National Character Counts Week
Floor Speech
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Mr. DODD. Mr. President, today Senator Grassley and I resubmitted a resolution designating the third week of October as National Character Counts Week. Last year, Senator Grassley and I worked together on the issue of character education, and I am pleased to continue to designate a special week to this cause. I hope that with this resolution we may highlight the importance of character building activities in schools not only this week but all year long.
Since 1994, when the Partnerships in Character Education Pilot Project was first established, I have worked to commemorate National Character Counts Week. Character Counts was founded on a simple notion: our core ethical values are not just important to us as individuals--they form the very foundation of democratic society. We know that in order to face our challenges as communities and as a Nation, we need our children to be both well-educated and trained--and that begins with instilling character in our children. Trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring, and citizenship--these are the six pillars of character.
Character education provides students a context within which to learn those values and integrate them into our daily lives. Indeed, if we view education simply as the imparting of knowledge to our children, then we not only miss an opportunity, but we also jeopardize our future.
The American public wants character education in our schools, too. Studies show that approximately 90 percent of Americans support schools teaching character education. Character education programs work. Currently, there are character education programs across all 50 States in rural, urban and suburban areas at every grade level. Schools across the country that have adopted strong character education programs report better student performance, fewer discipline problems, and increased student involvement within the community.
This renewed focus on character sends a wonderful message to Americans and will help reinvigorate our efforts to get communities and schools involved. With this resolution, it is my hope that even more communities will make character education a part of every child's life. I hope that my colleagues will support this important effort.
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