The Character Chronicles

Coming February 2008, a new video series from Live Wire Media, produced in association with Character Counts! Each program in this series explores one of the Six Pillars of Character, as seen from the perspective of a middle-school video blogger.

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The Fairness Connection

A GoodCharacter.com exclusive preview of the teaching guide that accompanies program 4, The Fairness Connection...

As soon as children are able to speak they often complain, "No Fair!" With that as a point of departure, Chloe, a thirteen-year-old African-American blogger, guides us through her classroom video blog on the topic of fairness.

Chloe shows us how teens are defining fairness, practicing fairness, and dealing with the obstacles that come up around fairness. We listen in while kids express their own opinions on a case study dealing with academic cheating. Chloe also shows us two documentaries that help demonstrate how young people struggle with the issue of fairness. The first story is about a middle school teen court that has to decide on fair consequences for student misbehavior. The second documentary tells the story of a young student athlete who uses his talent to literally "level the playing field" by setting up a charity to help children less privileged than he is.


What is fairness?

In this program fairness means:

  • Treat others the way you want to be treated.
  • Treat people impartially and without prejudice.
  • Consider the feelings of all people who will be affected by your actions.
  • Be open-minded and reasonable.
  • Play by the rules.
  • Don't take advantage of others.


    •  Discussion Questions

    Questions to ask before showing the video
    1. What is "fairness?"
    2. How do you know when something is unfair?
    3. Does being fair mean you always treat people equally? Explain your answer.
    4. How many people here think the world is unfair and there's nothing you can do about it?

    Questions to ask after showing the video
    1. In the video one boy said kids were too young to really understand fairness. Do you think it's true that you don't really understand what "fair" is because you are too young?
    2. Can you think of an example where it might be fair to give someone an extra advantage?
    3. What does being fair have to do with one's character?
    4. What are some little things you can do to make life more fair?


    Writing Assignments

    1. One girl said that she thinks an example of being unfair is when people judge her without knowing her or the whole situation. Write about a time when that happened to you. How do you feel the person should have acted? Have you ever treated someone unfairly because you judged him or her without knowing the whole story?
    2. Research and write about how the legal system works in a democracy. How does this system attempt to administer justice or fairness? What elements of the system work to achieve that fairness?
    3. What do you think Gandhi meant when he said, "Be the change you wish to see?" Do you know someone in your life you feel is doing that? What character traits do they hold that cause you to respect him or her? do you share any of those traits?