Sunday, September 11, 2011
Should "Character Education" be Taught More Frequently in Public Schools?
I believe that our society has changed so much in the past 50 years. Many things that were taught at home aren't really being communicated to childen in the homes of today's generation. Families use to spend more time together and life seemed to move at a much slower pace. Parents worked hard and the family was content with very little because they were blessed to have each other. When I look back, I really enjoyed my childhood and being a student in the public schools, especially during my elementary school years. The teachers not only taught me about academics, but life long skills and how to be a person of great character as well. These principles seemed to align with what I was being taught at home too. Times were different for sure. Now, families have less time together and don't always find the time to educate their children on the necessary life long skills needed to become a great person of character, which helps our nation become better and stronger. The "Golden Rule" seems to be something of the past. Also, for the past ten years, the focus in schools has been on making sure no child is left behind academically, which is an excellent goal, but we as a country have lost focus on what it takes to build a strong nation based on integrity, hard work, and high principles. Children need to be encouraged to be great citizens, especially those who may not be receiving this message at home. I believe it takes a village to build stronger families and communities. Our school made the decision to incorportate Sean Covey's principle's in his book The 7 Habits of Happy Kids. Do you think more schools should include character education in their schools today?
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Carolyn,
ReplyDeleteFor the past two years we have won the Colorado State School of Character award for implementing some aspect of character education in our school. I think it is just as vital to have well informed, responsible citizens as it is to have citizens who are educated. The problem with our society today, why so many jails are full, why there is SO much crime, is because of the falling apart of character education. The family is falling apart, and since that key component of moral and ethical education isn't happening at home, it is not happening that much at all. The reason it worked so great in your education is because lessons at home were reinforced at school. If there are no lessons at home it is hard to start from scratch at school.
Carolyn,
ReplyDeleteI agree that there has been a loss of schools teaching character education. It just seems as if teachers have SO many things they have to teach on a daily basis that this topic often falls to the wayside. I do not agree with this and think character education is a very important topic and every school should make more time to teach these crucial, valuable life skills.
Carolyn,
ReplyDeleteI agree with you and I think that character education is important and needed in schools today. You are absolutely right about parents not being the same as our parents, and that kids are not being trained about the Golden Rule or how to be a decent person in general. I think a major problem these days with parents is- they are too young to be parents. I know you have heard the phrase "Babies having babies", and in a lot of cases, this is true! How can you raise a child when you haven't finish being raised yourself? I am a total believer of the phrase "It takes a village", because a village helped raise me. Everyone in my neighborhood could tell us right from wrong, spank or discipline us, and most of the time, protected us. When I was growing up, most of the people and their children went to church, which included Sunday School. In Sunday school, we learned about the Golden Rule, telling the true, being kind to everyone, always show respect-especially to adults, and a plethora of values that we still use today. Most parents today don't go to church, don't know their neighbors, and some people are out to hurt and kill not to help or protect kids or adults.