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If character development does not take place at home it must be acquired somewhere else. There are a lot of various organizations that are meant to instill values in children such as the various scout organizations. In fact the Boy Scout motto is Be Prepared and the mission of the Boy Scouts of America is to prepare the children who join their organization to make ethical and moral choices that will go with them for their entire lives. The organization was established over 100 years ago and the values are as valid today as they were then. It is just that children don’t have the parents or authorities or whomever to instill these character traits in them unless they are taught character education in the classroom. To quote the Boy Scout website, “A Scout is trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean, and reverent.” And all of these words have meaning. They are good strong words that are meant to reflect good strong children who grow up into good strong adults. Unfortunately many teachers do not have the training to teach character education in the classroom. But there are many schools that have made it their mission to teach character development to the children who enter their schools. These character education schools have taken this responsibility upon themselves. They believe that children taught character will be a benefit to both them and to the society as a whole. Just as the Boy Scouts of America have values also so do the schools that are teaching these values or character traits. Some of these values are things such as having a suitable and positive behavior, or having respect and compassion for other people. Just recognizing that some people are different and accepting that difference is a part of character education and growth. There are many ways for teachers to teach character development. One of them is to assign certain reading materials that highlight this character development. Or another way is to engage children who have observed someone who is a bully and get them to interact with each other and the teacher and have them discuss this person. Ask hard questions like do you approve of this behavior or ask them what they would do different. One of the precepts of character education is getting a child to think about their actions and the actions of others. If a child begins to think about different actions then perhaps they will then think of the different outcomes of their actions. Perhaps the children can write an essay as part of the school assignment so that they are forced to actually give some thought to various actions whoever had taken them. If children are not taught these basic concepts when young such as the Boy Scouts do, then they may have missed their chance to ever learn them. If so they will not be a benefit to society but a burden in the long run which is not beneficial to them. Character Education and Character Development Resources for teachers. Practical, Effective and Affordable Character Education Program for Schools. For more details visit http://www.characterineducation.com
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