By Joseph L. Bass

In his 1963 speech, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said, “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation in which they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.”

Character involves the distinctive mental and moral qualities of a person. Character involves a person’s good or bad characteristics, including temperament, temper, personality, persistence, personality and nature, and a person’s behavior toward others.

A person’s character is not shaped toward good or bad by natural intelligence. I have known really smart but very bad individuals. I have known people of outstanding character who were not blessed with even average intellect.

I knew a man of exceptional intelligence who had trouble keeping a job and is now living in the California prison system for life after murdering his wife. I knew a woman with less-than-average intelligence who has a good education and has never been unemployed. In both cases it was the character of these individuals that made the difference.

When I was still involved in public education, taught in several university demonstration preschools involving pre-kindergarten children. I got to teach and know children and their families as they advanced from kindergarten to high school graduation. From these experiences, I learned a child’s character is established before he or she arrives at the classroom door. Teachers and schools can help, but fundamentally a child’s path in life is set by parents, friends and other family members, starting at birth.

Children who develop good character and do well in life are taught from an early age the importance of persistence, self reliance and self sufficiency. They are taught the importance of good social skills and getting along with others.

They are taught to get a good education to develop their natural intellect. They are taught that doing well in life involves helping others do well. They are taught to maintain good health through exercise and quality eating habits.

These distinctive mental and moral qualities have been taught in Scouting and other such programs for generations.

Children who develop bad character and do not do well in life are taught from an early age to be dependent on government handouts and social welfare. They are taught the cards of the world are stacked against them and not to bother being persistent in attempting to overcoming difficulties.

They are taught everyone deserves to be a success in life, regardless of their actions and behavior. They are taught that if they are not successful it’s someone else’s fault.

Successful children with good character require parents who have good character to model the positive, distinctive mental and moral qualities their children need. But if parents do not model these qualities, why do we think their children will do any better?

Joseph L. Bass is the executive director of ABetterSociety.Info Inc., a nonprofit organization in Hobson. Email him at ABetterSociety1@aol.com.