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Back to School
By Dr. Marvin
Berkowitz
It is that time of year
when kids start heading back to school looking like pack
mules as they struggle under the weight of overloaded
backpacks. But there is one thing that can’t be found in
your kid’s backpack: You. Kids go to school and can’t rely
upon their moms and dads to protect them from making bad
decisions.
Predictably, we parents worry about what our kids are doing
at school and what others are doing with––and to––them. We
fear that some unsavory kid will prey on our children,
leading them to lives of second grade debauchery (like
blowing spit bubbles, reciting dirty limericks, and so on).
As our kids grow older, the ante is raised. Then, we find
ourselves concerned about delinquency, alcohol, drugs, and
sex.
There’s no room left in those backpacks for moms and dads to
hide out, so what can we parents give our kids to help
protect them from harmful influences at school?
The answer lies in a single word: character.
Good character has no weight and it doesn’t take up space,
so kids can easily carry it with them all day every day
wherever they go. The only challenge is that character
development isn’t like a peanut butter and jelly sandwich
that can be slapped together in a few minutes. Developing a
child’s character takes time and requires consistent
attention, nurturing and reinforcement.
One can certainly consider character development to be a
long-term project. In a sense it’s built brick by brick
throughout a child’s life. But it’s certainly worth the
effort! Character offers the best possible protection
available against negative influences and bad choices.
A case in point: The Developmental Studies Center of Oakland
California (www.devstu.org), was recently recognized by the
U.S. government for its Child Development Project’s drug
prevention effects. What’s interesting is the fact that the
CDP isn’t a drug prevention program at all; it’s a character
education program. Rather than talking about drugs the
leaders work on students’ character development. That’s
because they’ve learned that a high quality, comprehensive
character education program is the best tool available for
preventing drug use and other negative behaviors.
The same premise applies to parenting. If you raise a child
of character you can rest assured that he or she will be
better prepared to resist inappropriate pressures and to
make better choices. And best of all, experience shows that
his work at school will likely improve significantly. Your
child wins all the way around.
It takes character to succeed both in school and in life.
And parents are the primary source of kids’ character. So
make sure you start packing character into your kid’s life
now!
