2026年5月22日 美国东部时间晚上8:07 / 哥伦比亚广播公司新闻
记者 史蒂夫·哈特曼
史蒂夫·哈特曼是哥伦比亚广播公司新闻记者，他在每周获奖专题节目《在路上》中，为观众带来他偶遇的普通人的动人故事。
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明尼苏达州雷德温市—— 美国每年斥资数千亿美元教儿童阅读、写作和计算。但善良呢？为什么这不是学校里的一门课程？好吧，在一些地方，它已经成为了一门课。
《善良101》是一个利用哥伦比亚广播公司新闻《在路上》系列报道中的故事来教授善良与品格的项目。这些故事搭配由爱荷华州德雷克大学一家名为“塑造品格！”的非营利组织编写的教案。
“我们的理念是围绕这些故事开发课程资源，弘扬我们国家最美好的一面……而且我们会做到全程免费，让教育工作者无需付费就能获取这些资源，”“塑造品格！”执行董事斯科特·雷克说道。
我工作中最棒的一些乐趣，就是每当我突袭探访《善良101》的课堂时收到的问候。
探访明尼苏达州雷德温市伯恩赛德小学尼尔·拉默的三年级班级，是其中最令人愉悦的一次。拉默是已使用《善良101》课程的10万多名教师之一。
任何教师都可以在Kindess101.com网站上获取这些课程，目前全球已有数百万儿童通过这些课程受到善良与品格教育的启发。
“当我看到学生们复刻他们在视频里学到的行为时……作为一名教师，这比什么都珍贵，”当被问及如何得知课程已经深入人心时，拉默这样回应。
“这真的让我想成为更好的人，”一名学生这样评价这些课程。
这些积极影响之所以广泛传播，很大程度上要归功于拉默创办的善良俱乐部。
学生们每周至少会放弃一次课间休息时间，参与食品募捐、手套募捐活动，并在全校范围内宣扬善意。
“这些孩子想要帮助他人的意愿，实在太令人惊叹了，”拉默说道。
拉默甚至还在为本学区的其他教师教授如何最佳使用这套课程，他所做的一切都是为了打造一支“善良超级英雄”大军。
拉默被选为首位《善良101》全国年度教师。该奖项于今年4月在爱荷华州得梅因市的一场颁奖晚宴上颁发，今后将成为一项年度传统。
“他让我变得更聪明，也让我更快乐，”另一名学生在向哥伦比亚广播公司新闻评价拉默时说道，“他就是我的全世界。”
How some U.S. schools are teaching kindness classes: “Just makes me want to be a better person”
May 22, 2026 8:07 PM EDT / CBS News
By Steve Hartman Correspondent
Steve Hartman is a CBS News correspondent. He brings viewers moving stories from the unique people he meets in his weekly award-winning feature segment “On the Road.”
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Red Wing, Minnesota— The U.S. spends hundreds of billions every year teaching children how to read, write and calculate. But what about kindness? Why isn’t that a subject in school? Well, in some places, it is.
Kindness 101 is a program that uses the stories CBS News finds in our “On the Road” series to teach kindness and character. The stories are paired with lesson plans created by a nonprofit at Iowa’s Drake University called “Character Counts!”
“So the idea that we could develop curricular resources around these stories that elevate the best of our country…and we’re going to do all this so that educators don’t have to pay to get them,” said Scott Raecker, executive director of Character Counts!
Some of the greatest joys of my job are the greetings I get whenever I surprise one of our Kindness 101 classrooms.
A visit to Neil Lahammer’s third grade class at Burnside Elementary School in Red Wing, Minnesota, would be the most joyful of all. Lahammer is one of more than 100,000 teachers who have used Kindness 101.
The lessons, which any teacher can access at Kindess101.com, are being used to inspire kindness and character in millions of children around the world.
“When I see the students duplicating what they’re seeing in the videos…and as a teacher, that’s gold,” responded Lahammer when asked how he knows the lessons are sinking in.
“Just makes me want to be a better person,” one student said of the lessons.
The good vibes are spreading largely thanks to the Kindness Club Lahammer started.
At least once a week, students give up their recess to do food drives, glove drives and promote kindness throughout the school.
“It’s just amazing the way these kids want to help out others,” Lahammer said.
Lahammer even teaches other teachers in his district how to best use the curriculum, all in an effort to create an army of kindness superheroes.
Lahammer was chosen as the first-ever Kindness 101 National Teacher of the Year. The award was presented in April at a gala in Des Moines, Iowa, and it will now become an annual tradition.
“He makes me smarter and he makes me happier,” another student told CBS News of Lahammer. “He’s my whole world.”