… and why are they important?
Values are principles / objectives that guide us. They are based on our (shared) ideas of what we think is good and right – in terms of living together. If we lived alone, there would be no need for them.
As a consequence values form the basis, the foundation of our community. The community can be, for example, the family, the sports club, the school, the company, the region, the country, or the continent. This is where the term „community of values“ comes from.
Values are therefore the basis for the rules / laws that organize our coexistence. They serve the balance of interests to satisfy needs without restricting those of others. Accordingly, values themselves must sometimes be weighed.
In Germany, dignity is a high collective value that guides our laws and our jurisprudence. For example, the first sentence of Article 1 of the Basic Law reads: „Human dignity is inviolable. It is the duty of all state authority to respect and protect it.“
What is meant by this sentence is: „No human being may be treated as a thing, completely disenfranchised, subjected to inhuman and degrading punishments and treatment, tortured or destroyed as so-called life unworthy of life.“ [[1]]
It is important to me that my son treats his fellow human beings with respect and is aware of his own dignity, in such a way that possible insults/humiliations cannot hurt his self-worth. To convey this to him, firstly I strive, for example, to be a good role model for him, to make him aware of his strengths, and to tell him appropriate stories.
Secondly, since the concept of values is still somewhat abstract for a six-year-old, I used the compass as a vivid example of orientation, since he knows it from his pirate ship😉
After this post has answered the question „What are values?“, you will find examples of values in the next blog post.
[1] Thurich, Eckart: pocket politik. Demokratie in Deutschland. Neuausgabe 2006. Bonn: Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung 2006. Lexika für politische Bildung unter www.bpb.de