The Effects of Character Education on Student Behavior

Character education has been a part of public schooling in the United States since its beginning. It has undergone dramatic changes over the years, from didactic instruction to service learning; it continues to evolve as more and more schools become involved in teaching students right from wrong. The current emphasis on character education in schools began in the early 1990s as an attempt to alleviate the increasingly violent behavior of students as reported in he m dia. The purpose of this study was to determine how character education affected the behavior of students. The study involved: observing student behavior; interviewing teachers, students, and parents to determine their perceptions of the effects of th character education program on student behavior; and reviewing disciplinary records to identify behavioral patterns. The findings from this study suggested that character education programs may have a positive effect on student behavior. Furthermoe, the findings led to recommendations regarding th