There is a growing consensus among pediatricians, psychologists and educators that the youth are not OK. But the absence of mental illness is not the same as well-being. The real goal should be to raise youth with lives of purpose, internalized values and strong relationships, what psychologists call “flourishing.” Values of honor, service and self-sacrifice are inspirational and should be a part of a solution against youth languishing. Revive the dialogue around character education.
Character education systematically teaches ethics and virtuous habits such as gratitude, honesty and social responsibility. Over the past 30 years, research on moral development grew much faster than other psychology subdisciplines and became more diverse and interdisciplinary. When school-based character education is prioritized, it improves conflict resolution and moral reasoning and strengthens relationships. In sum, researchers know more than ever about evidence-based practices in character education. Yet policies and curricula emphasize intellectual and performance virtues (e.g., curiosity and determination) over moral or civic ones (e.g., honesty and service).
The Department of Education hasn’t mentioned the words “character,” “virtue,” “moral” or even “justice” in the last two strategic plans, covering 2014 through 2022. The last mention of character in a Department of Education strategic plan was the one from 2002-07, in which one of the six goals was to “develop safe schools and strong character.”
