We all want our children to be good. Some of us remember those immortal words of Martin L. King, Jr.
But how many of us can easily recite a list of ingredients or traits a good character contains? The parochial school where I didn't send my children has a special curriculum, complete with books, worksheets, and posters on the wall, stressing thirteen positive character traits. We allow religious schools more leeway in discussing ethics, morals, and virtue than public schools. However, as parents,we shouldn't depend on our children's schools to teach them how to be good people.
You might be blessed with wise parents, grandparents, or spiritual leaders who can tell you how to raise the perfect child. If not, there is enough information out there in libraries and on the web that, if you're lucky, you might teach yourself before your children are grown. But why reinvent the wheel when you have enough work on your hands as a parent already? Here are some suggestions, taken from Ben Franklin, thought by some to be the wisest American of all time, and Rabbi Israel Salanter, the founder of the Jewish ethical movement, מוסר.
For some reason, Ben Franklin didn't include this virtue in his top ten list. However, the ability to control one's temper and suffer fools gladly on the occasion that one must is often seen as a sign of a good character. We appreciate patience even more in children. Indeed, when parents tell their children to be "good" then it is probably patience that we're asking them to display. When something unpleasant and unavoidalbe happens to them, we want them to avoid making the sitution worse by overreacting. As R. Salanter said, Bear with calm every happening and every event in life.See more here.
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