The formation of character in young people is educationally a different task from and a prior task to, the discussion of the great, difficult ethical controversies of the day. Our common language is English. And our common task is to ensure that our non-English-speaking children learn this common language. It is our character that supports the promise of our future - far more than particular government programs or policies. If we want our children to possess the traits of character we most admire, we need to teach them what those traits are and why they deserve both admiration and allegiance. Children must learn to identify the forms and content of those traits. Government, obviously, cannot fill a child's emotional needs. Nor can it fill his spiritual and moral needs. Government is not a father or mother. Government has never raised a child, and it never will. Give yourself an even greater challenge than the one you are trying to master and you will develop the powers necessary to overcome the original difficulty. For children to take morality seriously they must be in the presence of adults who take morality seriously. And with their own eyes they must see adults take morality seriously. A kind and compassionate act is often its own reward. There are no mental jobs, only mental attitudes. | 
