Teaching morality needs to involve parents

Schools have always provided character training, even if it hasn't always been part of the curriculum or an official part of the learning program.

But until recently what schools had to offer in guiding the development of students was just one of the influences in molding character and morality. Parents were the primary influence.

They were aided by religious programs for youths, by city-sponsored youth sports programs and by youth organizations such as Scouting or 4-H.

School officials say there has been a shift in this complex equation in recent years. Mainly, they say, a good many children in school today don't get the parental guidance that leads to good moral choices or develops good character.

If that's true, it's a sorry indictment of our society in general and of some parents in particular.

Clearly, many parents still are the mainstay of moral and character development. They set rules and expectations for their children. They see that their children get a good foundation in religious instruction. They promote fair play and the rules of good sportsmanship. They set an example by doing what's right, not just talking about the right thing to do.

Even so, nearly 100 schools around Missouri have added the teaching of morality and the building of character to their formal education programs, often with the help of grants from the state's Department of Elementary and Secondary Education and following an outline developed by CharacterPlus, a St. Louis-based resource for such school programs. And the number of schools is growing every year.

It would be easy to say that character education in our schools is simply the product of the latest educational trend or the current curriculum buzzword. But teachers and administrators -- and many parents, as well -- say there have been marked changes for the better in student behavior and attitudes in the short time character-building programs have been in place.

The real question for parents is whether or not these new programs are teaching the values they want their children to have. Are the values of this curriculum the same values held by parents, even if they don't make an effort at home to instill them in their children?

Teachers can have a profound influence on young minds. Children who haven't yet reached the age where they begin to question adult authority take literally what they hear from their teachers. Even college-age students who are supposed to have critical thinking skills are often overly influenced by professors who prefer to promote an agenda rather than giving student tools and resources to reach their own conclusions.

If there is a need for elementary students to have character taught to them at school because parents are disengaged from the process, then it only stands to reason that parents are equally uninvolved in what's being taught at school. Somehow this push for teaching morality needs to be aimed as much at parents as it is at young students.