Your local schools may be close to perfect, but name-calling is one area in which they probably fight an ongoing battle. Name-calling is verbal abuse, and can have both immediate and lasting effects. I’m not talking only about the gross names that today’s young people dare to fling at one another, but about the entire gamut of name-calling.
If we wanted to be politically correct in our speech, we would refer to name-calling as a matter of tolerance for the diversity among us. However, I believe such political correctness misses the mark entirely. Name-calling is a manifestation of the lack of character, and that lack, not political correctness, should dictate our focus.
Focus on character! Our schools should fight this war by building character fortresses. Instead of running around negatively sniping at the current culprits while raising a new generation of culprits, we should exert positive energy in the work of constructing strong character in our young people. Character is, after all, the answer, and we should focus on it.
Schools must realize that a character education program is not secondary to other courses. It is first! It must take priority. Students must be surrounded – immersed in character building. It has direct bearing on every other course being taught, and is absolutely vital.
Focus on character traits such as compassion. The stronger educators build the wall of compassion among our students, the less likely those students will be to engage in name-calling. They will, instead see how hurtful it is. They will feel with the person who is the object of name-calling, and will want to help that individual, regardless of consequences. But are educators laboring hard to rapidly build compassion among students? Do they see this block of character as a vital way to win the war?
Focus on character traits such as respect. Once students learn fully what respect is, and embrace it as desirable – “to die for” – those students will make “no name-calling” popular. They will understand the value of other students, and will want to demonstrate that understanding by refraining from name-calling. They themselves will shut out the rebels who refuse to show honor to others. But are educators working with all their ability to build strong respect among students? Do they realize that this block will fortify society against name-calling?
Focus on character traits such as courage-of convictions. Students who are actively and clearly taught moral absolutes of right and wrong form convictions. When they are then taught to have the courage of their convictions, they will stand up for what they believe to be right. They will eschew name-calling. They will stand against peer pressure. One by one, they will stop following the name-calling leaders, and, as the number of followers diminishes, so will the leaders’ joy of name-calling.
I feel so strongly about this that I recently developed a lesson plan for use in schools wanting to conquer name-calling. “Character Education Focuses on Name-Calling” is a professionally written, free lesson plan, adaptable to any age group. I plan to make this downloadable version available to everyone for a short time before posting it on our premium membership site, so if you’re interested, grab it while you can.
Meanwhile, remember to focus on character to fight your war on name-calling.
That’s the view from my chair. What’s your view?