Once upon a time, teachers were some of the most respected people in every community in the country. The teaching profession itself was not only noble and indeed sacred, but also a springboard to greater heights in educational pursuits. It is not for nothing that a great majority of Ghanaians, both in the past and present who made giant strides in the various fields of human endeavours, had something to do with teaching. It is a fact that former presidents – Drs. Kwame Nkrumah, Kofi Abrefa Busia, Hilla Limann and quite recently, Prof. John Evans Atta-Mills – were teachers. Indeed, teaching paved the way for great feats in life in the not-too-distant past. In their communities, Mr. Teacher was an opinion leader. And in most cases, the view of the teacher was sacrosanct to every decision that bothered on the well-being of people of households, cottages, villages, towns, even cities. And whilst admittedly, the motivation of teachers then was not anything half-way the sky, they still carved an inedible image on the minds and hearts of virtually every Ghanaian. Fact, the teacher’s conduct was above board during the golden age of the profession. But what is the picture like today? How does today’s society regard teachers? How many people have picked or will choose teaching as a first-choice profession? How do students and pupils see their teachers? Despite the fact that in the past, most pupils and students responded in the negative to: “Who wants to be a teacher in future?”, how is this question received in the classroom today? These days, tales of teachers found culpable of all sorts of anti-social and undisciplined conducts abound. Some teachers are gradually becoming the scorn of the society and the punching bags of some reckless parents. The misconduct of some teachers today is well-documented, and indeed, hardly does a single day passes without the media reporting about a teacher involved in anti-social acts - fraud, defilement, rape, homosexuality and other despicable acts. It is heart-wrenching to read that teachers who are expected to guide and guard their pupils and students to grow to become responsible citizens of the land turning round to sexually abuse and engage them in all sorts of evil acts. Although a large percentage of the nation’s teachers are still industrious and disciplined, a few miscreants and “criminally-minded” ones are gradually tarnishing their good name beyond recognition with their ill-conduct and sometimes criminal acts. The once silvery image of the teacher is thus gradually waning in the sight of right thinking members of the society owing to this unfortunate state of affairs. Little wonder that in the rural areas even, the teacher is hardly considered as an opinion leader these days. In as much as I sympathize with teachers, one will not be far from right to say that teachers have sowed their own seeds of destruction. Make no mistake; this is in no way trying to absolve the society in the main of any complicity. In fact, the conduct of today’s teacher is just a mirror image of the general decadence of our society today. One can cast their net abroad and it would be no surprise that the preacher-man, farmer, trader, government official, lawyer, doctor and other professionals are firmly gripped in the moral and social corruption of today. The key to arrest the declining image of teachers is definitely in the hands of teachers themselves. They need to conform to the professional code of ethics and live beyond reproach. They have no choice but to do just this. It is the only way to rebuild the broken walls of the profession of pedagogy. The urgency of Mr. Teacher to turn over a new leaf cannot be overemphasized since it is through his hands that pass all the other professionals and the greater majority of the members of the society. Indeed, a discipline society only mirrors a discipline teacher. Some of us have fond memories of teachers of yesterday whose conducts have greatly impacted our very lives today. What will tomorrow’s generation say of you, Mr. Teacher, if you are not in the good books of today’s. Posterity looks up to you, dear teacher. Paa Kwesi Hackman (Freelance Journalist & Science tutor) Kade Senior High Technical School Kade, Eastern region paaquesihackman@yahoo.com