Sandra McLeod Humphrey
Sandra McLeod Humphrey is a retired clinical psychologist with over 35 years experience working with young people. She is a writer and consultant for the Heroes Dreams Foundation which provides character education materials to schools K-8 throughout the United States and Canada and the recipient of the National Character Education Center's Award for Exemplary Leadership in Ethics Education (2000). She was also ;Author of the Month; for MyShelf.com 12/03 and the recipient of the Helen Keating Ott Award for Outstanding Contribution to Children's Literature (7/05).

IN JULY . Moral Choices For Your Children

Moral Choices and Our Kids ( June 2010 )
Moral Choices and Our Kids

"Academics is the cornerstone of education, but character is the building block of life." Dale Frederick, District Superintendent of Schools, Pittsburgh, PA


I recently served on a Blue Ribbon Panel to select the Outstanding Minnesota Educators of the Year. My particular panel reviewed the nominees for the Ethics in Education Award, and one of the things that struck me was that almost every nominee for the award had integrated the “Whole Child Approach” into his or her teaching.

What this means is that these educators recognized the importance of working with the whole child which includes their physical, emotional and character development as well as their academic development. And, in most cases, these educators also used strategies to encourage strong parental and community involvement as well.

Our children deserve a safe and healthy school environment where they are supported and challenged, and our schools can be institutions of both excellence and ethics. Some of the innovative programs the Ethics in Education nominees had integrated into their school programs included: Pen Pal Programs with Community Leaders, Conflict Resolution and Good Citizenship Programs, Parent Days, Role-Playing Programs to Increase Student Empathy and Compassion, Student Involvement in Community Homeless Projects, Character Education Classes with an Emphasis on Respect and Responsibility, and the list could go on and on.

Although it is a given that parents have the most profound influence on their children’s character development, schools also have an important role. And working together, schools and families can bring out the best in all of our children.

The 21st century will demand a lot of our kids. The global marketplace and economy are a reality, and change and innovation have become the new status quo. While a strong foundation in reading, writing, math, and other core subjects is as important as ever, our students need more than these if they are to fulfill their potential in this rapidly changing, high-tech world.

We also need to inspire our kids to make good ethical choices, and we can begin by addressing the growing deterioration of basic values in our society. Whether it’s Wall Street or Phoebe Prince or Tiger Woods, the message is clear. Character education is more important than ever and we need to focus on the whole child by instituting and improving character education programs in our schools.

Strong character is not instinctive. It’s learned and it’s never too early to begin working with our young people to help them develop ethical values and a strong code of moral conduct. As society’s moral guidelines become increasingly more ambiguous and blurred, it’s essential that we all have our basic code of ethics well crystallized in our own minds.

Just as bodybuilding builds strong physical muscle through “sets” and “reps,” we need to help our kids build good moral muscle, and we can do this both in the home and in the classroom. We can set an example by our own actions and by how we treat others, and we can incorporate sound character education programs into our school curriculum.

One of the greatest gifts we can give our children is help in developing a strong sense of who they are, so that they will not be unduly influenced by peer pressure. To stand firm for what they believe, they will need strong character, and we can help them develop strong character by helping them define their values and code of ethics when they are young, so that regardless of what others around them do and say, they can act according to their own conscience--even if sometimes this may mean standing alone.

And the stronger their character, the better for all of us!

Sandra McLeod Humphrey

Retired Clinical Psychologist and Children’s Author

Life is all about choices. The choices we make determine not only our character but also the quality of our life, and our ultimate objective is for our children to make their own choices—good choices.

Character Education Partnership
Vision

Quality character education in all schools, building a nation of ethical citizens who pursue excellence in all areas of their lives.

Mission

Leading the nation in helping schools develop people of good character for a just and compassionate society.

CHARACTER COUNTS!/Josephson Institute of Ethics
About Josephson Institute Mission: To improve the ethical quality of society by changing personal and organizational decision making and behavior.

Center for the 4th and 5th Rs
THE CENTER FOR THE 4TH & 5TH RS co-sponsors the Smart & Good Schools Initiative in partnership with the Institute for Excellence & Ethics (www.excellenceandethics.com). The mission of a Smart & Good School is integrating excellence and ethics: developing performance character (doing our best work) and moral character (doing the right thing) within an Ethical Learning Community. The Smart & Good Schools Initiative hosts an annual K-12 Summer Institute, conducts on-site trainings, carries out research, publishes the excellence & ethics education letter, and creates programs (Power2Learn™ and Power2Teach™) that help schools implement the Smart & Good vision.

The Giraffe Project
MISSION

To foster the citizen courage and know-how
that are essential to a just, ethical and compassionate world.

A general perusal of this website gives you
a great overview of all the work that goes on here,
the finding and commending of real heroes,
the workshops, books and speeches,
the materials and trainings for schools,
the database of real heroes the world over,
OpEds and blogs,
the monthly Heads Up e-zine...
And here are links to information about the Project that others have found useful ~

National Character Education Center
The National Character Education Center provides Educators with hundreds of solutions and practical strategies through the Free On Line Newsletter Values in Action! The Best in Ethics Education and a comprehensive Character Development program, Values in Action!

The Major benefit to teachers and kids is The Character Education Center offers Hundreds of practical Ideas and clear reference points for Character Development, Character Classics and numerous strategies and solutions for school wide bedrock ethics training.

The numerous, creative strategies have been pioneered in schools for the past 35 years and have received numerous National Awards including the Keeper of the Dream Award, The National Paul Harris Rotary Award and the Bureau of Education Distinguished Educator Award. Gene Bedley Author of Values in Action! and CEO is a past recipient of the prestigious PTA National Educator of the year and received the National Milken Award 1994 for his pioneering work in Value Based Education.