An Amazing Journey

On an otherwise joyful summer afternoon ten years ago, I was extremely upset to realize my son was determined to walk away from me.  This lovable little boy, all of five years old, insisted on having his own way.  He dared to stand up to me, his mother!  Well, I was not having any of that.  I started to give vent to my frustration and commenced a tongue-lashing he deserved or so I thought.  What stopped me cold was the hurt look in his eyes.

Right about then, I remembered some advice a friend had kindly given me a few weeks before.  “Oh boy,” I thought to myself at the time, “isn't character education something schools should take care of?”  As I hugged my son to try and soothe away his dismay, my confusion mounted because I just knew we would go through this experience again in the future.

How was I to manage it without both of us throwing a fit every time?  How to avoid the dismay other parents had felt when children shut them out of their lives with walls of silence and sullen looks?  All I remembered of my friend's advice then was to whisper some encouragement, to let him know his Dad and I loved him for the essentially fine boy he was.  Some minutes later, he was mollified enough to squirm out of my embrace and ask to play with friends.

In the first flush of helping our babies talk and walk, all couples feel omnipotent.  “Why, I can do this!” they gleefully realize.  “Being a parent isn't so bad!  With all the caring and love we give this child, surely he will be just fine.”

To our disappointment, love is not enough.  All too soon, boys and girls become teenagers.  How do we make them discern what is positive and right without provoking rebellion and anger?  To us, it seems so simple.  These are little, everyday things, right?  Why don't children just abide by what we say, now and all through life?  Can't they see we're really too busy earning a living, coping with a demanding boss, harassed by unending bills?

When out of our sight, will they steer straight through every tempting escape an uncaring society offers them?  Do we have it in our power to shape them into well-adjusted adults before it is too late?  Is it too late even now?  Have you yourself been too busy to notice the hurt look and dismay in your children?  Or, in high school or college, have they now taken to throwing back at you every disappointment they ever felt?

In our quiet moments, we wonder if we have the right stuff after all.  Isn't “being there for them” well enough?  Who will tell us how to mold our wonderful children into upright and successful grown-up's?  Why don't I automatically know everything that is positive and right?

That night, I stayed up late reading all about “The Peaceful Solution Character Education Program”.  It was about developing strength of character in young people, true.  But accomplishing this in an enduring fashion, I learned, depended hugely on acquiring a positive view of outcomes, on mutual love and respect.

The very next opportunity I got, when my boy wanted to test his limits again, I began teaching him The Peaceful Solution in a way a pre-schooler could grasp.  To my surprise, he accepted things calmly and went back to playing.

In the months that followed, I discovered three perfectly amazing things.  The first was that my son behaved more responsibly without making a fuss as he used to.  Even better, as my husband and I practiced positive thinking, love and respect for our child, we inevitably shone much of it on each other, too.  Becoming better parents, we also matured as a couple and became much closer. 

The third revelation should not even have come as a surprise: there were huge numbers of misbehaving children out there who needed the firm guidance and self-respect that The Peaceful Solution could imbue them with.

After years of learning the Peaceful Solution and training to teach others, too, we first branched out by offering to run an after-class Character Education course in our city.  Parents and teachers were all for it but the students were initially unimpressed.  While the program coped admirably with teaching fair play, dignity and respect to children from 6 to 16 years, we seemed to be making no headway.  Only much later, when we had to take a break for a conference and saw how disappointed they were and then greatly pleased when we returned did we realize the impact we had.  Children valued learning how to make better decisions, after all, and to behave more courteously.

Everywhere we subsequently brought the program, the result has been unqualified success.  In program after program, initial skepticism among parents and teachers melted away in the face of children who consciously chose to behave the right way.  The Peaceful Solution Character Education Program even broke through the cynicism of juvenile home and prison inmates.

It is easy to be overwhelmed by the rising tide of juvenile delinquency, drug use, school shootings, teenage pregnancy, date rape and violent crime.  But we refuse to throw up our hands.  In schools and homes everywhere, we hold the greatness of the next generation in our hands.  It is entirely in our power to see them through to success and fulfillment.  Or, by sins of omission multiplied a thousand times, walk our children recklessly down the easy path to failure and frustration.

Today, we step beyond the physical confines of our city and state to reach out to more parents and teachers everywhere.  Our dedicated team of trainers will go on the Internet, determined to bring the benefit of dignity and righteous choice everywhere we can.

We have made our choice.  Why don't you step forward and make yours today?