Salesian Preventive System is the educative method developed by the Salesians

Salesians of Don Bosco

The Salesians of Don Bosco is a Roman Catholic religious order founded in the late nineteenth century by Saint John Bosco in an attempt, through works of charity, to care for the young and poor children of the industrial revolution...

 upon the pedagogical experience of Saint John Bosco

John Bosco

John Bosco , was an Italian Catholic priest, educator and writer of the 19th century, who put into practice the convictions of his religion, dedicating his life to the betterment and education of street children, juvenile delinquents, and other disadvantaged youth and employing teaching methods...

 with poor youngsters in 19th century Turin

Turin

Turin is a city and major business and cultural centre in northern Italy, capital of the Piedmont region, located mainly on the left bank of the Po River and surrounded by the Alpine arch. The population of the city proper is 909,193 while the population of the urban area is estimated by Eurostat...

. It is based on three pillars: reason, religion and loving-kindness. Even if Don Bosco appears as the main representative of this method of education and formation of the young, other characters have contributed to its previous development like Philip Neri

Philip Neri

Saint Philip Romolo Neri , also known as Apostle of Rome, was an Italian priest, noted for founding a society of secular priests called the "Congregation of the Oratory".-Early life:...

 and Francis de Sales

Francis de Sales

Francis de Sales was Bishop of Geneva and is a Roman Catholic saint. He worked to convert Protestants back to Catholicism, and was an accomplished preacher...

. It is also opposed to what Don Bosco refers in education as Repressive System of Education.

Don Bosco wrote only one essay

Essay

An essay is a piece of writing which is often written from an author's personal point of view. Essays can consist of a number of elements, including: literary criticism, political manifestos, learned arguments, observations of daily life, recollections, and reflections of the author. The definition...

 explaining his pedagogical method

Pedagogy

Pedagogy is the study of being a teacher or the process of teaching. The term generally refers to strategies of instruction, or a style of instruction....

 in 1877, The Preventive System in the Education of the Young, that was included in the first Salesian Constitutions.

History

The history of the Salesian Preventive System can be traced in the life and apostolate of Saint John Bosco (1815 - 1888). During the second half of the 19th century, Don Bosco began a work among poor youth in Turin

Turin

Turin is a city and major business and cultural centre in northern Italy, capital of the Piedmont region, located mainly on the left bank of the Po River and surrounded by the Alpine arch. The population of the city proper is 909,193 while the population of the urban area is estimated by Eurostat...

, especially those who were homeless, orphans and exploited by the labor system of the Industrial Revolution

Industrial Revolution

The Industrial Revolution was a period from the 18th to the 19th century where major changes in agriculture, manufacturing, mining, transportation, and technology had a profound effect on the social, economic and cultural conditions of the times...

 of the time.

As Don Bosco did not write extensively on the matter, the educational preventive system must be studied in the identity and actions of Don Bosco. Carlo Nanni defined Don Bosco as a man of action rather than a scholar.

Studying about the preventive system in the education of the youth according Don Bosco and the Salesians, it is necessary to review the following works:

1. The Biographical Memoirs of Saint John Bosco: It is a compilation of the life of Don Bosco written by his secretary, Fr. Giovanni Battista Lemoyne.
2. The Preventive System in the Education of the Youth: It was a document written in 1877 to be included in the rules of the Salesian Order.