Teaching students the importance of honesty

Honesty refers to a dimension of moral character and connotes positive and virtuous attributes such as integrity, truthfulness and straightforwardness along with the absence of lying, cheating or theft. Honesty is admirable in many cultures and religions. Honesty means being truthful, trustworthy, loyal, fair and sincere. Honesty also means straight forward conduct. "Honesty is the best policy" is a proverb of unknown origin. "Honesty is the first chapter in the book of wisdom."- Thomas Jefferson. Today, in the world that we live in, being only educated is not enough. To be truly successful, it is essential that we have the virtues that complement our academic knowledge.

Among all the attributes, honesty is one of the crucial assets that is important for all of us to possess. Teaching or learning such a virtue is not as difficult as it seems and can be gradually adapted or derived through a process of cultural socialization. Honesty doesn't come naturally, but it is an internalized process of adopting it through a broad overview. Thus, it is essential for us as responsible adults and teachers to take up the responsibility and give our children the benefit of a very good character.

Honesty - Benefits: Honesty is always admirable in the family, civil society, friends and across the world. A person with honesty is respected by all. For one to build the character of honesty entirely depends on his/her family values and ethics and his/her surrounding environment. Parents showing honest behavior and character in front of their children create an impact on the children and we say "Honesty lies in their genes".

Honesty can also be developed practically which requires proper guidance, encouragement, patience and dedication. An honest person is always known for his/her honesty just like a sun is known for its eternal light and unlimited energy. It is a quality which helps a person to succeed in life and get much respect. It gives identification to the moral character of a person. Dishonest people may easily get trust and respect from other people.

However, they lose that forever whenever they get caught. Being dishonest is a sin in all the religions, however, people practice it for their short time benefits and selfishness. They never become morally strong and their life becomes miserable. An honest person moves freely in society and spread his/her fragrance in all directions. Being honest is never mean to bear the bad habits of others or bear ill-treated activities. Everyone has rights to reveal and take action against what is going wrong with him.

Importance of Honesty in Life: Honesty plays an important role in everyone's life and it is a character which is visible with open eyes like an open book. Having considered as an Honest person, by society is one of the best compliment one can dream of in his/her entire life. It is the real character a person earns in life by being sincere and dedicated towards it. Lack of honesty in society is ruin. It is due to the lack of proper interpersonal relationship between parents-children and students-teachers.

Honesty is a practice which is built slowly and patiently, firstly at home and then school. Hence home and school are the best places for a child to develop honesty since his/her growing times. Home and school are the places where a child learns moral ethics.

Thus, the education system should ensure to include some essential habits and practices to keep a child close to morality. Children must be instructed right from the beginning and their childhood to practice honesty. Youths of any country are the future of that country so they should give better opportunities to develop moral character so that they can lead their country in a better way. For all human problems, Honesty is the ultimate solution.

There are a few wise tips that can help the teachers to teach the values of honesty to their dear students at a young age and give them the gift of a personality that everyone around them will come to respect and adore. The following tips can help you achieve such goals for your student:

1. Every teachers should teach students the advantages of being honest along with the consequences of being dishonest and should popularize the phrase that 'honesty is the best policy' to them. Students with high moral values have a huge impact on society.

They usually become successful in the near future and set an example for other individuals. Thus, teachers have the opportunity to develop the characteristics or traits of being honest in their students by motivating hearty. Also, teachers should keep in mind that not everyone can be perfect at all times and so they should also embrace their student's faults with grace at a few times. It is crucial to be understood that love and not counseling can bear fruitful results.

2. Honesty is the solid foundation on which relationships stand, and mutual trust, as well as respect can be built. It is essential for a student to acknowledge that once trust is broken, it is hard to get it back. So a clear emphasis should be given on honesty rather than punishment for immoral behavior. They should be motivated for their reliability and should be encouraged to tell the truth.

3. Sometimes students try to get away from trouble by telling lies. It is, therefore, the duty of the teachers to make them understand that honesty is the key to success. One of the most effective ways is to show your student what you expect and express your gratitude and happiness when they stand up to it. Honesty starts at home and thus parents, teachers, and even the society serve as the key role models for children, from where they attain the primary moral education, values and customs. Therefore, tolerance, patience, analysis and trust are the best tools one can use to help children adopt honesty.

4. Students should be taught that harsh truth no matter how painful is far better than the white lies that profoundly impact the character and creates a bad perception in the society. Teachers should make students understand the difference between such lies and honesty by having a discussion and offering amnesty when needed. You can help your student to correct their mistakes with forgiveness that can result in self-realization and help them to take steps to correct their errors on their own.

Learning any such values begin from home, but we also understand that it is in the educational institutes where children take definite shape and build the character. It is one of the prime responsibility to make children realize how honesty and honest confession can help in building a great character. We truly believe in the saying "Say what you mean and mean what you say." Having academic integrity is as important as creating a spotless character. With such standards of values, morals and principles, we are sure that our young generation will certainly set shining examples in our society and lead into a brighter future.

Hopefully, The present government has taken initiative to establish honesty stores (shotota store) and honesty associations (shotota shongho) in educational institutions to sow the seeds of honesty among the students. This is undoubtedly a positive step towards realizing the importance and necessity of honesty among students.

The writer is a Research Officer, District Education Office, Secondary and Higher Education, Munshiganj.

---Gazi Md. Abdur Rashid