Parents And Teachers: Working Together To Cultivate Morality In All Children

The moral development of children in today’s society has become more challenging over the past two decades. The basic stages of moral judgment have not changed since the early 1950s. The understanding of who can impact moral maturity has expanded beyond peers to families and schools. The moral fibers of our nation do not need to be lost. If parents learn the importance of their role along with attaining support from the school and learning to work together, our nation’s youth have a chance of restoring the moral fabric of our country.

When listening to the news, reading current periodicals, or walking in the halls of a local high school, one might begin to wonder what is happening to the moral fabric of our country. On a given day it is no longer alarming to read about students attacking teachers, bringing weapons to school to get revenge, or sexually assaulting teammates in the locker room. These violent acts are happening among every socioeconomic class, in every state, and involve both genders among all races. There is not a single group of people that is safe from the moral decline of today’s youth. When considerin

“Most teachers have brought to this work their hearts and souls, and many have lost the belief that they can make a real difference in students’ lives” (Weissbourd, 2003). Therefore, these teachers and administrators struggle to reach out to students, listen to their perspectives, and burn out. With support and modeling from their peers, teachers can begin to make the difference they set out to in the beginning of their careers. Before this can happen, adults need to begin to look at their own moral development. Most adults feel that their morality was established by late childhood, yet moral maturity continues to develop with every stage of adulthood. Some adults grow more compassionate, wiser, and empathetic, yet others become more cynical and selfish. “Teachers need opportunities to reflect on why they have difficulty empathizing with particular students, on their successes and failures in cultivating moral thinking, and on the state of their own ideas” (Weissbourd, 2003).

New teachers need mentoring programs to help work through the times when their perceptions of teaching and the realities collide. If these supports are not in place for our teachers, they will not be able to help in the moral education of our youth (Weissbourd, 2003).

Providing parents a support group is instrumental in developing shared values. Parents will no longer feel alone in trying to handle all of the moral issues they are facing with their children. Getting support from other parents regarding curfews, homework, computer use, dating and other issues will help create a stronger moral community. This support system would help stabilize the morals that schools and families are trying to put in place. The home school connection would focus on two main goals; “to educate students to be the kind of people anyone would like to have as a neighbor and to develop students’ ability and willingness to be participating citizens” (Lickona, 1988).

Though researchers have determined that different influences can form an individual’s morality, “all recognize that no single cause can account for either moral or immoral behavior” (Damon, 1999). Our society tends to point the finger at the outside world of music, television, video games and their content as robbing our youth of their morals. Research has proven the development of morality is far more complex than a single source. Understanding moral development and the stages individuals go through is essential to begin fostering morality in others (Damon, 1999).

Teaching children how to be moral people and develop strong character goes much deeper than parents discussing such traits. Parents must play an active role by being a moral example in their own life. “Parent’s own moral example is as important as what they say…how they act in relation to each other and to people other than their children is also crucial in their role as moral exemplars” (Okin & Reich, 1999). Within the lives of our nations families this would be a challenge because parents have taken a more permissive role in pare

Some topics in this essay:
Okin Reich, Children Abstract, Hennig Walker, Lawrence Kohlberg, Okin Relch, Berkowitz Grych, moral development, damon 1999, weissbourd 2003, stages moral, hennig walker 1999, walker 1999, lickona 1988, moral decline, moral maturity, moral identity, development children, moral development children, okin reich 1999, stages moral development, development damon 1999,