The Character Education Project began in 2004 in Fortaleza, Brazil to help address problems among youth like drugs, AIDS, and violence. Over 1,700 students participated twice monthly. In 2006, the project began in Barueri with 280 students weekly. Surveys before and after the course found increased agreement that sex should wait until marriage, and decreased sexual activity and drug use. Students and teachers largely praised the course for teaching life lessons and prevention of social issues. The results were seen as a success in evaluated schools.

1. Manuel Dantas
São Paulo, Brazil
December 2, 2007
The Character Education Project (Subject: Social Foundation) began in February 2004, in the city of Fortaleza,
Ceará. When we presented the project to the Director of the school, he could accept easily, because our
proposal was to help reduce existing problems among the young people, such as: drugs, Aids, premature
pregnancy, violence, among others. The Character Education was applied at the Messejana State High School,
where approximately 1700 students in 36 classes participated twice a month, in the period of the morning,
afternoon and night. Several professors cooperated allowing us using their own scheduled classes. Even though
the Chraracter Education is an extracurricular discipline, it has a schedule pre-established per semester and the
students can earn participation points that are reverted for all the other disciplines.
Liceu of Messejana - Fortaleza, CE Character Education class
In February 2006, the second Character Education Project began in the city of Barueri, in the State of São
Paulo. In this school, we applied the Course for the 1st , 2nd , 3rd and 8th grade students. Approximately 280
students of 8 classes weekly participated in the period of the afternoon and night.
School Taro Mizutori - Barueri, SP Groups Dynamics
The Character Education Coordinators in Brazil were interested to know the practical results of the content
presented in the classes. For that reason, we elaborated a survey with 25 questions in the beginning of the year
and another one with 28 questions at the end of the year. The students are not identified and the answers are
analyzed under the collective point of view, with the objective of discovering the Factors of Risk inside of the
school and to reveal the positive results after the application of the Course. Following are the results below:

2. — Subject (A): They answered YES
Is it important to wait until the marriage before to do sex?
- School Liceu of Messejana:
BEFORE the application of the course - Boys: 36,23% - Girls: 54,46%
AFTER the application of the course - Boys: 47,10% - Girls: 66,66%
- School Taro Mizutori:
BEFORE the application of the course - Boys: 31,74% - Girls: 51,80%
AFTER the application of the course - Boys: 36,50% - Girls: 61,44%
— Subject (B): They answered YES
Did you already have some type of sexual relationship?
- School Liceu of Messejana:
Period of 1 YEAR BEFORE the application of the course - Boys: 50,65% - Girls: 48,71%
1 YEAR AFTER the application of the course - Boys: 45,65% - Girls: 27,32%
- School Taro Mizutori:
Period of 1 YEAR BEFORE the application of the course - Boys: 53,33% - Girls: 65%
1 YEAR AFTER the application of the course - Boys: 33,33% - Girls: 13,25%
— Subject (C): They answered YES
Did you already use some type of illicit drug (marijuana, cocaine, LSD, among other)?
- School Liceu of Messejana:
Period of 1 YEAR BEFORE the application of the course - Boys: 57,14% - Girls: 75%
1 YEAR AFTER the application of the course - Boys: 24,28% - Girls: 6,69%
- School Taro Mizutori:
Period of 1 YEAR BEFORE the application of the course - Boys: 66,66% - Girls: 20%
1 YEAR AFTER the application of the course - Boys: 25,80% - Girls: 7,40%
— Subject (D):
What’s your opinion about the Character Education Methodology?
- School Liceu of Messejana:
AFTER 1 year of application of the course
Boys: Very good, 61,59% — Good, 25% — Didn't like it, 3,26%
Girls: Very good, 67,21% — Good, 24,40% — Didn't like it, 4%
- School Taro Mizutori:
AFTER 1 year of application of the course
Boys: Very good, 23,81% — Good, 36,50% — Didn't like it, 7,93%
Girls: Very good, 31,32% — Good, 46,98% — Didn't like it, 6,02%
Testimoies of Students and Teachers on the Character Education Course:
“Essential, because at the moment the adolescents are very lost in the middle of many tabooes. I think that
Course should have as objective also to be applied at the Elementary School as well, from our formation, let us
begin to have conscience and support.”
Samara Araújo Cabral (16 years), 1st year
“It is very important at the present time. The youth doesn't worry about that; They just used the term 'to stay',
without commitment, often they have sexual relationships with different partners, 'dirtying' their human
personality.”
Roni Lima Serpa (17 years), 3rd year
“Interesting, because in our present time is very necessary have Courses for better understanding of the
consequences of a wrong step in our lives.”
Maria Tailane Moreira da Silva (15 years), 2nd year
“It is a good Course. The people sometimes forget that the fidelity and the virginity are moral values and that
the human being needs to feel well inside.”

3. Deise Barros Correa (15 years), 1st year
“My opinion about the Course, is that I like the teacher's explanations because he teaches the reality of the
world nowadays for the youths and adolescents. He teaches for the adolescents and young in a way they can
take precautions so that they can avoid a premature pregnancy, enter the world of crimes and drugs. And he
teaches the youths and adolescents so they can have a good future and a good family.”
Camila Ramos (16 years), 1st year
“It is very fundamental in the life of a person, because we learned essential life lessons for our dayly life. We
also learned how to work with quite complicated situations. Those lessons that we learned at the school, most
citizen don´t has that opportunity. Therefore we are privileged.”
William Vieira de Sousa (16 years), 1st year
“The Program influences the youth to constitute families so that they put the head in the right place. Besides
showing the problems, it still shows the solution. They are things that we heard in our daily, but we never give
attention. I think this Course should be implanted in all the schools of Barueri.”
Wilton Conegundes (16 years), 1st year
“In my opinion I can say for sure that helped me a lot, because I had a lot of orientations on important things
that we needed for the coexistence day by day. Many people do the things avoiding somebody to give an
orientation and, thanks to God, I learned with the Course Social Foundations. That helped me even to pass
some practical information to my friends and family. I can say, without any doubt, that I am very thankful for
what I have learned.”
Silvana de Sá Oliveira (17 years), 1st year
“No knowledge is more important than the elevation of the self-esteem and the preservation of the physical and
psychological integrity. The contents transmitted by us, teachers, fall in the emptiness if we don't count with
parallel works considering the whole human being. As a teacher and specially as a mother, I congratulate the
initiative of that Course, I am willing to volunteer and collaborate with the course in the year of 2005.”
Lilian Aparecida Madade Suassuna
Teacher of Portuguese Language
“The Course doesn't seek to give the fish, but to train fishermen.”
Daniel da Silva Maciel
Teacher of History and Sociology
“The school needed a Course like that. It is very important for the students and I consider the ideas of the
Project essentials for the life and coherent with the Word of God. I hope it continues in the School.”
Suzani Wanderley Sales
Teacher of Portuguese Language - Literature
“The Character Education Course was very important for the understanding of the students of the School of
Messejana, because it was an opportunity of debates on several subjects of the youth's interests, such as drugs,
pregnancy in the adolescence, alcoholism. And the result was visible, because the year of 2004 presented the
smallest number of cases of pregnancy in the adolescence and drug users. We hoped the Project continues in
2005, because it was a success in 2004, as evaluations done by teachers and students.”
Osmar Pereira da Silva
Director of the School of Teaching Medium School of Messejana
“The Direction of this School Unit informs that Teacher Manuel Dantas da Silva, accomplished the Course of
Education of the Character (Course Social Foundations), together with Teachers Valquíria Lopes Pereira and
Kassia Regina Vedovelli, in the period of March to December 2006, presenting subjects of our students'
interest, such as prevention of drugs, alcoholism and pregnancy in the adolescence.
A positive result was reached in the evaluation done by the direction and teachers in the students'
understanding. We expected the continuity of the Project in the school year of 2007.”
Expedito Pereira da Silva

4. Director of the State School Taro Mizutori
We, firstly, thank Father Heavenly for having put in our lives, people and special circumstances that favored the
application of the Course Character Education in the schools. We thank all the Ambassadors for Peace that
collaborated directly or indirectly with the initial activities that were accomplished at several schools and that
served as experiences for the practical improvement of the Course. We also thank the International Director of
the activities of the Character Education, Mr. Alan Saunders for being always leaning on with important
information that contribute with the development of the Course, mainly on this second year. Our first
experience with the Course was very interesting. In one school, the director told to us that the cases of
pregnancy in the adolescence were reduced from 8 cases to 1, comparing the previous years with only 1 year of
application of the Course. Regarding the drugs, some teachers noticed that the presence of drugs in the
bathrooms of the school were very reduced. We were happy with the results, but at the same time, we were also
sad for knowing that many other schools need this Course and unfortunately we don't have qualified teachers.
But thanks to God, here in Brazil we already accomplished trainings for monitors and teachers, in the cities of
Fortaleza (CE), Embu (SP), Guarulhos (SP), Curitiba (PR), Barueri (SP) and in the city of São Paulo with a
group of monitors of Anápolis (GO), where the results certainly will come, according to the time and needs of
each team and places.