eacher to be correct and acceptable. Therefore, teachers try to foster correct consciences in their students by being good examples themselves. When the teaching staff show respect for one another, or when teachers respect each of their students as individuals, they are able to instill in students a mutual respect for one another. For example, during recess, a little third grade girl, Susie pulls her friend's hair because her friend will not share her toy. Her friend begins to cry and subsequently tells the teacher. The teacher tells Susie that it is not right to hurt someone else because she would not want to be hurt herself. She also explains to her friend that it is better to share with others, than it is to be selfish because she would not like it if somebody didn't share with her.Values and morals, which are the basis of a correct conscience, are developed by students more readily because of the social setting in which they are placed and because of the encouragement given by teachers. By praising certain acts and virtues, such as generosity, respect, and kindness, and condemning acts, such as violence, lying, and cheating, teachers and schools are able to reinforce the idea of right and wrong, and good and bad.When children reach the adolescent stage in their life, peer pressure and other outside influences may hinder their ability to choose right from wrong. To help counteract these potentially harmful influences, institutional programs such as DARE, Drug Abuse Resistance Education, are incorporated into the curriculum. The emphasis of DARE is to help students recognize and resist the many direct and subtle pressures that influence them to experiment with alcohol, tobacco, marijuana, inhalants, or other drugs or to engage in violence. Even though students may consciously know that drug abuse and violence is wrong, they may still do it anyway. This program helps to fortify the lessons that they learned early in their life, and to...
