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Abstract
The purpose of this study was to describe and analyze the perceptions of Georgias public high school principals in regard to character education and the mandated character education initiative. This study was based upon survey responses by 51% of Georgias public high school principals.|This study revealed that the responding principals were supportive of the concepts of character education, but were not very well trained in them. Character education was also viewed, by the principals, as a legitimate function of the public high school. The respondents also deemed character education to be an effective deterrent to school violence and discipline problems.|Character education enjoyed support across all personal and professional characteristics. Only years of experience in education indicated different levels of support, with respondents with 18 to 22 years experience showing slightly higher support for character education and those with 13 to 17 years experience showing slightly lower support.|The study concluded that Georgias public high school principals are ready and willing to embrace character education, but they seemed to lack direction as well as specific strategies. The "lack of training" issue must be addressed if character education is to be successful.