Between 1960 and 1990 the United States made a variety of attempts to alleviate social ills through social spending at all levels of government. But during the same 30-year period, there was not only an enormous increase in violent crime, but also a huge increase in the rates of out-of-wedlock births, the percentage of children living in single-parent homes, the teenage suicide rate, and the divorce rate, says William J. Bennett, former U.S. Secretary of Education. “We have experienced an unparalleled degree of economic prosperity and an unprecedented degree of social regression.” 

The problem is not handicaps imposed on police and courts, institutionalized racism, or material want - it’s moral poverty, Bennett says. “Moral poverty is the poverty of being without parents, guardians, relatives, friends, teachers, coaches, clergy, and others who help children to feel joy at others’ joy; pain at others’ pain; satisfaction when you do right; and remorse when you do wrong. It is the poverty of growing up in the virtual absence of people who teach these lessons by their own everyday example, and who insist that you follow suit and behave accordingly.” 

Widespread moral poverty is the inevitable result of the enfeebled condition - in some places the near-complete collapse - of our character-forming institutions (family, church, school), Bennett says. 

Kevin Ryan and Karen Bohlin (1999), director and assistant director respectively of the Center for the Advancement of Ethics and Character at Boston University, point to five main arguments for the case for character education in the schools.

The first argument suggests that the great intellectual authorities such as Plato, Aristotle, Kant, Dewey from the West and Confucius, Lao-Tzu and Buddha from the east have all been advocates of the importance of character formation in living the good life. Secondly, throughout the history of the United States, from the founders forward, it is viewed as essential that for a democracy to survive, the citizenry must be such as to participate with moral responsibility. In the words of Jefferson, education must aid “the mass of people to the high ground of moral responsibility necessary for their own safety and orderly government” to give them the ability to participate in a democratic society. The third argument they suggest is that all states require education to deal directly with the concepts of character development (Florida the most recent) or have laws or standards focused on democratic citizenship that must be addressed by the schools. Fourth, they argue in citing recent Gallup polls that public opinion clearly cries out for attention to education on virtues such as responsibility, respect, honesty, caring, tolerance, and moral courage. Finally, they argue the case of the hidden curriculum. The schools teach values by virtue of their existence. For schools not to be intentional with regard to the impact they have on the character development of children is to be irresponsible. 

Educators all across America are united in their concern for the well-being of children. The American Association of School Administrators and the National School Boards Association recently issued this call for a return of character education in the nation’s schools:

 “Nations rise and fall with the character of their people. If our nation is to survive and prosper, then present and future citizens must be committed to high ethical standards and values that support a free, democratic and civil society. Children should understand the need to be responsible for their own actions and that their actions affect the lives of others. They should emerge from the education system valuing honesty, integrity, effort, trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring and citizenship. They should be prepared to resolve conflict through reasoning rather than violence. They should also understand and celebrate the diversity that ultimately enriches our society. Therefore, the American Association of School Administrators and the National School Boards Association endorse the continuing need for character education in the nation’s public schools.” 

In a similar vein, the April 1998 annual conference of the National Association of Elementary School Principals featured character education as a major theme and adopted the following resolution: “NAESP recognizes the importance of promoting responsible citizenship and supports the primary responsibility of the family in moral teaching and character development of children. NAESP believes schools play a key role in encouraging students to participate in programs that foster good citizenship and foster a sense of responsibility to community. Traits of positive citizenship and good character include, but are not limited to, trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, justice, fairness, integrity, and caring. NAESP recommends that strong home-school partnership programs be developed that encourage positive citizenship and good character.” 

America’s founders believed that democracy has a special need for character education, because democracy is governed by the people themselves who must develop the following virtues: respect for the rights of individuals, regard for law, voluntary participation in public life, and concern for the common good, points out the Center for the 4th and 5th Rs.

There is a pressing need for teacher training in character education at our universities. In the Summer 1998 Character Education Partnership newsletter, Nel Jackson, Director of Development stated, “At a time when violent crime exists in one in ten American schools, voices across the nation are calling schools and teachers back to greater involvement in the ethical and moral formation of today’s children. As elementary and secondary educators try to respond to demands for character education from parents and school boards, they often say that they learned little about character and ethical development during their professional training and are unprepared to help children with their moral development.”

The majority of states do not provide teacher training in character education, points out Professor Lynn Nielsen, elementary principal, Price Laboratory School, University of Northern Iowa.

While Florida has recently passed legislation that requires the concept of character development be addressed in the schools, there are few resources in the state higher education system to assist in the issues of implementation, evaluation, assessment, efficacy, and training for pre-service or in-service education.