In 2004, a group of high school students at a private American school in Mexico City started the first gay-straight alliance in Mexico. A small group of conservative parents and a Mormon principal organized in opposition. This paper details the students' struggle to keep their club and offers lessons learned about student activism, school change,…

This paper addresses the pros and cons educators may encounter if they are involved in a character education program. Those supporting a character education program offer the following reasons: (1) decline of a traditional family structure; (2) erosion of the values system of key institutions; (3) the position of schools as the second most…

Although there has been a variety of observations published about Adult Children of Alcoholics (ACOAs) based upon clinical study, much of it has dealt with the adult child's possible predisposition to alcoholism rather than personality issues. Many children from alcoholic families seek treatment because they are experiencing difficulty in other…

The consequences of Watergate for children, their education, and their ethical and moral commitment is discussed in terms of the child's development of moral judgment, and in terms of the practical issues of how values are transmitted from one generation to another. (Author/AM)

This paper discusses briefly the history of personal assessment, presents a comparatively new way to look at college students, and suggests ways in which this approach might be implemented in practice. The Functional Potential Model, the way one demonstrates what he is about, provides a conceptual foundation for understanding his behavior. (Author)

The study reviews the impact of the freshman year and 4 years of undergraduate study on the formation of character and its progression from late adolescence to young adulthood. Much of the empirical data used is drawn from the Sierra Project, a study originating in the 1970s that addressed traditional obstacles in higher education in meeting its…

Becoming successful through positive thinking can make a person a winner throughout life. Winners are specific and positive, are prepared, and accept personal responsibility for their actions. By mentally imaging a goal, an individual can gain the confidence necessary to accomplish that goal. An individual's life can be made easier by thinking of…

Case studies of self-actualizing people according to the ideas of A. Maslow and the criteria of K. Dabrowski are presented. To find people meeting the criteria of Level 4 of the Dabrowski theory, a pool of 21 subjects was established by nomination. All subjects were given the Definition-Response Instrument to assess levels of emotional…

From Erikson's (1968) psychosocial criteria of crisis and commitment, Marcia (1964) derived four ego identity statuses, i.e., achievement, moratorium, foreclosure, and diffusion. To explore antecedents of Erikson's ego identity construct, 130 college females completed a modified identity status interview, and questionnaires designed to elicit…

Factors which aid an individual's progression from one stage of moral reasoning to another remain a mystery. Theorists suggest that intraception, defined as a predominance of feeling, fantasy, and aspirations (connoting a humanistic outlook and an ability to develop role-taking skills) as opposed to a down-to-earth, skeptical attitude, may be an…

Studies that attempt to clarify and test the Whorfian hypothesis, which states that the structure of one's language influences understanding of reality and behavior, are summarized. Both first language and second language behaviors were investigated in order to determine interactions between language behavior and personality development. Ability…

This issue, devoted to early childhood education, including day-care centers and kindergartens, contains an historical review, a statement on the current controversy over the status of sixth graders as preschoolers and several articles from two child psychologists on child development. (JH)

The hypothesized central role of cognitive development in resolving moral dilemmas was examined in sixth grade and college-age females. Results indicated that sophisticated cognitive operations are a prerequisite to advanced moral judgments. (ST)