Character Counts

I received today a great honor for my work in the field of character education, the Sanford N. McDonnell Award for Lifetime Achievement in Character Education” presented by character.org. The award is appreciated, but as an octogenarian closing in on my expiration date, finding ways to persuade more people to join the battle against the forces of ethical atheism is my remaining professional goal. These are, in my view, dark times for those of us who believe in the primacy of ethics and good character. To advance that goal I am posting my remarks in the hope that some will find it to be of value.

Sandy Award Acceptance

I’m honored to accept this award on behalf of all those who helped make CHARACTER COUNTS! an influential force as part of the broader character development movement embodying diverse approaches to ?our common goal: improving the world by instilling ethical values and promoting good character in those we touch.

The personal recognition I’ve received today reflects the good hearts and heads of wonderful people, including?Scott, Peggy, Gary and John. These folks have improved the program in innumerable ways. Just as important, they are among the finest people I know, role models that inspire my own ongoing quest to be a person of character.

I pay tribute to Sandy McDonnell and his dedicated partner, Linda McKay who pioneered the movement. And, of course, I thank character.org and express my delight ?at the way the leadership of Arthur Schwartz and Clay Hamlin are amplifying the power of our society.

CHARACTER COUNTS! is the most prominent project of the Joseph & Edna Josephson Institute of Ethics (named to honor my parents). It was founded with the audacious mission to improve the ethical quality of society by changing personal and organizational decision making and behavior.

The genesis of CHARACTER COUNTS! was a 1996 conclave in Aspen, Colorado that called together 30 leading character education scholars and practitioners to see if we might agree on a set of ethical values that could provide the foundation for character education efforts acceptable to all segments of society. ?

After three-days of intense discourse, with the special leadership of Tom Lickona, the group produced and unanimously endorsed a declaration identifying six core ethical values that transcend cultural, religious and socioeconomic differences - trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring and good citizenship. ?We believed these values could provide a structure and common language for universal character education.

CHARACTER COUNTS!, anchored by a coalition of 17 of the nation’s most influential educational and youth serving organizations, was created to implement the principles and ideals of the Aspen Declaration and, what we called, the Six Pillars of Character.

Though I have always thought of myself as a teacher, my training as a lawyer and experience as a businessman taught me that having a good idea is not enough. If the idealistic insights of the Aspen Declaration were to have a meaningful, measurable and sustainable impact, they must be packaged, and if you’ll forgive the term, “sold” to a community suspicious of any form of values education and skeptical that character could be taught.

I know my brash promotion techniques was off-putting to some, especially segments of the academic proponents of character education who misunderstood the tactical benefits of various marketing strategies like inducing a bi-partisan group of politicians to create National CHARACTER COUNTS! week, encouraging op ed articles and media interviews, sponsoring six pillars-centered art and video contests and producing a substantial array of merchandise including logo ties and shirts. One scholar labeled our approach a shallow “coffee mug” approach to building character.

I also know our ardent advocacy of the Six Pillars of Character language offended some who felt their programs were being demeaned. To any of you among that group, I hope you will accept my apology.

Our aggressive promotion of CHARACTER COUNTS! caused some to derisively refer the program as the Walmart of character education and it spawned a false impression that we did not respect and support alternative approaches.

Let me be clear, our ultimate mission has been to improve the ethical quality of society, not to squeeze out other programs with the same mission.?We have always known that CHARACTER COUNTS! is just one strategy to achieve our common goal.

I’m pleased that a very significant portion of the schools and other institutions that utilize CHARACTER COUNTS!-developed tools such as agendas, workbooks, posters and banners have integrated them into non-CHARACTER COUNTS! programs. I invite you to look at the resources available through Drake University to determine if anything we’ve produced can enhance your program.

In these dark times, where traditional notions of ethics and morality are challenged in unprecedented ways, it's vital we put any parochial concerns about sources and labels and find new ways to work together.

If you will take advice from a fading octogenarian approaching an unknown expiration date, your efforts are more important than ever, and you must protect and enhance your passion to improve the world.

The worse things get, the more you are needed.

The harder it becomes, the harder you must work.

I hope you will place greater emphasis on responsible citizenship and personal integrity.

You must inculcate the belief that truth matters and that lying is wrong. You must find ways to instill in your students, colleagues and parents, acceptance of their moral responsibility to be informed participants in the democratic process.

Please teach how to validate and verify claims, distinguish facts from opinions and a duty to demand reliable evidence underlying personal ideological convictions.

You must promote intellectual integrity, encouraging the search for truth, even if it’s uncomfortable.

Remember, what you do, and more importantly who you are matters.

Please do not waste or underestimate your power to ?affect all eternity by inducing those you touch to make better decisions and become better people.

On his way to his house of worship, a young man witnessed poverty, pain and despair. After arriving, he prayed, “Lord, I don’t understand, how can you allow so much suffering? Hearing no response he prayed more loudly, “Lord, forgive me, but my faith is shaken, how can you allow so much evil and do nothing?” ?A voice from behind said: he didn’t do nothing. He made you.”

He made you!

Do you want a better world? Well, it’s really up to you.

Don’t let your children and their children down.