Here are just a few startling facts about the challenges families face today:

Research shows that virtues make happier, healthier, more successful people. (pdf)

• According to economist Adam Smith and sociologist Georg Simmel, virtues are the basis upon which all societies and economies flourish because virtuousness is synonymous with the internalization of moral rules that produce social harmony.
• Virtuous behavior inspires positive emotions such as “love, empathy, awe, zest and enthusiasm”. (Fineman, 1996, pg. 545).
• Feelings of elevation, inspiration, and joy accompany demonstrations of virtuousness. These positive emotions, as demonstrated by Staw and Barsade (1993), produce improved cognitive functioning, better decision making, and more effective interpersonal relationships.

According to a study sponsored by the Pew Charitable Trust:

• Through the study of child development, we know that children model themselves after the important adults in their lives.¹
• Two factors -- quality information and meaningful support -- have been the bedrock of parenting support for most of this century.²

• 55% of teenagers live in families where their biological parents have rejected each other. The families with a history of rejection include single-parent families, stepfamilies, and children who no longer live with either birth parent, but with adoptive or foster parents.
• The birth rate among unmarried women has risen over three hundred percent since 1950.
• The rate of violent crime in a community can be reliably attributed to the percentage of fatherless families in that community.
• Youth suicide has doubled and tripled since 1950.

Virtues are acquired good habits, which must be developed over time. They make us successful, in marriage, with children, in relationships, in business and in life, so that we can become the best we are capable of becoming. Families of Character was developed to coach families and provide a support center for parents who see the value in virtues and are committed to creating a strong and virtuous family.

1. “See How We Grow”, A Report on the Status of Parenting Education in the U.S., page 11. Not available through the internet. Order from the Pew Charitable trust.

2. “See How We Grow”, A Report on the Status of Parenting Education in the U.S., page 3.