Let the superior [= educator] be all to all, always ready to listen to any doubts or any complaints of the young; he should be all eyes in supervising their behaviour like a father; he should be all heart in looking after the spiritual and temporal good of those who have been entrusted to him by Divine Providence.1078

Certainly, according to the idea a nd the practice of Don Bosco's preventive system, assistance entails

'surveillance' just as the notion of 'prevention' includes the prior notion of defence, prevention,

protection and relative isolation whenever possible. Prevention as surveillance is a pa rticularly sensitive area in boarding schools or boarding institutions where the centuries -old practice of periodically reading out the rules is followed. This reading of the rules aims at informing and warning

boys who are more vivacious than bad.

Fr Mich ael Rua, writing to the Rector of a Minor Seminary in l863 says:

Bring all the teachers, assistants and dormitory heads together on some occasion and tell

everyone that they should do their best to prevent bad talk, keep all books, writings,

pictures ( hic scientia est) or whatever else might endanger purity, the Queen of virtues, far

from them. Let them give advice and be charitable with everyone1079

It is impossible not to think about the influence rigorist theological thinking had on Don Bosco or ideas

sim ilar to Jansenism, regarding the consequences of original sin, and related beliefs vis -a-vis the psychological and moral fragility of the young. Young people inclined to evil, vulnerable, threatened

by bad companions, exposed to scandals, the young 'at ri sk', could not be saved except with the

constant. protective and caring assistance of the teachers.

1080

This is an idea, however, which Don Bosco had quite clearly in mind and which he insisted upon,

namely, that assistance should be directed towards promotin g and animating. The teacher/educator is

always present and takes part fully in the life of his pupils; he listens to them, joins them, stirs up

interest, welcomes initiatives and inspires activity. As we have seen earlier on, this is demanded by the

preve ntive system, right from the time he defined it and made it authentically educative.

1081

“Putting the pupils in a situation where it is impossible for them to commit sin” should not be taken to mean “the material impossibility of committing sin.’1082In this sense the continuous, visible or psychological presence of Don Bosco among the young and the young with Don Bosco, is not rhetorically but really the best and most typical representation of the pedagogical concept of 'preventive assistance'.1083

Once more, and es pecially in this sensitive area, the system is entrusted to the educator. Balance, tact,

the human touch, fatherly and brotherly affection, vivaciousness, knowing how to put oneself at their

level as a friend, and many other elements, are essential for a c orrect and valid implementation of the

preventive system.

1078 Due lettere datate da Roma..., in P. Braido (Ed.), Don Bosco educatore...., p. 386.

1079 F. Motto, I «Ricordi confidenziali ai direttori»... p. 153

1080 One example of a sever interpretation of the assistant of offered in the short essay by Minimus, Metodo della

vigilanza, in Salesianum 9 (1947) 122-128. There are many warnings, public and private on danger especially in the

boarding setting of “already rotten boys”, on “disorders”: cf. P. Braido, Il sistema preventivo di Don Bosco, Zurich,

PAS-Verlag 1964, pp. 208-210.

1081 Il sistema preventivo (1877). p. 46. OE XXVIII 424.

1082 A. Aufray, La pedagogia di S. Giovanni Bosco, p. 44.

1083 A happy synthesis of “preventive” and “assisting” understood as “being amongst the young” is offered by H. Henz,

Lehbuch der systematischen Pädagogik, pp. 230-232. A good analysis of assistance as a promoting and animating

presence can be found in G. Dho, L'assistenza come 'presenza' e rapporto personale, in Il sistema educativo di don

Bosco tra pedagogia antica e nuova. Leumann-Turin, LDC 1974, pp. 104-125; and by F. Wöss, Salesianische

Assistenz: der Erzieher als Animator. Köln, Kölner Kreis 1976, 31 p.