Posted by CatTales on 11/2/2007, 11:13 pm
209.240.206.207
When John Wooden, the legendary basketball coach, referred to the last game he ever "taught," he was asked about that phrasing. He said a coach is first and foremost a teacher who should not only improve his players' athletic skills, but help them become better people. He was a superb teacher whose lasting influence is reflected in the values he instilled, not the championships he won.
Henry Adams said, "Teachers affect all eternity." As those who are taught will in turn teach others, instructors' legacies can grow. Sadly, the way we select and reward schoolteachers and coaches shows how much we undervalue their crucial role in shaping the character and destiny of our children.
Even worse, we tend to forget that the primary, and by far the most important, teachers are parents. Good child-rearing involves more than providing food, shelter, and education. It also includes instilling good values and habits, teaching right from wrong, and showing how to make good decisions that are both effective and ethical.
Yes, it's important to help kids become smart and competent, but as Teddy Roosevelt said, "To educate a person in the mind but not the morals is to educate a menace to society."
Parents need to be attentive and dedicated to assuring that their children have the tools to lead truly good lives -- lives with purpose and meaning and value. That means we need to teach, enforce, advocate, and model the best we want our children to be.
This is Michael Josephson reminding you that character counts.
What we allow, we encourage.
 |
|
Message Thread:
|
