Aristotle: Experience excellence to nurture ethics.

Derrick, as a rule environment shapes our behaviors.  For instance, my parents never used racial language; this writer grew up in a strongly nurturing home that set a standard for use of language.  Other children, of course, grow up in environments where vulgarity and racial slurs are, sadly, common.  This is why it is important for such children to experience opposite examples, norms, ways of being.  This writer has worked with special schools in the central city of Milwaukee called parental voucher schools.  As a rule, churches sponsored these schools.  In them, the children experienced, were exposed to normal, healthy examples.  In one case, 15,000 convicted felons lived in the three zip codes around the school.  It was the only island of healthy, ethical behavior available to these youngsters.  Aristotle observed once we experience excellence it is hard to settle for second best.  Once we experience normal, healthy standards, it is hard to accept hurtful, harmful ones.  At one of my client schools, the lead teacher told me that the first job the staff had was to model for the kids that an adult can talk to you without yelling at you!  Then, the next step was to model that an adult can get your attention without grabbing you!  This was a six-month process of introducing the kids to healthy norms of behavior.  Yes, what we see, hear, experience shape us, for better, or worse, hopefully better.  Dr. Rux