Character Education
Character education should be taught to all students in all grades in every school because the increase in the random acts of violence against people ,the lack of respect some people have for authority figures, and because children are not being taught character education at home. Character education: is the mental and moral qualities taught to a person of all ages to help them and make them be an affective part of society. Character: is something that should be instilled in a child at a very young age. “To educate a person in mind and not in morals is to educate a menace to society” Theodore Roosevelt.(noel 11).
“Character education starts early in time”, said author Noel Merino .(noel 13) It changes with the times like any other subject. In our society as times change so does the way character needs to be implemented. At one high school Roosevelt High school they have a character education class about cyber bullying. The “Two Lives Program” has students learning about character in the world of technology.(noel 10) This program teaches the social and mental skills to deal with cyber bullying and how the things they say can hurt people. This program also teaches the character aspect of cyber safety to help them understand what they are really doing online. This program is taught in a way that is actually meaningfully to them so they really care about this class. The main focus of this program is to teach responsible internet. This program also helps the students learn how handle real life situations and how they should react when things are directed at them. (Ohler Character Education in Digital Age ACD ) He goes on to say that are children neeed to learn how to search the web in a safe but fast way. He also says that the true test of this program and of character is if they use this wisely and responsibly.
Over 2000 years ago Aristotle noted, “All adults involved with children either help or thwart children’s growth and development, whether we like it, intend it or not.” The term character education was started in the year 1960.(Noel 15) It was introduced into the curriculum in many states during this time. The first state to formally put character education in their curriculum was North Carolina. (Trya 11) Since then 31 other states have introduced this into their curriculum.. “ Great success stories have been documented when character education is introduced at a young age like kindergarten or Pre-Kindergarten “said Dr. Trya of St. Mary College of Maryland.(Trya 10) The mission of Character Education is to teach Life Skills for Building Character that helps students become responsible for their decisions and behavior while showing respect and care for others. This statement and others like it are the basis for many of the character classes and programs taught across the United States and throughout the world. Character education breeds much strength in a society. One of the biggest impacts it has is helping children build character who normally would not be taught these values at home. The skills lesson and ideas you learn from these programs will remain with you and help you throughout your whole life. For example like learning right from wrong will help you stay on the right path in life and help you to make the right choices. It also teaches people responsibility which is necessary to be successful in all phases of life. Without basic skills you cannot go far in life. The biggest message of character education is to teach respect and honesty because with these two traits everyone will have a better chance at becoming successful. These are basic life skills. “Without life skills what is education. Education cannot just be about academics “said Dr. Mark Harper of the University of Buffalo. Education needs to be well rounded.(Harper) Since the No Child Left Behind Plan was implemented under President Bush, we have gone back to “the basics of education. “(Schwartz 5) By going back to