Last year's brutal murders at Columbine High School in Colorado shocked America and shook the national conscience. After two teen-aged boys gunned down twelve classmates and a teacher before turning their high-powered weapons on themselves, an appalled public struggled to come to grips with the social forces that could produce such hatred. A society that could produce such warped youth must need radical re-shaping at its very core.

As the Superintendent of North Carolina's public schools from 1988 to 1996, I know very well that our schools are largely very safe. In fact in most communities, schools are the safest places outside the home that children go every day. And the statistics clearly demonstrate that incidents of violence have been in steady decline in our schools for many years. Our school boards, superintendents and other champions for our children have done a good job providing safer schools for our children.

Yet, as the father of a public school teacher myself, the issue of violence in schools hits home with me in a very personal way. As North Carolina's Second Congressional District's Representative in the U.S. House, I know that the lessons we have learned in our state can help make a difference throughout the country. We need national leadership to summon the resolve to make sure that all of our schools are safe havens for children which embrace our communities' shared values.

BIPARTISAN WORKING GROUP

Shortly after the Columbine tragedy, I sought and obtained appointment to the Speaker's special Bipartisan Working Group on Youth Violence. Although I have only been in Congress since 1997, it didn't take me long to realize that bipartisan consensus is a rare thing in Washington, DC. I wanted to seize on the opportunity to work together across the partisan aisle for real progress on this vitally important issue that effects us all. As North Carolina's only Representative on this 22-Member special group, I wanted to make sure our state's experience and progress received proper consideration in the national debate.

For several months, we met every Wednesday morning at 8:00 a.m. in a cramped room on the first floor of the U.S. Capitol. We listened to presentations from experts from across the country and from every point of view under the sun. This diverse group of Representatives - from the arch-conservative Bob Barr (R-GA) to the equivalently liberal Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX) - came together with open minds to consider real solutions to this difficult problem. The American people would have been proud to see their public servants working to achieve a common sense consensus, rather than engaging in the kind of unpleasant and partisan finger-pointing that all too often characterizes our nation's public discourse.

The group came to learn what many of us in North Carolina already know: character education works. The entire membership of this group unanimously endorsed character education as a constructive approach to try to turn around troubled youth and as preventive measure to keep more children on the straight and narrow path. Character education is not a panacea. We cannot wave a magic wand - no matter how sensible and worthwhile - and expect all of our problems to be solved. But character education can make a difference. And in this vital endeavor, we cannot afford to fail to try every good idea.

BUILDING ON NORTH CAROLINA'S SUCCESSES

The Working Group's endorsement came as no surprise to me. In North Carolina, we have worked for many years to implement this innovation. During my first term as Superintendent of our state's public schools, I appointed a states ethics in education commission after a survey I conducted among 25,000 students, teachers, parents and school employees indicated that only thirty-seven percent of students felt that their fellow students treated teachers with respect. All of the groups surveyed felt that discipline was a serious problem that needed to be addressed. The ethics education commission, which consisted of parents, teachers, students, school board members, superintendents and religious and business leaders, recommended a list of nine specific character traits to promote. They are: trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, caring, fairness, citizenship, perseverance, courage and self-discipline.

Working with many school board members and other education leaders, we convinced the General Assembly to authorize character education, and I secured a grant from the U.S. Education Department for seed money for us to develop a model character education and citizenship curriculum. Those funds launched the effort that is bearing fruit in North Carolina today.

CHARACTER EDUCATION WORKS

Character education works because it teaches children to view the world through a moral lens and to grow up to be not only successful students but good citizens and decent human beings as well. It works because it teaches children that actions have consequences. This common sense solution works to instill in our children such basic values as respect, responsibility, honesty, integrity, justice, compassion, and self-discipline. Character education brings together parents, teachers, students and the entire community to strengthen the moral fabric of the next generation of Americans. Teaching children our North Carolina values begins at home, but our schools have an indispensable role to play as well.

I have traveled across my Congressional District to witness firsthand the positive difference character education is making in our communities. In Wake County, for example, a 1998 survey found that a growing number of principals and teachers thought that character education efforts were helping with the school climate. The percentage of principals who said it had helped significantly increased from 54.7 percent in its first year (1994-1995) to 71 percent in 1997-1998; among teachers that percentage increased from 37 percent to 43 percent during the same period.

In Johnston County, Superintendent Jim Causby has emerged as a leader in implementing character education. At Selma Elementary, Principal Jerry Stevens directly attributes 59 fewer suspensions between the 1995 and 1996 school years to their character education program, known as "I Care." Stevens says the effort gives students "an insight into what real life is all about." The Nash-Rocky Mount public schools' character education initiative has won attention from national network news media as CBS News ran a feature on the good work being there. Many other of our school districts have achieved success with character education.

SUMMIT ON YOUTH VIOLENCE

Earlier this year, on the first anniversary of the Columbine tragedy, I held a summit in Raleigh to examine the issues of youth violence and receive recommendations from North Carolina's experts on the subject. I met with students, teachers, principals, advocates and others involved in the problem of youth violence. The meeting was an outstanding success as the several hours of discussions led to many frank exchanges and opened lines of communication.

Not surprisingly, character education emerged as the consensus item in the effort to stem the tide of youth violence. The summit participants named character education as the number one recommendation for steps to take to combat youth violence. As summit participant Dr. Pamela Riley of the North Carolina Center for the Prevention of School Violence is fond of saying, if we build good citizens, we won't need metal detectors at school entrances, bars on the windows and all the other things that are more appropriate for the penal system than for the school system. Of course, there are limits to character education can do, and unfortunate acts of youth violence must be punished whenever they occur. But character education clearly makes a difference.

NATIONAL LEADERSHIP - CHARACTER COUNTS FOR THE 21ST CENTURY

I believe this nation must take aggressive action to protect our children from the threat of violence and to build a solid moral foundation for the next generation. Some people say that the federal government has no business helping local schools achieve their mission to prepare our children for the future. I say our schools need all the help they can get. We do not need a national school board, and I have long fought one-size-fits-all, Washington-knows-best approaches. But Congress must do its part, and I am working hard to see to it that it does.

To provide the national leadership the American people deserve on this critical matter, I have introduced in the U.S. House, H.R. 3681, the Character Counts for the 21st Century Act. This legislation will authorize the U.S. Education Department to provide grants to local school systems to promote character education. H.R. 3681 has gained bipartisan support, and U.S. Education Secretary Richard Riley endorsed the bill during his visit to Durham earlier this year. I am hopeful Congress will pass this important bill soon.

"…for the public wealth…"

The bottom line is that character education works. One of the great Founders of our Republic, Benjamin Franklin had it right when he said, "Nothing is more important for the public wealth than to form and train youth in wisdom and virtue. Only a virtuous people are capable of freedom."

I thank North Carolina's public school leaders for making our state a leader on character education, and I look forward to continuing work with you in this great effort.

| About Bob Etheridge | Constituent Services | Contact Bob | Email Bob | Home |

| Just for Children | Legislative Issues | Press Room | The 2nd District | Visit Washington |

Privacy Policy