As I was reading the wonderful articles on your web site, I thought to myself, If only this had been available for me when I was in school. I wonder if my life would have turned our differently? I wonder if my life would have been easier? Yes, my parents loved me and provided for me, but somewhere along the line I missed the boat. My parents always looked at my report card, but there wasn’t some kind of report card to see if I was coping with life or even knew what to do in certain situations. Since I was the youngest of three girls and my parents were not into sports, I couldn’t even throw or catch a ball. At school, two good players were chosen by the teacher as team leaders. They, in turn, would then “pick" their team. One team leader would call out a name and then the other team leader would call out another name until everyone was on a team. I was always the very last one to be chosen. I wish I would have know how to deal with that. And how not to feel bad the rest of the day and dread the next day when the same thing would take place. At least I did have the “honesty thing" down pat. One summer, during my high school years, I received my report card in the mail. I knew I didn’t deserve the grade that was given to me. Now you are going to think I am a little bit touched in the head, but I just had to contact the teacher and tell him it was a mistake. It wasn’t a mistake. The teacher graded on the curve. Even now, I only want what is honestly mine. On occasion, when I tell a white lie, I think to myself how futile this is and sometimes wind up confessing. Due to my Christian up-bringing, to accept otherwise would cause me lack of peace and nothing is more precious than peace. That philosophy has served me well, as life has been good to me. Please don’t get me wrong. I am not a saint. I have plenty of faults and am still learning some life lessons. Why didn’t someone tell me about cliques? Why didn’t I know just to be myself, my real authentic self, instead of trying to fit into a group? If someone would have said, “Will the real Fran Larson please stand up," maybe I would have stood and found where I belong. I would have been enormously happy and would have seen that I was an “OK" person. I think I would have been forever grateful if I had been taught, “How to deal with peer pressure." When I was a teenager, my friend talked me into staying out hours after my curfew. I was convinced it was “ok" because she said it was . I learned the hard way how miserable you can be when you succumb to peer pressure.. When I got home and saw the worried and hurt look on my parent’s face, I was totally devastated. I wish I would have tried to please my parents that night, not my peers. Would a lesson in peer pressure have helped? Did I even understand what peer pressure was? Perhaps a class discussion on the subject would have been remembered or even a book that explained these issues. I didn’t know that even as an adult, I would remember the look on my mother’s face the day I lied to her…………it still haunts me………I was just thinking……..
Character is all about making choices. One's character is more completelly defined by one's choices than any other factor. Opinion makers; advertisers, politicans, religious leaders and educators on the one hand vs. drug dealers, pornographers, etc. on the other all focus their efforts on influencing others to make particular choices. And it is at this point that character is manifest and destiny determined.
The unfortunate reality of our time is that, before their character is yet fully formed, large numbers of our young, privileged as perhaps no generation before with freedom of thought and action, are being confronted with ideas and choices, the consequences of which they can barely fathom much less comprehend.
Young people today are faced with a bewildering array of choices-not just in the number of options available to them, but also in the potential outcomes of these choices, for both good and ill. Character education is all about teaching young people to make responsible choices-choices that are constructive and positive in nature.
But, simply knowing right from wrong is not enough. The fact is that at the point of choice, most people including children know, or at least suspect, they are crossing the line between right and wrong. It's desire, not knowledge, that determines the quality of one's choices.
Herein lies the heart of character development. And, herein lies the greatest challenge in teaching character education. To achieve the motivational influence necessary to sustain our students in making difficult choices, our lessons need to help them answer the question "Why choose the right?" in terms so relevant and pertinent they will possess not only the desire, but also the will to choose the right.
To be effective, character education must do more than impart information, it must also inspire, strengthen, and motivate students to act nobly-even when every inducement conspires to encourage them to act otherwise.
Truth may be uncomfortable, self-denial may be difficult and morality may unpopular. To consistently make responsible choices in the face of opposing influence requires the ability to recognize the right course and the will to take it.
We live in an increasingly complex and confusing world. For young people to be adequately prepared to fulfill responsible roles in solving the problems facing the world today, and to avoid these problems themselves, they need to be taught how to think more than they need to be taught what to think.
Helping young people develop the necessary internal controls to consistently make good choices is and ought to be a primary focus of character education. Fort this to happen, young people must develop their thinking skills to the point where they are mentally and emotionally mature enough to possess these internal controls.
The following elements are critical ingredients to any effective character education program.
1) A clear understanding of the inseparable connection between virtue and happiness, 2) Adequate attention to helping them develop the mental and emotional faculties essential to thinking clearly-even in the midst of temptation, confusion, and disillusion, 3) Daily opportunities to consider the principles being taught, and 4) A risk free environment in which they may experience the benefits of good choices and the penalties of poor choices
This suggests that a new model of character education needs to be understood and implemented-character based learning.
Essentially character based learning is integrating the acquisition of knowledge (math, English, science, social studies, or whatever) with the development of thinking skills and growth in virtue or moral development into the same learning experience.
When done properly, and it's not all that difficult, it is possible to achieve all four of the above objectives.
Both Francine Larson & George L. Rogers are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
Francine Larson has sinced written about articles on various topics from Education, Mental Health. Francine Larson is co-author of 'Character Keys to a Bright Future.' She also writes short stories, articles and poems. Visit her site: