Watkins Mill isn't the only school turning to ethics training in response to student violence. Proponents of character education say that the national attention is long overdue. Teachers choose a pillar of the week or the month, and incorporate ethics training for that value into their lesson plans whenever possible. From the beginning, the program has attracted some high-powered attention. Its council of advisors includes many noted educators, as well as former football great George Atkinson, actor Tom Selleck, and Children's Defense Fund president Marian Wright Edelman.
Schools report tremendous success with the program.
At Garfield Middle School in Albuquerque, disciplinary referrals were down 75 percent one year after the program began. At Forest Knolls, some of the older children are designated as Cool Character Kids, whose responsibility it is to speak with the younger students to help them with problems they're having in school. The institute offers books on curriculum development, as well as videos and age-appropriate materials. But its greatest role has been in training educators. Maybe if we teach good character traits to children at a young age, those traits will become an integral part of their personalities as they grow up.