Building Character in Children

Building character in children
Character building for children isn't a course offered in school, but it should be. Here are suggestions for character building ideas.
Character-building themes for kids and others: it sounds simple. Schools should teach character-building. Unfortunately many school districts do not consider this an important subject. However, the trend is changing. Parent and civic groups have urged school groups to include character-building in the curriculum.
Parents and teachers need to take time to build character in kids, and in themselves. Here are eight character building ideas to discuss at home, at school, at community groups, and churches, to build better character for a better America.
Respect: What does this mean? It is to show regard for the worth of someone else as well as yourself. If you don't respect yourself you can't respect others. So respect starts with yourself and in taking pride in your achievements and your potential. It also fosters self-control of your actions and emotions so as not to hurt other people's feelings.
Respect also should be shown to people in positions of responsibility and authority such as parents, teachers, ministers, librarian, police and firefighters. Along with that should be an appreciation for the importance of the effort these people made to become authority figures. They have had to go through years of training in school and through internship before joining the ranks.
The final element of respect is to be punctual. When you have an appointment or tell someone you will meet them at a certain time, be prompt.
Open the discussion on respect with questions rather than answers. For example:
How does wearing clean clothes to school show respect for yourself and your school?
When you are with your friends do you listen to their opinion? Do you go along with them because you are agree or because you want to be liked? How does this affect your sense of self-respect?
In school, how can you...