Why Build Character? (and who’s to blame for today’s kids’ behavior?)

“A child’s life is like a piece of paper on which each passerby leaves a mark” (a Chinese proverb).

In my years as a teacher, this is one tidbit of wisdom I always keep with me, to guide me on my daily choices, on what to teach, how to teach, and why I should teach it, in the first place.

A child is like a new blank canvass to an artist… a blank paper to a poet. As such, we adults have the power to influence the young minds of those under our care. And our influence will be carried onwards to the future.

Tough call. Quite a tall order. But if we do not enforce such high expectations upon our selves, how can great things ever be accomplished to ensure a better future for the coming generations?

Many leaders of many nations today, have values that are either misplaced, or nonexistent. That is why so much atrocity exist, so many children and young and old people alike suffer, and injustice and suffering are on the rise.

Where and when did we make mistakes in raising leaders of such makings? Did we fail in kindergarten? Or was it in their teen years when we have failed to teach them right and wrong? Or was it when they were studying in their chosen careers as lawmakers, financial and business professionals, that we forgot to remind them that life is not about amassing all the wealth there is you can lay your hands on, without a backward glance toward others who get hurt along the way to success?

We now live in a time when it is no longer easy for some to tell which is right or wrong. Some kids would say they are only exercising their right to individuality and free speech whenever they are vulgar and rude towards their parents. Some parents, would say they can not help themselves when they abuse their children, because they have been dealt a cruel lot in life, and so it is not their fault when their child goes to school with burn marks on their bodies.

Everyone is to blame – society, schools, governments, and other people. Whatever happened to individual accountability and responsibility? Probably got washed down when we were cleaning up our homes and offices, to make way for the new gadgets and more advanced technology of tomorrow.

Life has now become tied up to our Blackberrys, iPhones, laptops and iPads. Time for our children, the teaching of our youth, has been put on the hands of the internet, the world wide web. We have left them to the mercy of fellow young people who pretend they know better, and so perhaps, there’s the answer right there. We can no longer ask what has become of our young people, when they behave like they don’t have any character or values. After all, where were we, when it was time to teach them how to become good people?

Tags: Character Education, factors that affect values education, featured, values education, Values Education in Asia

Category: Character Education