Changing the World of the Future, One-Kid-at-a-Time!
By Dave Metzler
For 34 years I have taught and been taught moral values. The context of our studies included many subjects of high moral value and not specifically isolated to the few virtues we call moral values. During this time I experienced many disappointments with both myself and those in association with me. What was sad was our inability to consistently be that which we "preached and teached" despite the best of intentions.Thus, I realized that something was missing. We found sufficient excuse for "falling short" - human frailty, imperfection, inclinations of the treacherous heart etc.
However, I observed some folk who stood above others, morally speaking; they made little claim to personal strength, yet their focus was narrow and tuned. And in most instances, they had exceptional parental guidance and stability within the home (love, bonding, loyalty etc). The problem, I realized, was that these quality folk were rare, much too rare to make a significant difference in our rapidly decaying moral society.
Also, I noticed that a particular program for the intense training of any particular moral value was non-existent. That is when I decided to formulate a program for children (they are still teachable to a certain degree) and have the methodology grounded in an interactive environment.
I use in my program an initial building of the DESIRE to have the moral value (my first book deals with HONESTY) - I try to show the rewards and the consequences. Then there are the ten exercises which help the child to understand and reason about honesty.
This program incorporates the use of the child's mirror (acting as a daily and constant reminder mechanism) and utilizes the "problem for the subconscious" factor. The child writes the question, "Am I honest?" on the mirror and that stays there for the duration of the exercise on honesty. (This could take as much as two to three months). I work on the premise that it takes three weeks to form a new habit, so if you are fully involved each day for six to twelve weeks on this subject matter and practicing the exercises, becoming honest becomes a habit.
Then we have the ten piece puzzle which is cut out of the book on the second page and stored by the child's coach. Each exercise that is completed is rewarded with the return of one piece of the puzzle. This piece is pasted onto the last inner page of the book. When all ten pieces have been pasted onto the page, the coach signs the page, cuts it out and posts it to me. In turn I post to the child a fancy graduation certificate on honesty, which they are encouraged to hang on their bedroom wall. Thereafter, the child qualifies to purchase at a reasonable price a beautiful Cool Values T-shirt. This will identify the child in public as worthy of commendation (and how).
If that were all, then we could say it stands a fair to middling chance of success, but the program has 30 books on moral values, each one intensely covering a particular value, with a unified methodology. Thus it will take over three years to complete the course. In three years, and with 30 certificates to collect, the child's success is almost guaranteed.
The beauty of the program is that it calls for the inclusion of a coach (mom, dad, aunt, granny, teacher, whoever), so we not only instill the values in the children, but as a by-product the adult gets it too!
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Do you know why you should be honest?
Here are some reasons for you to consider...
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If we can make this a "world movement," then our children stand a good chance of inheriting a future far more peaceful and secure than if they are left to historical efforts of education.
Everyone leaves the morals out of the equation. Schools leave it to parents, parents leave it to schools; the church is powerless in modern times and in fact have not got a program for the teaching of moral values, nor have they ever. However, I put forward this program as a teaching facility, not too different from the facility required to master a new language, and in fact it is a new language. Moral values are indeed the only solution to today's woes and also certainly those of the future.
Nothing else has worked, for if it did we would not have a world in such an incredible mess. I have sent copies of the book with covering letters to many powerful people such as Oprah, Arnold Schwarzenegger, George Bush, Nelson Mandela, Tony Blair and others. The program is not immediately digested by the casual reader, nor is it a topic that would catch the headlines, but it's significance is profound. It takes more than ordinary attention to "see" where this could lead.
We need to work intelligently and morally together to ensure that our children inherit a better home than the one we have. There is no need for an Albert Einstein to understand where we are going as a human race if we lack a proper system of moral education!
With you in changing the world of the future, one-kid-at-a-time!