It’s all about values
I wrote “Character Connections” out of a concern that we are in danger of losing the values that made America great. Because democracy is an ethical movement, our citizens must place a high value on personal and corporate virtue to preserve our freedoms (their duty) and to do well (enlightened self-interest) in a free society. The following essay offers a way of addressing this issue with middle and high school students.
Our values are the things we most highly prize and greatly desire. What we value most determines the direction of our lives and the quality of our relationships. Values such as caring, respect and responsibility are called ethical values. People who make ethical values their top priority tend to have good relationships with others and to get more out of life in general.
Values such as money, fun, power and freedom are called nonethical values. These values can be pursued in an unethical (wrong) way or in an ethical (right) way. For example, fun is wonderful in its proper place. But when we choose fun over doing our work, we fail to be responsible and make poor grades. When we make our fun more important than the rights of others, we damage our relationships through uncaring and disrespectful behavior.
All values compete with one another. Putting them in the proper order is the key to happiness. Seek to do what is right (be ethical) first, and all other good things will come to you as well.
Assignment: Make a list of your top five nonethical values and a separate list of your top five ethical values. Then, combine them into one list of 10 values ranked in order of importance to you as you live your life today. Think about how your life would be different if you always gave top priority to the ethical values.
Learn more about “Character Connections” here.
Feb 3rd, 2010 at 1:55 pm
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Feb 11th, 2010 at 5:39 pm
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