Salt+Light, Dufferin-Peel school board team up

TORONTO - A new DVD series aims to teach students in the Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board about virtues.

Salt + Light Television and the Dufferin-Peel board were to launch the new series Nov. 27 to complement a board-wide virtue program that started last year. It was developed in response to the ministry of education’s focus on character education and bullying prevention.

Instilling virtues in children at a young age is one way to prevent trouble in the future, said Wendy Bodsworth, board consultant with Salt + Light Television.

“There’s no quick fix for the growing aggression in society; it’s multi-layered... it’s not something schools can fix alone. (It also means) reaching out to families and parishes too,” she said.

The 10-part series The World I Know: Virtues in Action profiles 20 elementary and secondary schools in the Dufferin-Peel board to show how virtues are modelled, taught and lived out in school. A different student ranging from Grade 4 to 12 hosts each program.

“In this electric age (technology) becomes like a central nervous system outside their bodies. They like seeing themselves on YouTube, using MSN,” said Salt + Light series producer Mary Rose Bacani, explaining why kids would relate well to a DVD series.

The series highlights 10 virtues: faith, empathy, conscience, hope, self-control, respect, kindness, love, acceptance and fairness. Each program uses reflections, commentaries and personal stories to highlight how God’s grace can transform challenges posed by death, loneliness, learning difficulties and self-image into faith-building opportunities. A study guide for both student and adult groups accompanies the DVD series. To see an installment of the series visit YouTube at www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSjNNZ8V2tg.