"A practical analysis and inspiring guide for teaching kids "ethical fitness"Parents are beginning to realize that deficiencies in ethics and character are becoming a big problem among our nation's children. According to the latest data, lying, cheating, and rampant insensitivity to other people are increasingly common. What can parents do? In this book, ethics expert Rushworth Kidder shows how to customize interventions to a child's age and temperament. He encourages parents not to give up, since what they do can always make a difference, regardless of how long or deep the bad habits of dishonesty may be. Encourages parents to intervene early and re-establish children on the right course. Explores the keys to ethical behavior: honesty, responsibility, respect, fairness, and compassion. All of Kidder's practical advice is based on the latest psychological and neuroscientific research about how kids develop character and learn what's right and wrong"--Provided by publisher.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Acknowledgments Introduction: three lenses for ethical parenting How to use this book What if I face ethical dilemmas of my own? 1 Raising kids in today's moral environment What the research tells us Why parents make a difference 2 Birth through age four Branson and the gold coins Teaching responsibility Playing according to your own rules Loren wrecks the train 3 Ages five through nine Teaching thrift in an age of opulence Teaching ethics through principles Ethics and peer pressure 4 Ages ten through fourteen Resolving ethical dilemmas

Zero tolerance Avoiding bystander apathy Showing moral courage 5 Ages fifteen through eighteen Finding the third way A sexual crisis Caught stealing Confronting parental weakness Explaining divorce 6 Ages nineteen through twenty-three Counseling, not controlling Supporting your daughter or saving your grandchildren The difference between courage and stubbornness. 7 Conclusion. How emotion and morality interact. Using the Moral Toolkit. Top ten tips for ethical parenting.