Health Background


Character Education: Building Mental and Emotional Health

Abraham Lincoln
"Character is like a tree and reputation like its shadow. The shadow is what we think of it; the tree is the real thing.

Talk to some old-timers and you'll hear that "things were different in the old days. People really cared. If newcomers moved into a neighborhood, folks welcomed them with home-made pies and cakes. Neighbors helped one another in any way they could. And kids learned to show respect, use good manners, help around the house, and be kind to one another."

But by the 1960s, people had noticed a breakdown in kids' behavior. Where were the manners? Where was the respect? Where was the caring? Where was the basic understanding of right and wrong? We know that kids learn from the examples of adults, or "role models," so many blamed the problems they saw in kids on the adults who condoned "free love," drug use, prejudice, and apathy toward others.

On the news, kids heard of a woman brutally beaten while other adults stood and watched. None of them offered to help her . . . they "didn't want to get involved." Kids heard of increased use of drugs by adults and adults' disrespect of the law and their country. So it's no wonder that kids thought it was okay to be less respectful, less caring, less law-abiding, and less involved. When teen violence, teen pregnancies, delinquency, drug use, and disrespect increased, educators and others said, "Enough!" Since kids spent about 900 hours a year in school, educators set out to help kids develop character by setting good examples . . . and teaching character education.

"Moral education is not a new idea. It is, in fact, as old as education itself," says Dr. Thomas Lickona, developmental psychologist, director of the Center for the Fourth and Fifth Rs (Respect and Responsibility), and author of Educating for Character (1991) and Character Matters (2004). "Down through history education has had two great goals: to help young people become smart and to help them become good."

And as Martin Luther King, Jr., put it, "The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. Intelligence plus character - that is the goal of true education."

Many school systems across America require or encourage character education. Students are learning that character is what you do, not just what you say you believe. It's "doing the right thing, even when that's not easy. " Character's all about making choices. That could be as simple as choosing to tell the truth instead of lying, or as difficult as walking away from a fight instead of hitting someone. Every action shows other people the kind of person you've chosen to be.

As a teacher, you're an important role model for good character. Let your kids know that you, like them, have choices to make every day. You come to work and you do your best. You treat everyone with respect. As a good citizen, you follow the law and you vote in elections. Most of all, let the kids know that you care about them and how they're doing. That's why you want to help them develop good character. Together they'll explore real-life situations in which they'll need to stay calm, think logically, and choose a wise response. Stress that their reward for good character will be happier, safer, and more productive lives with good metal and emotional health.

References

Center for the 4th and 5th Rs

Character Above All

Character Plus

Character Education Network

The Character Council

The Character Education Partnership (CEP)