Who is Dr. Brown?
Philip Brown, PhD, is a Senior consultant at NSCC. He is also a Fellow of the Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology at Rutgers University where he founded and directed the Center for Social and Character Development. He has been principal investigator on several U.S. Department of Education grants, including research studies on evidence-based practices. Phil has served in student support services related management positions in the New Jersey Department of Education and the Pennsylvania Department of Health for 25 years, as a school board director, founder and president of the New Jersey Alliance for Social, Emotional and Character Development and is a member of the National School Climate Council. With colleagues from Fordham and Marshall Universities he is co-editor of the Handbook of Prosocial Education (2012).
How is he helping Wear the Cape families?
Dr. Brown is parlaying his extensive knowledge on character development—utilized throughout the education system—into an invaluable playbook for the home. On behalf of Wear the Cape and as his first contribution to its mission of restoring the power of kindness and good character, Dr. Brown has undertaken a very important initiative to help guide parents across the country in fostering the development of character in their kids. We’re calling this resource for families the Cape Code Project!
Cape Code Project
by Philip Brown, PhD
Introduction: Why the Cape Code Project Is Important Now
The Cape Code Project offers opportunities for families to engage in character-building activities. Character is not a simple concept, as it turns out. Different cultures define what it means to be of good character differently, and we have defined and seen it differently over our country’s history. For example, did you know that character and moral education were the most important elements in the first public schools in America during the Colonial period? It was felt that good character was necessary for full participation in a new democracy, where concern for the welfare of all was an essential ingredient in recognizing the dignity of every human being and an electorate that would be governed by more than self-interest.
These days the very idea of moral education as the province of public schools is hardly present, and certainly not a priority. While social, emotional and character education is present in some schools, the role of parents as moral educators is more important than ever given our current culture’s emphasis on wealth and status-seeking. Of course religious institutions play a significant role in guiding moral development as well, and if your family is actively engaged in a faith tradition, you can easily adapt the Cape Code Project to fit within and enhance the moral education component of your religious orientation.
The Cape Code Projects requires that you take some time with your school-age children to Wear the Cape together. In fact, in our view engaging in this effort makes parents hometown heroes! Why? Because just taking the time to focus on the importance of core ethical values provides the basis for creating a better family, better community and better world. It’s not so important how much time you take at any one family meeting, but that you use the project in a way that 1) reinforces your family’s chosen values, 2) becomes a regular feature of your talk and actions, 3) provides you a way to deepen your relationships with each other, and 4) encourages you to reach out beyond the boundaries of your family to spread your moral wealth.
What is the Cape Code Project?
The Cape Code Project invites you to establish a family code of conduct, using the Wear the Cape purpose and ideas as the starting point. Wear the Cape is all about emphasizing and exemplifying the power of kindness in our actions and about recognizing that whatever our age or station in life, that we can make a positive difference in other people’s lives.
What is a code of conduct? In essence a code of conduct consists of the principals, values, standards and rules of behavior that guide the interactions and decisions of your family in a way that (a) contributes to the wellbeing of all family members, and (b) respects the dignity and rights of all family members.
So, let’s get started!
Cape Code Project Framework
Establishing your family’s core ethical values
Core ethical values are important because they represent the basic characteristics of being human that we want to guide our behavior with each other as family members. Obviously, parents and children have different roles in a family. Parents have greater responsibility for meeting children’s basic needs to be fed and housed, for example, and to provide a supportive environment for their physical development. But for a society to operate successfully this list must also include supporting social, emotional, and character development, as well. Children should have more responsibility for themselves and as contributing members of the family as they grow up. When we were predominately an agrarian society this transition was obvious, as there was always plenty of work to be done and children were needed to help to sustain the family. But in our more abundant society, it takes more intentional thought to develop ways to support the development of critical values on which Wear the Cape is focused.
Activity #1: Discovering and agreeing upon your family’s core ethical values
Background: What are core ethical values? The definition we like is from Tom Lickona, one of the pioneers in the character education movement:
“A value is a belief about what is good that transcends a specific situation and that guides judgment and decision making (Rokeach). In order for a value to be a ‘core ethical value’ it must be of central importance in the life of the individual and life of the community (Likona).” A core ethical value must have all of the following characteristics (source: Character Education Partnership):
- Universal
- Moral and ethical in nature
- Supportive of our democracy and democratic way of life
- Affirming and supportive of every individual
- Important to relationships
- Important to decision making
- Significant, rather than trivial
What is important about this list is that it helps us distinguish between core ethical values and preferential values, that is values that guide lifestyle preferences or non-moral aspects of our behavior. These other values may seem very important to family members, and especially children, and when we make decisions they can be in conflict with core ethical values – think, consumer values, what makes me feel good right now but is not significant in the long run (expensive treats, new sneakers, a new car, playing video games, watching junk TV, putting someone down to make me feel superior or show off to my friends).
Core ethical values can also be thought of in traditional terms as virtues, the habits of mind and action that propel us to do the right thing rather than act in ways that may harm others or ourselves. For example, Aristotle emphasized the virtues of courage and temperance, and Benjamin Franklin defined one of his 13 virtues, Justice, as: Wrong none by doing injuries, or omitting the benefits that are your duty.
Activity:
- Call a family meeting. If you don’t have family meetings, simply let everyone know that you will be spending 20-30 minutes talking about something important after dinner or at another time. (How you organize this as with other suggestions need to take into account the ages of your children as well as your own family culture — how you get along with each other.)
- Describe that you want to come up with a few values that you can all agree are important for helping and caring for each other as well as getting things done that you need to do so everyone can get their needs met. Use the information in the background section to talk about what values are and what ethical values are and how they are different than other values.
- As parents, you may decide that there are a couple values that you want to present as core values for your family, such as responsibility and respect, but allow for children to explore their ideas about what values they think are important as well. For example, children typically think that the core ethical value of fairness is very important (there is some evidence that this value may have a genetic basis).
- Discuss and reach consensus on which core ethical values are going to guide your family for the future. Make sure everyone has a chance to weigh in, even if younger children may not yet fully understand the purpose of what you are doing. Indicate that you will have another family meeting in the future to see how everyone feels about these values and whether you want to add to or change them. Tip: Select not more than five core values — a longer list becomes too complicated to work with and emphasize; three is usually enough to begin with.
- Discuss what each one means in general. You may want to use a couple dictionary definitions or definitions from your faith tradition to fill out the sense of what they mean.
Activity #2: Defining your core ethical values in behavioral terms
Background: The second and critical task in making family core ethical values real and useful to guide and support positive relationships is defining what the values mean in terms of specific behaviors. For relationships to be positive and supportive, we need to have expectations of each other, be aware, clear and explicit regarding them, be flexible about them in terms of the circumstances of everyday life, and understanding when we fail to meet them. This is not about setting the stage for ‘I gotcha ya” or retribution and punishment. Using core values as guidelines allow for examining our behaviors and modifying them, giving positive support and feedback to each other and as a way of thinking and reflecting about our behavior ourselves.
Activity:
- Depending on the age of your children and their attention span, at the same or a subsequent family meeting indicate you now need to define your selected core ethical values in terms of specific kinds of behaviors. Use a blackboard, computer or paper and make two lists for each core value: 1) Examples of what the value looks like and sounds like when we are doing it; 2) Examples of what the value looks like and sounds like when we are not doing it. For example, if your family has chosen the core ethical of respect, you might list under 1) – Show that you are listening when someone talks to you by stopping what you are doing and looking at them. Under 2) you might list – Interrupting someone when they are talking to you.
- Make sure that children have a chance to come up with many if not most of the behavioral examples, as it is their perspective and agreement that you are after to make sure they both understand what is expected of them, but also what they think is important in their own world view.
- Post the behavioral definitions in a place that everyone can see and say that you will use them to help keep everyone on track. Indicate that you will review them in a few weeks to see if you need to add any examples, and that everyone can come up with good ideas for behaviors that would help support the family being loving, caring people.
Activity #3: Making it real for your Cape Kids: How to bring core ethical values to life
Background: Making your clan’s core ethical values a meaningful part of family life depends on how you use them. Remember that the purpose is to provide a basis for greater caring and positive conduct by all members of the family – and this means parents, too! The core values should be used to support children’s evolving skills and understanding of moral and ethical behavior. As they grow older, children, like adults, are faced with conflicts that sometimes pit values such as honesty and loyalty against each other (e.g., reporting a close friend’s bad behavior).
Here’s how to set your hard work from Activities 1 and 2 in motion:
Activity:
- Reinforce examples of positive behaviors that exemplify your family values. In order to underscore and internalize the meaningfulness of your values, emphasize them by reminding children (and adults) when they are ‘caught doing good’. If one of your values is responsibility, say something like, “Thanks for getting out there and shoveling the walk before I even asked you to do it – that’s really taking responsibility for helping me and the whole family.”
- Use the values to identify behavior lapses or poor conduct, always indicating that it is the conduct not the person you are calling out. The core values should be guideposts for positive conduct, not reasons for punishment.
- Develop and practice how you will use the core values as part of discipline. If there is conduct that, according to your family rules, requires punishment, such as removal of privileges or a time-out, start the conversation by asking which of the family values the behavior violated. If the conduct was failing to get ready for school on time resulting in getting to school late, the conversation might start with 1) identifying the behavior (‘you were playing video games instead of getting dressed on time’), 2) asking which of the values this behavior did not support (responsibility), 3) asking the child to say what kind of behavior would support that value, and 4) then indicating what an appropriate punishment would be according to your family rules. This general sequence would vary some depending on the age of the child and the circumstance, but it is important not to give the child the impression that you believe he or she is, by nature, an irresponsible person.
- Remember to model the behaviors you expect from your children. If you have a spouse or partner, model the use of the core values and let your children hear and see you doing so. “Hey, honey, I love it when you clean up the kitchen for me; that’s such a responsible, caring thing to do.” If children see the adults in their lives consistently violating the core ethical values being asked of them, that is a more influential message than what you say to them about their conduct, and undermines the entire process of having family core ethical values.
- Attitude is important. Accentuate the positive, and when you or your children fall short, your attitude should be, “We all make mistakes and may not be as responsible as we would like to be all the time, but we understand why it is important to try and be responsible, because it helps everyone else and makes us feel better about ourselves as family members, too.” (Note: This strategy for motivating good behavior is rooted in the well-researched fact that belonging to a family or social group is one of the most powerful human needs. On the other hand, relying on the fear of punishment fails to develop understanding and internal resources for prosocial behaviors.)