Building character in little characters

I write a regular bi-weekly parenting column for a local sports newspaper, Hockey Stop, published and edited by Sean Hazelton, which can be found in local rinks. I suppose I never mention this as a publishing credit, because it is on going. But today's column in particular resonates with me and I hope it will with you too.

As parents, we prepare our preschoolers for early education. We fill their little brains with facts, letters, numbers, shapes and concepts. As educators, we build on what your child knows, and believe me, they know more these days than they ever have. As my thirty-fourth year draws to a close, I can attest to the fact that little Susie's ears are likely pierced, and I've had little boys with piercings too. They prance around in the latest scaled-down teenaged fashions. Where did those little ruffled bloomers go? Where did civility go? We live in a world of negativity and rudeness instead of grace and kindness. I believe that parents should be developing positive character traits in their little characters. My parents do a good job of this but in the larger community I witness some shocking things.

Young children are schooled on the latest television shows and movies, some with more adult content and frightening images than even I care to view. Little kids are highly verbal and act too big for their britches. Their parents want to please them and often give in; they forget that PG means parental guidance. Students are subjected to too much too soon.

My philosophy is let them be little while they are young. Parents think they are raising their child for a competitive world. Actually, they are rearing a small person who will become an adult whose feelings, actions and interactions will effect future generations. What a kid learns from Mom or Dad will carry over for years. What a kid learns in the classroom won't always stick.

If you fill your child's social-emotional tool chest with the things he or she needs, when a future problem arises, he will be able to retrieve the necessary tool to deal with a difficult situation.

The things parents teach or FAIL to teach impacts the future. Over the summer, why not engage in character education? Print a character word, such as HELPFUL or KIND in large letters on computer paper. Have your child trace the word five times with five differnt colored markers and talk about the five things he or she did that targets the word. "Red is for the time you fed the dog. Blue is when you shared your toy."

Wouldn't the world be a better place if we all wrote down a character word and traced it in a different color everytime we caught ourselves (or our kids) doing the right thing? Just a thought. I love rainbows, why not make our own?