Teaching Moral Values in Schools Essay Example

if these moral values were taught in the schools again? A school in California teaches good character (respect, honesty, compassion, responsibility, perseverance) during every activity at the school to over 600 students from pre-k to 6th graders. For example, if a student faces a difficult problem, the class may discuss perseverance. Before implementing these teachings over seven years ago, there were problems with fighting, discipline, and respect. Now the students are well-behaved and very respectful. Helping out has become second nature to the children also.

For example, during lunch they offer to help the janitorial crew. This school teaches these character education classes because they know that if it is not taught at their school, certain values will go unlearned. As reported for KNBC-TV in Los Angeles, “In fact, the school has instilled character so successfully that the respected Character Education Partnership in Washington D. C. considers it a model” (“Schools teach”, 2001, para. 4).

The reporter goes on to say, “In 2000, the University of South Carolina released a study of the state’s four-year character education initiative.Of the administrators it surveyed, 91 percent reported improvement in student attitudes and 60 percent reported that students’ academic performance improved” (“Schools teach”, 2001, para. 7). More schools in California are implementing their own character education programs because of the success of this school.

For example, the Los Angeles Union School District has started character education classes in all its 75 schools. But, this school in California is not the only place teaching these values. There is also a school in Chicago that was having problems with student attitudes and behaviors.The school started a program called “Let’s Be Courteous,

Let’s Be Caring” (Lickona, 1997, para. 2) which defines courteous (using manners, using good listening skills, waiting patiently, and being polite) and caring (sharing, following all the rules, being nice to others, working together as a team, and respecting the feelings of others) and helps students learn these standards in their behavior.

The program also allows the students to become involved in working with the disabled, the elderly, and the less fortunate. This helps the students learn to care about others.Because of this program, fighting between the students has become very rare, the children share their lunches with each other, and the children show a high-level of respect to each other and to the teachers. Chicago recognized this school for character education and academic excellence (Lickona, 1997). In a lecture given to The Georgia Humanities Council, Thomas Lickona said, “Character education… is the deliberate effort to teach virtue.

It’s not letting kids decide for themselves what’s right and wrong, rather the school stands for virtues and promotes them explicitly at every turn” (Lickona, 1997, para. ). Thomas Lickona then goes on to say, “It’s not just talk, thinking and discussing are important, but the bottom line is behavior. Actions… are the ultimate measure of our character” (Lickona, 1997, para.

8). Character education may be a class by itself but everyday it is more of a continuous school-wide effort at this Chicago school to produce behaviors such as trust, determination, respect, and kindness. Teaching moral values has changed the children of these Chicago and California schools but this is only the beginning of a nationwide effort.There is a very small community in New Jersey that teaches

these concepts at all their schools. They implemented the Community Action Reaching Everyone (CARE) program (Fisher, 1998).

The mission statement for CARE: “… is a community-based organization committed to support the nurturing of shared values and positive means for resolving conflict. The membership includes parents, students, teachers and administrators from local public and private schools, representatives from local service and religious organizations, and community leaders from business, government and police. ” (Fisher, 1998, para. ) This provides two major facets to the program. First it nurtures the communities’ values, and second it resolves any conflicts constructively.

After implementing these teachings, the children are well-behaved, care about others, and understand the difficulties people with disabilities face. There is less fighting among students because they have learned how to resolve their differences in other ways. Not in All Schools These schools have been showing success in teaching moral values to the children for the past several years, but why are there not more schools teaching these values?A woman’s fifth grade son came home from school one day with a note from the teacher. The note said that the boy had been caught taking money from a classmates’ backpack.

It also pointed out that this had been going on for a few weeks, and finally caught this woman’s son in the act. This mother, very upset, immediately called the school to inquire what could be done to help stop this before it develops into a habit. The teacher told her that the school is obliged to inform the parent, but asked the mother to stay out of this. The school is dealing with the problem in a professional

manner.The faculty had just held a meeting and decided not to say that this student was caught stealing, that would only give the child a bad image. It will be called uncooperative behavior.

And told the student that if this behavior continues then this student will not get along very well with others, and this is not the way to behave to have a nice life. The mother was taken aback, but figured that the teacher, and the school, knows best what to do. Later, however, the mother tried to talk to the son about the incident and the boy would not take it seriously.The son told his mother, “Look Mom, the teachers [are not] making a big deal of this. Why are you? ” (Damon, 2002) This is a true example of how schools are teaching values to the students. What is the reasoning for this? There are some people who believe that moral values are religious values, and therefore should not be taught in the public school system.

They believe religion should be kept out of the schools and teaching these values would violate their constitutional rights. Then there are those people who argue that teaching values to children is a waste of time because the children will make up their own minds anyway.There are also those who will argue that not one system of values is right for all concerned, that people have to contrive values on their own. And there are some people who ask, “Which values, or whose, should we teach? … One’s values should not be forced upon another person” (Trissler, 2000, para.

23-25). Since religion was taken out

of public schools in the 1960’s by the Supreme Court, administrators and teachers are afraid they might cross the line by teaching values. Values in Action The Boy Scouts of America (BSA) has been teaching these moral values to young men since its induction in 1910.The BSA teaches young men to acquire confidence, the status of a leader, and moral values. Many of the men who were developed as Scouts as youngsters are responsible leaders today.

Men who sit on the Supreme Court, men who have authoritative offices in business, several government facilities, and industries were Scouts. Several of the astronauts, including those who made a lunar walk, were Scouts. Presidents John F. Kennedy and Gerald Ford were both Boy Scouts as youngsters. Why are so many former Scouts succeeding?The Scout Law of the BSA states, “A Scout is trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean and reverent” (Boy Scouts of America [BSA], 2006, para.

4). According to Zig Ziglar (1997), in a Harris poll conducted in 1995 (Figure 1), 98% of adults who were Boy Scouts as children for at least five years, finished high school compared to 75% who were not Scouts, and 40% of them finished college, whereas there was only 16% who finished college who were not Scouts. Seventeen percent of those who were not Boy Scouts had incomes over $50,000 compared to 33% who were Boy Scouts.And over 70% who were Boy Scouts made “Who’s Who in America”. “In addition, 94% of those surveyed in the Harris poll said the values they learned in Scouting had a substantial impact on their lives. ” Figure 1.

Harris

poll of adults who spent at least five years as a Boy Scout. (Ziglar, 1997) In all the schools in Japan, the children spend one hour each day in learning moral values, but much of the school day is devoted directly or indirectly to teaching correct attitudes and moral values and to developing character. These students know the difference between right and wrong.The Japanese children do not have the problems that American children schools have. Teen-age pregnancy rate in Japan is lower than in America as well as the rate of high school drop-outs.

Violence in these schools is almost non-existent. Students in Japan learn from an early age about team-work, and they work in teams to clean the classrooms, halls, and schoolyards everyday. (Ziglar, 2002) Conclusion Teaching moral values teach right and wrong. Moral values teach honesty, loyalty, courtesy, kindness, and trustworthiness.Moral values also teach caring, responsibility, optimism, and being a team player. Teaching these same values in school will help the children to succeed in all areas of their lives.

These teachings have already worked in the schools in Chicago, California, and New Jersey. The Boy Scouts of America have been teaching these values for over one hundred years with exceptional success. People are against teaching moral values for various reasons; with the biggest issue being moral values are the same as religious values and religion cannot be taught in our schools anymore.In a recent article in the Marietta (Georgia) Daily Journal, Claudine Williams wrote, “Cobb and Marietta school officials see a direct link between the day when values ceased to be taught in the classroom and a gradual decline in civility in

our nation’s schools. ” (Trissler, 2000, para.

15) References Boy Scouts of America (2006). Scout oaths, promises, mottos, and slogans. Retrieved August 12, 2006, from http://usscouts. org Damon, W.

(2002). When inappropriate behavior is just plain wrong: Developing moral language and moral action are goals of character education.Retrieved September 03, 2006 from http://www. scu.

edu Fisher, S. (1998, Feb. ) Developing and implementing a K-12 character education program. JOPERD – The Journal of Physical Education, Recreation, & Dance, 69(2), 21(3).

Retrieved August 03, 2006, from InfoTrac OneFile via Thomson Gale Database. Lickona, T. (1997). Educating for character: The school’s highest calling.

Retrieved August 12, 2006, from http://www. georgiahumanities. org Merriam-Webster (2006). Moral values. Retrieved August 12, 2006, from http://www.

-w. com Schools teach respect and responsibility along with the traditional 3R’s. (2001, August 30). Retrieved August 12, 2006, from http://www. acfnewsource. org Trissler, T.

(2000). Should values be taught in public schools? Retrieved August 07, 2006, from http://muse. widener. edu Ziglar, Z.

(1997). Over the top (2nd. ) Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, Inc. Ziglar, Z.

(Speaker). (2002). Overcoming adversity to live your dreams (Compact Disc from How to Stay Motivated Series). Houston, TX: Zig Ziglar Systems.