Youth Character Development: Critical to the Welfare of the Nation

Cicero stated, "Within the character of the citizen lies the welfare of the nation."

 

During a profound moment at the October 10, 2006 White House Conference on School Safety, Craig Scott, a survivor of Columbine whose sister Rachel was the first student killed, implored the nation.  Craig stated, "I do believe in education that touches the heart and helps form the character.  And I believe if that can be implemented in education on a daily basis, we'll see a change."

 

Character development is critical to education and its importance is expressed through the track record of American education from Horace Mann in the 1840's to the United States Congress's "Partnerships in Character Education in 1994" to the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001.  Also, one of the six goals of the Department of Education (Strategic Plan 2002-2007) is to "promote strong character and citizenship among our nation's youth."

 

Read:

http://www.ed.gov/teachers/how/character/edpicks.jhtml?src=ln