Example
The effect of example upon the pupils is remarkable, for no one can doubt but that example strongly influences standards of morality. In like manner the effect of the teacher’s life in establishing higher or lower standards of morality is influenced by the associates which he selects from the masses. A teacher should select such associations and companions that his pupils will be influenced for the highest possible good. A teacher should make it a positive rule never to associate with any one whose companionship would cause an unwholesome influence upon any of his pupils. The opportunities of the teacher are large in the selection of his society. He is in line to choose the best; it is open to him. He should choose to be a part of the highest and best society and then should make it his province, his duty and privilege to help mould and shape the social standards, and do all he can to uplift and better the lives of those with whom he comes in contact.
Speaking of the child, Arthur Holmes says: “Imitation is his most universal instinct. What he sees others do he will do naturally and unthinkingly. It is as futile to teach honesty and to act dishonestly before a child as it is to heap water in a sieve. The nervous mechanism of the child is as hopeless and as helpless as a wireless receiver to the influence of Hertzian waves.”[[4]]
The teacher should not neglect those who are worthy, but poor. Among them he may find his best associates and friends. He should not seek to escape the responsibilities that will accompany his dealings with the less desirable elements of society; he should look down upon and ignore none; he should touch elbows with those who are his intellectual superiors and surpass him in strength of character; he should not lower himself by stooping to that which is below the moral standard, but in association with the masses he must elevate them, and lead them forward, ever remembering, that as he points to a standard moral code as a sign board, he himself must lead the way.
[4]. Principles of Character Making, p. 297. Lippincott.