Practicing Character: Justice

By CHARLES DEBELAK
Founder-in-Residence

This is the eighth installment of Mr. Debelak's Character Education series. This academic year, through essays and videos, Mr. Debelak has been discussing Birchwood School of Hawken’s character education program, explaining what we mean by good character, why we place importance on character education, and how we carry out an effective program that gets results. A companion video to this essay is linked below.

In this column, Mr. Debelak further explores the “How” of Character Education as he discusses putting into practice the Aristotelian virtue of Justice.
 
Practicing Character: Justice

As I have noted before, good character is the aggregate of habituated behaviors. For this reason, when I define virtues for children, I define them as activities that can be practiced. Through repeated practice, virtues become habituated and become a part of a child’s character.  

In this article, I explain how the virtue of “justice” can be practiced. 

To be “just,” whether in word or deed, is simply to be “right” toward the world we live in. It means children conduct themselves according to the standards of behavior depending upon specific environments. Children learn to do and say the right thing, at the right time, in the right place, for outcomes that can be judged by fair minded people as “the right thing to do.” 

In this context, I note two facets of justice that children can practice. First, children should learn to be just toward themselves. This means that they learn to value themselves and to choose activities and friendships which will help them become a better person. In this aspect, children learn attitudes and behaviors which lead to their own betterment as a person. 

For example, if they are at school, they learn to study seriously, listening to their teachers and making sure their school work is well done. If they are on an athletic team, they play earnestly, fulfilling their individual role on the team while supporting others. If they are studying music, they take responsibility to make each practice session important, fixing their mistakes and identifying their progress. 

Of course, we remember children are children. They will, and should, enjoy all the pleasures of a child’s life in America. But this does not preclude children from learning to value themselves as unique individuals having particular potentials. They learn to choose the activities and friendships that will enrich and uplift their lives. This is being just toward themselves

In addition, children need to be just toward others. Children live in communities. They have family, friends, classmates or teammates. In each community it is important that children realize they have responsibilities toward others. They need to consider the needs of others and the needs of the group at large. In a sense, they “owe” others kindness, consideration and support. 

This means that when children are with their families, they respect their parents and their siblings. They show kindness and support to each member of their family. When at school, children contribute positively to their classrooms. They are helpful friends and supportive classmates. They complete all their school work and do it well. When they are on a sports team, they support the other players and work in cooperation and coordination with them.

In each small or large community to which children belong, there are rules to follow and attitudes to hold which will benefit the group as a whole. To be just toward others, children assume responsibility to make their family, their class, or their team, better due to their own efforts.

Justice, defined as above, holds to definitive standards of behavior. It is necessary for children to understand that in each community situation there is good behavior and bad behavior. Good behavior should be acknowledged and bad behavior should be called out and disciplined. Granted, at times the lines of justice can become fuzzy, but for the most part, fair minded people and especially fair minded children have no problem declaring, “That is wrong. Stop it.” Or “Good job. Well done.”

This just means that good education requires parents and teachers to teach and enforce the line between right and wrong. Some behaviors are good and some behaviors are bad. Period. There is no middle ground, no room for excuses, no self-justifications. If children are to mature into responsible adults, then when they are young they need to develop a clear sense of justice. Parents and teachers must be unafraid to tell children that there are standards of behavior and that these standards do not change. 

From this initial habit of justice, children may grow into responsible adults. Justice will be habituated and these young people will be better equipped to exercise justice in a complex world. 

Surely, we understand that adult life is not that simple. There are many complex moral situations. Nevertheless, children need a starting point of right and wrong before they face life’s moral complexities. Therefore, if we want children to practice justice at a foundational level, we have to let them know what their responsibilities are in every setting among various groups of people.

For example, children need to know their responsibilities at home. Perhaps they need to learn how to set the dinner table, wash the dishes, or engage in light dinner conversation. Perhaps they need to be assigned household chores like cleaning their room or taking out the garbage. They might be old enough to do light yard work.

Maybe they need to be taught how to show respect and kindness to family members. Children need to learn their responsibilities toward their parents and siblings. They may need to be taught how to respect and honor their teachers or their coaches. They should know how to interact with their grandparents.

In other words, children need to learn that they are not the center of the world. They live in a world with other people. They belong to small and large communities, and in each community they have responsibilities. When they fulfill those responsibilities in word and action, they are practicing justice. The more they practice, the more these behaviors become habitual and good character is formed.

In this day and age, it is vitally important that children realize that the world does not revolve around their personal likes and dislikes. Rather children, like all human beings, are an integral part of many different communities, and though they have rights within their communities, they also have responsibilities to these same communities. 

View the companion video: "Practicing  Character: Justice"
 
Charles Debelak is Founder-in-Residence, along with his wife, Helene. Together, the Debelaks founded Birchwood in 1984. Mr. Debelak’s writing provides parents with information about sound educational principles and child development issues gleaned from history, contemporary research, and his 50-plus years of educating, coaching, and counseling children, young adults, and parents. This article appeared in the April/May 2025 edition of the school's monthly newsletter, "The Clipboard." 
Back

Recent Posts

List of 12 news stories.

.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

4400 West 140th Street  |  Cleveland, OH 44135  |  216.251.2321