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March 16, 2001/Adar 21, 5761, Vol. 53, No.24
'Character' meeting set in Gilbert
BARRY COHEN
Community Editor
What if Charles "Andy" Williams at Santana High School near San Diego or the 14-year-old girl at Bishop Neumann High School in Williamsport, Pa., had studied and instilled trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring and citizenship? What if their classmates had done the same? What about their mothers and fathers?
Valley parents will have the opportunity to participate in "Parents for Character Summit: Character Counts for Our Kids," 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturday, March 24, at Mesquite Junior High School Auditorium, 130 W. Mesquite St., Gilbert.
One goal of the seminar is to help parents teach their children the "six pillars" of the institute's Character Counts! - trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring and citizenship - said Michael Josephson, featured speaker.
Josephson is founder and president of the Josephson Institute of Ethics, Marina del Rey, Calif., which he said is a non-partisan, nonprofit organization "dedicated to improve the ethical nature of society."
Event sponsors are the Governor's Character Education Commission, the Arizona Educational Foundation and Gilbert's Community with Character.
"We want to help kids develop positive values to make good and constructive decisions in a world full of risk," Josephson said.
Josephson has been asked most often to conduct seminars for teachers and coaches, "because it is easier to deal with institutions where people are already gathered," he explained.
"The missing piece" has been parents; encouraging them to attend seminars on character training has been a challenge, he said.
Jewish parents are more involved than most, said Josephson, who is Jewish. "It's part of our culture, a heavy emphasis on education." When speaking to Jewish groups, he frames the Character Counts! teaching not as "six pillars," but as "the pillars of mensch-hood."
He expressed concern that parents "overprotect" their children. "We need to allow people to suffer the consequences of their actions," he said.
In an interview, Ray Madaghiele, coordinator of Gilbert's Community with Character, shared an anecdote of the time his 9-year-old son was punished for teasing and kicking a girl at school. He showed his son a poster of the six pillars.
"We looked at the traits, and I asked him which ones he lived and which ones he didn't," Madaghiele said.
By asking questions and not raising his voice, he is teaching his son to self-critique his behavior, said Madaghiele.
In August, the steering committee for Gilbert's Community with Character voted unanimously to recommend that the city adopt as a framework the six pillars of Character Counts! About 250 representatives from 65 institutions, including Arizona Department of Juvenile Corrections, Gilbert Public School District and Scottsdale Unified School District, among others, have attended program training sessions.
The latest round of violence in San Diego and Williamsport has caused "huge psychic damage," said Josephson.
"Parents are not helping their children cope when bad things," such as teasing and bullying, happen, he said.
Both the Gilbert Public School District and the town of Gilbert have chosen the six pillars to implement character training, said Mike Evans, Gilbert city councilman.
"The fact Michael Josephson is speaking makes this an excellent opportunity to hear it straight from the horse's mouth," he added.
Seating is limited. For information, call Angie, 602-542-3895 or e-mail, autterback@az.com.
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