THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT 
              Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Sunday, February 2, 1997              TAG: 9702020104
SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B5   EDITION: FINAL 
SOURCE: BY MATTHEW BOWERS, STAFF WRITER 
DATELINE: SUFFOLK                           LENGTH:   76 lines

A QUESTION OF CHARACTER A PANEL OF SUFFOLK CITIZENS LOOKS INTO WHAT BASIC VALUES TO TEACH IN SCHOOL.

They were looking for answers, this cross section of folks meeting for the first time to grapple with the issue of teaching character in the public schools. The first one they needed was obvious: What does ``character'' mean?

Well-behaved, another group polled earlier had said.

Respectful.

Truthful.

Courteous.

``Treat people the way you want to be treated.''

These definitions came from what would seem to be a surprising source: students of the city's night alternative school. These are the kids kicked out of their regular schools for misbehaving. Their answers closely mirrored those of groups of student leaders, business people and even ministers, who added things like responsible, hard-working and caring.

Seventeen members of the Character Education Committee nodded their heads in the Nansemond River High School library one night last week. The school board had appointed them - five others missed the initial meeting because of, appropriately enough, church activities - to come up with a recommendation on whether to teach character in the city's schools, what traits to teach and, possibly, how to teach or encourage it. They are to report back by June.

Character education generally refers to instruction in basic values such as respect and honesty. The school board drew its committee from all corners of the sprawling city. Parents and educators. Business people and ministers.

``We want to come to a consensus as a community,'' schools Superintendent Joyce H. Trump told the group at the start. ``This is all those traits we all can agree on, regardless of religious beliefs, regardless of where we come from. . . . Core beliefs.''

There was quick agreement on the first issue. Character should be taught - needs to be taught - committee members agreed. There have been too many incidents like the recent shooting death of a Virginia Beach teen, or even the October brawl at a pep rally in the very school in which they were meeting. Too many negative influences in the world. Too many parents abdicating their responsibilities to develop their children's good character.

One of the committee members, the Rev. George Close of Oxford United Methodist Church, told about his mother's consistent instruction, about her forcing him to call an adult and apologize for answering a question with ``Yeah.''

``It was always `Yes, ma'am' and `No, ma'am,' `Please' and `Thank you,' '' Close said.

``Some of these kids don't have that at home. I know parents who are home drinking beer. The kids are out until 2, 3 in the morning. . . . The parents don't care.''

Others chimed in. Some students are ``vicious'' and prey on weaker classmates. Society has learned to tolerate too much bad behavior. Today's kids don't have enough positive heroes. By middle and high school, peer pressure overcomes parental direction. Any in-school character training must begin in the lowest grades - and be consistently taught.

``It does take a village to raise a child,'' said Mattie Faulk, who has one son in high school and another in college. ``Because that child isn't always going to be in your hut.''

Trump assured them that character is a component of Suffolk's classrooms already - don't take a classmate's pencil, for example, or speak out only when called on - but she hoped the schools could do better.

Educators across the country are confronting the character issue, with some 80 percent of the states mandating or recommending that their public schools focus on character development. Locally, Norfolk and Portsmouth were to have begun district-wide character programs this semester.

Now it's Suffolk's turn.

``The common denominator here is `caring,' '' said Angela Watahovich, a parent on the committee. ``That's why we're all here. We care, and our parents taught us to care.''

The committee asked Superintendent Trump to bring to the next monthly meeting examples of students considered to have good character, to serve as their models.

``I think it's an issue that from time to time needs public conversation,'' Trump said after the meeting. ``Schools always need to examine with the community what the community's expectations are.''