morality level. In the first stage, people make decisions just to avoid being punished. In the second stage, people realize there is more than one viewpoint regarding a given situation. In this level, the individual hasn’t developed a personal moral code. Most people at this stage are children. The adults around them and the consequences for breaking the rules that adults have established influence their actions.

At the second level, the conventional morality level, people begin to internalize the values of important adults around them. The approval of others is very important to people at this level. At stage three, the person is making decisions so he or she can be seen as a good person. At stage four, the person can see the rules from a societal standpoint. At this stage, people make decisions in order to follow the law and to avoid legal consequences.

At the third level, the post-conventional morality level, people use self-chosen principles to make decisions. Moral reasoning is based on concepts of justice and individual rights. Only a small percentage of people, about 10-15 percent, reach this stage. In stage five, people understand that something that might be good for the society as a whole might not be good for that person. In stage six, people have a universal set of principles that guide their decision-making. A person will do whatever is necessary in order to defend these principles, including breaking the law if needed.

The further along a person gets in Kohlberg’s stages of moral development, the more that decisions are made based on significant analysis of a situation instead of just trying to please somebody or to avoid punishment. The goal for any person should be to advance as far as possible in his or her moral development. People should be able to make moral decisions and judgments based on complex factors instead of on simplistic ones.

Moral development is important because a person cannot be controlled all of the time. We have to rely on people to do the right thing. Doing the right thing does not come naturally to people. They have to learn about the social contract from a young age.

Moral development is extremely important in the life of every human being.  As the link below says,

Moral development is a concern for every parent. Teaching a child to distinguish right from wrong and to behave accordingly is a goal of parenting.

If anything, this understates the matter.  Teaching a child to distinguish right from wrong is the main concern for every parent.

If parents are religious, they will clearly want their children to learn to distinguish right from wrong.  The ability to make this distinction will have an impact on the health of their child's soul -- nothing could be more important than this.

Even parents who are not religious will care about moral development.  They will know that a person with bad morals is likely to have a hard life.  He or she might get in legal trouble, for instance.  Even if it doesn't go that far, a person without good morals will generally have a hard time developing strong relationships with other people and will struggle to find a good job.

People need to know the difference between right and wrong.  Therefore, moral development is extremely important.