County shapes student character

Building solid character begins in the home. That's how Chilton County Superintendent of Education Mildred Ellison feels. The state-mandated program currently used by all Chilton public schools only enhances the kind of character education Ellison said she feels parents should be instilling in their children before sending them out into the world.

"We have 10 minutes of character education per day in our schools for each student," Ellison said. "That's what the state mandated we do in a ruling in 1995. But, the limited character education the school system is able to provide students must only be secondary to the education they receive at home."

Charolette Kelley, a councilor at Clanton Elementary School, said several times each semester, she does character building programs in the classrooms at her school. She said the teachers have had it left up to them when and what to teach.

"We teach them about respect and getting along," Kelley said. "We allow them to role play because they love that so much. But, we don't have as much time for those things as we would like. But, we have 650 students in our school and I'm the only councilor. There's a lot of things going on. I think there definitely should be more character education in our schools than they receive. A lot of times, unfortunately, the only place they see positive role models is here at school. I do as much individual character education as I do group. I'd like to be able to do more group."

She said character building is very effective and positively impacts students' lives. She has students who have gone through character building programs at CES that now attend other schools come back. She said she sees in them just how much good it can do.

She also said teachers have to "get into" character education - just showing a video or working in a workbook isn't enough. She pointed out the need to teach children while entertaining them at the same time.

The curriculum used by the county school system is taken from that taught by the Boy Scouts of America. The school system pays the boy scouts for the materials used.

Character education is a program backed by current state-school board candidate Mary Anne Martin. She said after having visited in classrooms throughout the state. She said many of the discipline problems experienced by schools could be curbed if more emphasis was placed on character-building.

"I've been an early supporter of character education because of its track record in creating safe and better schools, in improving industrial development and in providing a caring, skilled workforce for industry," she said. Martin indicated many children might not receive such training at home - that makes it imperative for children to receive some form of training at school.

She also said her belief in character education is a primary reason she wants to run for state office.

All three said they believe teaching honesty, respect, integrity and hard work characteristics helps children throughout the education process. It also contributes to cutting down on the number of discipline problems experienced in schools.

I post this to draw attention to a program created and marketed by the Boy Scouts of America. It's called "Learning for Life" (a.k.a. "LFL") and it was specifically designed for just this purpose; to bring a values-oriented curriculum into the public schools.

It does not have any particular religious content. There are no oaths or uniforms. It does not give the leadership instruction opportunities. And there are no membership requirements over and above what the school itself might impose. But the BSA has 1.6 million people enrolled in this, half as many as are in it's traditional programs, so I'd say it's pretty successful. Perhaps your own school district might find it interesting.

There was also a VERY good video put out and hosted by Tom Selleck ( a hottie AND a conservative! ) called "Character Counts" .

I got it for my daughter.

However I agree with this counselor. Character needs to be instilled in the home, BY PARENTS FIRST.

4-H is an excellent youth group as well, and stresses character.

Anybody here wants a hook-up to 4-H, LMK ( and NO you do NOT need to do animals or live in teh country to belong! ) I cannot recommend 4-H enough.

I'm torn on this one. Character education isn't a 10-minute job. It has to happen during class, a test time, in the lunch room, on the playground, and on the school bus. I think the author tried to say this in her comment, " ... teachers have to "get into" character education - just showing a video or working in a workbook isn't enough. She pointed out the need to teach children while entertaining them at the same time." That's a good point, except she ruined it by emphasizing the need for "entertaining". Kids get enough entertainment at every turn of their day. School is for learning.

The answer is to hire qualified teachers of good character who will provide a positive role model in everthing she (or he) does. The "character" message that is the purpose of all this effort will only stick if it is reinforced in real life throughout the whole school day.

Having good character means being strong enough to point out and explain bad character when it is revealed. In our PC gov't schools, I can't say that teachers are so empowered or determined.

Opportunities for character building exist EVERYWHERE. It just depends on how engaged you want to be. I don't want my daughter being taught values in school. When the proof is in the pudding and they can prove themselves to be excellent at what they do (3 R's), then I'll think again. My motto is to be the greater authority in my daughter's live. Get there first and do it right. Then, the schools can attempt any lesson, and she'll hear it, but it might not stick.

... the need to teach children while entertaining them at the same time.

What a horrible concept, eh? That learning must be entertaining. Certainly it's easier to keep their attention. But what this does is feed the concept that children should expect everything to revolve around them, and that if something is not entertaining they shouldn't have to pay any attention to it.

In the BSA, we teach Scouts character and citizenship and fitness by plugging them into situations where failure to pay attention to those concepts causes them practical problems. Washing the pots and pans after dinner isn't entertaining (and is often the only exposure they ever have to the task), but it's necessary if they want to be able to cook breakfast and eat it the next day.

I guess the idea that kids should have to learn something whether it's entertaining or not is foreign. But don't blame the schools; they have to work with what they get. If no one at home is concerned with the kids' grades enough to actually put some of their own effort into it (like shutting off TV, video games, and playing on sports teams until the grades improve), there's little the teachers can do.

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