I have inquired, When will the youthful sisters act with propriety? But I know there will not be any decided change for the better until parents feel the importance of greater carefulness in educating their children correctly. They should teach them to act with reserve and modesty. They should educate them for usefulness, to be helps, to minister to others, rather than to be waited upon and ministered unto. Satan has the control of the minds of the youth generally. Fond parents, your daughters are not always taught self-denial and self-control. They are petted, and their pride is fostered. They are allowed to have their own way until they become headstrong and self-willed, and you are put to your wits’ end to know what course to pursue, to save them from ruin. Satan is leading them on to be a proverb in the mouths of unbelievers, because of their boldness, their lack of reserve and want of female modesty. {SA 153.3}

• Ellen G. White, A Solemn Appeal. 1870; 2002 (153). Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association.