THE TEACHER'S INFLUENCE by Eliza H. Morton

Seventh-Day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Thursday, January 1, 1880

FromAdvent Review and Sabbath Herald, Vol. 55, No. 1

THE TEACHER'S INFLUENCE.

By Eliza H. Morton

BY ELIZA H. MORTON.

WE are all more or less influenced by others. Especially is this true of children. Knowing their own weakness and being aware of their own ignorance, children naturally follow the example of those older than themselves. The parent exerts the most powerful influence; next comes the teacher, whose influence is very great—few realize how great.

A teacher whose standard of morality is low sows the seeds of vice and wickedness broadcast. On the other hand, a teacher who has a sacred regard for truth and justice, and shows by his daily life and example that he respects whatever is pure and holy, exerts a powerful influence for good.

Every father worthy of the name wishes his sons and daughters to become noble and true men and women. Every mother worthy of the office wishes her children to form good characters, and to be governed by pure and high principles. Parents, if you desire these things, then see that you place your children under right influences. It is better to place them among vipers, than in a school taught by a man or woman of immoral character. It is better never to send them to school, than to send them where they will be taught wrong ideas of life and its object.

The character of the teacher is of more importance than his literary qualifications,—yea, of infinitely greater importance. The worst class of teachers are those who are openly profane and vulgar. This class, it is to be hoped, is small. What can be said of that district which annually employs a person who poisons the atmosphere of the school-room with profane words, vulgar jests, and tobacco-smoke? I think its inhabitants must be demoralized, deluded, blinded, and ignorant, and wish to hurry their children to perdition.

There is a class of teachers, extensively employed, whose influence is not good. I refer to those who are outwardly moral, but inwardly corrupt. This class of teachers appear well in society, and give the community the impression that they are about right, yet all the while their influence over young minds is ruinous. They have no regard for religion or the truths contained in the Bible. Their hearts have never been purified by the Spirit, and, consequently, they cannot govern themselves, and miserably fail in governing others. The teacher who suffers his temper to get the mastery of him, lowers himself in the estimation of his pupils. This class of teachers cause children to think lightly of the rights and privileges of others, to regard the great truths of Christianity as a fable, and to desire worldly honors more than those virtues which can alone give vitality to the mechanism of existence.

There is another class of teachers who are characterized by their dignity of manners and purity of conduct. The great object for which they labor is to do good and to elevate the human family. Their hearts glow with love to God, and genuine love for the children. By example and precept they daily teach morality, and by a holy life testify to the reality of the Christian religion. They command first the respect, then the love of their pupils. This gained, their influence for good is unbounded. A word let fall from the lips of a beloved teacher has a greater influence over a child than a long sermon from a minister; and such words have led many noble youths and lovely maidens to realize that the “fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge;” and have induced them to seek “to know Him, whom to know aright is life eternal.”

Parents, I appeal to you. Think of these things. Place your children under right influences, and you will give them something of infinitely greater value than houses or lands. Better than temporal wealth is strength of character. With proper instruction and guidance, your sons may be as “plants grown up in their youth; and your daughters as corner-stones, polished after the similitude of a palace.”—Maine Journal of Education.