Our character is more than what we show others, it is whom we are when no one is watching. Teaching children moral qualities such as leadership, courage, honesty, having respect for others, or even having respect for themselves is an important aspect of life. Ms. Jessica Lahey, who works for the Atlantic Monthly Magazine, is a strong adherent of character education in schools. In her article “The Benefits of Character Education: What I Learned from Teaching at a “Core Virtues” School, she gives her logic as to why such a program should be implemented into all schools’ curriculum. Lahey believes that character education teaches children the values they need to become more successful in their lives. Children …show more content…
Griffin questions such as “Why is having good character important?” She believes that having good character is the foundation to becoming dutiful citizens because they are learning about values and moral, and they are learning how to make decisions based upon those lessons. I will use her statements as a way to argue my points that it is the school systems’ duty to teach/reinforce the ideas of good character.
Lahey, Jessica. "The Benefits of Character Education." The Atlantic. Atlantic Media Company, 06 May 2013. Web. 14 Mar. 2016.
The secondary source that I chose is an article by Journalist and Teacher Jessica Lahey. Ms. Lahey is a middle school English teacher and a journalist for The Atlantic, a magazine based out of Washington D.C. She justifies the need for this program to be in schools’ by explaining that character education can mean a lot to a child’s emotional, moral, and intellectual development. Because she is a teacher who comes into contact with students, and whose main job is to teach character education to her students, her insight will help back up my claim and provide understanding to my stance.
Pelster, Kristen. "SEL – School Climate &Character Education." Letter to United States Senate. 2010. NASP: Helping Children Thrive. National Association of School Psychologists. n. d. Web. 12 Mar.