Affirmative Case
Stella Ladeinde, Caroline Njagi, Twila Shocknesse, SasheetaVinesh
NUR/542
April 17, 2012
Lousie Rittmiller

Teaching Values in Schools Prescribed by the State or Federal Government Who should assume the burden of teaching values? While acknowledging the role of parents as natural caretakers and guardians, an evolving American society has made the vital task of mentoring children increasingly difficult. There has been an apparent decrease in character and moral reasoning among today's youth. In light of this dilemma, the state government should introduce moral and character building content into the education code and standards as a beneficial alternative to the guidance provided by parents and guardians. Tay and Yildirim (2009) assert that schools have two important goals in the effort to develop morality within educational parameters: To teach the current values in the society and to cultivate positive, beneficial habits through this education. In addition, schools create opportunities for students to discuss these values and to help develop their own. The proposition states that a set of values must be prescribed by the state or federal government and taught in schools. Before determining whether a set of values formulated by government can have a positive impact in school as opposed to those instilled at home by the family, understanding the general framework of values is essential. According to Family Values International Encyclopedia of Marriage and Family (2003), “Values are a society’s general ideas about what is perceived as good and desirable for a society. For example, liberty and the pursuit of happiness are values that people in the United States hold dear” (p. 1). Characteristics of values agreed upon by various theoreticians are described as follows: values are beliefs related to individual objectives and the