It was our toughest class at this school. Even though the lesson started off well, I could sense tension in the room, like we were just barely holding their attention. Suddenly, without any warning, one of the kids sprang to his feet in a panic attack and bolted across the room to his teacher, screaming in fear. In a split second the entire class was on their feet laughing, pointing and imitating the boy’s movements.
My heart broke. The children refused to 
apologize to their classmate. “It was funny!” they said. Eventually, the class calmed down some and the teacher took the young boy out of the room.
My teaching partner and I started talking to the children again, trying to make an emotional connection with them. You could see a couple of the children’s eyes drop to the floor as we explained the pain they had caused by mocking and what kind of character they had exemplified. But several of the kids held their heads up in defiance saying, “Why should I have to apologize? It was hilarious.”
Later we realized what a blessing it was that we got to be there when the whole incident occurred. We’d only been with this class for about three weeks, and have already seen some fruit in the children’s behavior. However, a lot of what we said was just a bunch of rules to them. That day we had the divine opportunity to show the children where the rubber meets the road—what good character looks like in a given situation, and how to make things right when we fail. We got to show the children what good character looks like in real life. Hannah Keller
Click here to read more about our character education program.