RELATION OF PUPIL AND TEACHER.
By Eliza H. Morton
The responsibilities resting upon teachers have been dwelt upon in former articles, and it may be well to remind the young that they have duties which they owe to their instructors. The best teachers can but assist in the work of education. The brain-labor must be performed by the students. The rules of the school must be observed, or failure will be the result. Parents often listen to the complaints of their children, and sympathize with them, and unconsciously do a wrong the result of which cannot be estimated. Experienced teachers understand the wants of those under their care far better than pupils can understand their own wants, and it is often necessary to make changes in the classification of the school. How unwise for those put back into lower classes to become offended! How much better to cheerfully confide in the judgment of the teacher, and by faithful labor regain the ground lost! Students often seek to excuse their lack of energy and intellect by saying, “I can’t learn anything, because the recitations are not conducted as in most schools,” etc., etc. My dear young friends, let me ask you a few questions: “Are you doing your work faithfully? Are you obeying the rules of the school? Are you improving your time? Is the relation you sustain to your teacher a true and a noble one? If you cannot answer these questions affirmatively, you may be sure that you are in an error. The teacher’s position is no easy one. Encumbered with cares, he feels a burden for those whom he instructs which they can never know or realize, until they occupy a like position. Unappreciated, and oppressed with anxiety, the weary teacher often longs for kind, encouraging, helpful words from those around him. Teachers have hearts, and expressions of love and gratitude dropped from the lips of pupils, are cherished in the memory, and long dwelt upon with pleasurable emotions. Students, if you desire to accomplish the highest results, regard your teachers as friends, and labor with them in the great work of self-culture. All are mortal, and liable to make mistakes, and it is well to deal charitably; it is well to cultivate a spirit of kindness and love; for the “school of life” will soon be over, and in the great Examination-day the Divine Teacher will reward us according to our works.