Education must enable a man to become more efficient, to achieve with

increasing facility the legitimate goals of his life. Education must also train one
for quick, resolute and effective thinking. But education which stops with
efficiency may prove the greatest menace to society. The most dangerous
criminal may be the man gifted with reason, but with no morals…

…We must remember that intelligence is not enough. Intelligence plus

character–that is the goal of true education. The complete education gives one
not only power of concentration, but worthy objectives upon which to
concentrate.

When I reflect on King’s statement, I think of my closest friends and the people I most respect. I am
drawn to them by forces beyond intellect and success. I admire their character strengths, the values
they hold, and how they treat me as a fellow human being. So when we think of education in the
broadest sense of the word, it is important to consider how kids develop character during childhood and
adolescence that determine the kind of adults they become.

I stand on the sidelines applauding Harvard’s decision. I applaud them for putting
moral character as part of their admission criteria. I applaud them for taking a stand. I
applaud them for recognizing that moral character is just as important as, if not more
important than, intelligence and grades. I find what the students did appalling and I am
in disbelief that they are being defended in the name of ‘fun’. Fun should never be at
the expense of anyone else, fun should never be discriminatory or disgusting.

One of my favorite quotes is by Martin Luther King Jr. and it’s “Intelligence plus
character – that is the goal of true education.” I’ve been in the field of character
education for eight years now and over the years, I’ve met people who seem to think
that they have to choose between intelligence and character – between having high
grades or being kind; excelling in school or being caring. It’s not intelligence OR
character; it should be intelligence AND character that is the goal for education and for
us all.

Character values such as honesty, kindness, empathy, responsibility should be held to

high esteem and these character values are what make a person, relationships and a
society flourish. And because of their importance, emphasis on these values should be
communicated to our children.

A study at Harvard was done where 10,000 students were asked to rank what they
thought parents thought was most important. Eighty percent of the children said that
their parents valued academic achievement over kindness. If that’s how children
perceive what is valued, that is what they are going to value too. Then we will have
young people who are academically strong but morally weak, and think that it’s okay.

Well it’s not okay. It’s not okay for the individual, it’s not okay for their relationships and
it’s certainly not okay for the society at large. To have young people who choose
intelligence over character means that we are creating menaces for our society.

But the good thing is that it doesn’t have to be a choice between intelligence OR
character. The choice should be to choose intelligence AND character.