Moral instruction is big business these days. Just think about William Bennett and other mavens of morality. In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, what's behind these pleas for greater virtue? Also, psychiatrist Robert Coles considers the "moral intelligence" of children. And, the social value of shame.

SEGMENT 1

Pulitzer Prize winning psychiatrist Robert Coles tells Steve Paulson that parents should stop worrying about their children's IQ scores and pay more attention to moral values, character and integrity -- starting right after their child are born. Coles is a psychiatrist at the Harvard Medical School and the author of "The Moral Intelligence of Children." And, educator Colin Greer , co-editor (with Herbert Kohl) of "A Call to Character," tells Judith Strasser which values we should be teaching children; that a flexible approach to morality is desirable; and that families should read together even after children are old enough to read on their own.

SEGMENT 2:

Writer Tobias Wolff ("This Boy's Life," "In Pharaoh's Army," and now "The Night in Question") talks with Jim Fleming about the moral choices we make and how he explores them in his fiction.

SEGMENT 3:

Psychoanalyst Stuart Schneiderman tells Steve Paulson the difference between a shame culture and a guilt culture and suggests that Americans could benefit from a greater sense of shame. Schneidermman is the author of "Saving Face: America and the Politics of Shame."

Distribution dates:

• week of 02/09/97 - hour 1
• week of 03/29/98 - hour 1