Family Meal Time Trains Future Business Leaders
Fun Family Traditions celebrates National Family Meal Day, September 24, 2007. From year to year, evidence pours in, documenting the far-reaching influence of family meals. In addition to the benefits of good health and emotional stability, professionals find that daily family meal time is the primary source of character education training for college students and future business leaders.
Rockford, IL (PRWEB) September 19, 2007
Current declines of ethics in business are traceable to inadequate values training in homes and schools, according to professional educators. "[Home] used to be a place where a family would sit down and have meals together and translate values and teach and train," said W. Steven Albrecht, associate dean of Marriott School of Management and author of numerous books on business fraud.
There are many factors affecting society's perspective on what's right and wrong. One of them is the educational system. "We're seeing the effects of decades of educational institutions abandoning their commitment to character development and to values as part of their missions," said Kim B. Clark, president of BYU Idaho. "A kind of moral relativism has taken over and many faculty and administrators abandoned the idea that you should try to teach and develop students with character and honesty."
So family meals are not just for children any more. Without schools to teach moral values, home becomes the ultimate source of character education. At a very tender age, children are faced with pressures of drug abuse and immorality that were unheard of in their grandparents' generation. Parents can make their home a refuge for their beleaguered child, reinforcing his moral and spiritual foundation at family meal time.
Albrecht explained that without sufficient training and good example, students and employees lack the moral courage to withstand the pressures of school and workplace. In an official statement, Kim B. Clark, then dean of Harvard Business School, wrote, "Our mission is to educate principled leaders who make a difference in the world. To achieve that, a person must have many skills and qualities, including the highest standards of integrity, sound judgment and a strong moral compass -- an intuitive sense of what is right and wrong."
In recognition of the far-reaching influence of family meal time in the training of future leaders, Epicworld is providing all new online parenting classes in the Epic Heroes Parent Training series as resources to parents for character education in the home, comprised of four parts.
I. Building on the Rock. Topics include: the universal need for dinner talk, parenting with respect, and home environment-- such as internet safety, and the benefits of classical music radio. Rabbi Shmuley Boteach indicates that children who know their boundaries are happy and peaceful. Suggested activities are family gardens, recipes for healthy snacks, and TV alternatives.
II. Epic Heroes and the Bible as Literature. Topics include the history of the scriptures, famous Bible quotes on the ten commandments, elements of discipleship, the abundant life, symbolism. A visit to the new creation museum makes an enjoyable activity for the entire family. Teaching aids include several new parables, and a link to beautiful felts for telling stories.
III. How to Raise Self Esteem. Tips for parents include: understanding the teen identity crisis, how to listen, the conversation wheel, and more. Parables such as the "gray horse" parable speak to the fulfilling of human potential. Activities offering keys to building self-worth: benefits of the high school band, learning a musical instrument, selfless service, and discovering one's personal mercy ministry.
IV. Epic Heroes are the Moral Compass for their peers. Tips for parents on priorities and example. Messages for youth include: the power of integrity, abstinence education, guarding against immoral influences, standards to live by, a poem about resisting peer pressure. Also modest proms, selfless service, moral compass, and a delightful fable on resisting temptation.
Visitors to these free online parenting classes find inspiration, useful information, activities, and support. Parents will learn how to establish fun family traditions, make their teaching unforgettable, build strong moral character, win against peer pressure, and teach their children how to be leaders. Tonight's dinner talk trains tomorrow's heroes. Some articles available in Spanish.
As always, visitors are invited to "come often and stay late."
For additional information, resources and support, visit www. epicworld. net. For Spanish, visit www. epicworld. net/hispana (http://www. epicworld. net/hispana)
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