Raising children ranges from the simplest of tasks, such as a kind touch, to the dauntingly complex, such as character formation.
"Along with wanting our kids to grow, learn, and develop, our society also wants our youngsters to become good citizens, to become people that are responsible, honest, have respect for others, and so forth," says Carlos Sundermann, Director of the National Resource Center for Safe Schools at the Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory.
"These are the kinds of values that cross religious and cultural boundaries. They are conveyed— that is, taught—parent to child. And in the majority of families they are. Sadly, in some families, they aren't. But if we consciously carry out character education in our schools and society, model these generally accepted values in all that we do, then we accomplish two things:
"We reinforce and strengthen ethical home values, and we encourage those who don't have that example in their personal lives to acquire these important ways of behaving during their schooling years." While these principles don't belong to any one culture or religion, Carlos reemphasizes, they are foundations of just about all cultures and religions.
Parents, educators, and other members of the community are increasingly looking for information on this topic. "On our safe-schools resource center's Web site http://www.safetyzone.org, we have a list of ‘Hot Topics,'" Carlos notes, "and character education is among them. The Web site points to two character-education links that we find to be objective, nonsectarian, and nonpartisan."
One link is to the Character Education Partnership http://www.character.org and the other is to Character Counts! http://www.charactercounts.org. Character Counts! establishes Six Pillars of Character:
Buttressing each pillar are contributing traits. For example, under Responsibility is Accountability, Pursuit of Excellence, and Self-restraint.
Parents and others can find many helpful character-building tips on Character Counts!
The Character Education Partnership, says Carlos, divides its approach into 11 principles of character education. In its very first principle, notes Carlos, the partnership cites "caring, honesty, fairness, responsibility, and respect for self and others" as essential ethical values. The partnership advocates for the school as a caring community where "caring relationships will foster both the desire to learn and the desire to be a good person." At the same time, the partnership recognizes parents as the primary instructor of morality, and encourages parental participation in the school's efforts.
Caring about others is crucial, notes Carlos. He points to a study cited by the Character Education Partnership's online newsletter. The study found that when high school kids were interviewed about eight high-risk areas, such as violence, sexual activity, drug use, etc., two factors seemed to make a difference in minimizing these risks. One factor is that the kids feel connected and close to their family; the other is that they feel part of their school, close to the people there, and that it's a fair environment.
This column by Karen Lytle Blaha is provided as a public service by the Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory, a nonprofit institution working with schools and communities in Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and Washington.
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Date of Last Update: 9/6/01 
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