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Archive for January, 2006

Character Counts toward Elderly Parents

The other day, I was talking with a dear friend about problems encountered when placing an elderly parent in a rest home. As we spoke, I suddenly remembered a man of whom I have not thought for some time.
Mr. Williamson (not his real name) was himself a senior citizen when I met him. He was […]

Character Education – Building a Mansion

Character education involves building. The question is, “What are we building?”
Some character educators are content to raise a small, ready-made tent of simple, lightweight materials: fabric, metal pole, and rope.
Other character educators insist on constructing, from the ground up, a large mansion of strong materials: rock, concrete, brick, mortar, and steel.
Tents are, […]

Character Education Is a Privilege

Character education is a privilege – and I believe wise educators treat it as such. A wise educator is far more likely to say, “I get to teach character education” than to grumble, “I have to teach character education.”
“I get to teach” character education using character stories with interactive buttons. I “get to teach” character […]

Character-in-Action Examples

Character-in-Action examples abound – why is it so difficult to find them?
I’ve looked on the Internet, typing various word combinations into the search engines. I find a few here and there, but on the whole, it seems difficult to find clear, contemporary examples of character-in-action.
Would you please help me?
I would like to feature some of […]

Character Education Via Television?

Character education via television is the most common character education program we have these days. Virtually every young person is included, from toddler through teenager, and the cost is very low. We don’t have to find a place in busy schedules, since television is available all of the time. We don’t have to train teachers, […]

A Culture of Character

“Culture of corruption” is the current phrase in the US Congress’ ongoing name-calling battle. Many are poised to run campaigns under that slogan. It seems to be a very negative platform on which to run, but apparently there are those who think slinging negative words at one’s opponents is the best route to re-election. Verbal […]

Character Education Provides a Moral Compass

Every now and then, you read of a judge who refers to character in sentencing a criminal. It happened again recently, when a judge in California sentenced to prison a couple who used a severed finger in an attempt to extort money from a fast-food chain.
“Greed and avarice overtook this couple,” Judge Edward Davila pronounced. […]

Character Education Makes a Great Valentine

Think about it. Think about it in light of what we discussed yesterday. If character education is done correctly, using a good character education program, and modeled by a teacher who makes it a passionate, purposeful priority, character education works an enormous change in teenagers. It changes the heart, and that’s a wonderful gift for […]

Character Education Changes Teenagers

I guarantee it. If character education is done correctly, using a good character education program, and modeled by a teacher who makes it a passionate, purposeful priority, character education works an enormous change in teenagers.
Character education changes teenagers, and yet most of our schools do not spend time trying to build character in teens. Some […]

Character Counts More Than a Degree

What if universities had no names? What if those universities did not give out degrees showing our “rank” compared to that of others? What if there were no transcripts to show our grade point averages compared to others’ grade point averages? What if we had to rely entirely on individual performance as we went through […]