I am writing this post from Bogota, Colombia. I am halfway through a full week of high-level meetings and various presentations to educators, parents and government officials. What am I talking about? Ethics and character, of course. More specifically, I am sharing my thoughts and the Institute’s strategies and programs dealing with character development, parenting, education reform and the corruption …
Memo from Michael: Bittersweet Moments of Fatherhood
When my four daughters were genuinely little girls, every milestone was a new source of joy and pride. Now that they are young women, there’s still great pride as they reach new stages of emancipation, but joy isn’t really the right word. To be honest, it feels more like sadness invoking all the clichés ever uttered about the bittersweet moments …
A Personal Note From Michael
It’s been an interesting and challenging couple of weeks with three major events taking place in my life: 1) I just returned from a 4-day trip to Hawaii. I was there to address the 4-H Western Regional Leadership Forum – about 300 staff, volunteer and student leaders of one of the oldest youth programs in the nation. 4-H has been …
Memo From Michael: The Loss of Daddyhood
I’ve written extensively about my children. I have five of them: four teenage girls and a son approaching 40 (impossible to believe). I’ve written less about them lately for several reasons: 1) they are not quite as cute; 2) they say really clever things less often; 3) they are much less interested in spending time with me. And, the biggest …
WORTH READING: Four interesting letters with divergent opinions on homosexuality.
Letter 1 Of course every person must be loved and respected but not every behavior/lifestyle must be and it is important to separate these 2 things. The fact that homosexuals are sometimes bullied or hated is very sad and unfortunate and reflects how we as a society still struggle with the concept of loving the sinner (we are all sinners) …
WORTH WATCHING: Coming Out
Kayla Kearney, a senior at a Catholic high school. Kayla is a very talented and was a very popular girl who decided to come out in a speech to series of assemblies on Jan 13 and 14, 2011. (Kudos to the school for allowing her to do so.)
OBSERVATION: Have we allowed the pursuit of adequacy to replace the ethic of excellence?
What We Need to Teach Kids and Teachers: “Any job worth doing is worth doing well. And any job done well is worth doing.” – Michael Josephson The Common Core and Partnership for the 21st Century tell educators that their main job is to prepare students to succeed in college and the workplace.There are lots of qualities involved in such …
OBSERVATION: Life After Life-Changing Traumas
Research on the the post trauma lives of victims of tragedies like the school shooting in Connecticut, reveal that most survivors eventually escape their dark dungeons of grief and despair and that many actually led happier, more fulfilling lives. This evidence validates Nietzsche’s observation, “What does not kill me, makes
OBSERVATION: A Personal Note on the School Murders in Connecticut
I find myself crying every time I think about what the families of the murdered children and their teachers are experiencing. I feel cowardly as I force myself to think about something else rather than linger on these thoughts. I have even avoided following the story on TV because I find the feelings of empathy and compassion so intense it …
Memo From Michael: Thoughts on Turning 70
I am approaching this last month of 2012 with optimism but a special eagerness to enter a completely new year, a blank canvas on which I hope to paint a grand mural of another year’s worth of challenges and successes. I confess that I have some trepidation approaching my 70th birthday (December 10) – that really, really sounds old to …
COMMENTARY 800.4: Eight Laws of Leadership
Take a look around. Business, education, politics. If there’s one thing we don’t have enough of, it’s good leaders – men and women who have the vision and the ability to change things for the better. Former Air Force General William Cohen wrote a fine book called The Stuff of Heroes in which he identified eight laws of leadership. Here …
OBSERVATION: U.S. Senate on character: Senate Resolution 2012
Whereas the well-being of the United States requires that the young people of the United States become an involved, caring citizenry of good character; Whereas the character education of children has become more urgent, as violence by and against youth increasingly threatens the physical and psychological well-being of the people of the United States; Whereas, more than ever, children need …
OBSERVATION: President Barack Obama on CHARACTER COUNTS! Week
Presidential Proclamation NATIONAL CHARACTER COUNTS WEEK, 2012 With every step in our journey toward a more perfect Union, Americans have drawn strength from the values that bind us together as one people. Personal integrity, mutual respect, commitment to service — these timeless ideals have guided our Nation’s progress for centuries, inspiring us not only to see the best in each …
OBSERVATION: George W. Bush on the importance of character education
Yes, we want our children to be smart and successful. But even more, we want them to be good and kind and decent. Yes, our children must learn how to make a living. But even more they must learn how to live, and what to love. Something is lost when the moral message of schools is mixed and muddled. Many children …
COMMENTARY 798.1: We Don’t Need Anti-Bullying Programs
Though intensive media attention on bullying has died down, the problem persists in many forms, and it continues to diminish the lives of tens of thousands of students every day. According to a recent survey, roughly half of all high school students say that in the past year they were bullied in a manner that seriously upset them. A similar …
COMMENTARY 794.5: Doing Sports Right
When I was a kid playing sports, there were no clubs, travel teams, or private coaches. Except for summer baseball leagues, the primary place to play was high school. When I was in the 10th grade, I wanted to play basketball in the worst way. Unfortunately, given my size and talent, that’s how I played. But in those days, sports …
COMMENTARY 793.2: Kids Like to Win; Adults Need to Win
Whether you’re a sports fan or not, you have to acknowledge the powerful cultural influence that sports have on our culture. The values of millions of participants and spectators are shaped by the values conveyed in sports, including our views of what is permissible and proper in the competitive pursuit of personal goals. Professional sports and even highly competitive intercollegiate …
COMMENTARY 793.1: Tell Someone They’re Valued
The students at Sandy’s high school were badly shaken by the news that a classmate had killed himself. The suicide note said, “It’s hard to live when nobody cares if you die.” Glen, a teacher, realized this was a teachable moment about the importance of making people feel valued. He asked the class to imagine they were about to die …
COMMENTARY 783.2: Family Values
Our values — the core beliefs that drive behavior — determine our character, our ethics and our potential. Thus, the most important thing we can do for our children is to stimulate them to develop positive values that will help them become wise, happy and good. This is no simple matter. The first step is to achieve greater clarity about …
COMMENTARY: Power of Words
“Stick and stones can break your bones but names will never harm you.” Really? In fact, insults, teasing, malicious gossip and verbal abuse inflict deeper and more enduring pain than guns and knives. Ask anyone who as a kid was fat, skinny, unusually short or tall, flat-chested or big-busted, acne-faced, uncoordinated, slow-witted or exceptionally smart. In schoolrooms and playgrounds across …
COMMENTARY 782.1: Improving Your Life By Improving Your Mind
Our abilities to think, reason and learn are among the most powerful tools we have to make our lives safer, more comfortable and more fulfilling. Yet many of us simply do not develop our mental capacities. Although we can learn important information in school, the wise person in pursuit of self-improvement realizes that education is a lifelong process of expanding …
FATHERS & FATHERHOOD: Greatest Quotes About Fathers and Fatherhood compiled by Michael Josephson
We are glad you visited us to find this selection quotes on fathers. 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 www.whatwillmatter.com (it’s free) and/or our What Will Matter Facebook https://www.facebook.com/WhatWillMatter?ref=hl. I think …
Commentary 779.4: Box Full Of Love
Todd was a sadly quiet eleven-year-old struggling to adjust to the death of his mother. His father left long ago and he was living with an aunt who made it known that she resented the responsibility. On several occasions, Sheryl, the boy’s teacher, heard the aunt tell Todd, “If it weren’t for my generosity you would be a homeless orphan.” …
COMMENTARY 779.3: Advice About Teens
Here are three suggestions for the parents of young teens, all learned through my own mistakes: First, remember, with emerging demands for independence, worries about peer acceptance, pressures of school and extra-curricular activities and a continuous search for self-identity, adolescents are on a physical and emotional roller coaster. Like every generation before them (including yours), young teens are often arrogant …
COMMENTARY 777.2: Memorial Day, A Day of Remembrance
It’s not just an excuse for a three-day weekend or a day for barbeque and beer. Memorial Day is a time for Americans to connect with our national history and core values by honoring those who gave their lives fighting for this country. It’s said that this special day to salute fallen Americans was born during the Civil War in …
COMMENTARY 776.5: Coaching for Character
I’ve spent lots of time with some of the world’s most successful coaches. I discovered that many of them think about character a lot, especially traits that are important to winning – like self-discipline, perseverance, resiliency, and courage. They pay less attention to virtues like honesty, integrity, responsibility, compassion, respect, and fairness – aspects of character that make a good …
COMMENTARY 776.4: Parents Are Teachers First
When John Wooden, the legendary basketball coach, referred to the last game he “ever taught,” he was asked about this phrasing. He said simply that a coach is first and foremost a teacher who should not only improve his players’ athletic skills, but also help them become better people. And he was a superb teacher whose lasting influence is reflected …
WORTH READING: The Moral Dimension of Sports: Guiding Principles for Athletic Competition
The Arizona Sports Summit Accord is the basis for the Josephson Institute’s Pursuing Victory With Honor program. It’s an inspiring document, worth re-reading from time to time. The full text is below, and can also be found on our website. On May 25, 1999, nearly 50 influential leaders in sports issued the Arizona Sports Summit Accord to encourage greater emphasis …
COMMENTARY 775.5: “I Didn’t Want the Janitor to Lose His Job”
The primary responsibility for instilling good values and building character is with parents. This doesn’t mean, however, that teachers and coaches don’t have a critically important role. The unfortunate fact is that far too many kids are raised in morally impoverished settings that foster lying, cheating, and violence. If we don’t give these children moral instruction, many of them will …