Editorial: Character Education - WSFA.com: News Weather and Sports for Montgomery, AL.

Editorial: Character Education

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By John Shryock - bio | email

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MONTGOMERY, AL (WSFA) - The formal education of our children is a complex and challenging task. There are many ideas about what works and what doesn't.

One idea that appears to work is character education.   Research by some of the nation's leading educators has found that teaching character principles has remarkable effects.

Students learn more than just academics; they learn how to be productive in the workplace.  More importantly, they learn to be better people.

Fifteen years ago, Alabama passed a law requiring public schools to teach character principles.  The Alabama Character Education Mandate requires that state and local school boards implement a comprehensive character education program teaching 25 character traits at all grade levels and that a minimum of ten minutes a day be spent on character education.   However, there seems to be no consistent way in which character is being taught in Alabama. 

At this point in time a step in the right direction would be for all candidates in the November election to pledge their support for character education.  Then, when elected, do what the law requires, and teach character in our schools.   We'll all be better for it.

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