Do Right!

We need to teach students to “Do Right!”

I have a friend, Ross Worsham who was a national championship quarterback for the 1-AA Georgia Southern Eagles under the famous Coach Erk Russell. He said that he went to camp his freshman year for his first “speech from the coach” and fully expected a long list of rules. What he got was two words written on a board “Do Right.” Coach Russell even underlined them for emphasis.

Coach Russell went on to tell them that all other rules were tied up in this one and if you weren’t sure if it was right or wrong that you shouldn’t do it – it was probably wrong.

This is a great lesson to teach students. Nowadays, many people have subscribed to the Kantish philosophies of relativism. We have done this to the point that we are afraid to teach kids that there is a right and wrong.

You cannot have rules without understanding that there is a right and wrong. It is right to follow the rules! It is wrong to hurt another person!

Do Right! I think I’ll teach that one!

Tags: Erk Russell, Georgia Southern, Ross Worsham, Erk Russell, Kant, education, morals, blog, blogs, daily, daily life, journal, life, religion, weblog, thoughts

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Vicki Davis

Vicki Davis has been an educator and IT director in Georgia since 2002. Today, she also works as an instructional technology coach, staying side-by-side with active teachers and students so her work stays grounded in real classrooms.

She's a mom of three, wife of one, and loves talking about the wise, transformational use of technology for teaching and doing good in the world.

She has blogged at the Cool Cat Teacher Blog since 2005 and hosts the 10 Minute Teacher Podcast and Cool Cat Teacher Talk (radio, public access TV, YouTube, and all major podcast platforms), interviewing remarkable educators around the world. Vicki focuses on what unites us — a quest for truly remarkable, life-changing teaching and learning. The goal of her work is to provide actionable, encouraging, relevant ideas for teachers, grounded in truth and shared with love.

If you talk to Vicki for long, she'll encourage you to "Relate to Educate," to "innovate like a turtle," or to be "a remarkable teacher." She loves homemade sourdough bread and cinnamon rolls and runs half marathons with her sisters. You can usually find her laughing with her students or digging into a book.

Thank you for reading, sharing, and telling your friends about the work we do here! - Vicki

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