Should Sex and Character Education Come From Parents, Teachers, or Both?

Through the institute’s character-building programs, Brion-Meisels has worked with more than 7,000 students in school districts across the state, and feels strongly that only by coming up with values that apply to everyone does character education make sense.

As a practical matter, most public school teachers today have to make this happen.

“At any one time I can have four or five different ethnicities in my classroom,” says Matt Miller, who teaches health to middle-schoolers in Los Angeles. “I work hard to reach out to all of them. For me, the relationship between the teacher and the student, especially in adolescence, is key. And regardless of their background or skin color, they’re all kids, struggling with some painful issues around growing up.”

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RESOURCES

Books

Books available on character and sexual ethics include:

• The Talk: What Your Kids Need to Hear From YOU About Sex, by Sharon Maxwell, Ph.D., Penguin Books, 2008.

• Building Moral Intelligence: The Seven Essential Virtues That Teach Kids to Do the Right Thing, by Michele Borba, Ed.D., Jossey-Bass, 2001.

• The Moral Child: Nurturing Children’s Natural Moral Growth, by William Damon, The Free Press, 1988.

Web Sites

• Center for the Advancement of Ethics and Character – www.bu.edu/sed/caec/ – This Boston University center advocates and offers resources for parents and teachers nationwide trying to foster good character in today’s students.

• 4parents.gov – Created by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, this site offers parents advice on how to talk to their pre-teens and teens about abstinence or waiting to have sex.

• Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States (SIECUS) –  Helps schools and communities develop comprehensive sexuality education curricula, and advises parents on how to talk to their kids about sex.