High School Character Supplement by Forum Communications Printing

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CHARACTER

AN INTRODUCTION TO

Introduction

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Without your even knowing it, your experiences in life have built your character. Your parents, family, friends, teachers, and communities all have had a stake in building you up to be the person you are today. Every interaction that you have with another human being or living creature shows what type of person you are. How are you respectful? How are you responsible? How are you caring? How are you fair? How are you a good citizen? Believe it or notâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;how you answer those questions says a lot about the type of person that you are and are becoming.

People of character choose to make good choices and are firm in their words and actions. They have a firm foundation behind them so that they can make choices that impact the world around them. People of character take the lead and succeed. They have figured out what it takes to be a good person today so that they can continue to make a difference tomorrow.

No one said it would be easy, though. Being a person of character is difficult. You have to figure out what is right in a world that is full of wrongs and stick to it, even when someone close to you might try to pressure you into another direction. Every single day is a challenge. Every day there are opportunities to make mistakes, pick up the pieces, and make better decisions tomorrow.

You communicate with others every day through your words, actions, facial expressions, but most of all, through your character. How you choose to communicate is a direct reflection of your character. Let’s face it sometimes our communication is great, but other times, it just stinks.

Communicating as a High School Student

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• Instant Messaging Online • Cell Phones – Texting, Talking & Emailing – Including Photos • Social Networking Sites (My Space, Facebook) • Blogging • Face-to-Face Talking

Greeting your best friend in person at the mall.

Instructions: Write a statement explaining how you would communicate in each of these situations. Include words and what kind of body language you may be conveying.

You need to text a friend to see if he/she is coming to the movie at 7 pm.

Calling a friend from school to get help with a math problem.

Asking your teacher a question about a science assignment.

You think your parents are being unfair about not allowing you to go to a basketball game with a friend. A blog entry on your personal webpage of your day at school. A post on a social networking site about your day.

NETWORKING

CHARACTER IN

People of Character… in Networking A person of character must realize that every interaction he/she has with another living thing communicates a message good or bad. That’s because communication has something called tone. Tone is how something is perceived or interpreted based on how the communication took place. The way a message is received depends upon the tone that is shared during the communication.

Types of Communication

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1) One-on-one or face-to-face • Easy to read body language and facial expressions • Can look someone in the eye when speaking to them in person • Feel the “tone” of what they are trying to say to you • Conversation is private in nature, can’t be “forwarded” to others

2) Talking on the phone • You cannot read facial expressions or see body language • You can still hear the “tone” of their voice (annoyed, happy) • Tend to use a lot of words to describe how you are feeling

3) Text messaging, Instant Messaging & Email • Can’t see their face or hear their voice to know their “tone” • Tend to use a lot of abbreviations to save time – sometimes that means people will take your message the wrong way • Easier to misinterpret – you were trying to be funny, but your friend thought you were being mean and their feelings got hurt • Typed words don’t have any emotional sounds to them, so we use emoticons like :), LOL, or haha, for example, to help the other person know what we mean • It is harder to take back something once you type it, and also easy for someone to forward your private conversation to others

What are some of the emoticons and abbreviations for phrases that you tend to use in text on a daily basis? Why do you use them? .......................................................................................................... .......................................................................................................... ..........................................................................................................

Differences in Communicating with Friends, Parents and Teachers Friends – you use slang and jargon and tend to abbreviate when texting or emailing your friends Parents, Grandparents & Teachers – you probably use less slang or jargon because parents and teachers don’t always appreciate the use of slang. For written communication with this group, you’ll want to use proper grammar and punctuation.

How do you maintain integrity in the different types of communication and not harm your character?

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Safety Online and with Social Networking Sites

Social networking sites are very popular. The space that you create on the site is your identity and personality, yet you need to keep your identity as safe as possible. Set your settings to only let “friends” view your page and not “friends of friends.” By doing this, you have the control over who is viewing your information and photos. Post only things you would be OK with your parents seeing. Every time you post something you are leaving a “digital footprint” of yourself. Your integrity is in what you post— photos, status updates, and messages to your friends. Once it is online, you can’t take it back List a time when you or a friend of yours posted something they wished they could take back. How did you(or they) feel after they posted it? What could you(or what could they) have done differently? .......................................................................................................... .......................................................................................................... ..........................................................................................................

RELATIONSHIPS

DEALING WITH

People of Character… in Relationships We live our lives in circles. We have our immediate family, our extended family, our school friends, our classmates, our neighborhood friends, our acquaintances, etc. Sometimes our circles overlap, but other times they don’t. The relationships that we build within our “circles” vary based on the experiences that we share with the people in each circle.

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But what builds a relationship? A healthy and strong relationship is built on trust. Trust isn’t something that just happens. It has to be nurtured and worked on every day. Think of your best or closest friend. Describe him or her.

Were you best friends the first day you met? Probably not. You more than likely knew that you enjoyed being around the person, but you weren’t about to spill your deepest, darkest secrets with that person on the first day of your friendship. You had to get to know him/her, share some experiences together, and build a trust before sharing and understanding could happen. If you can’t trust someone, they probably aren’t worth your time.

Relationships with Parents and with Friends

There are many types of relationships. The relationship you have with your parents is very different than the relationship you have with close friends. Relationships are forms of connectedness. How connected you feel with another person depends mostly on interaction. The bond that you have with your mom and dad should be different than the bond you have with a close friend. Those relationships are supposed to be different, and how a person builds a relationship is what makes the bonds weak or strong. You may not see eye to eye with your parents all the time, but you are still bonded to them. You may have disagreements with your friends, but you still share the bond of friendship.

Relationships in School

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Relationships in school take on many meanings. You have relationships with teachers, principals, and counselors that are on a professional level. You have the students you see in the hallway as acquaintances, but you really don’t know them as a person. You have the students that you have class with each day. You might sit next to someone or work with a team for a project, but he or she may not be a close friend. You have your core group of friends that you hang out with whenever you can. All of these relationships build your school environment. If any one of those relationships is out of whack, your day could go from fabulous to bad in a heartbeat. What’s funny about it all is that if one relationship is out of whack, quite possibly one of your other relationships will be the help you need to get your day back on track. Take the time to build solid relationships at school, as you spend much of your day there. Knowing that you have people you can trust can make all of the difference in your outlook on life.

With whom have you built strong relationships?

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Good Character in Relationships

It’s important to understand that we all have differences. Because we have differences, we can learn from one another. People of character are not biased or rude to other people. Instead, they take the high road and treat people with respect, no matter what people around them say. This can be difficult when you decide to befriend the new kid, the student who obviously doesn’t have any friends, or to come to the aid of someone who is being bullied or sexually harassed while your group of friends snickers in the background. A person of character doesn’t stand by and let someone else do what is right. He/she knows what is right in a given situation, and will do whatever it takes to help someone out. He/she is not caught up with social status, what people think of them, or how much money someone has. He/she believes that being a person of character is about doing good things with each day.

DECISIONS

MAKING

People of Character… Decision Making Decisions. Decisions. Decisions. We make hundreds of decisions each day—from what to eat to what to wear to how to treat the kid you sit next to on the bus or the lunchroom. Decisions are everywhere. What you decide is entirely up to you. Being a person of character means that as you are making these hundreds of decisions each day, you are asking yourself, “Am I keeping what is right at the forefront?”

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Too many times it’s easy to get caught up in peer pressure and the desire to belong to the group and not stick out. But it’s in those times that decision-making is most important. Name a situation that you were in recently where you didn’t agree with your friends:

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Did you make a stand for your opinion?............................................ What was the outcome? ...................................................................

No one wants to stick out. It is a human’s desire to belong to the group. But sometimes making a good decision means making a conscious choice to “stick out” and do what is good and right for you.

What are other decisions that you have made that you are proud of? .......................................................................................................... .......................................................................................................... ..........................................................................................................

What are some decisions that you are not proud of? .......................................................................................................... .......................................................................................................... Did you correct the outcome?............................................................ Or what was the result? ....................................................................

Pressure to try alcohol/drugs/tobacco There may be times in your life when you are offered drugs or alcohol by a peer. There are so many risks that are involved when you choose to use drugs or alcohol. Your body is at a stage of development that it cannot handle such things—thus why it is illegal for you to smoke, drink, or use drugs. Rules are made for your safety, and should not be broken. Not only does the use of drugs or alcohol hurt your body, it impairs your judgment and could lead you to make decisions that you will regret later.

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If you already have an addiction of one or all of these substances, there is always help. There are many adults within the school and outside of school that can help. • Counselors • Teachers • Principals • Parents

Talk with someone, it is never too late.

You are in control of your own body, even if you feel like you have no control. People of character take decision making very seriously. How you choose to live your life is a direct reflection of your character. The decisions you make today impact your future. Make those decisions wisely.

Your personal contact list:

Counselor .................................................................................... Teacher ........................................................................................ Principal ...................................................................................... D.A.R.E officer .............................................................................

MANAGEMENT

TIME

People of Character… in Time Management Do you feel like you’re always busy? Do you feel like you’re always trying to juggle several things that you’re involved in just to keep your head above water? Make a list of everything that you have to do today, from the time you got up this morning to when you will go to bed tonight. Include any extra-curricular activities or family obligations. ..........................................................................................................

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Are they all of equal importance?..................................................... What would you take out if you could? ............................................

What would the effect be? ...............................................................

Teens today are busy. It’s a fact of life in our society. The toughest part is finding balance in your life as a teenager. You need time with your friends, time for your activities, time with your family, and most importantly, time for you. Carving out enough time for each of those aspects of your life is difficult, but it can be done well if you plan for it!

Time Management Tools –

You have been given a great tool for time management—this planner! Your teachers and your parents expect you to use it, but your planner isn’t about them—it’s about you! If you learn to use your planner well now, you will set yourself up for success. Many adults today use either paper or electronic planners every single day to stay organized. They are busy, too, and when you’re a parent, not only do you have your own schedule to keep straight, but you have your entire family’s schedule to keep organized as well! If you begin a good habit of keeping a good planner now, your life later on will be much easier.

How to use your planner:

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1. Write down all of your school assignments and long term projects. 2. Keep track of elective courses. 3. Log all of your activities after school, even your family activities. 4. Make sure you include anything you are planning for the weekend. 5. Don’t forget down time. Leave open some space in your schedule when you are at home that you can relax. 6. Review your week-at-a-glance often. You will find that the time spent working with your planner will pay off in many ways. To:

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CHANGE

STRESS AND

People of Character… Stress and Change Is being a high school student stressful? There are lots of students who feel stressed every day.

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There’s the pressure to do well in school and get good grades for yourself and also to please parents. With this pressure comes the stress of more homework than in middle school. It’s expected as you grow and develop mentally, you need to be challenged to think in more diverse ways, therefore, with each year in school comes higher expectations from teachers. There’s the pressure to do well in school so that you can earn scholarships or admission to college or technical school in the future. And then several times a year, stress levels rise in your schools as it’s time to take semester tests or state/national assessments. All of this could stress a person out…and this is just from school.

What about outside of academics? There’s stress that can come from friends. You know what this is—this person isn’t talking to that person because he said this or she said that, and the group that you hang out with is getting all upset and talking about it which causes even more stress so now no one is talking to anyone. Or when someone starts a rumor about a person and it truly does end up hurting the person that it is about because it wasn’t true in the first place. A person of character will choose not to take part in the “drama.” They take the high road. No one wants to be hurt emotionally or physically. Do your best to keep hurt from happening to yourself or others. What types of things stress you out? .......................................................................................................... .......................................................................................................... ..........................................................................................................

Don’t forget that taking time for YOU is a great way to relieve stress! You need downtime every day to decompress and reflect on your day. This time alone allows your mind and body to get the rest it needs. You need to rest your world so that you can take on a new day tomorrow. Remember, schedule that time for you. Your mind and body will thank you for being respectful and responsible to you, and your stress levels will decrease!

With every school year adds more responsibility. Your parents expect more of you. Your teachers expect more of you. Your coaches expect more of you. Expectations get higher and higher. What expectations do you feel you need to meet each day? .......................................................................................................... .......................................................................................................... ..........................................................................................................

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As you continue to mature, the changes that you see in your body and your mind sometimes cause changes to happen in other aspects of your life. The relationships you have with your friends and family probably will change slightly. What is important throughout it all is that you remember that people of character take the time to think before they speak. Often times we say things that we really donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t mean, and we end up hurting someone. Take the time to remember that if you value the relationships that you have with your family and friends, you will take the time to build those relationships every single day and not take a day off! If the relationships you have with friends and family stay stable, dealing with the changes that are happening elsewhere will be way easier!

CITIZEN

GLOBAL

People of Character… Global Citizen We live in a global society. Goods and services are traded all over the world every single day. The Internet has expanded the availability of products by the click of a mouse. We are connected to people worldwide through technology on many levels, but there are other ways that we can be connected.

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Being a global citizen means that you are aware and see the impact of your personal decisions on your surroundings. Taking the time to care about your own school, city, state, nation and world means that every day is an opportunity to bring about change.

Ways you can impact the World:

Education – the things you learn in school directly apply to the world when you become part of the workforce or consume products.

Earth – initiate a recycling program and create awareness in your community.

Volunteerism – find organizations that need help supporting their causes to improve homelessness, hunger, or immigrant transition. Your Challenge – Find some positive way that you can give back to your community and step up to citizenship!

*Instructions: Citizens impact the world with their personal decisions. Take a minute to fill in the staircase with things that you can do to impact each of the communities in which you are a member. Remember, every day is an opportunity for good citizens to bring about change!

World ............................................................. ......................................................................... ......................................................................... .........................................................................

Nation ..................................................................

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State ............................................................................

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City .....................................................................................

School ....................................................................................... .................................................................................................... .................................................................................................... ....................................................................................................

DIFFERENCE

I AM THE

I am the Difference Project ........................................Hours logged.................. The end result of the project? ............................................. ............................................................................................. How do you feel about your involvement? ........................

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Will you stay in touch with this organization? .................

Project ........................................Hours logged.................. The end result of the project? ............................................. .............................................................................................

How do you feel about your involvement? ........................

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Will you stay in touch with this organization? .................

Project ........................................Hours logged.................. The end result of the project? .............................................

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How do you feel about your involvement? ........................ .............................................................................................

Will you stay in touch with this organization? .................

Volunteers are the only human beings on the face of the earth who reflect this nationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s compassion, unselfish caring, patience, and just plain love for one another. - Erma Brombeck