Character Education

By Bret Heinemann

An overview of good character.

Character is how we behave in response to the company we keep both public and private.

Good character consists of knowing the good, desiring the good, and doing the good. It is the habits of our mind, heart, and action.

Character education is the sum of our moral and intellectual habits.

Good character is the composite of our good habits, virtues, and our bad habits, negatives, and vices that make us the person we are.

Character Education occurs in the community through our ethical, responsible, and caring for each other especially young people by modeling and a process of learning good character through an emphasis on universal values.

It is an intentional, effort to instill positive core values such as caring, honesty, fairness, responsibility, and respect for self and others.

Character education does not guaruntee quick results, but it emphasizes long-term moral, ethical, and academic issues we all need to live, work and get along with each other in life.

Good character relies on the intrinsis, internal self-satisfaction and NOT external(extrinsic) rewards or awards like money, prizes or other physical stuff.

Character education and development is not something to be taught by itself, but is learned as a result of everything we do and see others do.

Character has been described as the plate the meal is served on and not the individual foods which make up the meal or how much we pile on our plate.

It is about how and why we do everything in life.