June 23, 1999
Teachers say the average classroom is not the polite and respectful place it used to be, but a new program aimed at improving students' attitudes, could change that.
News Specialist Pamela Davis explains what teachers are doing to build character in the classroom.
Teachers say that a lot of kids these days have trouble with anger management.
Lack of tolerance can turn a playground into a battle ground.
Now, the goal is to bring ethics and integrity into the classroom.
In many classrooms across Utah, teachers are teaching more than math and reading.
They're teaching students how to be better citizens.
Utilizing a theory called "character education," teachers work life lessons into the day-to-day classwork.
Kristin Fink, a State Office of Education character specialist says, "We're recognizing that a lot of the problems we have in our society are really rooted in character kinds of issues."
"Character education" involves lessons on tolerance, honesty, courtesy, and responsibility.
Ann Adamson, a Legacy Elementary School teacher says, "It's to help children be better people, to help them know what to do and how to function as adults."
Today, 400 teachers from around the state attended a conference to learn how to work these principles into their daily teaching.
And teachers say it seems to be working.
Adamson says, "I've seen a lot of kindnesses that are happening with children now, the 'please' and 'thank you's' that were almost non-existent."
Demitra Rodriguez, a Pleasant Green Elementary School teacher says, "Even just being kind to each other on the playground, or saying 'excuse me' or 'good morning.'"
At a time when school violence holds the nation's attention, advocates of the "character education" program say it's one way to teach children how to accept each other.
Character Education advocate, Charles Haynes, says, "We need to learn to live together with even our deepest differences. We need to learn how, as American citizens, to forge a nation out of differences to work for the common good."
At least one district has received special recognition for its work with the character education program.
Granite school district was nominated for a national "character" award for instituting this program in its schools.
