The CHARACTER COUNTS!sm Coalition, a project of the Josephson Institute of Ethics is a national grassroots nonpartisan partnership of educational and youth-serving organizations all of whom are interested in promoting the theme of character building with America s kids.

One of CHARACTER COUNTS! most insightful publications is its simple one-page Quick Guide To Help Build Character. It really serves as a simple tutorial for parents, grandparents teachers, coaches and community leaders to focus on being educators for character with the kids they influence.

The Quick Guide has four points: Teach! Enforce! Advocate! Model! Let s take a look at this four-point character development strategy.

Teach! Teach children that their success and happiness will depend on who they are inside, not what they have or how they look. Tell them that people of character do know the difference between right and wrong because they guide their thoughts and actions by basic rules for living called character values. CHARACTER COUNTS! presents its Pillars of Character values: trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring and good citizenship.

Enforce! Reward good behavior and discourage all instances of bad behavior by imposing fair, consistent consequences that prove you are serious about character. Demonstrate courage and firmness of will by enforcing the core values when it is difficult to do so.

Advocate! Continuously encourage and advocate for character. Don t be neutral about the importance of character or casual about improper conduct. Be clear and uncompromising that you want the children you care about to be trustworthy, respectful, responsible, fair, caring and good citizens.

Model! Be careful and self-conscious about setting a good example. Everything you do and don t do sends a message about your values. Be sure the messages you send reinforce your lessons about doing the right thing even when it is hard to do so. Be accountable.

Being consistent, concrete and creative in helping the kids you care about become Kids of Character is a meaningful responsibility of every adult. America s kids deserve our mentoring, coaching and caring to help build a nation of character. To learn more about CHARACTER COUNTS!sm visit the website at www.charactercounts.org

– Russ Williams