父母都希望子女長大做個好人，但“好人”包含的元素是什麼呢？
　　最基本的當然是不去做害人的事。另外立即想到的是心地好、肯幫人、誠實、有正義感、負責任等。這些都是與道德有關，所以放在德育的精神一定不可少。
　　身教十分重要。孩子的價值觀很大部分是從觀察父母的言行舉止上慢慢形成。例如父母口說不應歧視別人，但言談間又常用侮辱性的名詞稱呼其他族裔，子女也會有樣學樣。
七大美德
　　Michele Borba在Building Moral Intelligence: The Seven Essential Virtues That Teach Kids to Do the Right Thing，對“做個好人”的含義作有系統的分析，把它分為七個部分，她稱為七種基本的美德。
　　這些美德就是︰empathy(同理心)、conscience(良心)、self-control(自控)、respect(尊重)、kindness (仁厚)、tolerance(容人之量)及fairness(公道)。
　　Empathy is the core moral emotion that allows your child to understand how other people feel. This is the virtue that helps him become more sensitive to the needs and feelings of others, be more likely to help those who are hurt or troubled, and treat others more compassionately.
　　Empathy是對別人的處境感同身受的能力，是道德感的核心(the core moral emotion)。Empathetic的孩子對別人感受和需要敏感，看到有人身處窘境，他會伸出援手，也會對其他人有憐憫之心。
　　Conscience is a strong inner voice that helps your child decide right from wrong and stay on the moral path, zapping her with a dose of guilt whenever she strays.
　　良心是孩子心中的一把聲音，教他分辨善惡，走道德的路。Stray是走歪路。Conscience可指引孩子若做了偏離正路的事，guilt(罪疚感)就會像電槍一樣電他一下。
道德智力
　　我們知道，要走上成功之路單憑IQ(智商)是不夠的。而其他因素除了EQ(情緒商數)外，還包括moral intelligence(道德智力)。
　　Moral intelligence is the capacity to understand right from wrong; it means to have strong ethical convictions(道德信念) and to act on them so that one behaves in the right and honorable(高尚的、正直的) way.
　　Michele Borba這樣說：
　　This wonderful aptitude(天資) encompasses such essential life characteristics as the ability to recognize someone's pain and to stop oneself from acting on cruel intentions; to control one's impulses(衝動) and delay gratification(滿足); to listen openly to all sides before judging; to accept and appreciate differences; to decipher(辨識) unethical choices; to empathize; to stand up against injustice; and to treat others with compassion(憐憫) and respect.
　　這些就是令孩子長大成為a decent, good human being，一個好人的核心素質。

      文︰子慧