THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, June 2, 1996 TAG: 9606010099
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 06 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Editorial
SOURCE: Kevin Armstrong
LENGTH: 72 lines
Virginia Beach school leaders would be wise to take a lesson from their counterparts in Norfolk.
While we have been busy sorting out our school system's problems and assessing who did what wrong, Norfolk has been exploring something called ``Character Education.''
The Norfolk board has adopted a set of character traits that it hopes to infuse throughout the system and into every classroom. The list of 16 qualities ranges from honesty and respect to hospitality and citizenship.
A resolution by the Norfolk School Board chairman endorsing the plan reads, in part:
``Character and wholesome values are the cornerstones of individual accountability and quality in the home and the work place; and the elements of one's character are learned, by instruction and by example, from our families, the work place, religious institutions, schools, and other social institutions.''
The key to any such program is found in the words ``by example.''
Instruction is part of the process, but it's difficult to teach a child to ``do as I say, not as I do.'' Leading by example puts the burden not on the child but on the adult in charge.
Home, school and church comprise the three societal pillars responsible for instilling in the next generation a sense of knowing right from wrong.
Churches and synagogues have, unfortunately, become less important to far too many families who no longer take up the offer to be part of the learning process.
And schools have taken their share of criticism for failing to produce a generation that is kinder and gentler.
But the biggest letdown in this shared role has been the home. Parents often destroy any learning that takes place in the classroom.
It's amazing to listen to parents verbally tear apart the principal or teacher at home in clear earshot of their children and then hear them wonder aloud why their child is in trouble at school for being disrespectful.
Why should these parents expect anything less?
I recall hearing a teacher tell how she was having trouble with a particular student and decided to phone the child's mother. The mother said she wasn't interested in hearing how the child was disrupting the entire class. ``While he's there at school, he's your problem,'' the mother retorted.
The teacher tried to talk with the mother, but it was no use. So, the teacher went to her principal and he phoned the mother.
Upon hearing for himself the mother's reaction, the principal announced that for the next several days, the student would not be the ``school's problem.'' He suspended the child and told his mother, ``Now you can deal with him all day long for the next three days.''
Fortunately, most parents don't share that mother's attitude. But many do so in subtler ways.
Character education was the focus last week of U.S. News & World Report's cover story, titled ``How To Raise a Moral Child.'' That story deals with the tension between choosing a conservative model for developing character, which emphasizes controlling a sinful nature, and a liberal one, which seeks to aid in developing a person's full potential by giving him greater latitude.
Therein lies the reason for past controversies in communities that have tried to adopt a standard set of moral values. Norfolk so far has avoided any problems with its pursuit, having convened a committee of citizens representing cross sections of the community to include diverse points of view.
Beach school officials already have a contract with parents regarding discipline. Parents must sign that contract at the beginning of the school year, signifying their understanding of the ramifications related to a student misbehaving.
Adding preventive measures (i.e. ``character education'') into the process would make it better. It also would emphasize to moms and dads that shaping kids of character is indeed a partnership. by CNB