In my previous article Character Building in American Schools, I failed to mention - purposely - that my wife’s meeting with the principal was not to address the character of the children or to introduce ‘character building’ into the lesson plan. In fact, it was actually to discuss the character of certain faculty or the lack thereof! And there are children living with the realities of their teachers having poor character every day, like Osama Al-Najjar a Staten Island student at the prestigious Tottenville HS, who is taunted daily not only by students but also by his teachers because of his name,
“…his ninth-grade math teacher started calling the Muslim teen of Palestinian descent “bin Laden” - and a security guard told him “we don’t want bin Laden’s son in our school…” (S. Cohen, New York Post)
Perhaps, if the character building - that I discussed in the above stated article - were implemented in the course curriculum, it would keep not only the children in check but also the adults who have poor manners and bad behavior.
