The well-known company, We Choose Virtues, has offered a new Youth Virtue Journal for us to review. This 100 page, soft bound journal covers 9 virtues or character traits. It is available for $17.00 on the We Choose Virtues website. The journal is intended to be used by a mentor, leader, parent or other influential adult alongside the teens. It is designed for roughly 12-18 year olds, though I believe even some young adults could benefit from its contents.
Because it was originally designed as a counseling tool for youth in the Nampa County, Idaho court system, there is no scripture within the journal itself. However, along with the purchase of the journal you receive a PDF downloadable list of scriptures to go along with each of the virtues. You also get a PDF Youth Mentor's Handbook and a PDF Youth Character Assessment for measurable outcomes.
The Youth Mentor's Handbook gives suggestions and helps on how to get the kids to open up and reminds the mentor of the commitment he/she is making by taking on this program with an individual. A good quote from the handbook..
"When you use virtue, you are behaving in ways that contradict conventional assumptions about what constitutes normal human behavior. In other words, you are heroic."
The Character Assessment is a one page tool to be used when measuring progress. Each virtue is listed with a 1-10 scale. This is good for seeing where you are verses where you want to be.
The 9 virtues covered are: attentiveness, contentment, forgiveness, gentleness, helpfulness, honesty, obedience, perseverance and respect.
Each virtue is covered over 8 pages with the following outline…
Take a moment to dream- here, the student thinks about some dreams they may have for their lifetime, whether big or small, and writes them in the dream journal section in the back of the book. With each dream, there are two questions to be answered, “What are some obstacles that I can see in the way of my dream?” and “What virtues have I learned that can help me toward this dream?”
Take a look at me now- Here 14 self-searching questions are asked to help determine how much a particular virtue is evident in the student’s life. The questions are simple and don’t require any writing. The entire program is designed and focused on getting the communication going and forging lasting relationships. After the evaluating questions, the student rates on a scale of 1-10 how much the virtue is currently displayed or applied in their life.
Take a look around- more self-reflecting questions (5-10 of them)
Take some good advice- this section houses applicable quotes from both famous and not so famous people that could help cement the idea of the different virtues further in the lives of the students.
Some of my favorite quotes within the book are:
“Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak: courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen.” –Winston Churchill
“We are seldom happy with what we now have, but we would go to pieces of we lost any part of it.” – Mignon McLaughlin
“Forgiveness is the fragrance that the violet sheds on the heel that has crushed it"
-Mark Twain
“I have thought about it a great deal, and the more I think, the more certain I am that obedience is the gateway through which knowledge, yes and love, too, enter the mind of a child.” – Anne Sullivan
My mentor’s advice- this is a place for the mentor or leader to write some advice from their own life about each of the virtues.
Take a moment to reflect- the student looks back at the dream journal and considers how the virtue can help overcome any obstacles or accomplish any of the dreams previously written.
Take some time to respond- this involves the student answering one or two of the self-reflecting questions previously asked.
Take a stand for what is right- There are signature lines for the student to write their name into a statement of character.
For example:
I, ________________________am attentive: I watch and listen carefully.
I, ________________________ am NOT… forgetful, distracted or distracting, and I don’t ignore or interrupt.
How we used the journal
Oscar (15 year old) and I read through the journal together discussing each of the virtues. The questions were surprisingly effective at making him reflect on his thoughts and actions and realizing how he could better apply the individual virtues to his life. He really liked the fact that there wasn't much writing for him to do within the journal itself. That being said... some of the questions would be great for regular, everyday journaling- like a question-of-the-day type thing. We did go over each of the scriptures to go along with the virtues.
My bottom line
The journal is great for one-on-one conversation or family discussions. Tying in the scriptures from the PDF download definitely puts a more biblical aspect on things.
A Special For My Readers!
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Let’s start School with Virtues this year!
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