Fort Belvoir, Va. (May 15, 2014) - Sometimes, being a good citizen means doing the right thing when no one is watching.
At least, that's what 10-year-old James Byrum learned during the Character Counts discussion on citizenship at Fort Belvoir Elementary School, May 8.
"I learned that helping the community, it just helps you," he said. "Even if nobody notices it, it still helps."
The Character Counts program is a partnership between the school and U.S. Army Garrison Fort Belvoir Headquarters Battalion. For the past six months, Fort Belvoir servicemembers in all branches, along with civilians, visited the school to talk with FBES students about a different character trait each month: Trustworthiness, Respect, Responsibility, Fairness, Caring and finally, Citizenship.
The purpose of the program is to help students develop good character traits.
On May 8, Soldiers visited fifth and sixth grade classrooms to talk to students about being good citizens at home and at school.
Capt. Douglas Kinkennon, Headquarters Battalion, visited Janice Wright's fifth-grade classroom, and started the discussion by asking students to talk about ways in which they help others.
"The essence of being a citizen is looking beyond yourself, and taking care of other people," he said.
Students gave examples of ways that had helped others in the recent past.
Kennedy Wilcox, 11, said she practices citizenship by standing up for people who get bullied at school.
"I usually don't let people step on other people or let them bring others down," she said. "I like to stand up for people."
Wilcox said the Character Counts visit helped her and others think more about the importance of helping other people.
"I think it did show a lot of people that helping the community and helping others means a lot to the world," she said.
It was Kinkennon's first time participating in the Character Counts program, and he said he was happy to interact with the students.
"It's always great to get to see them and interact with them and if, in some small way, that helps them grow up and have good character, then I'm glad I could be a part of that," he said.
Teaching children good character is also important because it's something they don't often learn from the media, he added.
"Citizenship is important," Kinkennon said. "Today, everything seems very self-centered -- a lot of things in the media and Hollywood seems to come off that way -- and I think helping out other people and being a good citizen and thinking about the rest of the country is important for everyone's well-being."
Wright, the classroom teacher, said the Character Counts program has been "wonderful" for the students at FBES this year.
"I think it helps them, as far as being the responsible person they're supposed to be," she said.
Character Counts is the largest character education program in the nation, and is based on the Josephson Institute's Six Pillars of Character.
For more information, visit http://charactercounts.org.
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