Virginia Experience Civics & Economics Social Studies

Character Counts
Read about personal traits of good citizens, and circle the example that best illustrates each trait.
Good citizenship traits include:
In a community, citizens need to believe
their leaders and fellow citizens will say
what they really mean or believe. They also
need to trust that others will do the right thing
in all situations. Leaders also need to have
the same confidence in the trustworthiness
and honesty of citizens. If people don’t trust
and believe others, then nothing can get
done in a community! It would be constant
suspicion instead!
Communities are made up of many types
of people—young and old, educated and
uneducated, wealthy and poor, physically fit
and physically handicapped. But no matter
what someone’s situation or traits are, he or
she has rights and deserves to be treated with
courtesy, respect, and dignity. Everyone’s
viewpoints and opinions should be heard.
Every person in a community matters!
Trustworthiness and Honesty
Courtesy and Respect for the Rights of Others
Responsibility, Accountability, and Self-Reliance
Communities need citizens who can
be counted on to fulfill their civic duties,
voluntarily meet their civic responsibilities, and
participate in community service. A good
citizen is willing to be held accountable by
others for doing those things. And, although
asking for help is a good trait, citizens should
also be able to motivate themselves to get a
job done. A community with citizens who
exhibit these qualities is in great shape!
Circle the good citizen trait
Todd is running for City Council. At a campaign forum, a citizen
asks if Todd favors increasing local taxes. Todd knows how
unpopular tax increases are, so he lies and promises never to
vote for a tax increase.
Todd knows the city desperately needs to repave many streets
and does not have the funds to do the job. So he tells the citizen
that he would probably have to support a tax increase for
priority projects like paving streets. Todd says he hopes he can
still count on the citizen’s vote.
Circle the good citizen trait
When Emily serves food at the local homeless shelter, she almost
never talks to the men and women living there.
When Emily serves food at the local homeless shelter, she
constantly talks to the men and women living there. She asks
how they like the food and what else the community and she can
do for them.
Sample
Circle the good citizen trait
Jerry does not participate in his city’s curbside recycling
program. He thinks it’s a nuisance to have to stuff cans into blue
plastic bags or paper into a special container. Instead, he puts
everything into his garbage can.
Jerry makes a point of separating his recyclable materials and
putting them into separate bags and containers for the garbage
crews. A few minutes a week is a small price to pay to reduce
the amount of trash going into the local landfill, he believes.
©Carole Marsh/Gallopade • www.gallopade.com • Virginia Civics & Economics • Page 25
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