The Hidden Curriculum

Should teachers be involved in the character development of students or does this infringe on the rights of parents?

Character education teaches children how to behave. Children are responsible for their actions good or bad. It is up to our teachers to remind children of how they should act in the classroom and in society. Parents believe that teaching character education in the classroom will infringe on their rights as parents. When it comes to character education parents believe it is up to them to teach respect, morals and character to their child. Teaching character should be a team effort. It takes teachers and parents working together to give the students the best education.

The reason some parents believe that character education will infringe on their rights as parents is because of the fear that teachers will include religious points into the lesson. The United States Supreme Court outlawed religion in the public school system. Character education became part of the curriculum, because the family structure was failing. Students no longer had respect for teachers or their elders, morals, and ethics were dwindling. When teachers include ethics and morals into their lesson plans children learn to be more respectful and become model citizens ready to face the world.

The goal for teaching character education is to develop children's character to prepare them for life. All parents would like their children to have excellent character. This is not an easy task. This is a lot of work on the parents. It is the parent's responsibility to filter the undesirable activities so that it leads to positive character building.

Some parents use the rewards system to put their children on the right path, but this does not always work because children themselves should be able to tell the difference from right from wrong. When children are in pressured situations, they should be able to make the correct decisions. After the parents and family, teachers should come next. Children see their teachers as positive role models. Teachers can deliver good moral values to their students.

When teachers teach moral values correctly children will have positive character building. The school system offers seminars, conferences and character building programs to help. Violence is on the increase and character education programs are a good way to teach people various and useful morals. Character education programs is created to assist students with challenging behaviors,