During January and February, Mill Valley schools will focus on the values of trustworthiness, honesty and integrity. The article below, by district counselor Claudia Trinklein-Engman, Ph.D., suggests ways that parents can support this initiative.

Integrity is the backbone of a successful and emotionally healthy community. Each of us has a personal responsibility to contribute to that collective moral strength. District-wide, teachers and administrators are focusing on fostering educational environments that strive on honesty, trustworthiness and integrity.

Classrooms are discussing and modeling the importance of being honest and helping each other accept the responsibility when mistakes are made or lies are told. Admittedly, it is not always easy to own up to our misgivings. It is especially not always easy to do the right thing when we are not being watched or are being influenced to make poor decisions by those around us. But reputations are developed early and having the ethical strength to do the right thing across the board creates highly respected and principled individuals as well as viable communities.

Supporting and encouraging the development of honesty and integrity is not just the responsibility of the educators in the schools. Parents need to also create morally and ethically driven home environments. When youngsters are surrounded by the same values at home that are being taught in the schools, it encourages them to personally integrate these moral concepts throughout their lives.

Parents need to model "stepping up to the plate" and accepting responsibility when they make mistakes. They need to say they are sorry to their peers and to their children if poor decisions are made. We all make mistakes, but we don't always graciously accept the consequences of our actions. Parents need to try to "make things right" again. If we forget that we have promised to take our kids to get ice cream, it is simply not enough to say that we are sorry. We need to somehow make amends.

Parents need to model follow through and they need to have the courage to do the right thing and to make good choices whether they are being watched or not. Children need to experience their parents process towards creating and maintaining an ethical and moral template. Children need to know that their parents embrace the same ideals as the school environment. We need to work collaborately to enhance positive character development in all of our communities. When that happens, everyone wins!