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Show Civic and Character Education in Utah-A Connection to History and the Continuing Stewardship of All Citizens and Public Officials Representative LaVar Christensen Independence and the Constitutions of the United States and of the State of Utah; c. Utah history, including territorial and preterritorial development to the present; d. The essentials and benefits of the free enterprise system; e. Respect for parents, home, and family; f. The dignity and necessity of honest labor; and g. Other skills, habits, and qualities of character which will promote an upright and desirable citizenry and better prepare students to recognize and accept responsibility for preserving and defending the blessings of liberty inherited from prior generations and secured by the constitution. (4) Local school boards and school administrators may provide training, direction, and encouragement, as needed, to accomplish the intent and requirements of this section and to effectively emphasize Civic and Character Education in the course of regular instruction in the public schools. (5) Civic and Character Education in public schools are: a. Not intended to be separate programs in need of special funding or added specialists to be accomplished; and b Core principles which reflect the shared values of the citizens of Utah and the founding principles upon which representatives democracy in the United States and the state of Utah are based. Civic education is not fully effective if it is not accompanied by character education as well. Theodore Roosevelt said, "To educate a man in mind and not morals is to educate a menace to society" (Myers, 2000, p. 236). Benjamin Franklin stressed that "only a virtuous people are capable of freedom". (Myers, p. 236). One of the underlying premises for establishing a public education system in America was the understanding that in a representative democracy, children need to learn the values that are necessary for good citizenship. Education's original aim was not simply to convey knowledge but rather to forge character. Utah's efforts in promoting character as well as civic education are a call for a united strategy in support of our shared values as a state and a community. It is not intended to be a journey of nostalgia but rather recognizes that honest and dedicated citizens must work together in the midst of a coarsening culture. It requires continuing debate as to what kind of society we intend to build as we move into the future. We are guided by time-honored principles drawn from our past, which we seek to effectively apply to present circumstances. The primary responsibility for teaching children rests with home and family and society should be a support and not a hindrance. As one writer has wisely noted, "It is a mistake to think we can compensate for cultural ruin through a new generation of super parents...It is naive to think that we will conquer the problem of culture by merely insisting that parents build even thicker and higher hedges of protection around their families. This would require a degree of isolation that the vast majority of parents are incapable of or unwilling to carry out. This is not only naive, it is wrong." (Eberly, 2001 p.3). David Blankenhorn, President of the Institute for American Values, has also stated: "Parenting should not require a hero-ic struggle against the world beyond. A good society should not impose that scale of burden on parents." (Eberly, p.3). There is such a thing as a healthy culture-an environment "where families are protected and children are granted normal childhoods characterized by unhurried innocence." (Eberly, p. 5). To give structure and ensure continuity for our state's efforts to maintain civic and character education's role as the central purpose and nucleus of all public education, I spon-sored and passed HB339 in the 2006 General Session. It is now in statute as Utah Code 67-la-10-ll. It establishes the "Commission on Civic and Character Education". As the State's Chief Election Officer, the Lieutenant Governor will lead this new Commission. The Commission "provides lead' ership to the state's continuous focus on civic and character education in the public schools and institutions of higher edu-cation and makes recommendations." It also reflects the Legislature's "recognition that the cultivation of a continuing understanding and appreciation of representative democracy in Utah and the United States among succeeding generations of educated and responsible citizens is important to the nation and state." President George Washington in an Address to Congress said that there is no duty more pressing on a Legislature than to support a plan for communicating the "science of govern-ment" to our youth who are the "future guardians of the liberties of the Country." (Parry, Allison and Skousen, 1991, p-672). I am grateful to help advance civic and character education in Utah's public schools. What the Hinckley Institute does for college students and our community is an important part of what we are striving to do at every level of education in our State. The same commitment and hope expressed by President John Quincy Adams in 1825 continues today. We are striving to transmit the "precious inheritance" of American citizenship "unimpaired to the succeeding generation." (Hunt, 2003, p.76). That is our stewardship. That is our charge. References Allison, Andrew M.; Maxfield, Richard M.; Cook, DeLynn K. & Skousen, W. Cleon. (1983). The real Thomas Jefferson: The true story of America's philosopher of freedom. Washington D.C.: National Center for Constitutional Studies. Campbell, Norine Dickson. (1969). Patrick Henry: Patriot & states' man. Old Greenwich: The Devin-Adair Company. Eberly, Don. (2001). Building a healthy culture: Strategies for an American renaissance. Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. Fast, Howard. (1984), The crossing. Newark: New Jersey Historical Society. 94 |
