Ladies and Gentlemen,

Have you ever seen the students smoke? Have you ever seen the students truant? Have you
ever seen the students brawl? And have you ever heard of the students that involved in free
sex?

I think all will be say “yes”. This means that moral attitudes of Indonesian teenagers have
turned away from the values and norms of the real Indonesia. Everyone involved in those bad
things are students, the young people who should have the best ethics because they have been
educated through educational institutions.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Why are all the things happen? Before you answer it, I want to express an opinion. In
Indonesia, I see the demand of academic value is so high. When the students get the higher
score, parents, teachers, and all those around the will be more proud of these achievements. It
makes us forget a really important thing, the character education.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

What is character education? Character education is the process of character building that has a
positive impact on one's emotional development, spirituality, and personality. Main purpose of
this education is to build a strong nation, where the society is of noble character, tolerant, and
works together.

Why is character education very important? There are the reasons why character education is
very important,
1. To develop basic potential in human beings, so that they become good-minded, good-
hearted, and well-behaved individuals.
2. To build and strengthen multicultural community behavior.
3. To build and enhance a competitive national civilization in international relations.

According to Thomas Lickona, there are reasons why character education must be given to
citizens early on,

1. This is the best way to ensure students have a good personality and character in their
lives.
2. This education can help improve academic achievement of students.
3. As an effort to overcome the roots of moral-social problems, such as dishonesty,
immodesty, violence, low work ethic, and others.

Ladies and Gentlemen

Of course, we all very disappointed to see the moral of Indonesian students who are
increasingly low and are at the destruction. This should not be allowed to continue and must be
addressed properly. It requires the cooperation of all human parents, educators, and
government in order to create the moral intelligence decreases.
Let us create a learning system that is accompanied by moral exhortation, good behavior, and a
discipline that makes students not only have a high score, but also a good morality.