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“Treat a child as though he already is the person he is capable of becoming” said Haim Ginott. A child must be treated as an adult at an early age because that is what they will get used to, the way that their parents or guardians interact. Children learn best at an early age, for example the ages when the children begin to talk are the ages at which they begin to absorb more information. As a matter of fact, children are learning everything, such as how to walk, how to move, they are learning how to interact and live. That is why children should be treated as an adult and treated as an equal because if you don’t, it'll be harder for them to grow up and mature or change their old habits that were taught to them as younger people. In the other hand, if children were to be spoiled and they were unaware of the real world, then the shock and confusion would be great as the child grows and learns deeper stuff. In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird written by Harper Lee, Atticus Finch’s influence on his daughter, Scott, is made clear through the importance he places on education, the admirable ways to practice law, and through his effective interactions with Maycomb’s residents.
Atticus places a very important role of education in life to Scout. Atticus says he never went to school other than law school because of the lack of opportunity but he still managed to become a very great lawyer. Atticus grew up in Finches’ Landing but he left to go to Law school and after he gets a job, he set his first earnings as a lawyer to put his younger brother in medical school. Scout had an unpleasant first day of school because of disagreements with her teacher whom was new to that school. In chapter 2, page 23, her teacher told Scout, “Now you tell your father not to teach you anymore. It’s best to begin reading with a fresh mind. You tell him I’ll take over from here and try to undo the damage… your father does not know how to teach.” That affected Scout a lot because Atticus reads with Scout every night. Scout learned how to read at a very early age and she learned by herself as it is said in chapter 2, page 23, “Now that i was compelled to think about it, reading was something that just came to me, as learning to fasten the seat of my union suit without looking around, or achieving two bows from a snarl of shoelaces.” Scout had told Atticus about her day once Atticus got home. Scout wanted to stop going to school just like Burris Ewell, but Atticus came to an agreement for her to leave that vacuous thought out of Scouts mind which was, “If you concede the necessity of going to school, we’ll go on reading every night just as we always have”, in chapter 3, page 41. Atticus believed that education is the key to ending the cluelessness whom causes prejudgement.
Atticus shows a lot of commendable ways of how he practices law. Atticus is a great lawyer in a small Southern town of Maycomb. He was the lawyer of the big controversial case of Tom Robinson, a black man, and he was on his side on the case. Atticus was not racist and he believed in total justice such as when he believed that Jem was the one guilty of Bob Ewell’s death in chapter 30, page 365, and he wanted to turn him in, in order for justice to be served, “theres no doubt about it. She (Scout) said Jem got up and yanked him off her—he probably got hold of Ewell’s knife somehow in the dark …I don’t want my boy starting out with something like this over his head. Best way to clear the air is to have it all open… I don't want him growing up with a whisper about him…”. In chapter 14, page 180, Atticus was criticized a lot by the white people of Maycomb, but Atticus remained calm and told Scout as well as Jem to not mind what was said of them, “when Jem permitted me to accompany him, we would squirm purr way through sweating sidewalk crowds and sometimes hear, ‘Theres his chillun’ or, ‘Yonder’s some Finches.’” Atticus also did not discriminate against his client Tom Robinson and he was one of the few whites whom believed in Tom’s innocence. In chapter 9, page 100, Atticus made clear what he was doing and what his reasons were to be a white lawyer, defending a colored person, “The main one(reason for defending Tom) is, if I didn’t, i couldn't hold up my head in town, I couldn't represent this county in the legislature, I couldn't even tell you or Jem not to do something again…You might hear some ugly talk about it at school, but do one thing for me if you will: you just hold your head high and keep those fists down. No matter what anybody says to you, don't let them get to your goat. Try fighting with your head for a change… its a good one, even if it does resist learning.”
Atticus demonstrates being a great role model through the ways that he interacts with the residents of Maycomb. Atticus knows and understands the situation that the Cunninghams are in. The Cunninghams are in a very tough downhill economical status because they totally depend on farming but the economy hit them the hardest. Atticus helped by letting the Cunninghams pay in different manner. The Cunninghams are not obliged to pay Atticus back but they do so anyways,as explained by Atticus in Chapter 2, page 28, “As the Cunninghams had no money to pay a lawyer, they simply paid us with what they had. ‘Did you know,’ said Atticus, ‘that Dr. Reynolds, works the same way? He charges some folks a bushel of potatoes for delivery of a baby…’”
Atticus’ ways of influencing his daughter Scout is shown by the various ways that he puts importance on education, the honorable ways he practices law, and also his valuable interactions with Maycomb residents. Atticus was against the idea of Scout leaving school when she had a hard first day, and created a compromise with her. He also defended Tom Robinson in a trial against whites because he believed Tom was innocent. Atticus allowed the Cunninghams to pay him in food because of the lack of financial value they had. Atticus is a very great role model to both his children by the way that he treated them, as young adults.