Address the Crisis of Character in our Schools
The next President of the United States needs to address not only the problem of poor academic performance in our schools but also the student problems of drug abuse, sexual promiscuity, violence, lying, cheating, stealing, racism and bullying.
No matter how many red flags are raised in the media about the crisis of character in our society and despite the fact that we all agree that the role of education should be to produce citizens who are both smart and good, we continue by and large to focus on test scores rather than authentic measures of intellectual and moral excellence.
As a principal, the survivor of a concentration camp, once wrote to his teachers at the start of a new school year, “My eyes saw what no person should witness: gas chambers built by learned engineers, children poisoned by educated physicians, infants killed by trained nurses, women and babies shot and burned by high school and college graduates. Your efforts must never produce learned monsters and skilled psychopaths. Reading, writing, and arithmetic are important only if they serve to make our children more humane.”
Fortunately, a quality character education program in schools produces young people who are both humane and smart. Just ask Robert Gehringer, principal of Boys Town High School that Father Flanigan started 90 years ago in Boys Town, Nebraska. This school transforms severely at-risk, abused, abandoned, and neglected boys and girls into productive citizens. The first step with these at-risk students is training in basic social and performance skills, such as following instructions, greeting others, accepting criticism as well as compliments, asking for help, and listening. They slowly but surely begin to accept the fact that everyone at the school, both young and old, sincerely wants to help them become a better, happier, more successful person. They are taught to monitor their feelings, control impulses, empathize with others, set goals, and delay gratification in order to pursue their goals. They learn what it means to be hard-working, trustworthy, respectful, responsible, and caring, and that they are expected to practice those virtues until they become habits and part of their character. In this environment they find meaning in their studies and their academic performance improves dramatically.
In the early history of our public education, developing good character—qualities such as diligence, perseverance, honesty, and kindness—was considered essential for doing well in school and doing good in life. But in the last part of the 20th century, most public schools drifted away from that traditional emphasis on character.
Fortunately, in the last two decades the character education movement has revived and is beginning to pick up speed. Thirty-one states now mandate or encourage character education by statute. And all across the country schools are implementing character education programs, but not nearly at the pace, numbers, and quality needed to overcome our national crisis of character.
With character related fires blazing all around us, our next President needs to recognize that we should be emphasizing good character in our young just as emphatically as we have been focusing on higher math and science test scores.
As President Theodore Roosevelt reminded us, “Character in the long run is the decisive factor in the life of an individual and of nations alike.”
Mr. McDonnell is Chairman Emeritus of the McDonnell Douglas Corporation, which is now part of Boeing. He is also Chairman Emeritus of the Character Education Partnership.
This post was submitted by S. N. McDonnell.
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[...] No matter how many red flags are raised in the media about the crisis of character in our society and despite the fact that we all agree that the role of education should be to produce citizens who are both smart and good, … Address the Crisis of Character in our Schools [...]