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Hero For Christ

Moral Instruction



© 2007 Christopher Sunami
5/20/07

In his dialog, The Meno, Greek philosopher Plato poses the question whether good moral character can be taught, and if so, why so many virtuous parents have immoral children. The dialog ends seemingly with the notion that virtue cannot be taught.

In contrast, however, I believe that there is a simple and effective way to teach good moral values to children (or adults). The secret is this: Preaching good values has little effect, being a good role-model has a limited effect, and simply dumping someone in a situation that demands moral choices is a recipe for disaster as often as it is a recipe for success.

The right way to teach morals, therefore, is to walk a person through a moral process. This involves the following steps:
  1. Place the person in the situation requiring a moral choice.
  2. Explain what the correct moral choice is, and why.
  3. Model the correct behavior.
  4. Guide the person through the process of making the right moral choice.
Thus, if you want to teach a child to be generous, the correct move is not to simply tell them to be generous, nor to merely be generous towards them, nor yet to abandon them in a situation requiring generosity and expect them to freely make the right choice. Instead, find a situation that offers a good opportunity to involve the child in a moral choicemaking action: For example, perhaps you and your child pass a Salvation Army bellringer at Christmas time. If you just pass by, your child will clearly not learn any lessons of generosity, and if you give money yourself, the child may see your behavior but not identify with it.

Instead, explain why the bellringer is collecting money, and what the money will be used for. Then, give your child some money, and instruct him or her to put it in the bucket. In effect, you are still the one giving the money, but your child becomes an active participant in the giving process. He or she thus can experience the pleasures of doing the right thing from the inside. By consistently guiding children through the correct moral choices in such situations, you can build patterns of behavior that will persist for a lifetime.

See Also:

  1. Social+Change
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