Today in church, there was a talk given that reminded me a an opinion I have had for a long time: We should teach non-religious ethics and values in schools from elementary through 12th grade.
I don't understand why this is not common practice. It is in the best interest of society to have law-abiding citizens who act ethically and with consideration for others. The values taught would not have to be based on any type of religious belief. We could do what the Greeks did and teach values derived from philosophy.
There are so many values in our Constitution that we could teach in an effort to uphold them. I think that just making an effort to idealize a society in which every keeps their word would be a valuable thing. It would be easy to tie these types of values into lessons about our government and the system of law that we use in this country. We have a code of ethics and values whether or not they are expressly written, but there aren't many secular institutions that are willing to talk about them in a direct way.
When I was in middle school we had a fifteen minute class period called ASPIRE and I think it stood for something, but the teach would talk to use about achieving our dreams, and how we needed to actually learn the things that we were being taught to reach many of our dreams. I think something like that, but with an emphasis on values would be awesome.
I don't want religion taught in school, but you don't have to be religious to think that the Golden Rule, respect for other people, and honesty are good things. And values like that can be substantiated by secular teachings of philosophers and experts on ethics etc. to give values some weight in a school setting.
*I realize that I have not posted anything about getting married on this blog. Please see my other blog, http://bradandrachelletilley.blogspot.com/ for posts about that! :)
2 comments:
Great idea. I think it is interesting that anything that can be skewed as "religious" (like ethics) is shunned in schools, but, like you pointed out, ethics can be taught in a non-religious way. That way we satisfy the political correctness police.
Rachelle, you are right on about this one. Why don't you make this idea and the implementation of it your life's work- to make a difference in the world? So many kids don't get to see a lot of ethical behavior in their own families while they are growing up. The schools, unfortunately, have become the place where ethics should be increasingly taught. Too bad the kids don't get it at home - but it is in the best interest of the country that they get it somewhere.
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