Parents and Teachers: Working Together to Cultivate Morality in All Children.
The moral development of children in today's society has become more challenging over the past two decades. The basic stages of moral judgment have not changed since the early 1950s. The understanding of who can impact moral maturity has expanded beyond peers to families and schools. The moral fibers of our nation do not need to be lost. If parents learn the importance of their role along with attaining support from the school and learning to work together, our nation's youth have a chance of restoring the moral fabric of our country. .
When listening to the news, reading current periodicals, or walking in the halls of a local high school, one might begin to wonder what is happening to the moral fabric of our country. On a given day it is no longer alarming to read about students attacking teachers, bringing weapons to school to get revenge, or sexually assaulting teammates in the locker room. These violent acts are happening among every socioeconomic class, in every state, and involve both genders among all races. There is not a single group of people that is safe from the moral decline of today's youth. When considering the facts, one might begin to lose hope for the future generation. .
With moral decline in question, there have been many new research studies conducted in order to understand the complexity of moral development of children. The studies have examined the role that parents, teachers, and peers play in this development. Damon (1999) reminds us "in the face of this grim news is that most children most of the time do follow the rules of their society, act fairly, treat friends kindly, tell the truth and respect their elders." There are just as many stories about children unselfishly volunteering in their communities, working with younger children and older citizens trying to make a difference in their communities.