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Children Must be Taught to Tell Right from Wrong

William Kilpatrick

Many of today’s young people have a difficult time seeing any moral dimension (道德层面) to their actions. There are a number of reasons why that’s true, but none more prominent than a failed system of education that eschews (回避) teaching children the traditional moral values that bind Americans together as a society and a culture. That failed approach, called ―decision-making,‖ was introduced in schools 25 years ago. It tells children to decide for themselves what is right and what is wrong. It replac ed ―character education. (品格教育)‖ Character education didn’t ask children to reinvent the moral wheel (浪费时间重新发明早已存在的道德标准); instead, it encouraged them to practice habits of courage, justice and self-control.

In the 1940s, when a character education approach prevailed, teachers worried about students chewing gum; today they worry about robbery and rape.

Decision-making curriculums pose thorny (棘手的) ethical dilemmas to students, leaving them with the impression that all morality is problematic and that all questions of right and wrong are in dispute. Youngsters are forced to question values and virtues they’ve never acquired in the first place or upon which they have only a tenuous (薄弱的) hold. The assumption behind this method is that students will arrive at good moral conclusions if only they are given the chance. But the actual result is moral confusion.

For example, a recent national study of 1,700 sixth- to ninth-graders revealed that a majority of boys considered rape to be acceptable under certain conditions. Astoundingly, many of the girls agreed.

This kind of moral illiteracy is further encouraged by values-education (价值观教育) programs that are little more than courses in self-esteem (自尊). These programs are based on the questionable assumption that a child who feels good about himself or herself won’t want to do anything wrong. But it is just as reasonable to make an opposite assumption: namely, that a child who has uncritical self-regard will conclude that he or she can’t do anything bad.

Such naive self-acceptance results in large part from the non-directive (无指导性的), non-judgmental (无是非观的), as-long-as-you-feel-comfortable-with-your-choices mentality (思想) that has pervaded (渗透) public education for the last two and one-half decades. Many of today’s drug education, sex education and values-education courses are based on the same 1960s philosophy that helped fuel the explosion in teen drug use and sexual activity in the first place.

Meanwhile, while educators are still fiddling with (胡乱摆弄) outdated ―feel-good‖ approaches, New York, Washington, and Los Angeles are burning. Youngsters are leaving school believing that matters of right and wrong are always merely subjective. If you pass a stranger on the street and decide to murder him

because you need money—if it feels right—you go with that feeling. Clearly, murder is not taught in our schools, but such a conclusion—just about any conclusion—can be reached and justified using the decision-making method.

It is time to consign (寄出) the fads (风尚) of ―decision-making‖ and ―non-judgmentalism‖ to the ash heap of failed policies, and return to a proved method. Character education provides a much more realistic approach to moral formation. It is built on an understanding that we learn morality not by debating it but by practicing it.

Sample

Summary of ―Children Must be Taught to Tell Right from Wrong‖

In his essay ―Children Must be Taught to Tell Right from Wrong,‖ William Kilpatrick argues fervently that the ―decision-making‖ a pproach to the moral education of American youth, which replaced ―character education‖ 25 years ago, has prevented juveniles from behaving and thinking in accordance with the traditional moral principles that are fundamental to American society.

According to Kilpatrick, decision-making methods instill in students a wrong belief that all norms of morality are subjective constructs with only relative truth in them and therefore can be interpreted flexibly and even questioned. This belief deprives them of the chance to secure solid moral standards and induces misconceptions about what should be clearly right or wrong.

In parallel with this inadequacy of the ―decision-making‖ approach are the unexpected outcomes of those values-education program s focusing on students’ self-esteem that subscribe to the ―non-judgmental‖ mindset dominating ―decision-making‖ curriculums. Their mistaken assumption that feeling good warrants morality excuses students from criticizing and disciplining their own behaviors.

Basing his conclusion on his analysis of the fundamental flaws of the decision-making approach, Kilpatrick finally proposes an immediate shift back to character education which he believes teaches morality more effectively by emphasizing practice instead of discussion.

Original:

My neighbor's children love playing hide-and-seek as all children do, but no one imagine that a game they played last week would be reported in the local newspaper.

One afternoon, they were playing in the vacant lot down the corner. Young Paul, who is only five years old, found the perfect place to hide. His sister, Natalie, had shut her eyes and was counting to ten when Paul noticed the storage mail box at the corner

and saw that the metal door was standing open. The mailman had just taken out several sacks of mail and had carried them to his truck which was standing at the curb a few feet away. Paul climbed into the storage box and pulled the door closed so hard that it locked. Soon realizing what he had done, he became frightened and started crying. Meanwhile, Natalie was looking for him everywhere but could not find him. It was lucky that she happened to pause at the corner for a minute and heard her brother's cries. She immediately ran to tell the mailman who hurried back from his truck to unlock the metal door. Paul was now free, but he had had such a bad scare that he could not stop crying. The mailman, however, soon found a way of making him laugh again. He told him that the next time he wanted to hide in a mail box, he should remember to put a stamp on himself!

Summary:

The children were playing hide-and-seek in a vacant lot one afternoon. Finding that the storage mailbox had been left open, Paul hid and locked himself in it accidentally. His sister, Natalie, heard his cries and realized where he was hiding, so she immediately told the mailman to unlock the metal door. After letting him out, the mailman made him stop crying by telling him to put a stamp on himself the next he wanted to hide in a mailbox.

Original:

Why do some animals die out?

In the past two hundred years people have caused many kinds of animals to die out--to become extinct. People keep building houses and factories in fields and woods. As they spread over the land, they destroy animals' homes. If the animals can't find a place to live, they die out. Sixteen kinds of Hawaiian birds have become extinct for this reason. Other animals, such as the Florida Key deer, may soon die out because they are losing their homes. Hunters have caused some animals to become extinct, too. In the last century, hunters killed all the passenger pigeons in North America and most of the buffalos.

Today they are fast killing off hawks and wolves. Pollution is killing many animals today, too. As rivers become polluted, fish are poisoned. Many die. Birds that eat the poisoned fish can't lay strong, healthy eggs. New birds aren’t born. So far, no animals have become extinct because of pollution. But some, such as the bald eagle and the brown pelican, have become rare and may die out.

Scientists think that some animals become extinct because of changes in climate. The places where they live become hotter or cooler, drier or wetter. The food that they eat cannot grow there any more. If the animals can't learn to eat something else, they die. Dinosaurs may have died out for this reason.

Summary:

In the past two hundred years, many kinds of animals have died out. There are several reasons for it. First, people keep building houses and factories in fields and woods, which destroys animals' homes. Then, hunters' killing has also caused some animals to become extinct. Besides, some animals aren't able to bear strong offspring and nor do they have enough food to eat because of pollution and climatic changes.

Olympic Games

Of all the games held throughout Greece, those staged at Olympia in honor of Zeus are the most famous. The Games, like all Greek games, were an intrinsic part of a religious festival. Held every four years between August 6 and September 19, they occupied such an important place in Greek life that time was measured by the interval between them –an Olympiad. Although the first Olympic champion listed in the records was one Coroebus of Elis, a cook, who won the sprint race in 776 BC, it is generally accepted that the Games were probably at least 500 years old at that time. According to one legend, they were founded by Heracles, son of Alcmene.

The Games were held at Olympia in the city-state of Elis, on a track about 32 meters (35 yards) wide. The racing length was one stade, a distance of about 192 meters (210 yards) which was one length of the track. At the meeting in 776 BC, there was apparently only one event, the stade, but other events were added over the ensuing decades. In 724 BC a two-length race, diaulos, roughly similar to the 400-meter race, was included and four years later, the dolichos, a long-distance race possibly to be compared to the modern 1500- or even 5000-meter event, was added . wresting and the pentathlon were introduced in 708BC. The latter was an all-around competition consisting of five events –the long jump, javelin throw, discus throw, foot race, and wresting.

Boxing was introduced in 688 BC, and in 680 a chariot race. In 648, the pancratium, a kind of all-strength, or no-hold-barred, wresting was included. Kicking and hitting were allowed; only biting and gouging (thrusting a finger ot thumb into an opponent’s eye) were forbidden. Between 632 and 616 BC, events for boys were introduced. And from time to time, further events were added including contests for fully armed soldiers, for heralds, and for trumpeters. The program must have been as varied as that of the modern Olympics, although the athletics (track and field) events were limited: there was no high jumping in any form and no individual field event, except in the pentathlon.

Until the 77th Olympiad (472 BC) all of the contests took place on one day; later they were spread, with, perhaps, some fluctuations, over four days, with a fifth

devoted to the closing ceremony presentation of prizes and a banquet for the champions. Sources generally agree that women were not allowed as competitors or, except for the priestess of Demeter, as spectators. In most events, the athletes participated in the nude.

The Olympic Games were originally restricted to free-born Greeks. The competitors, including those who came from the Greek colonies, were amateur in the sense that the only prize was a wreath or garland. The athletes underwent a most rigorous of supervised training, however, and eventually, the contestants were true professionals. Not only were there substantial prizes for winning, but the Olympic champion also received adulation and unlimited benefits from his city. Athletes became fulltime specialists – a trend that in the modern games has caused a long and bitter controversy over amateurism.

Summary example:

In this article, the author explains the history of some of the earliest record Olympic Games held in Greece. It is generally accepted that these Games started around 1276 BC although the first champion was recorded in 776 BC. In the first Games there was only one event, however as time went on, different events were added. Longer distance running races were first added and then other events like wresting and the pentathlon. They even added events specially for boys and armed soldiers. Originally the Games were played on one day but this changed to five days. Another aspect of the Games was that women were not allowed as competitors or spectators. The competitors were also restricted to Greeks who were not professionals. However, a trend started where athletes became full-time specialists which ahs caused a lot of controversy.

The original:

A third kind of thinking is stimulated when anyone questions our beliefs and opinions. We sometimes find ourselves changing our minds without any resistance or heavy emotion, but if we are told that we are wrong we resent the imputation and harden our hearts. We are incredibly heedless in the formation of our beliefs, but find ourselves filled with an illicit passion for them when anyone proposes to rob us of their companionship. It is obviously not the idea themselves that are dear to us, but our self-esteem, which is threatened. We may surrender, but rarely confess ourselves vanquished. In the intellectual world at least, peace is without victory.

Few of us take the pains to study the origin of our cherished convictions; indeed, we have a natural repugnance to so doing. We like to continue to believe what we have been accustomed to accept as true, and the resentment aroused when doubt is cast upon any of our assumptions leads us seek every manner of excuse for clinging to them. The result is that most of our so-called reasoning consists in finding arguments

for going on believing as we already do.

Summary:

A third kind of thinking occurs when we are told that our beliefs and opinions are wrong. We may have been heedless in their formation, but our self-esteem will not permit us to change. We may have to give up, but we are not convinced. We do not study the origin of our beliefs; we believe as we have been accustomed to believe, and we seek arguments for continuing to believe as we already do.