W. Clement Stone, one of the 20th century's great business leaders and ethical thinkers in America, passed on recently at age 100. His contributions to American society are a testimony to the power of the individual to make a difference.

One of Stone's favorite themes was the individual's power to choose.

He stated, "You always do what you want to do. This is true with every act. You may say that you had to do something, or that you were forced to, but actually, whatever you do, you do by choice. Only you have the power to choose for yourself."

For a youngster or teen to embrace and apply Stone's challenging words to the bumps and grinds of daily living, is to confront character development's biggest monster: living one's life as a victim.

Clearly, character development rests on one's understanding of the power to choose and choose again, day in and day out. Consequently, kids of character become adults of character by defeating the belief of life victimization.=20

It is quite easy for the language of victimization to slip into the life of a young person with phrases like: I can't; I don't know how; It's not my fault; he made me; nobody told me.

These powerful thoughts subtly seep into the subconscious mind and become rooted as the troubling attitudes that shape the mind of victimization.

Clearly it is painful to confront the monster of victimization. It requires that we see that choice is something that happens in real time, at all times, whether conscious or unconscious. When a child understands that life is about choices, that child has the powerful key to unlock the difference between choices that lead to success and those that lead to failure.

Without that key a kid cannot become a kid of character, but rather trudges through life like a puppet on a string - jerked, pulled and yanked around by the opinions, thoughts, actions and beliefs of others.

Kids of Character take control of victimization as they become conscious champions of choice making.

Russell Williams is President of Passkeys Foundation~Jefferson Center for Character Education. For information contact (949) 770-7602 or www.jeffersoncenter.org.