Related Words:

Bravery     Spirit     Resolution     Heroism

• Aristotle believed that courage is the first of human virtues because it makes the other virtues possible. Courage is not blind to dangers or difficulties; it is the capacity to persist in spite of fears, failures and suffering. That is why courage permeates every aspect of a worthy life.
• Courage is a way of life. It is as much a habit as anything else. Although we don't notice it, a lot of courage is part of our routines.
• Courage is like a muscle that becomes stronger the more it's used.
• Courage is not careless or thrill seeking foolishness. Danger may be present in both. However, courageous actions are undertaken because the risk of inaction is not tolerable.
• Courage is the ability not to give into peer pressure and to try new things which may fail.
• Not all fears are bad. Fear is a natural response intended to protect us. It's knowing what's more important to defend.
• The types of heroes you admire are a good way to gain insight into what you feel is important. Real-life heroes often view their actions as unimportant compared to the value of the purpose behind them.

I.    HOW STUDENTS CAN DEVELOP COURAGE: 

A.    Suggested Steps:

• Here´s the first rule: "Everyone is afraid." Everyone you meet is afraid in some way, often in many ways. As Mark Twain said, "Courage is not absence of fear; it is control of fear, mastery of fear." The brave person is the person who acts in spite of his or her fear, who faces the fear, and moves forward regardless.
• Here´s the second rule: Confront Your Fears "Fears diminish and lose their power over you as you confront them and move toward them; conversely, every time you back away from a fear situation, the fear grows and becomes more powerful."

          Make It A Habit.

• The only way to develop courage is to consciously and continuously make a habit of confronting your fear of treating every fear-inducing situation as a challenge and as an opportunity to become stronger, more resolute.
• Here´s the third rule: Do The Thing You Fear "Do the thing you fear and the death of fear is certain." Psychologists call this the process of "systematic desensitization," doing it over and over until it holds no fear for you at all. Many businesspeople who have been so afraid of public speaking that they couldn't´t lead a silent prayer in a phone booth have used this process of eliminating fear.

B.   PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS & This Year's Reflection Theme is
      "A different kind of hero":

1.  The words courage and heroism are often used interchangeably. But are all people who have courage considered heroes? Do all heroes have courage? What are the different types of heroes? Where are they today?
2. Life Magazine's editor, Motley's argues that present-day heroes may be unnoticed rather than unavailable. After pointing out that the first astronauts appeared on none of the popular most-admired lists of the '60s, he asks, "Could it be we're looking in the wrong places? If we overlooked the astronauts 36 years ago, whom might we overlook now?"
3. In his book "Beyond Identity", Dick Keyes notes that present-day heroes are no longer heroic for things like courage (Davy Crockett or Christopher Columbus.) Rather today's heroes are admired for things like athletic ability (Michael Jordon), wealth (Athina Onassis), beauty (Cindy Crawford), or simply celebrity status. You may admire them, but they leave you feeling unsuccessful, frustrated, and ashamed at their lifetime beyond their current fame status. So, where are today's heroes? Part of the reason why we're looking in the wrong places for our heroes may be that we're looking for the wrong things in our heroes.
4. So, if we're going to spot inspiring heroes, we need to look for the right stuff such as moral character as opposed to passing things like beauty and wealth.
5. We're also going to have to look in the right places. So where have all the heroes gone? The answer is they haven't gone anywhere. Our best heroes are still ordinary people, people who--because of their courage and other qualities - do extraordinary things right here every day.

II.   PARENTS TIPS FOR ENCOURAGING COURAGE:

1. Every parent wants to prepare their child to confidently meet the challenges of life. Challenges come in all sizes and levels of importance and require different amounts of courage.
2. In the newly released book "Raising Courageous Kids: Eight Steps to Practical Heroism" (Sorin Books, July 2004, paperback, 224 pages), author Charles Smith offers parents a treasure chest of resources for recognizing and nurturing the qualities of courage and heroism within their children. Raising Courageous Kids describes the development of courage in children in eight steps from infancy to early adolescence. At each step, children experience a discovery that enables them to learn an essential strength.

• From power to willpower
• From community to caring
• From danger to vigilance
• From fear to composure
• From self to empathy
• From morality to integrity
• From justice to honor
• From responsibility to valor

1. The eight steps are arranged in a developmental sequence of critical periods. Willpower, for example, makes its first appearance as babies push themselves up from their cribs, reach for objects, and gesture to a parent for help. A toddler gets up after falling down. A two-year-old tells his dad, “NO! ME NOT go bed!” A wise parent recognizes the precious spark of willpower even while insisting that it’s the child’s bedtime. Children need parents who convey the strength of their restrictions.
2. During the preschool years, children begin to develop the ability to recognize and evaluate danger, which I call vigilance. Brain structures responsible for understanding context and the assessment of risk grow stronger. Children also learn to regulate and moderate their fear arousal through composure. Imagine a preschooler climbing up a slide for the first time or a first grader jumping off a diving board. These little victories over fear are stepping stones to greater accomplishments as children grow older. Composure reduces the danger of panic, which only increases risk.
3. During late preschool and the early elementary years, children can learn empathy, which involves both awareness of how the lives of others differ from their own and compassion toward their suffering. Caring and empathy both work together to contribute to valor.
4. Children can also begin to form a moral foundation that builds integrity. Their internal code is more like a gyroscope that points to true north than a wind vane that simply points to where the wind blows.
5. Accepting accountability for the consequences of one’s choices demonstrates a commitment to justice and the capacity for honor. Children can learn that they make choices that have an effect on others.
6. The final step is the capacity for valor, the ability to elevate courage by a noble purpose. A young teen may intervene when someone is being attacked or facing some other danger. They do not simply stand back passively, but neither do they act recklessly without regard for their own safety or that of others.
7. Each of these eight steps combine in movement more like a dance over time than walking up a flight of stair steps. The eight steps build on each other and continue to grow throughout childhood. Movement from one step to another occurs naturally. Raising Courageous Kids is not a program, curriculum or childrearing script.
8. As you read the suggested practices at each step, you will discover that many are already part of your childrearing. Raising Courageous Kids is more than a celebration of the amazing powers of the human spirit that have already taken place. It is also a celebration of the wonderful things you do to inspire your children to rise above fear and give something worthwhile back to life. Fore more information and reviews, see 'http://www.familycircle.com/book/book2.jsp and http://www.ksu.edu/wwparent/programs/hero/hero-des-qa.htm. GREAT WEBPAGE, Hero = Awareness Care Intelligence Strength Action with multiple lessons; a dozen case studies of people with courage; 7 metaphors to animals.
9. http://www.ksu.edu/wwparent/programs/courage/guides.htm Discussion Guides for Parents, Grandparents, Teachers, Teens and Spiritual Guides.

III.  ACTIVITIES AND DISCUSSIONS TO HAVE TOGETHER:

A.     Recognize our Veteran's Service on November 11; For ideas, go to http://www1.va.gov/vetsday/

 

B.     Giraffe Project is a not-for-profit whose motto is "This Moving people to stick their necks out for the common good" The world needs heroes, people with vision and courage, people who are willing to stick their necks out and take responsibility for solving tough problems, on the planet and on the block. The Giraffe Project has been finding these heroes and commending them as "Giraffes" since 1982. For more information, see http://www.giraffe.org/heroes.html

 

C.     List Fears: All intelligent people are afraid of something. It is normal and natural to be concerned about your physical, emotional and financial survival. The question is, how do you deal with the fear? The courageous person is simply one who goes forward in spite of the fear. When you confront your fears and move toward what you are afraid of, your fears diminish and your self-esteem and self-confidence increase.

However, when you avoid the thing you fear, your fears grow until they begin to control every aspect of your life. And as your fears increase, your self-esteem, your self-confidence and your self-respect diminish accordingly.

Begin filling out your list of fears by writing down everything, major and minor, over which you experience any anxiety. The most common fears, of course, are the fear of failure and the fear of rejection. Then discuss:

• How does this fear hold me back in life?
• How does this fear help me, or how has it helped me in the past?
• What would be my pay-off for eliminating this fear?

            For more tips on this solo or family exercise, see http://www.qjmail.com/articles/courage.html

D.     Great links for many more "hero" sites at http://surfaquarium.com/newsletter/heroes.htm

E.     "Code Mom" and "Code Dad" With all this courage of speaking up, there are still times that kids need to be unconditionally loved or helped. Consider coming up with a family signal for children to know that they can come to talk with parents without fear of reprisal. It's a "family immunity" when communication is more important than the consequences when a child may be in trouble and their safety is at risk. For example, my parents always told me that they would come get me, regardless. Once in college when I called in the early hours of the morning, my dad gladly came and got me and was happy that I didn't get into a car with a drunk driver... no questions asked.

IV.   QUOTES:

“To see what is right and not to do it is cowardice.” by Confucius (K'ung-Fu-tzu), Chinese philosopher (551-479 B.C.)

 “ne man with courage makes a majority.” by Andrew Jackson, American military hero and U.S. president (1767-1845)

 “It is better to die on one’s feet than to live on one’s knees.” by Albert Camus, French "existentialist" novelist (1913-1960)

 “Cowards die many times before their deaths; the valiant never taste of death but once.” by William Shakespeare, English dramatist (1564-1616)

 “Behold the turtle. He makes progress only when he sticks his neck out.” by James Bryant Conant

 “What you are afraid to do is a clear indicator of the next thing you need to do.”

 “Courage is the first of human qualities because it is the quality which guarantees all the other things.”

 “Success in not final, failure is not fatal; it is the courage to continue that counts.” by Winston Churchill

 “ Why not go out on a limb? Isn’t that where the fruit is?” by Frank Scully

 “We don't develop courage by being happy every day. We develop it by surviving difficult times and challenging adversity.” by Mary Tyler Moore

 Profiles in Courage -During 1954-1955, John F. Kennedy, then a U.S. Senator, chose eight of his historical colleagues to profile for their acts of astounding integrity in the face of overwhelming opposition.

V.   UPCOMING EVENTS & NEWS: : 

1. October 25 Make A Difference Day - Neighbors helping neighbors. Encourage Charity with Grants available. E-mail: diffday@usaweekend.com
2. Make A Difference Day Hot Line: 1-800-416-3824 -- http://www.usaweekend.com/diffday/aboutmadd.html
3. October 22-31 Red Ribbon Week; Please see http://www.wakeptacouncil.org
4. The Army Child & Youth Services (CYS) has formally partnered with CHARACTER COUNTS!, the country’s most widely-adopted character education framework. CHARACTER COUNTS! is already active on several Army posts. Remember Nov. 11 is Veteran's Day

 Thank you for reading all of this long Character Counts, but there was just so many great articles out there to tell you about courage!

Character Corner compiled by Nancy Caggia, WCPTA Character Education Chair:   nancyc121@nc.rr.com