Parenting for Character

By Andrew Mullins

Character is very much the sum total of our good habits - habits such as compassion, honesty, optimism, generosity and loyalty.

Parenting for Character is a practical manual to help parents develop in their children qualities necessary for a happy and fulfilling adult life. These include sound judgement, responsibility, self-control, integrity, perseverance, courage and resilience.

In this book, Andrew Mullins, Headmaster of Redfield College, Sydney, argues that parents need to help build character: it does not just evolve. He explores how to encourage young people to think independently and make choices that are good for themselves and others. In his experience, young people are damaged by too readily accepting their peer group's values or messages from the media. They are able to take control of their lives once they acquire well-developed habits of thinking, decision-making and acting. The advice for parents in Parenting for Character is clear and simple: lead by example, ensure that good habits are encouraged repeatedly, nurture the spiritual dimension in your life, and show love and affection to your partner and children.

The book draws on parenting principles from classical times to the present and offers advice from many sources including Plato, Aristotle, Plutarch, Confucius, Cicero, Goethe, Winston Churchill and John Paul II.

This book is essential reading for any parent who wishes to develop good character in their children. Andrew Mullins offers direction and encouragement to parents who want their children to be socially responsible and morally strong. In an engaging way, Parenting for Character offers practical advice on how to raise children of quality.'
Dr Tim Hawkes, Headmaster, The King's School, and author of Boy Oh Boy

Effective quality parenting is incorrectly labelled by society as "assumed knowledge". Andrew Mullins helps parents erect scaffolds and to continually assess "work in progress". Parenting for Character is essential reading for all parents!'
Michael Quinlan, Principal, James Ruse Agricultural High School.

Andrew Mullins career has included over 25 years' teaching the humanities in Australian secondary schools, leading to his interest in presenting the wisdom of classic thinkers and philosophers. In his position as headmaster of Redfield College, Sydney, he has developed a strong policy of involving parents in the process of reflecting desirable values to young people. He writes: "My experience is that parents who keep their focus on these priorities, patiently and lovingly, give their children something of incalculable worth. The Talmud, a type of ancient Jewish guidebook for life, sums it all up: 'The one great requisite is character'. Plutarch, the famous Greek historian writing in Roman times, knew how to cut to essentials: 'Character', he wrote, 'is simply strongly established habit'." This book had its origins in a series of successful talks presented to parents.