Don Bosco held that humans are created in the image and likeness of God. Because of this among all material beings humans alone intelligence and will and thus the capacity to love one another and to relate to God. Therefore they have a dignity and worth which other material things do not have. This is to be manifested in the way we deal with the young: “Let us treat young people as we would treat Jesus if he were a pupil in one of our schools. Let us treat them with love, and they will love us in return. Let us treat them with respect, and they will respect us in return. They themselves must come to acknowledge us as the educators-in-charge.”