Quality character education can save lives. Good character education could have saved the life of a teen who died needlessly this week. When I heard the story, I listened with sadness, knowing that the boy need not have died that way; wondering when people will realize the importance of building strong character in young people.
The 15-year old boy was shot to death because he walked on a neighbor’s lawn. It wasn’t the first time he had walked there. He had frustrated his neighbor for five years, I understand, repeatedly walking across the grass despite being asked not to do so. He had taken friends across the man’s grass. He knew he should not, but he did. He lacked character, and died as a direct result. (I do not excuse the man.)
Where were the boy’s parents? Where were his teachers? Did no one care enough about this boy to help him build character? Did no one realize that teaching this boy respect for his neighbors was essential? It became, in fact, a life-saving matter.
That boy might be alive today if, when he was seven years old, a teacher had put into his hands a copy of Georgey Giraffe’s Giant Respect. “Let’s read this,” the teacher might have said. Afterward, using a complete lesson plan on the book, that teacher could have piqued the boy’s interest in this character trait. He or she could have engaged him in a craft that would reinforce the lesson; given him repeated opportunity to sing the “Respect Song” from the book, and sent the message deep into his heart. The teacher could have sent home a respect trading card for the parents to use in building the trait stronger in the boy. The lesson could have been repeated each year as he grew.
That boy might be alive today if, as he entered his teen years, his parents or teachers had given him a gift of Passport to Courage. “This is a riveting novel,” they might have said. A teacher might have added, “Here’s a study guide for you to complete as you read it, but since you’ll be too interested in what happens next, I’ll remind you each day to do the guide.” The teacher would use the lesson plan, making sure that boy built convictions about respecting the property of others, and then exercised the courage of his convictions.
Quality character education can save lives. That boy did not have to die that way. He did not have to feel an angry bullet tear into his chest simply because he walked on the grass. Were his educators reluctant to exercise their own responsibility when it came to building character in young people? Did his teachers not give character education a clear, prioritized place in the boy’s schooling? Did they not work to the utmost of their ability to fulfill the task of teaching him respect? They might have saved his life!
You and I cannot guarantee that quality character education will always result in young people embracing what they are taught, I know, but the lack of such character education robs them of the opportunity of building strong character.
If you have a teenager, or if you teach teenagers, I hope you will think long about the fact that when you help them build character, you build a measure of safety into their lives. Conversely, when you shirk your responsibility, and do not help them build strong character, you build a measure of danger into their lives.
That’s the view from my chair. What’s your view?