Teaching Morals and Values in the Public Education System
"Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe
free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless,
tempest-tost, to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"1 These words are,
of course, inscribed in bronze at the base of the greatest symbol of American
freedom, the Statue if Liberty. These words were also a call to the entire world,
exclaiming how our nation of freedom wants to take in all of the earth’s
downtrodden and oppressed people so they may live a life of liberty, and follow
any beliefs they choose without persecution. Obviously, the world consists of a
vast amount of varying people and societies, each with their own religions,
values, and ways of life. In the United States, the “melting pot of the world,” we
preach the fact that everyone is safe to live these ways of life any way they
would like. With the lieutenant-governor of Maryland, Kathleen Kennedy
Townsend’s essay, Not Just Read and Write, but Right and Wrong, she makes a
proposal to force a universal set of a values upon all public school children, which
could be conflicting with the very ideas that this nation was founded upon.
By citing her conversation with a “crowded” classroom, her daughter’s
experience on an all male soccer team, and on obscure survey which samples
a mere one-thousand people to represent all those aged fifteen to
twenty-four in the entire U.S, Kathleen Townsend draws the conclusion that
the children of this generation are very immoral and have few values. Before
making such a bold generalization, she should have gathered a little more
evidence than what she did to prove her accusation. It is not accurate
enough to use little more than one-thousand people to judge several million.
The most accurate surveys, like the A.C. Neislon Company for example,
surveys several thousand people in each region of the whole country to
gather television ratings2. To say the least, television ratings are trivial
compared to the importance of morals and values of today’s youth.
Therefore, this matter should have been researched much more extensively,
or at least just as well as some frivolous television ratings.
The way she decides who is responsible for this problem is almost as
unconvincing as the reasons believes this problem even exists. She quickly
points to public education as the major factor for the poor values and morals
of the current generation, and states that it is also the only thing that can
Indeed, in all their schools from elementary to secondary schools, they already adopted curricula that will foster cultural diversity. Through this program, students from different levels had the chance to be exposed to different traditions and customs of various ethnic and racial groups. Even the government sectors in the United States are advocating tolerance for diversity, like how they commemorate Asian American, Hispanic, and Pacific Islander Heritage weeks (Margai, 2010). Even in their postage, they developed stamps highlighting some prominent Americans along with their diverse backgrounds. Despite all these efforts, sometimes the issue concerning multiculturalism causes significant political and societal conflicts. Right now, United States is widely known as the greatest melting pot where people from different countries and with different cultures could be united as one. However, people have divided views with regards to the issue whether the immigrants should adopt America’s culture, or they should be given the freedom to keep their own culture. The majority of the Americans believed that one must learn first how to speak English before permitting to have an American citizenship. In support of the notion of melting pot, many Americans still insist that their Creed should endure, and their nation is destined to be a prime model to
“America gave the world a notion of the melting pot-an alchemical cooking device wherein diverse ethnic and religious groups voluntarily mix together, producing a new, American identity…” Ivan Krastev wrote this about the true culture of America which the supports the idea of unity. While some people believe that America is turning into a salad bowl it can be argued that it is still a melting pot because every culture in the world is already present in ours. A salad bowl culture is a culture that excels in individuality, so much so, that there isn’t true unity unlike a melting pot where everything is combined. Many people claim it’s safer if not more helpful to assimilate and embracing diversity or the presence of it, creates unity which is the goal of a melting pot.
prosperous from its diversity, epitomizes the "American Melting Pot". It is complicated to relate such different backgrounds, but with an overview of history, culture, religion, and integration on a small scale, a reader is capable of applying the values to the American culture as a whole.
American families are becoming more diverse every day. The merging ethnic diversity in our country is becoming more apparent daily as we see different people of different cultures becoming involved with each other. America is a melting pot. The influx of immigrants and with their varied cultural backgrounds was essential in molding America’s identity. The United States became a refuge for all those suffering persecution for political or personal beliefs. America has become a shelter for a wide variety of faiths and beliefs.
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, "Education is either for domestication or for freedom…There is no neutral education."
(1994). Beyond Individualism/Collectivism: New Cultural Dimensions of Values. In U.Kim, H.C. Triandis, C. Kagitcibasi, S. Choi & G. Yoon (Eds.). Individualism and Collectivism: Theory, Method, and Applications. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, pp. 112-115.
The United States currently has 42.1 million immigrants residing in America. Most immigrants traveled to the U.S for a more satisfying life for themselves and their families than the ones that they had had in the past. People from other countries view America as the “Land of Opportunities” but it is hard for the immigrants to adapt to the new culture of America. Culture is a shared set of values, customs, traditions, beliefs, and art that are passed down from generation to generation within an ethnic group. Culture partly has an impact on a person’s perspective on the world, but not as much as how parents and personal experiences influence a person’s view on achievements/attitude, values, and beliefs.
Cunningham, Lawrence S., and John J. . Reich. Culture and Values. 7th ed. Vol. 1. Belmont, CA: Thomson/Wadsworth, 2006. Print.
In today’s society, Cultural diversity in the United States of America can be seen in all aspects of life, such as in the media, workplace, household, and schools. Cultural diversity is defined as the characteristic of diverse cultures, as contradicting to monoculture, as in a homogenization of cultures, affiliated to cultural decay. In this present stage America, most individuals inaccurately use phrases such as “American culture,” or “Western culture,” as if such common and standardized cultures exist. People, in general, neglect to acknowledge the presence of cultural diversity, and cultural differences within the American society.
The United States is a country with a diverse existing population today; this country is known as a melting pot of different cultures, each one unique in its own respect. Culture; differentiate one societal group from another by identification beliefs, behaviors, language, traditions, Art, fashion styles, food, religion, politics, and economic systems. Through lifelong, ever changing processes of learning, creativity, and sharing culture shapes our patterns of behavior as well thinking. The Culture’s significance is so intense that it touches almost every aspect of who and what we are. Culture becomes the telescope through which we perceive and evaluate what is going on around us. Trying to define the perplexing term of culture with varying component of distinguishable characteristics is difficult to restrict. Presenly, culture is viewed as consisting primarily of the symbolic, untouched and conception aspects of human societies.
The age old question that many ask today is “what is an American?” America is continued to be called the “melting pot” of the world. This statement refers to the combination of different cultures and ethnicities throughout the United States. The diversity of America should not take away from the history and foundation it was found upon. ...
Without tradition of ethics, people would not be taught what to value. In the U.S., certain aspects of life are seen as more important, thus being passed through the family for all to cherish and learn from; however, some Americans are not happy with where this country stands in terms of what the people choose to render “valuable”. With 7 in 10 people saying that America’s morals have gotten worse over the years, 5 of those people will also bet that values will continue to take a downward spiral (Cohn). The broadness of this poll could very well be portraying any value, big or small. By “America’s values”, it could mean anything from as little as the style changes, to as big as respect for the government. One of the more effective representations of this negative turn is the influence religion has on the average American family. Atheism in this country has increased from 1% to 11% in the last 45 years. In this same amount of time, two-thirds of this country says the economy has gotten to be “uncontrollable, and on the wrong track,” (Cohn). These studies have exposed the values of the average U.S. citizen who is raising the next generation of beliefs. It is only them who c...
There are universal moral principles that are right for all individual at all times. Children are taught about moral values very early on, which will help them as they get older. Although, some people make mistakes and don’t always do what is morally right, moral principles are there to keep people in the right tract. People know that when they do something morally wrong consequences usually follow. According to James Rachels, who is a descriptive soft universalist, states that there are at least three universal values. “One: a policy of caring for enough infants to ensure the continuation of the group, two: a rule against lying, three: a rule against murder.” (Rosenstand, 2013, p. 142). According to Nina Rosenstand, people may disagree that
sure that one's child does not hurt him or her self or others, and that
In the rapid change of the world today, the importance of moral among youth seems decrease drastically among teenagers in the world. The society plays a huge role in misleading the youth with advertisement that seem to ruin the moral values. If the society pays good tribute on the welfare of the future generation, the future of our world will be better. Thus, the importance of moral values among youth also can help them discover and develop into a better person too. Those who value good moral get the privilege of modifying and altering their lives for the better. It helps youth to inculcate and good qualities inherited from healthy youth. General George Washington once said: Associate yourself with men of good quality if you esteem you own reputation negatively, it is better alone than in bad company. Hence, we can see that it is very importance to instill moral among youth. There are a lot of advantages of maintaining a good moral among teenagers such as: to avoid social problem, to develop a good friendship and relationship, ensuring peaceful country in the future, represent who we are and keeping a positive thinking.