I have been a reader Of Edutopia for several years and think it is one of the best publications in our field. I am in Special Education and feel strongly about the importance of character education. In our age of mandates and standards, we are overlooking the critical component of moral development in our children. I am both a parent and an educator and am fearful of the void of that exists in our schools in the teaching and nurturing of the most important part of education: how to be kind.

Case in point: An off-duty police officer in my community was stabbed 11 times by a man with mental illness in the middle of a popular grocery store. She is in a coma and lost so much blood that her prognosis is not good. The response of some of the local high schoolers? "That's what she gets for being a cop." Ouch...

Keep up the good work. This discussion is critical at the national level for parents, educators, and most importantly, children.

Your story about your friend being harrassed by teens while riding a bike was shocking, but unfortunately, not surprising. I feel like my parents when I say, "What's wrong with kids today!" But each year I teach, and this is my 15th year, I am disappointed in the character of more children. They are likely to be more disrespectful, more empowered, and more likely to tell you, "I don't have to do anything you say!"

On the first day of school, a kindergartener went up to a principal in our district and asked him, "What do I have to do to get kicked out of this place?" A kindergartener!! Furthermore, this is the first year kindergarteners in our school have had ISS (peeing on the playground, fighting, threatening teachers and principals, etc.) This, too, is shocking.

It's true, we're being called upon to provide education in things that were taught in the home prior to now. But we have to believe what we do makes a difference, or we give up on all children (including the ones who will someday be taking care of us).

In a world where there is a need for a television show called Nanny 911, I think there is clearly room to consider the change in student behavior is a reflection of political leaders who, also, believe they can, 'do anything I want.' The lack of respect for authority figures, rules, and order is obvious everytime you pick up a newspaper or turn on the television. If our community and government leaders don't have to follow the rules, why should children?

I hope, with a change in political climate, will come renewed respect for the constitution, for authority, for rules and discipline. Until then, we need to continue the great work we do in the classroom and help turn the tide toward creating better citizens.

My name is Tara Peters and I am a Walden University Graduate Student. Attitudes of children and parents are changing daily. When my younger brother was still in school, he was riding the bus home and another child came up behind him and choked him. The bus driver did nothing to stop the attack on my brother. The only thing that saved my brother was that his stop to get off the bus arrived and he was able to pry himself away from the other student. This incident has caused my parents to not trust the bus in our hometown. My nephew now attends the same school and rides the same bus and my parents refuse to let him ride the bus because they are afraid the same thing will happen to my nephew. What is going on with kids, and the parents who don't seem to do anything to stop their abusive children?

I think the current climate of parent permissiveness also has a negative impact on children. I observe parents who are too worried about being their child's 'friend' than being the adult/authority figure their child needs. When I conference with parents of an out-of-control child, I invariably hear parents say, "I just can't make them do anything I ask!" Unfortunately, by the time the child is 9 or 10, that's pretty hard to change when the pattern was set back at 2 or 3. The next time you're in the grocery store, pay attention to the young children who are begging their parents for candy, gum, toys, etc. In listening to the interaction, I would bet that most parents end up giving in rather than staying strong. Sometimes in observing parents and children together, I wonder who is the adult and who is the child.

I'm not sure where the tide turned or why, but I know there is a growing number of children who will not accept authority. These are the same children who 'choke' kids on the bus. I believe it is not just an educational issue, but a societal one. Instead of always asking, "What is the school doing about problem kids?" maybe we should ask society what they're doing.

It is sad to read that we are shocked but not surprised by such behavior. We should be appalled. I absolutely believe we should teach character education in schools. I do not think that character education should come entirely from a series of workbooks, however. If parents are not teaching their children at home, we may be their only examples of good character. We need to model, practice, and live it in and out of our classrooms. I try to use every opportunity possible to teach character and manners. My classroom may be the only place they in which they are exposed to either one.

My name is Beverly Worlinsky and I am also a student at Walden University. I must say that I believe children are a products of their environment. I have worked in many different settings. Right now I am working in a Head Start where we try to get involved with the families as much as we can. I have seen many different behaviors and at first questioned them. Usually once I met the parents and learned about their situation, I could understand why and sometimes where the behaviors came from. This is not true in all cases, but in many that I have seen.

In the 8 years I have worked in education I have seen children do many cruel, dishonest, and rude things. In most instances I believe that these children are simply following the example ( or lack of example) that has been set for them. My personal definition for educator is someone who's job is preparing students for the future. I feel strongly that we should teach students character lessons and social skills. These are essential traits that individuals need to be their most successful. If we don't teach them who will?

Before I started teaching in the fall of 2005, I have to admit that I had been "sheltered" in a sense. I was raised in a home where I was taught responsibility and respect. I knew that my parents were a little more strict than others, but everyone at least had some rules...right?! I found out the answer to this very quickly in my first few weeks and months of teaching. I was amazed at how much the parents enabled their children, and how little rules they had. One of my favorite verses in the Bible is, "Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it." Proverbs 22:6 It is my belief that if children are consistently taught right from wrong at an early age, it will stay with them for the rest of their life. In the above mentioned situation, this child has clearly not been "trained up". While I believe this is largely the responsibility of the parents and family, we as educators also play a role in this. While I am in favor of character education in our schools, I feel that an even bigger challenge we have is educating by our example. How we deal with students on a personal level, how we deal with discipline issues and with issues between the students themselves can have a huge impact on what the student comes to perceive as “acceptable”. For example, the child in the above mentioned situation is probably a “bully”, it is my guess that these actions are not dealt with severely at her school. Obviously, parental and family influence plays a huge role, but the school, while not fully responsible, also plays a part. Also a factor is surroundings, or the group of friends that the child chooses to be with. I am sure that a big reason that the child hit the lady on the bike was to impress her friends. Would she have done this if she was alone? My guess is no.

So, I feel like I have been rambling, but this is a major concern that I have with our future generations. As I read other posts, I can see that we all have the same idea about this situation. It is evident that there will be some children who will have no positive influences on their life, and for them, we as educators are their only saving grace.

This kind of incident concerns me because of the lack of remorse. Why are we raising children without respect or conscientious? This we can not blame on diet, money, media etc...I am spending more and more time creating an atmosphere of respect in my classroom, than I did even ten years ago. These children are going to grow up to be our neighbors and caregivers. It is more than parent permissiveness,(although that is a huge contributor) It seem to be lack of some bonding element in early years. Why don't kids have empathy?

Beverly, I am also a student at Walden University. I work in Orange, New Jersey. About two months ago there was an incident at our high school. One of the young ladies there beat up a teacher. I don't know what provoked it, but no child should have that much disrespect for someone who is trying to help them get where they need to be. Before I became a teacher I use to sub throughout our district yes, even the high school. When I was a sub I noticed in the higher grades there was a total transformation in the children. The same little "sweet Sara" is now the young lady who comes to class late, talks back, and doesn't do homework. I decided that a foundation must be created in the child's life when they are still eager to learn and willing to try. I found most children in the grades 6 and under are where we need to start making changes.I am not saying that older children aren't striving for something better, but it is easier to shape and mold a "fresh" mind.