Happy
New Year to our BELA family, and those who follow our Blog!
This is a time of year for reflection – on
all that we are, and all that we would wish for our children. Which brings me to speak of one of my driving
passions – character education! Some
would ask, why is character education important, isn’t that the responsibility
of the child’s family? The oft used
phrase ‘ it takes a village to raise a child’, has never been more important,
we all choose the virtues and values we wish to instil in our children.
Recent
events have caused great joy, and great sadness, as I have had the opportunity
to meet and follow the mission of Jamie McDonald– every day hero. A young man giving of himself, visiting our
country, to run across Canada with no support team, to raise funds for
Children’s Hospitals in each province.
It was an honor and a privilege recently, to hear his
message regarding the genuine goodness of all people he has encountered on his
journey! Jaime encouraged all of us to find our ‘inner hero’ and believe that
we can do whatever we set our minds to accomplishing. The resiliency and
selflessness of this young man is truly inspirational! Which is why, recent events in Banff, which
resulted in Jamie being assaulted and his belongings taken, bring shame and
sadness on behalf of our country. What a
terrible way to thank this courageous young man!
Before
we decide that this type of thing only happens in places like Banff, and larger
centers in our country, we need to reflect on the use of social media during
our recent election, to batter and bully those individuals who chose to let
their name stand in the hope of representing us in local government. Is this the behavior we would model for our
children? Would we be willing to stand
face to face with these individuals and say the things that were said via
social media? I believe that technology
brings us even more challenges, as we strive to model good character for our
children, and we should not model the use of social media, as a means to bully
others.
But we
must have faith, that the character of Canadians will rise up! Jamie’s supporters, and followers, utilized
social media and individual determination to ensure that his belongings were
returned to him. The groundswell of support will continue to grow, as those
individuals who chose to try and strike down this resilient young man, have
brought enhanced attention to his heroism, and a renewed determination among
his supporters, that Jamie will succeed with his mission. Canadians are people of strong character,
with an international reputation for peace-keeping and supporting those less
fortunate. Jamie McDonald will succeed in his mission, because we care, and are
determined he that he will!
And as a
community, we will continue to make the choices which determine the type of City we wish to live in, and can choose to model the virtues we would
develop in our children. Activities such
as food and clothing drives; fund raising events to provide funds for those
struck down by natural disasters such as the recent hurricane in the
Philippines; and opportunities to model positive character by helping someone
stuck in the snow, or shoveling the walk of an elderly neighbor; all combine to
teach our children the importance of virtues such as: caring, kindness,
perseverance, and determination. The Virtues Project, recognized internationally as a program that teaches the
importance of teaching and modeling character development, is one which I have
found during my educational career, to have a definite impact on the positive
character development of children. As a
community we choose, the type of town or city we live in, and the type of
character we model for the children of our community. This is why at BELA, we
strive everyday to model appropriate behaviour for our students. We treat each
student and parent as an individual and make it our focus to treat each with
respect and compassion. Just as we teach our students to become responsible
citizens, to “fill buckets” and respond to others with kindness above all else,
we ask our community to strive to do the same. It does take a Village to raise a child, so
let’s work together to develop the character of our children – they are our
future!
For more
information about The Virtues Project, see the link below: http://www.virtuesproject.com/
- JR
