In Addition to ABCs, They Learn P’s, R’s

It wasn’t that long ago that “DON’T fight! DON’T write on the walls! DON’T do that!” were the rules of the day.

These days, instead of hammering children with a long list of “don’ts,” there’s a movement afoot to breed a kinder, more responsible child who also shows tolerance for others.

Such are the products of Character Counts, a program started at Bel-Air Elementary School during the 1993-94 academic year. The goal: to curb violence and teach honesty, responsibility and caring.

School administrators say it’s a big hit.

Before Character Counts, student behavior was abhorrent and staff morale was poor at Bel-Air, a school of about 450 students from kindergarten through fifth grade, guidance counselor Mary Jane Aguilar recalled.

“We had many fights. There was graffiti around the school. We had lower test scores than national averages,” she said.

Soon after the program started, Aguilar said, the school went from about 60 discipline slips issued each month to around 20. She said administrators are waiting before analyzing test scores.

Meanwhile, graffiti has been replaced in the hallways by a colorful gallery of crayon scratches and smeared finger-paint. On each of the hundreds of displays, students declare pride in themselves, their relationships with others or their school.

A drawing of a flagpole against blue sky is captioned: “Bel-Air is a Caring School.” Third-graders wrote a song titled, “I Respect Myself.”

Aguilar said it’s clear students got the message.

“The children started using the language,” she said. “You could hear the little munchkins going down the hall saying things like, ‘Thank you for being responsible,’ or, ‘It’s nice that you treated me fairly.’ ”

A group of Bel-Air fifth graders recently told of widespread student violence and even drug use before Character Counts began.

Although some problems remain, students feel safer at school.

“Nobody could trust anybody before,” said 11-year-old Tanya Garcia. “People would steal things from their friends.”

How things have changed.

Students spend a month studying words associated with good character traits--such as trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring.

At month-end assemblies, awards are given to students from each grade who best demonstrated such values.

“The only reward they get is a certificate,” Aguilar said. “But somehow we created a climate in the building where that became something to be very proud of.”

Aguilar blames many of the old discipline problems on a lack of understanding among teachers, students and administrators.