Character education, when included in high school curricula, is not likely to generate enthusiasm in adolescents. Having taught high school for years, I know where I’m talking from. Adolescents seek independence from parents and are in pursuit of adult freedoms. Many rebel against preaching about right and wrong, so how can you find the character education they love?
Character education is abhorrent to teens when they think it’s being forced on them. As with many other issues, adolescents regress when we steer them towards high moral values. They think they can figure out their own values and they don’t want help doing it!
The problem is that teenagers are unable to resolve high moral values on their own. Those who try to do so will always leave room for their own interests and desires. This is true for people of any age. We all try to design standards that make our individual lives as easy as possible. We would like to establish two sets of rules: one for oneself and one for others.
Check out these examples of what can happen when you replace solid character education with personal value selection.
People weaken the definition of honesty to allow leeway when they don’t want to tell the whole truth. They assign a value that they do not find wrong with “white lies”, “little lies”, “tact”, or a “polite front” in certain situations. However, they fully expect others to be completely honest in their dealings with them.
Many decide that it’s okay to respect some people and it’s wrong to respect those they don’t like. They decide that respect must be earned before they are obligated to give it. If someone in authority fails in their eyes to “win” it, they give them no respect. Put the shoe on the other foot and demand respect.
Some who work out their own moral values instead of learning through character education settle for a measure of compassion that is far from identifying with people in need, and are unwilling to sacrifice personal interests to meet need. If they themselves have a need, of course, they expect others to care, to help them.
Character education should not be left to the adolescents themselves if we expect them to become mature, righteously living adults. Character education should not take into account the personal preferences of adolescents.
“So where can we find character education programs that teens love?” you ask.
The character education that teens love flies under the radar, surprising them with clear, hard-hitting information subtly woven into captivating fiction. Take from the ancient philosophers the wisdom of transmitting high moral values through stories. It uses the same approach that the sages have used for centuries and centuries. Use stories.
The character education that teens love is based on moral stories.
ancient moral stories
Most of us have learned moral values from ancient stories. For example:
1. Have you ever heard the story of “King Midas and the Golden Touch”? That story was used to teach young people high moral values in ancient Greece. He taught them in a memorable way that greed is wrong. Period. Final point. It was an old story of character education.
2. You’ve probably read “The Boy Who Cried Wolf”, haven’t you? That was one of Aesop’s fables, a Greek who lived between 620 and 560 BC Aesop used many stories to teach young people about high moral values. This taught, of course, that honesty is vital at all times. It was also a character education story that made the lesson easy to learn and memorable.
3. Perhaps you’ve read the story of “The Good Samaritan.” Jesus said this to teach adults and youth alike the importance of exercising compassion and love toward everyone, no matter who they are. This was also a character education story; easy to listen to and easy to remember.
modern moral stories
You will say that modern adolescents do not want fables. I know. Remember, I taught high school for years. Today’s teens want stories that portray believable teens with whom they can identify. They want hot teen topics. They want excitement, adventure, romance, and everything the entertainment world has taught them is important.
Character education books are the answer. They must be books written explicitly for the purpose of teaching high moral values. These purpose-written books provide what teens need in a format they love: entertainment.
Purpose-written character education books should never stoop to the low standards of the entertainment world lest they lose their own integrity. However, they can captivate teenagers and help them learn high moral values in a way that they will remember.
Conclusion
Character education books like the ones described have become best sellers in recent years, proving that teens love to learn about high moral values when the subject is presented in the right way. The old masters have shown us the way.