Sample Essay - Educate Morally Responsible Leaders

Sample Essay - Educate Morally Responsible LeadersThe following sample essay of Educate Morally Responsible Leaders is the second in a series of informational essays that I have written on leadership and ethical issues. This article takes on a slightly different topic, this time dealing with the teaching of moral values to children.Most schools and educational system in the United States are not built around good moral values, or at least what is usually called moral values. In most places they are built around good social behavior. The problem is that is not the kind of values we want our children to have.Parents of today are expected to be more responsible than their predecessors. They have become more well-paid and have more stress from work and family obligations. Not just parents but also teachers and school administrators face increased pressures. And yet most schools today have no moral curriculum in place, and as a result the students fail to develop good moral values.Some th ink that moral education will help to counterbalance this. Others think that is just going to lead to more societal problems. But does moral education help? There are people who believe it does and there are others who think it doesn't.Well, the first step in moral education is to realize that the curriculum will not necessarily be created around moral values. Many curricula are only concerned with correct behavior or is moral as long as it doesn't conflict with the school's policy. Others will make the moral statements but simply don't emphasize how to apply them in everyday life. Both types will get the job done, but the one that emphasizes morals may be more effective because you can read into the work what you want.The next step is to realize that moral education is not always the right path to take. One of the things I often say to parents is if your child is having trouble learning how to be responsible in their own life then you may need to look at whether their moral educati on may not be the right path for them. Sometimes it is much better to teach a person to be responsible for themselves and to learn that doing so is good for them rather than trying to force them to act morally by using a moral curriculum.There are some who argue that moral values are either hard wired into human nature or that people are not moral at all, while other claim that moral values are learned through repetition and role playing. The thing is we don't know how people are made and neither do we know how to teach people to be moral.The best way to fight against the moral values indoctrination of children today is to simply teach people to act morally. Without the proper education of our children will not be able to compete in the marketplace, society and the world.