A Cry for Character [Hardcover]

Dary Matera (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 31, 2001

A student-lead head-on approach to bettering our schools

The state of our country’s education system is one of the most complex and incendiary issues being discussed today. From government to private industry, from presidential campaign politics to television and radio, addressing the problems in our schools has become a hotbed of controversy, particularly since the tragic 1999 Columbine High School murders. But while controversy and blame-placing among grown-up factions was overshadowing progressive action, a group of high school students in a small mid-western town took it upon themselves to do something about the eroding behavior that was wreaking their school. In A Cry for Character, Dary Matera tells the true story of the first ever character education program that was pushed for and created by students themselves against the most unlikely opponents—the teachers themselves.

Born out of the violent tragedies that have rocked high schools around the nation, A Cry for Character chronicles the journey taken by a small group of students in Illinois who decided enough-is-enough and demanded to be taught right from wrong along with algebra and grammar. After a year of dissident and often destructive senior class behavior that marred the school’s most beloved and time-honored traditions and disgraced the community, a group of underclassmen at Mundelein High joined forces to reverse course and pull in the reins on reprehensible behavior. What followed was a series of innovative student-led courses that not only infused the ethically rudderless students with a welcomed set of guidelines, but gave them a sense of pride in who they are and what they could achieve. The resulting model “Character Building Curriculum” they developed is already being followed by other school districts across the country and is sure to make major headlines in the coming months.

Essential reading for teachers, students, and parents alike, A Cry for Character is a powerful look at one of the most remarkable trends taking place in American schools today.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In the wake of the Columbine High School murders and several other copycat shootings, school officials have become very nervous when students suddenly start acting out. In the mid-'90s, following an outbreak of childish pranks and rowdy behavior at Mundelein High School in Illinois, administrators sought to quell youthful anarchy with stern disciplinary policies. Yet repeated crackdowns failed to curb the kids' destructive behavior, which began to fray the institution and community. Matera (Are You Lonesome Tonight?), a former Miami News education reporter, follows a group of ambitious students who, with the help of a sympathetic French teacher, Karen Royer, rallied their classmates to return the school to normalcy. Building on a model developed at neighboring Deerfield High, which had overcome a similar behavioral crisis, Royer and the students eventually created a curriculum stressing moral character and civic values that took hold among the younger students. Officials then reversed their initial policies, deciding to be more tolerant of minor misbehavior and more flexible in their response to situations requiring disciplinary action. The changes in school spirit, behavior and atmosphere shocked everyone involved, and have triggered a nationwide call for character education classes. While Matera does not present this approach as foolproof or flawless, he does make a strong case for its utility beyond Mundelein and Deerfield, interviewing both supporters and critics. For those interested in education and in the behavioral problems plaguing our schools, this perceptive book offers some approaches that are at once innovative and old-fashioned. (July)Forecast: Are You Lonesome Tonight? was a New York Times bestseller. Given the national obsession with school discipline and safety, this book seems poised for comparable success.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From the Publisher

ADVANCE PRAISE FOR A CRY FOR CHARACTER “Like Mr. Matera, I am one of those who believe that we learn best in school when we have a climate that supports learning. I do not think we can separate building character from true academic achievement. We need not only ‘smart’ children, but also ‘good-smart’ children. Character education such as that described in Mr. Matera’s book may be our best hope for true education reform. It is therefore my hope that his message will reach the corners of our nation, and encourage improvement within this vital but often overlooked segment of our academic culture.”
Rep. Carl Von Epps
Georgia House of Representatives

“A Cry for Character is a stunning message of hope for our troubled schools. It loudly proclaims that decency, integrity, and character-building can become the backbone of our educational system – and enthusiastically shows us how. Bravo!”
Dr. Paul Coleman, author of How to Say It to Your Kids

"This book gives a realistic view of what can be accomplished in the public school setting. The factual analysis of the various obstacles encountered in trying to establish a program to enhance the character of a student body would be very helpful for any administrator contemplating such a program development."
Jody McLoud, Principal
Roane County High School

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Prentice Hall Press (July 31, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0735202729
• ISBN-13: 978-0735202726
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 5.9 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,698,129 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Dramatic tale of Kids making a difference, August 21, 2001

By 

Robert Wearing (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Cry for Character (Hardcover)

This was a super read about a bunch of high school kids who were fed up with the problems at their Illinois school and decided to do something about it. The book chronicles, in dramatic fashion, the steps they took to take their controversial concept of a student-taught character education class and push it up through the maze of the public school system. Nothing, not skeptical teachers, wary administrators, a frowning teachers union or a politically minded school board could stop them. In less than a year, they accomplished their innovative goal of being given a part of the school day to have no-holds-barred discussions covering everything from alcohol, drugs, to premartial sex. From the moment the classes started, things began changing at the school for the better. This was mostly because the students now had a place to vent their anger and frustrations regarding all the typical,and not so typical, teenage problems. Author Dary Matera does a great job of taking a backseat and allowing the students who created and pushed the program to tell their stories in their own words. Because of this, the book will strike a cord with teenagers everywhere.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars A Good Book ...., January 13, 2002

By 

Jon M Altbergs (Epping, NH) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Cry for Character (Hardcover)

if you possess the prejudice that administrators and teachers are "roadblocks" (p. 39) and "stodgy" (p. 40) and want to have that prejudice reenforced in the most simplistic of terms.

As a reform-minded secondary school teacher myself, I could not read more than three pages of this book at a time without putting it down and counting slowly to 100. I picked this book up hoping to find some interesting ideas for student-initated and faciliated change and a blue-print for reform. This is hardly it. Instead, this is trash-journalism at its worst.

Matera, rather than being even-handed or objective, is often schizophrenic in his portrayal of the teachers and administrators. The two descriptions above come from a chapter titled "Teachers to the Rescue." He doesn't bother to look at reasons why teachers might not want to jump on the latest bandwagon; he merely talks to those teachers, and students, who were in favor of the reform and allows them to trash, in print, those who were "lukewarm" in their support. He puts white and black hats on his subjects.

He writes as though the school exists in a vacuum, and all that was wrong with its values was the fault of the teachers and administrators, rather than being a reflection of the community. He doesn't turn a critical eye toward the parents, despite that the crux of one mother's complaint was that the pivitol cherry incident made the town look bad in the paper (p. 21). Where were they when the kids where throwing beer-blasts? Matera never bothers to ask--he already has his scapegoat.

The worst part is that, despite his experience as an "investigative reporter" (inside back flap), he contradicts himself on the most simple issues. For example, he calls one teacher's French class a "difficult *elective*" (emphasis added) then in the next sentence claims that it "is usually an unpleasant high school language *requirement*" (p. 33, emphasis added). Furthermore, these same "roadblocks" to change and reform had during the year prior to the events in the book implemented a new block schedule and eliminated valedictorian and salutatorian titles (p. 31).

If you are interested in school reform there are many, many much better books that will give you a substantive view of how change occurs and why, sometimes, it doesn't.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Kept My Interest All the Way, August 24, 2001

By 

Albert Sneff (California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Cry for Character (Hardcover)

Most high school stories today are all bad. This was a big difference. The book was just as interesting as the wild and crazy stories, but the difference is that the good kids who wanted to make things better are the heros instead of the typical jerks you see in movies like American Pie. I loved the book and feel good that it's making a difference.