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Community relationships

Just like you have relationships with family and friends that take work, it is also important to work on your relationship with your community. “Community” means the people around you. You have a community at your school and in your town. You can be a good member of your community by being a good person.

You can be a good person by showing the good parts of your character. “Character” is a set of values that helps build your thoughts, actions, and feelings. This is a very important part of who we are.

People with strong character:

• Show compassion, which is caring about other people’s feelings and needs
• Always tell the truth
• Treat other people as they would like to be treated
• Show self-discipline, which is doing things like getting homework done on time without being told to
• Make good judgments, which are choices about what is right and wrong
• Show respect to others by being nice, treating others fairly, and letting other people have beliefs that may be different from their own
• Stand up for their beliefs
• Have a strong sense of responsibility, which means they take tasks such as schoolwork or taking care of a pet very seriously and work hard to do a good job
• Have self-respect, which means liking who you are and taking good care of yourself

Volunteering is a great way to become involved in your community and develop your character. Learn more about volunteering in your community in the Your Future section!

Tara Suri is working hard to make communities better!

Inspired by the poverty and sexism she saw in India, at age thirteen, Tara Suri started H.O.P.E., or Helping Orphans Pursue Education. She started out small — holding bake sales, making bracelets, and even recycling used soda cans — but her idea was big.

Now seventeen years old, she’s turned that organization into something bigger: Turn Your World Around. Together with others, she’s raised over $50,000 to make the world a better place and engage hundreds in activism. Read more about Tara.

Content last updated September 22, 2009

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