The need of character building as the pillar of Education

The Need of Character Building as the Pillar of Education

Character is a person’s usual qualities or specific traits and that are different in different individuals. It is those different qualities or traits which makes character allows a person to respond to a situation or an event. Therefore it is the character which gives the result that we achieve in any situation. There is an actual need of character building because as teenagers or youngsters are continuously hurting themselves or others. The declining qualities like concern and care in the young people towards the welfare of others is alarming. Our youngsters are facing major problems in handling pressure and it is too difficult for young people. Now-a-days, we often hear complaints from teachers or parents that the children react ill-manneredly on small issues, are becoming rebellious, are very demanding, impatient and emotionless. Often we come across news like a child committed suicide because the child could not score well in exams or a mother died because the child was engrossed in playing pub-G on mobile. It is now our worry as the character is demeaning in our children. This situation is called as moral values crisis. In this era of moral values-crisis in our children, character building must be the prime aim of the education for man making. 

Education plays an important role in the development of a child’s behaviour. It helps in fostering ethical values such as honesty, responsibility, empathy, respect, compassion etc. It helps a child to understand rules and regulations, social adjustments and culture of the family & the society. Our foundation must be strong; hence character building must be focused in elementary and early years of education.   Education at the early age is the most effectual education. Beginning with the character education at the early age is expected to create an individual with strong character and intellect so he/she can grow as a good human who is noble, healthy, knowledgeable, skilled, creative, independent, and become a democratic and responsible citizenship.  Thus, the character education is needed as the pillar of education. Character building education at the primary stage will evade the common problems of the children such as mischief, rebellious, arrogance etc.

The need of character building can be achieved if it is to be embedded in school schedule. Schools have to be responsible to incorporate character education through the school daily schedule, co-curricular activities, lesson planning by teachers and integrated curriculum focused on character building. The implementation of character education is essential in the process of character building. A bravo planning is needed from school authorities to implement character building. A good school system is required so that the character education can run optimally. Children at early age exactly follow their teachers’ actions hence teachers are instrument to bring change and build strong characters. A teacher shapes the character, caliber and future of an individual. A teacher present in the class before the children arrive in the morning amazingly affects the psychology of the children. Simple acts apart from lesson planning like classroom rules set by the teachers, keep up of the cupboard, meticulously organized things and cleanliness of the classroom etc have surprisingly positive effects on children’s mind. Schools have to extensively support moral education for character building and need to design activities to teach moral education. It is necessary as well as important for the schools to evaluate their own planning and processes for character education hence, reviews or feedbacks should be taken monthly from parents and children in the form of questionnaire, survey etc . Teachers must maintain anecdotes of the small incidents or a particular behavior trait shown by the students. This will help schools to identify the negative behavior traits in children and further recheck the system or planning for character building. The planning can be further improvised if needed or the children who are showcasing negative traits, special one to one counseling can be provided to overcome and change negative trait into positive trait for strong character building.

Character cannot be developed in a day. Good character is the only attribute of a successful life. Good character of human beings is the strength and future of a strong nation. Swami Vivekananda said, “The education that should build character is man making education. No nation is greater or good if parliament enacts this or that; its men are great and good”.  Hence character building must be the pillar of education for man making.