Youth, have a pure mind!

“What we need the most to make Korea carry out the important role in the world is character education.”

On January 31, 2001, Chairwoman Zahng Gil-jah of the Intl. WeLoveU Foundation stated the purpose of holding the “1st Clean Descendants Character Education for Youths” at Bundang-gu office.

The Chairwoman asked the youths to have a pure mind through this education, saying, “In the old days, Korea was famous for character education. However, I feel sorry that it has become weak in character education, as Korea began to enjoy material affluence.” 120 middle and high school students who attended the education concentrated on the education with serious look despite their young age.

For the special lecture on this day, Yi Bae-keun, the president of Korea Central Adoption Resources (the former UNICEF director and chairman of the Korea Youth Service Center who has made an effort for children welfare and character education for the youth), and Professor Lee Hye-gyeong at the Sogang University were invited.

Quoting the paper of Goldman Sachs that “the economy of a unified Korea could be larger than that of Germany or Japan over the next three to four decades,” he emphasized the importance of the youth who would drive the future. President Yi Bae-keun also said, “To become a global leader, he or she should set a goal from adolescence.” He encouraged the youth to be the one percent who will lead the world, telling them the words of Kanda Masanori, “99% of people predict the future by seeing the present and only 1% of people think of what they should do in the present by looking further into the future. And those who succeed are in the latter group—1% of people.”

In addition, he explained that the basic necessity of a leader is to have good character because our society has changed from right-brained society which was ruled by reason to the left-brained society which is ruled by sensibility. President Yi Bae-keun told the students about four characters that the youth should have—honesty, consideration for others, self-control and challenging spirit. He encouraged them to control emotion, remarking, “Cola burst when there is an external stimulus but water remains calm, no matter how powerful a stimulus is. Let us be like water, not cola.”

Professor Lee Hye-gyeong at Sogang University said that she felt sad about schools which fell into the tool for delivering knowledge, and emphasized the importance of the character education of this time. Using the words of A.D. Miller, an American author who said, “Great respect is a skill to express one’s feeling by considering others’ feelings,” she explained that “if we want to be treated well, we first treat others with great concern.”Saying, “In that aspect, the Intl. WeLoveU Foundation is very committed to character education for the youth and carrying out various volunteering programs,” she urged the students to participate in it more actively.

The students who attended the special lecture this day said, “I came to look back upon myself once I didn’t notice. From now on, like Abraham Lincoln who was called ‘Honest Abe’ I, too, will live honestly.”Beside this, the students watched a video titled, “The Spirit of the Independence Movement,” and had time to look back upon themselves.

The Intl. WeLoveU Foundation put their best effort into the youth welfare by helping teen heads of household without parents, supporting youth activities, and holding a campaign to promote awareness of right values so that they can make healthy society and the hopeful future of human beings.