The Importance of Character Education

The Importance of Character Education

Education applied in schools and colleges requires maximizing skills and cognitive abilities. With such understanding, there are actually other things of a child or student that is equally important unknowingly neglected. That is providing character education to students.

Character education is important as counterweight of cognitive skill. Some facts that we often found, a wealthy businessman is not generous, a politician or state official does not care about the poor, or a teacher is not concerned about the street children who do not get a chance to learn in school. It is the evidence that there is no balance between cognitive education and character education.

Character education is education that emphasizes on the formation of character values ??in children or students.

Basic characteristics of character education are formulated by an originator of character education from German named FW Foerster:

1. Character education emphasizes on every action that guides on normative values. A child or student respects the existing norms and guide on the norms.

2. The existence of coherence or building confidence and courage, so a child will be a firm stance personal and not be easily swayed and afraid of risk every facing new situation.

3. The existence of autonomy: students understand and practice the outside rules to be values for them. By doing so, the students are able to make decisions independently without being influenced by pressure from outside parties.

4. Firmness and loyalty. Firmness is students� durability in realizing what is considered good. Loyalty is basic respect for the commitment chosen.

Character education will make superior personal that not only has cognitive ability but also character that is able to realize success. Based on research at Harvard University in United States, a person's success is not solely determined by knowledge and technical abilities and the cognition (hard skill), but the ability to manage himself and others (soft skill).

The research reveals that success is only determined about 20 percent by hard skill and 80 percent by the soft skill. Furthermore, soft skill is formed through the implementation of character education in children.

Process of Character Formation in Children

Process of Character Formation in Children

Character formation of a child takes time and commitment of the parents and schools or teachers to educate the child to become characterized personal. It takes effort, time and love of the environment where he grows up, love here does not mean featherbed.

The character of a nation is an important aspect that affects socio-economic development. High quality character of the community will surely grow a strong desire to improve the quality of a nation. This best character development is when it is started at an early age.

Thomas Lickona said, "A child is just a place in which a responsible adult can be created". Therefore, preparing the child is felicitous human investment strategy. A famous statement revealed, "Children are only about 25% of the total population, but they determine 100% of the future". It has been proven that the most effective period to form the character of children is before 10 years old. It is expected that character formation in this period will have impact that will last long for the moral formation of children.

It is normal if we expect the family as the main actors in educating basic morals in children. However, there are many children, particularly children who live in poor areas, do not get moral education of their parents.

Low socio-economic condition is related to various issues, such as poverty, jobless, low education levels, low socialized life, and usually it is also associated with high stress levels and further affecting the parenting. A study showed that children who live in poor areas 11 times higher in accepting negative behaviors (such as physical and mental violence, and neglected) than children from higher-income families.

Dorothy Law Nolte has stated that children learn from the life environment. The complete statement is:

If a child lives with reproach, he learns cursing

If a child lives with hostility, he learns to fight

If a child lives with ridicule, he learns inferiority

If a child lives with humiliation, he learns self-sorry

If a child lives with tolerance, he learns restraint

If a child lives with praise, he learns to appreciate

If a child lives with the best handling, he learns justice

If a child lives with security, he learns to trust

If a child lives with support, he learns to please himself

If a child lives with love and friendship, he learns to find love in life

Education of Child�s Character Development

Education of Child�s Character Development 

Basically, the basic task of a child's development is developing a true understanding of how the world works. In other words, the main task of a child in the development is learning �game rules� of all aspects that exist in this world. Children also should learn to understand the rules of social relationships, so that there are laws and penalties that govern the behavior of community members in social life.

According to Garbarino & Brofenbrenner (in Vasta, 1992), if a nation wants to survive, the nation should have rules that determine what is wrong and what is right, what is allowed and what should not be done, what is fair and what is unfair, what is appropriate and inappropriate. Therefore, it needs ethics in speech, rules in traffic, and other social rules.

Understanding "game rules" in the world life and internalizing in ourselves, so as be able to apply "rules of the game" in daily life as well as possible is the duty of every child in the development. The habit of throwing garbage in its place, queuing, not harming or hurting others, and other behaviors that indicate good understandings of social rules are the results of moral and mental quality developments of a person called character.

Of course, a good or bad habit in a person - which indicates the quality of the character, does not happen by itself. It has been mentioned that beside nature factor, nurture factor is also influential. In other words, the process of socialization or education done by family, school and the wider environment plays an important role, perhaps even more important, in the formation of a person's character.

According to Megawangi (2003), children will grow into characterized personals if they can grow in characterized environment, so that the nature of every holy child born can develop optimally. Considering the child's environment is not only a family environment that is micro, all the family, school, mass media, and so on contribute to the development of children's character. In other words, developing the next generation with good character is the responsibility of all parties. Keep in mind that human beings are not naturally (spontaneously) to grow into a man with good character.

Role of Family in Child�s Character Education

Role of Family in Child�s Character Education

Sociologists believe that family has an important role in determining the progress of a nation, so they theorize that family is very important unit in society, so if families that are society foundation are weak, then the society will be weak. Therefore, sociologists believe that the problems in the community are results of the weakness of family.

For a child, family is the first and main place for the growth and the development. According to the resolution of UN General Assembly (in Megawangi, 2003), the main function of family is "as a vehicle to educate, nurture and socialize the child, to develop the ability of all members to be able to function well in society, and to provide satisfaction and a healthy environment in order to achieve prosperous family".

According to educational experts, William Bennett (in Megawangi, 2003), family is the most early and effective place to perform the functions of Health Department, Education, and Welfare. If a family fails to teach honesty, passion, desire to be the best, and basic skills, it will be difficult for other institutions to fix the failures.

It can be concluded that family has an important role for character education of children. If the family fails to make character education for their children, it will be difficult for other institutions outside the family (including schools) to fix it.

The failure of family in forming children�s character will result in the growth of the community which is not characterized. Therefore, every family should have awareness that the character of a nation is depended on the character education of children in the home.

Important aspects in Child�s Character Education

Important aspects in Child�s Character Education 

To form a child�s character, it is needed fundamental requirements for the formation of a good personality. According to Megawangi (2003), there are three basic needs of children that must be met; they are maternal bonding, safety, and physical and mental stimulation.

1. Maternal bonding (psychological proximity to the mother) is an important base in the formation of character because this aspect plays a role in the formation of basic trust to other people (trust) in children. This proximity makes the child feel cared and secure so that creating a sense of trust. According to Erikson, the basic belief that is grown through mother-child relationship in the first years of a child's life will give provision for child's success in the social life when he grows up. In other words, strong emotional bond between mother and the child in the early age can form good personality in children.

2. The need for security is the child�s need of stable and secure environment. This need is important for the formation of child�s character due to the environment changing will harm the baby's emotional development. Caregivers changing will also negatively affect the emotional development of children. According to Bowlby (in Megawangi, 2003), it is normal for a baby to seek contact with only one person (usually the mother) in the early stages of infancy. Child's emotional chaos that occurs in the absence of security sense alleged by the nutritionists is associated with trouble eating in children. Of course, this is not conducive to optimal child growth.

3. The need of physical and mental stimulation is also important aspect in the formation of character. Of course, this requires great attention from parents and reciprocal reaction between a mother and her child. According to some children education experts, a mother who is very attentive (measured from the frequency of the mother looking at her son's eyes, stroking, holding, and speaking to her son) to her children aged under six months will affect the attitude of the baby to be happy child, enthusiastic exploring environment, and a creative child.

Parenting Determines the Success of Childs Character Education

Parenting Determines the Success of Childs Character Education

The success of a family in instilling good values ?? (character) in children is depended on the type of parenting that is applied by the parents to their children. Parenting can be defined as an interaction pattern between children and parents including physical needs (such as eating, drinking, etc.) and psychological needs (such as a sense of security, affection, etc.), and norm socialization prevailing in the society to make the children live in harmony with the environment. In other words, parenting also includes interaction pattern of parents and the children in the context of children character education.

Rohner�s research result (in Megawangi, 2003) shows that childhood experiences influence the development of one's personality (character or emotional intelligence). The study - which uses PAR theory (Parental Acceptance-Rejection Theory) - shows that parents parenting, both acceptance and rejection of the child, will affect the development of emotional, behavioral, social-cognitive, and psychological health as adults later.

In this case, the definition of children accepted is a child given love, both verbally (given words of love and affection, words of encouragement, support, and praise), and physically (given kiss, caress on the head, hug, and friendly eye contact). Meanwhile, children rejected are the children who receive aggressive behavior of the parents, both verbally (rant, negative innuendo, yelling, and other words that can discourage), and physically (hitting, pinching, or slapping). Parental rejection can also be indifference or neglect, which is not care of child needs both physical and mental, or undifferentiated rejection, that is not too visible firm of rejection, but children feel unloved and unaccepted by their parents, although the parents do not feel that.

Rohner�s research result indicates that accepting parenting makes a child feel loved, protected, considered valuable, and supported by his parents. This parenting is very conducive to support in forming pro-social personality, confidence, and independent but very concerned with the environment. Meanwhile, rejecting parenting can make children feel unaccepted, unloved, diminished, and even hated by their parents. Children who are rejected by their parents will become independent people or dependent look but not care about others. In addition, the children will be easily to take offense, and have negative view towards others and towards life, being very aggressive to others, or feeling inferior and worthless.

Parents� Mistakes in Educating Their Children

Parents� Mistakes in Educating Their Children

Parenting Type applied by parents to their children determines the success of character education of children. Mistake in parenting will result in failure in the formation of good character.

According to Megawangi (2003), there are some parents mistakes in educating children which can affect the development of children emotional intelligence resulting in the formation of character, They are:

1. Lack of affection both verbally and physically.

2. Less spend enough time for their children.

3. Being verbally rude, such as quipping, discouraging children, and rude speaking.

4. Being physically violent, such as hitting, pinching, and providing other physical punishment.

5. Too force children to master the cognitive abilities early.

6. Not embedding 'good character' to the child.

According to Megawangi, the impact of the incorrect parenting will produce bad personality or low emotional intelligence of the children.

Children become indifferent; they do not need the others, and cannot accept friendship. Because since childhood, they experience anger, distrust, and other negative emotional disorders. When they are adults, they would refuse support, sympathy, love and other positive responses from those around them. They are seemed very independent, but not welcome and liked by others.

Emotionally they are unresponsive, in which the children rejected will not be able to give love to others.

Being Aggressive, they always want to hurt people either verbally or physically.

Being inferior, they feel worthless and useless.

Always having negative view on the surrounding environment, such as insecurity, worry, inferior, suspicious of others, and feel others being criticized him.

Emotional instability, that is not tolerant or resistant to stress, irritability, and unpredictable characteristics.

The balance between emotional and intellectual development. Other negative impacts can be learning strike, and even can trigger juvenile delinquency, and so on.

Parents who do not give security and give too much pressure on the child, will make the child not close, and not make them as the "role model", the child will have more believe in "peer group" so he is easily influenced by negative society.