Essay on Teaching Morals and Ethics in Public Schools

Teaching Morals and Ethics in Public Schools I find myself disagreeing with Kozol and his statement that schools should be an institution where morals can be taught and developed. It is my belief that schools should not be held responsible for instilling morals and ethics into the minds of Americas children. Of course, it is true that schools should instill and reinforce morals that are part of our everyday existence. Those of the Golden Rule, as well as the wrongs of death and destruction can be, not so much taught, rather restated in institutions of learning. It is my opinion, however, those morals should be taught in the home. Most classrooms are made up of people of various religious and ethnic backgrounds. I t is impossible,†¦show more content†¦Schools right now attempt to teach us that all men are created equal. However, even the most educated of people, graduating from Harvard with honors, can still be a bigot. The reason for this is that schools fail to teach us morals even when it is part of the curriculum. No matter what a person is taught through their years of their education, the single greatest factor that influences that persons morals and ethics, are their parents. I also feel with the way things are set up now, at least where I am from, there is little if any time to fit ethical teachings into the school year. Im sure that earlier on in my learning experience there may have been time for such learning. However, the emphasis, for as far back as I can remember, was always placed on succeeding in school, not to be ethical or courteous. From grade 1, there was very little time to get off the course of learning. We had to be prepared for the next level. Teachers would always tell us, Its not going to be this easy next year, so start working hard now. The funny thing was that we always seemed to be preparing for the next step, while we failed to ever concentrate on the here and the now. But we seemed to go more in depth into topics then was required, and perhaps looked into the moral dilemmas faced by those in wars and various events which called for great leaders to place their ethics on the side while they did something to better mankind. This is what makesShow MoreRelated Teaching Morals and Ethics in Public Schools Essay903 Words   |  4 PagesTeaching Morals and Ethics in Public Schools The question of whether or not schools should teach ethics and morals is misleading, because ethics and morals are two different things. Websters Dictionary defines ethics as a particular system of principles and rules concerning duty, whether true or false, and morals as motivation based on ideas of right and wrong. As I take it, ethics implies a set of basic rules to abide by, whereas morals strictly set down what to believe, and what not toRead MoreEssay on Public Schools Should Teach Morals and Ethics700 Words   |  3 PagesPublic Schools Should Teach Morals and Ethics Jonathon Kozol writes, Public schools in the U.S. do not exist to educate an ethical human being†¦Schools do exist to educate defeated, unprovocative, well-balanced human beings†¦. This statement is certainly true, but should public schools be required to teach students ethics and morality? I would argue that an education devoid of ethics and morals is detrimental to our society. Scholar Joao Coutinho writes in the Harvard Educational Review, EducationRead MoreA Code Of Ethics For Teachers1334 Words   |  6 Pages The Need for a Code of Ethics for Teachers and How Positive and Professional Dispositions Must Be Exhibited Prior to and During Student Teaching Aliesha R. 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