Character Education Making the World a Better Place to Live

Surviving has always been a challenge in this competitive world. To win in all circumstances and be successful seems to be on everyone's mind. Being successful is generally synonymous to being famous or financially independent. But to be able to contribute to the society positively, we need individuals who believe not only in personal growth but growth of the entire society.


A couple of day's back I happened to be in a department store. A senior citizen had finished his shopping and was billing at the counter. He found a mistake in the bill, thus requested the staff to recheck. The young lad was extremely rude and did not apologize for the mistake. The old man was very upset and put across his grievance and left. I'm sure the shop owner would not have expected his staff to be so complacent. This shows the character of his staff; plainly insensitive.


Let us look at a positive example of character. This is an incident that has not washed away easily from my memory. While boarding a train I accidently dropped my wallet. When I realized it, it was too late. I assumed that I will never get it back. After almost a month, I found two young lads at my door. I didn't know them. I asked them, who they were and they said they had come to return the wallet. They had traced my address and had taken the pains to get it home for me. I was so touched.


We in our daily lives come across positive and negative examples of character. Why is building character so important even in today's competitive world? The rule of the jungle should not prevail if we claim that the society today is civilized. For a civilized, peaceful and prosperous society we need to build our future which has talent accompanied with character.


Developing character among children has been an integral part of growing up. Character was a result of the environment at home, at school, and interaction among peers. Now it is a part of formal education. Character education is developing character that is socially desirable and responsible. Character education is to develop positive emotions of altruism, and compassion. To train, to empathize, understand the power of forgiveness and learn to be grateful to the society, for the contribution that it has made towards individual growth. It helps to use our creative imagination through visualization.

We all want to be successful at what we do, and success brings happiness. But with the right character we develop the right attitude to tackle failures, because mistakes and failures are an integral part of learning.


May it be elders or children, we strive to be happy and character education helps to achieve all of this. Character education lays the foundation among children to develop beliefs that will benefit them all their life. We need to take ethical decision and set an example for our future. Trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring, and citizenship, are the six pillars of character. School education has made these pillars an integral part of their curriculum. Schools are training children to develop these values in their lives and we can see a future that has talent, creativity and character. All of this will lead to a peaceful and prosperous society.


By: Francis David