ABSTRACT
The intentional promotion of positive development in youth is an age-old project, probably a human enterprise since the earliest forms of human community. No society can endure if it does not take seriously the fundamental project of socializing subsequent generations. Translation of two Sumerian tablets give us evidence that this inclination was evident over 4,000 years ago:
My son, let me give you instructions. Pay attention to them! Do not beat a farmer’s son, or he will break your irrigation canal. . . . When you are drunk, do not judge. . . . Do not break into a house. . . . Do not speak with a girl when you are married, the [likelihood of] slander is strong. . . . Do not allow your sheep to graze in untested grazing grounds. . . . Submit to strength. Bow down to the mighty man.
