Don Bosco and preventive system

Don Bosco's life: Born in Castelnuovo d’Asti on August 16, 1815, John was educated in the faith and in living according to the Gospel message...Born in Castelnuovo d’Asti on August 16, 1815, John was educated in the faith and in living according to the Gospel message by his mother. Bosco’s father, Francis, was a tenant farmer and his mother was Margaret Occhiena. Bosco’s father died from pneumonia when Bosco was just two years of age, leaving the children to grow up in a one-parent family. From an early age, Bosco developed a belief in the importance of family.

He was just nine years old when he had a dream, which called him to dedicate himself to the education of young people. He dreamed that he was in a large yard full of children who were playing games, laughing and some swearing. Bosco was about to intervene and take on the group in a fight to stop the swearing. The sudden appearance of a man, who told him to take charge of the children – speaking the words that would form the basis of his pedagogy of education:

You will have to win these friends of yours not by blows, but by gentleness and love.

While still a boy, he began to entertain his peers with games alternated with work, prayer and religious education. His mother’s hard work along with divine providence in the form of gifts from generous neighbours, friends and the local clergy – meant that Bosco could pursue the education he needed to enter the seminary, in Chieri, in October 1835.

He was ordained on 5 June 1841. He chose as his life’s programme: “Da mihi animas cetera tolle” (“Give me souls, take all the rest” Gen. 14: 21). He began his apostolate among poor young people with the founding of the Oratory, which he placed under the patronage of St. Francis de Sales.

Don Bosco died exhausted from work in his poor room at Valdocco, at 72 years of age, on 31 January 1888. Today the Salesian Family is throughout the world. Pope John Paul II declared him ‘Father and Teacher of Youth’ on the centenary of his death.

Don Bosco’s Valdocco and Preventive System: On the advice of his mentor, Fr Cafasso, Don Bosco continued his studies On the advice of his mentor, Fr Cafasso, Don Bosco continued his studies at the Convitto in Turin. Here he worked as chaplain in the city prisons, which profoundly shaped his choice and style of work. He was shocked by the prisoners’ personal stories of hardship, their sense of rejection and anger, and the fact that many had stolen out of desperation, hunger and the sheer need to survive. He saw too that “many were released full of good resolutions to go straight – and yet in a short time, they landed back in prison”.

It was this experience that prompted Bosco to offer these young people what has become known as the Valdocco model of festive oratory. This centred on:

the creation of a time and space in which young people feel welcomed, are offered the basis for creating a livelihood for themselves and their future families, an opportunity for common recreation and to make friends, and to learn human and religious values to sustain them and society itself.

In 1845 Don Bosco opened a night school for boys in Valdocco, now part of the municipality of Turin in Italy. In the following years, he opened several more schools.

Don Bosco began to give a place to boys without a home to go to. He taught them to work, and to love the Lord; he sang, played and prayed with them. With the first boys came his first helpers. Thus, he developed his famous educational method, the Preventive System. «Be with the boys, prevent sin through reason, religion and loving kindness. Become saints and educators of saints. Our boys must know they are loved».

Salesians of Don Bosco and Salesian Family:He sought his best collaborators among his young people, thus establishing the Society of St. Francis de Sales (Salesians). In the following years He sought his best collaborators among his young people, thus establishing the Society of St. Francis de Sales (Salesians). In the following years, he opened several more schools, and in 1854 drew up a set of rules for his helpers, which became the Rule of the Society of St Francis de Sales, established in 1859 and popularly known as the Salesians, which Pope Pius IX approved definitively in 1873.

The Society grew rapidly, with houses established in France and Argentina within a year of the Society’s formal recognition. Over the next decade the Salesians expanded into Austria, Britain, Spain, and several countries in South America. The death of Don Bosco in 1888 did not slow the Society’s growth. By 1911 the Salesians were established throughout the world, including Colombia, China, India, South Africa, Tunisia, Venezuela and the United States.

The congregation continued to spread so rapidly that it soon became the third largest among men’s Catholic orders (and now being the second). Its works expanded to include trade, agricultural and academic schools; seminaries; recreational centres and youth clubs in large cities; summer camps and parishes

Together with St. Maria Domenica Mazzarello, he founded the Institute of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians (Salesian Sisters). Finally, together with good and hard-working lay men and women, he created the Salesian Cooperators to work alongside him and sustain the education of young people, thus anticipating new forms of apostolate in the Church. The Salesian Family today consists of 32 officially recognized groups that have a total of 402,500 members working in over 130 countries all around the world.

Creating Spaces for the Young: Don Bosco created spaces where young people felt welcomed and had a sense of belonging. He made Don Bosco created spaces where young people felt welcomed and had a sense of belonging. He made sure these spaces had four key qualities – qualities which continue to define the Salesian Family work today

The feel of HOME – a secure space and a positive family experience.
The learning energy of a SCHOOL, with a focus on knowledge and a positive and safe relationship between educator and the student.
The relaxation of a PLAYGROUND, where friendships can be built.
The spirituality of a CHURCH – where the young are invited and encouraged to embrace their faith and explore the purpose and meaning of life.

In this way, Don Bosco helped young people discover and develop their potential and become well-rounded adults who could bring value to their communities and the world.