English Proverbs- KNOWLEDGE WITHOUT CHARACTER IS DANGEROUS!

Proverb Expansion

KNOWLEDGE WITHOUT CHARACTER IS DANGEROUS!

Character without knowledge is weak and feeble, but knowledge without character is dangerous and a potential menace to society. Character and knowledge together are the twin goals of true education.

Today, most of the children are growing up in conditions that do not provide the moral or ethical framework needed to develop good character. Even when families try hard to provide a strong foundation, they often find their efforts undermined by the media, the child’s peers, and increasingly, the Internet. What good is knowledge without character? He asked. “What good is your knowledge of Physics if all you do is building bombs? What good is your knowledge of Philosophy and Ethics if you will not stand up for what’s right?”

Hardly a day goes by without news stories about crime and violence. The lack of character education is increasingly apparent. The present day education gives us knowledge but no respect for the ethics, character and moral values.

This lack of character is evident in society by increasing occurrences of violence in our schools, disrespect for authority, increasing emphasize in the media on violence and early sexual activity, as well as self-destructive or addictive behaviour. The rate of serious crimes -including rape, sexual assault, robbery, and aggravated assault among school and college students is increasing day-by-day.

Moral values in every society play an important role in building up the characters of its individuals and citizens. The rise of consumerism in the modern world and the information revolution has brought degeneration in moral values of the society. The current degenerate and decadent society fails totally to guide properly the younger generation. The current educational curriculum finds very little scope to apply moral values in education.

Character development and education should go hand in hand. Effective education must include curriculum that teaches the students respect for moral and ethical values and helps them to succeed. The education should strive to develop student’s intrinsic motivation and commitment to do what is right. All school staff, teachers, administrators, counselors, coaches, secretaries, cafeteria workers, playground aides, and bus drivers must be involved in learning about, discussing, and sharing responsibility for character education. Parents and community members should be full partners in the character building effort. Effective education must include an effort to assess progress in the direction of character building. Knowledge without character is not only worthless but can also prove to be dangerous for the individual, society, country and the humanity as a whole.