NEWS 3

Newspaper reading can promote
virtues, new book says 

Reading newspapers may seem like a novelty for some, but a new book launched on Thursday argues that the habit of reading the news, whether in print or online, could be a powerful tool for schools to promote character development.Newsworthy Characters — A Practical Guide to Character Building (Karakter & Informasi) was jointly published by The Jakarta Post and Kompas newspapers as a practical guide on ways to teach virtues that help form good characters, particularly if taught at an early age. The bilingual book was launched at a seminar in Denpasar and was used immediately for a workshop involving more than 350 English teachers. The seminar opened after keynote addresses by Kacung Marijan, the Director-General for culture at the Culture and Elementary and Secondary Education Ministry, IB Rai Dharmawijaya Mantra, the mayor of Denpasar and Abdul Hamid Batubara, the president commissioner of PT Chevron Pacific Indonesia, which funded the book project.Kacung recalled how he grew up, finished school and got a scholarship to study in Australia thanks to motivation from his teacher and his mother, who never attended school, but who told him bedtime stories that imparted the values he grew up with.He also recalled how his reading of newspapers at an early age led him to dream of becoming a foreign minister, “so that I could travel around the world for free”. He is not a foreign minister, but he said he had nevertheless traveled overseas for free after he grew up and became a government official.The project was developed under the auspices of the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA) as member newspapers around the world struggle to keep readership or revive reading habits among people. Internet technology is changing the way people access news and information globally, but newspapers have yet to discover how to sway young audience their way. Education could give the answer, or so hoped Kompas and The Jakarta Post, through the new book.The government has incorporated the teaching of character into the school curriculum. Many private institutions have also launched schools that put the emphasis on character development.The book picks 12 virtues plus one, providing Internet links to clippings of news stories that illustrate how these virtues are very much alive in people’s daily lives. Children learn better about these virtues, their benefits and also how to develop them, by looking at or reading about living examples.Newspaper reading has never been more important and relevant, the book argues.The 12 virtues are love, responsibility, discipline, honesty, self-confidence, compassion, cooperation, tolerance, creativity, respect, humility and leadership. The book suggests that users, meaning schools, dedicate each month of the year to one virtue and create activities that promote that virtue. A 13th virtue, freedom of expression, was added to reflect the importance of this particular virtue for children’s learning and developing their creativity.