Character Education in America's Schools

Character education in American schools is experiencing a revival. Although the teaching of character waned from the 1960s through the 1980s, the rise in violent crime and a general feeling by the public that American children suffered a crisis in morals led to a resurgence of character education programs across the nation, with most states either mandating or supporting such education. Today, many schools are engaged in formal programs such as "Character Counts!" or the Heartwood Institute's "An Ethics Curriculum for Children." Other school systems use individually tailored programs. At the heart of most programs lie core principles such as honesty, respect, self-discipline, and perseverance. Parental and community involvement are also common components of the various programs. The Internet hosts numerous sites featuring character education ranging from bibliographies to web sites designed specifically for interactive use by children. Enormous responsibility is placed on teachers to provide an effective character education curriculum, but formal training in character education is limited.