free” and liberating re latio n sh ip s, w hich help the persona to grow, so too “assistan ce” u n derstood as “keep- ing the doors and w indow s clo se d ” w here the y oungsters are and the c o n stant p resen ce o f the e d u c a to r b esid e the y o u n g ster m ust tak e into ac- count the youngsters w ho su rf the net on th eir ow n, speak on th eir m o biles, w atch hundreds o f tv channels, m eet one an o th er w here and how they w ant.
Sim ilarly, to respond to the legitim ate, explicit and ever m ore frequent requests for involvem ent, self governm ent, self m anagem ent, the P reven
tive System m ust profitably and w ithin the lim its o f w hat is possible go along w ith them , ap p reciating them properly and satisfying them in the m ost appropriate ways.