Character Building

 

Character Building in Colleges: A Needed Shift in Attitude and Approach

Have you observed that in our colleges, lectures on moral values and character building have once again been added to the timetable? At first, I was curious—what exactly will they teach? Because if I look back to my own student life, the moral lessons we received often turned out to be false, impractical, or at times even hypocritical. We watched our teachers preach values that they themselves did not live by. If they were truly successful in their careers, it seemed they had achieved it without practicing those so-called ethics. And if they were applying them blindly, then they often ended up being naïve and sidelined—hardly role models worth following. No wonder many of us grew sceptical, dismissing such sessions as irrelevant and disconnected from reality.

The Problem with Old-Style Teaching

Most teachers—even with the best intentions—slip into monotone sermons when teaching values. They repeat what religious scholars or moral textbooks say, without connecting it to the messy, conflicting realities students face daily. That’s why young people roll their eyes, stop listening, or dismiss it as “idealistic talk.”

What Students Really Need

The real need is a balanced and practical style of teaching. Students should be shown how values can work in the real world, not just in theory. A good approach would be to:

• Acknowledge that life is not black and white—sometimes honesty, respect, or kindness can be misused against you.
• Show how to protect yourself while still staying principled.
• Share real-world stories where values helped someone succeed, not just religious or textbook examples.
• Admit that even self-interest can be healthy if it is balanced with ethics—like ambition, self-protection, and boundary-setting.

Why This Approach Works

If a teacher used this style, students would immediately feel:

1. “This person understands real life.”
2. “These values are not just moral lectures; they are survival skills.”
3. “I can actually apply this tomorrow with my friends, family, or in college.”

Making Character Building Practical

This is why I believe character-building lectures could hold great value—if the approach changes. Instead of repeating idealistic virtues in a dull way, these sessions should prepare students for the real world, where situations are messy, twisted, and often contradictory.

Honesty, for example, is precious, but sometimes it must be blended with tact. Respect is noble, but it does not mean allowing others to trample over you. Empathy is beautiful, but it must be balanced with self-preservation. When values are taught with this realistic balance—acknowledging both their strengths and limits—character building can become a powerful lesson in survival, leadership, and genuine personal growth.

Otherwise, it risks becoming what it once was: another wasted period on the timetable.