A message every parent must wish for their children

By Ababu Namwamba

“Respected Teacher,

My son will have to learn, I know, that all men are not just, all men are not true. But teach him also that for every scoundrel there is a hero; that for every selfish politician, there is a dedicated leader. Teach him that for every enemy there is a friend.

It will take time, I know; but teach him, if you can, that a dollar earned is far more valuable than five found. Teach him to learn to lose and also to enjoy winning. Steer him away from envy, if you can.

Teach him the secret of quiet laughter. Let him learn early that the bullies are the easiest to lick.

Teach him, if you can, the wonder of books… But also give him quiet time to ponder the eternal mystery of birds in the sky, bees in the sun, and the flowers on a green hillside.

In the school teach him it is far more honourable to fail than to cheat… Teach him to have faith in his own ideas, even if everyone tells him they are wrong… Teach him to be gentle with gentle people, and tough with the tough.

Try to give my son the strength not to follow the crowd when everyone is getting on the band wagon… Teach him to listen to all men…but teach him also to filter all he hears on a screen of truth, and take only the good that comes through.

Teach him, if you can, how to laugh when he is sad… Teach him there is no shame in tears. Teach him to scoff at cynics and to beware of too much sweetness… Teach him to sell his brawn and brain to the highest bidders but never to put a price-tag on his heart and soul.

Teach him to close his ears to a howling mob and to stand and fight if he thinks he’s right. Treat him gently, but do not cuddle him, because only the test of fire makes fine steel.

Let him have the courage to be impatient… let him have the patience to be brave. Teach him always to have sublime faith in himself, because then he will have sublime faith in mankind.

This is a big order, but see what you can do…He is such a fine fellow, my son!”

This is perhaps the world’s most famous recorded letter from parent to teacher. The letter was written by Abraham Lincoln to the head teacher of his son’s school. Lincoln (February 12, 1809-April 15, 1865) was the 16th President of the United States who served from March 1861 until he was felled by an assassin’s bullet in April, 1865.

He led the United States through its greatest constitutional, military and moral crisis, the American Civil War – and succeeded in preserving the Union, abolishing slavery, strengthening the national government and modernising the economy.

Reared in a poor family on the western frontier, Lincoln was self-educated, and became a country lawyer, a Whig Party leader, Illinois state legislator in the 1830s, and a one-term member of the House of Representatives in the 1840s.

Lincoln secured the Republican Party presidential nomination in 1860, and with almost no support in the South, he swept the North and was elected president in the same year.

He was many things to many people, yet not much of Lincoln’s parental side may be known to most.

As we bid farewell to thousands of school boys and girls concluding their national exams countrywide, it is my prayer that every teacher has imparted some “Lincoln wisdom” to these young Kenyans.

I am a disciple of the gospel that a teacher is like a candle that lights other candles without losing its light. I believe, good teachers, you have lit candles all round, in every way conceivable.

Jane Smiley cautions that “a child who is protected from all controversial ideas is as vulnerable as a child who is protected from every germ. The infection, when it comes and it will come, may overwhelm the system, be it the immune system or the belief system”, while William Arthur Ward says “the great teacher tells, the good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates, the great teacher inspires”.