Education as Service | Page 5

from
want of thought. Teachers often cause pain by hasty words uttered at a
time when they have been disturbed by some outside annoyance, or are
trying to attend to some important duty. The teacher may forget the

incident or pass it over as trivial, but in many such cases a sensitive boy
has been wounded, and he broods over the words and ends by
imagining all sorts of foolish exaggerations. In this way many
misunderstandings arise between teachers and boys, and though the
boys must learn to be patient and generous, and to realise that the
teacher is anxious to help all as much as he can, the teacher in his turn
must always be on the alert to watch his words, and to allow nothing
but gentleness to shine out from his speech and actions, however busy
he may be.
If the teacher is always gentle to the boys, who are younger and weaker
than himself, it will be easy for him to teach them the important lesson
of kindness to little children, animals, birds and other living creatures.
The older boys, who themselves are gentle and tactful, should be
encouraged to observe the condition of the animals they see in the
streets, and if they see any act of cruelty, to beg the doer of it very
politely and gently, to treat the animal more kindly. The boys should be
taught that nothing which involves the hunting and killing of animals
should be called sport. That word ought to be kept for manly games and
exercises, and not used for the wounding and killing of animals. My
Master says: "The fate of the cruel must fall also upon all who go out
intentionally to kill God's creatures and call it sport."
I do not think that teachers realise the harm and the suffering caused by
gossip, which the Master calls a sin against love. Teachers should be
very careful not to make difficulties for their boys by gossiping about
them. No boy should ever be allowed to have a bad name in the school,
and it should be the rule that no one may speak ill of any other member
of the school whether teacher or boy.
My Master points out that by talking about a person's faults, we not
only strengthen those faults in him, but also fill our own minds with
evil thoughts. There is only one way of really getting rid of our lower
nature, and that is by strengthening the higher. And while it is the duty
of the teacher to understand the weaknesses of those placed in his
charge he must realise that he will destroy the lower nature only by
surrounding the boy with his love, thus stimulating the higher and

nobler qualities till there is no place left for the weaknesses. The more
the teacher gossips about the faults of the boys, the more harm he does,
and, except during a consultation with his fellow teachers as to the best
methods of helping individual boys out of their weaknesses, he should
never talk about a boy's defects.
The boys must also be taught the cruelty of gossip among themselves. I
know many a boy whose life at school has been made miserable
because his companions have been thoughtless and unkind, and the
teacher either has not noticed his unhappiness, or has not understood
how to explain to the boys the nature of the harm they were doing.
Boys frequently take hold of some peculiarity in speech or in dress, or
of some mistake which has been made, and, not realising the pain they
cause, carelessly torture their unfortunate schoolfellow with unkind
allusions. In this case the mischief is due chiefly to ignorance, and if
the teacher has influence over the boys, and gently explains to them
what pain they are giving they will quickly stop.
They must be taught, too, that nothing which causes suffering or
annoyance to another can ever be the right thing to do, nor can it ever
be amusing to any right-minded boy. Some children seem to find
pleasure in teasing or annoying others, but that is only because they are
ignorant. When they understand, they will never again be so
unbrotherly.
In every class-room these words of my Master should be put up in a
prominent place: "Never speak ill of any one; refuse to listen when
anyone else speaks ill of another, but gently say: 'Perhaps this is not
true, and even if it is, it is kinder not to speak of it.'"
There are crimes against love which are not recognised as crimes, and
which are unfortunately very common. A teacher must use discretion in
dealing with these, but should teach a doctrine of love so far as he is
permitted, and may at least