QUOTES: The Best Wise and Witty Quotes about Children and Parenting

We are glad you visited us to find this selection of quotes on a topic that means so much to me – children and parenting. The Josephson Institute is a nonprofit organization devoted to increasing the ethical quality of individual and personal decision making.  I hope you’ll browse our other entries and subscribe to our What Will Matter blog at …

WORTH READING: Top 5 Strategies for Teaching Your Children to Behave

From Boystown: Children are great learning machines, but they learn more through experience than they do from their parents talking. Below are five strategies for teaching your children how to behave. Teach children acceptable and unacceptable behavior immediately after the act.  Don’t wait. For important matters such as commands or instructions speak less; one or two words for every year

COMMENTARY 767.5: Two Sets of Proud Parents

I received an e-mail with a story worth sharing. Only the names have been changed to preserve privacy. Doug is the proud and loving father of Emma, a high school junior who takes a leadership class responsible for putting on dances and other student events. All student body officers must take the class, but a number of other kids like …

COMMENTARY 767.2: Teaching Our Children To Be Better Than Us

Do parents have moral standing to impose standards on their children that they themselves did not follow when they were kids? Is it ever ethical for parents to lie to a child about their youthful experiences? These are important questions because it’s a parent’s duty to teach, enforce, advocate, and model good behavior for their kids. Sure, it’d be easier …

WORTH SEEING: A Spiritual or Religious Perspective on Character and Ethics – More than 100 Great Poster Images and Quotes

The Josephson Institute and CHARACTER COUNTS! are based on a secular perspective of character and ethics. We believe the Six Pillars of Character — trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring, and citizenship — transcend social, economic, ethnic, and religious differences. We believe that people of character may or may not be committed to a religious or spiritual perspective.

WORTH READING: Wow! Lots of interesting findings and facts on Religion in America

Today’s commentary looks at some of the data in a major survey conducted by the Pew Forum for Religion & American Life. The study comprehensively details the belief patterns of the 14 largest religious traditions. Below is a more complete summary of key findings I found interesting. BELIEF IN GOD. 92% believe in God or a universal spirit; only 8% say …

COMMENTARY 765.3: Religion in America

Many people see a close connection between religion and ethics for good reason: ethical principles like love, compassion, mercy, charity, and justice are common foundations to all major religions. This doesn’t mean that religious beliefs are essential to ethical conduct or that everyone who professes to be religious is virtuous. History is full of examples of hypocritical and exploitive religious …

WORTH READING: “…Jesus did not say: First, administer a breathalyzer test to the supplicant, or, first, sit him down for a pep talk on ‘focus’ and ‘goal-setting.'” — Barbara Ehrenreich

Freakonomics.com is a website that explores the economics of everyday life, written by an economist and a journalist. A few ago, the collaborators behind Freakonomics asked several writers and thinkers to respond to the following question: You are walking down the street in New York City with $10 of disposable income in your pocket. You come to a corner with …

WORTH READING: Political Courage and Integrity – Profiles in Courage

In 1956, Profiles in Courage, written by John F. Kennedy, the junior senator from Massachusetts. was published. The book won the Pulitzer prize for biography. There is substantial controversy as to whether Senator Kennedy, who was elected President in 1960, was the true and sole author of the book and the circumstances surrounding the winning of the Pulitzer Prize. I address …

COMMENTARY 763.2 The Presidents Day Un-Celebration — Honoring Not Just the Great, But All U.S. Presidents

If you’re not going to school or work today, it’s because it’s a national holiday. The country used to celebrate the birthdays of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln separately, but in 1971 Richard Nixon and Congress, in order to create a perpetual three-day weekend, merged the two holidays into a brand new one called “Presidents’ Day,” to honor all U.S. …

COMMENTARY 762.5: Cheating — We Don’t Want to Ruin Their Lives

A few years ago, 14 students at an affluent public high school were involved in a school break-in. They weren’t vandals and weren’t trying to steal anything. Their goal was to alter the computer records of their academic transcripts so they’d have a better chance of getting into premier colleges. Some people were horrified, others amused, and still others treated …

COMMENTARY: The Greyhound Principle: Stretch Goals in Business 761.1

A common management strategy to spur achievement is to set aggressive performance objectives that, like the mechanical rabbits that pace racing greyhounds, push employees to maximum effort. Using “stretch goals” can be successful, but unreasonably high performance goals often spawn dishonesty and irresponsibility. Believing that “it’s a matter of survival,” a disturbing number of employees conclude that distortion, deception, and even …

WORTH READING: “For fourteen years, I have personally grown with Michael, learning to summon the moral courage to choose the road less traveled and to build my character day by day, decision by decision.” – Essay contest winner David Williams, high school teacher

In the fall, about 80 listeners to Michael Josephson’s radio commentaries submitted essays describing how his daily messages affected their lives. Ten finalists were selected, and a vote of readers of Michael’s newsletter and this blog selected the winners.  Here is the entry of one of the five winners, David Williams. I confess that I keep a secret list of influential people …

WORTH READING: “Michael’s words have changed my world and I have transcended his words into my actions.” — Essay contest winner Jim Uhl , police officer and professor

In the fall, about 80 listeners to Michael Josephson’s radio commentaries submitted essays describing how his daily messages affected their lives. Ten finalists were selected, and a vote of readers of Michael’s newsletter and this blog selected the winners.  Here is the entry of one of the five winners, Jim Uhl. St. Francis of Assisi said, “Preach the gospel at all times;  …

WORTH READING: “‘The road to achievement and fulfillment is dotted with hazards and tragedies that can wound us, frighten us, and slow us down. But afflictions and misfortunes can stop us only if we surrender.’ These words by Michael Josephson made me courageous!” – Essay contest winner Denise Osier-Bell, teacher for at-risk kids in Reseda, California

In the fall, about 80 listeners to Michael Josephson’s radio commentaries submitted essays describing how his daily messages affected their lives. Ten finalists were selected, and a vote of readers of Michael’s newsletter and this blog selected the winners. Here is the entry of one of the five winners, Denise Osier-Bell. I left the Sheriff’s Department to go back to college to …

WORTH READING: “Think about what kind of family you are going to be.” — Essay contest winner Pat Chambers, La Crenta California Presbyterian Center for Children

In the fall, about 80 listeners to Michael Josephson’s radio commentaries submitted essays describing how his daily messages affected their lives. Ten finalists were selected, and a vote of readers of Michael’s newsletter and this blog selected the winners. Here is the entry of one of the five winners, Pat Chambers. I can’t remember the exact year, but I remember the experience. I …

WORTH READING: “There is no radio broadcaster who has had a greater impact on my life than Michael Josephson.”– Essay contest winner Suzanne Carter, high school teacher

In the fall, about 80 listeners to Michael Josephson’s radio commentaries submitted essays describing how his daily messages affected their lives. Ten finalists were selected, and a vote of readers of Michael’s newsletter and this blog selected the winners.  Here is the entry of one of the five winners, Suzanne Carter. There is no radio broadcaster who has had a greater impact …