Abigail Garner
Feb 28th, 2001
Feb 28th, 2001
The Day After
Last night President Bush delivered his State of the Union address. I’m left with a burning question I’m almost afraid to ask: What is “character education?”
The President said:
Values are important, so we’ve tripled funding for character education to teach our children not only reading and writing, but right from wrong.
OK, if I wasn’t scared before, I am now. Whose idea of “right” and “wrong” will they be teaching? On which side of right and wrong do you think sexuality issues will be categorized?
My initial assessment of our new president remains unaltered.
Fasten your seatbelts…
Our precious movement tends to be dominated by FEAR!
Don’t nurture fear! Do your research first!
As an active parent, educator, and lesbian comic activist, I am aware of “character education”… At its best, it nurtures empathetic, compassionate, respectful human beings, and can be viewed as a long-range solution to the rampant disrespect which is prevalent in all forms within our present society. As a long-time practicing Buddhist who deals in cause and effect rather than right and wrong, I view the development of “character” — defined as “the combined moral or ethical structure of a person or group” and as “moral and ethical strength; integrity; fortitude” — as an important entity of child and adult education.
Always think for yourself…always stand strong in your beliefs…always do your research…always choose the high road…always be optimistic!
Education is important in our society, and we need to nurture what I view as important entities of character: trust, resolve, patience, hardiness, respect for self and others, humility, a love of work, oneness and wholeness, respect for difference, respect for all life forms, victory over violence (passive and aggressive)…I’m sure you can add your own aspects of character that you’d love to see nurtured in human beings.
As a Buddhist, I respect people, I love the LAW OF THE UNIVERSE. The goal of humans, as I see it, is to become stronger because as long as we tremble in our boots, it is our own weakness that we must fear. Once we become stronger, we live with less fear.
Continue your valuable work and keep me posted.
Your friend in faith,
Karen Williams, Comic
Founder, HaHA Institute
I absolutely believe in teaching children about compassion, integrity and values. My fear plays into it, however, when those in power have the potential to distort right and wrong to the point of oppressing others. (An example would be debates around the Boy Scout ruling, where the oath that includes the words morally straight has been used to justify the exclusion of gay leaders.)
This is a president who while in Texas, knew about a bill (which failed) that not only proposed banning gays and lesbians from adopting, but also included language that would have removed children from homes when it was discovered their adoptive parents were gay. He knew about this pending bill, and never spoke out against it, only saying that he believed children should be adopted into families with a mother and father who are married.
With a leader making judgements like that, I worry about this adminstration’s interpretation of character education, not the actual concept itself.
I am on a school board in a suburb of St. Louis and we have had a long standing character education component in our schools. It is mainly teaching kids to get along with each other and emphasizes diversity and getting along with people who are not like you so I see it as a good thing. Of course, this may not be what the shrub has in mind at all. I’m sure he wants to include more “Christian values”. I just hope the kind of character education I am talking about is what he is talking about.