From October 16 to 22, 2005, the United States will once again commemorate National Character Counts Week. People across the country, especially schools, will recognize and set aside this week for special emphasis on character building. That is, some – not all – will recognize it. Some – not all – will set aside this week and emphasize character building. This will be the eighth year our nation has officially commemorated this week, but many will not take part.
Ironically, the first commemoration was launched by William Clinton, the President who commented that “Character doesn’t matter” when the person knows how to accomplish the desired ends. On October 16, 1998, President Clinton had the audacity to sign a proclamation setting aside this third week of October, and calling on everyone in the United States to “commemorate this week with appropriate ceremonies, activities, and programs.” Of course, we can hardly say that the proclamation originated solely with that president. Special interests seem to have been at work to be sure that the trademarked name of an organization, Character Counts! was included in the name of the week. Nevertheless, the week was established. That was nearly seven years ago, but the character of our nation has declined rather than improved. In spite of the proclamations, in spite of the name imprinted on the week, character does not seem to count much at all in America. Character does not count much to schools, to communities, or to our federal government. We have lowered our standards year after year, letting one scandal and then another become the norm, and although our current president will most likely proclaim National Character Counts Week again this year, it won’t really count for as much as it should.
This year’s proclamation, like last year’s, will probably include the sentence, “I call upon public officials, educators, librarians, parents, students, and all Americans to observe this week with appropriate ceremonies, activities, and programs.” But what difference will it make? The week will overlap other commemorations that are deemed more interesting or more vital, and it will receive little attention because to so many, character doesn’t really count anymore.
But character counts to me.
I believe we have a body of objective, moral absolutes that count in our lives. I believe our treatment of others counts. I believe the words we speak to others count. I believe the words we refrain from speaking count, too. I believe we have a responsibility to teach right and wrong very clearly, but to do this, we must raise the expectations of society.
We must begin to expect moral excellence. We should expect politicians to be honest! We should expect leaders in every arena to exercise high moral values. We should expect that the people we see in our bathroom mirrors will go out into society as men and women of character. And to that end, we should expect each one of our schools to implement a character education program that has meat on its bones. We should demand that character education be given priority in all of our schools: elementary, secondary, and tertiary.
Character counts to me, and I long to see it count to millions more.
That’s the view from my chair. What’s your view?