The Bookish Virtues
Perry Glanzer on Public-School Character Education
Should state legislatures tell us what kind of character our children should acquire? Actually, many states already do. Seven states recently passed a law requiring public schools to teach students “courage.” Texas and Virginia mandate that students learn to be “reliable,” and Arizona insists that they learn “orderliness,” while five states (Florida, Georgia, Iowa, South Carolina, and Texas) now require that children acquire “patience.”
States are legislating virtue like never before. In this case, “virtue” means certain qualities of personal character, a much vaguer and . . .
