Pembentukan Karakter Generasi Z melalui Kegiatan Jalan Sehat dalam Memperingati HUT Kemerdekaan RI Ke-81 di Perumahan Ayodhya Citra 1

Abstract

This community service program aimed to strengthen character education for Generation Z through a healthy-walk (jalan sehat) activity held to commemorate the 81^st Anniversary of Indonesian Independence Day in Ayodhya Citra 1 Housing, Yogyakarta. The activity was motivated by the weakening understanding of national values among young citizens in general and the need for an enjoyable, easily accessible medium of character education outside the classroom. The approach combined participatory community organizing with activity-based character education, involving children, adolescents, and young adults of Generation Z together with Gen Z youths, together with local neighborhood officials and the committee for the Indonesian Independence Day celebration. Implementation covered four stages: preparation and coordination with community leaders, socialization of the program's educational purpose, the healthy-walk event itself accompanied by a reflection session with observation and simple interviews to assess participants' character indicators before, during, and after the activity. The results showed increased discipline in following the route and schedule, stronger cooperative behavior during group games, and a heightened sense of national pride expressed through the use of red-and-white attributes and the singing of national songs. The activity proved to be an effective, low-cost, and easily replicated model of character education that can be adopted by other rural communities to reinforce Pancasila values among Generation Z through routine, activity-based commemorations of national days.