Just the Facts, Please

Today I'm continuing my muse on the Seven Deadly Social Sins of Mahatma Gandhi. We find ourselves confronted with "Education Without Character" - hmmm, I wonder what the Mahatma was going on about?! Certainly in the U.S. we have a very good educational system overall (with well known issues of lack of pay for teachers, poor quality schools and inequality in education) but not a perfect system. Children today receive their mandatory education and make their way into the world. By standard test scores (SAT, ACT, SOL's, etc) they are well prepared to go out into the world and continue to pursue their roles as adults. However, standardized tests do not measure character. I wonder...are we educating people without attending to character development? In this connected world, there is never an unanswered question. Someone wonders about an issue, and smart phones launch browsers to find the answer. The only question is who has the fastest internet service on their phone/I-Pad. Answer(s) are found and the issue is laid to rest. What I find, however, is that seldom is there a critique of the quality of the answer(s). As is true of so much of the information out there on the internet, some of it is incorrect or misleading - answers without any depth of knowledge. There is a difference between information and knowledge (and certainly wisdom) that seems to escape people nowadays. So we can easily find facts, but can we find out about our character both individually and communally? Take a look at an on-line Dictionary and see what it says about the definition of character - it might surprise you. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr, in his "I Have a Dream" speech noted that part of his vision was: "...I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character...." Are we educating our children in a way to accomplish this dream? Beyond not bullying and teaching children to not be rude or malicious either in person, or more frequently through technology, are we educating our populace about character development? With talk show personalities and T.V. violence, "real world" looks at people behaving badly and without regard to others, can we really say honestly that we are educating anyone how to build character? What is the content of your character? Educating for character is not something that belongs soley in the purview of the school system. It lies with the families and the faith communities and the larger community as a whole. When we all sit by and allow our children to watch shows that denegrate others, shows that promote worldly vices, violence, rudeness and disrespect, should we be surprised that we are living in a world where these behaviors are rampant? Educating with character is a responsibility of all of us. Building healthier communities begins with holding each other in higher regard - by loving another more than we love ourselves. Healthier communities are built when we hold each other accountable to a higher standard of behavior. Wholeness comes when we conduct ourselves morally and ethically in a manner that is beyond reproach - when we judge each other on the content of our character. Peace for the journey, Dan