Teaching Ethics - Hmmm?
By Lisa Frederiksen Bohannon
In this day of legalized greed (think mortgage financing disaster); minced words (think President Clinton and Monica Lewinsky) and silent consent (think Darfur), it’s no wonder that teaching students ethics is difficult. Add to this the day-to-day “fudges” many adults engage in while in the company of young people, such as:
- calling in sick to school so their student can finish a school project;
- speeding or crowding fellow drivers and swearing at them when they don’t move out of the way;
- making up a story to get out of an obligation;
- insulting someone or forming an opinion on someone based on their looks;
- “helping” their student’s history paper (“just the typing and editing”) because their student is swamped that weeked with a soccer tournament;
- telling a racist joke and taking affront when someone doesn’t laugh because “they were only kidding!”; or
- driving the family home after they’ve shared a bottle of wine with dinner yet admonishing the student to “never drink and drive!”
And, as if this weren’t enough competition for teaching ethics, consider the absurdity of television shows our students watch that pay the winner for stabbing fellow castaways in the back or the bachelor or bachelorette who picks their life’s mate (after “sampling” 11 others, all at the same time) in just a few weeks or the guest/host show that allows incredibly personal, destructive family relationships to be played out on national TV (including undress and physical violence) – requiring burly men in black T-shirts to step in.
Whew! Where do you start?
Answer: Elementary school and as frequently and as often as possible, thereafter.
Many educators are familiar with the Six Pillars of Character, which are at the foundation of the Josephson Institute, a nonprofit “center for youth ethics.” These character traits are defined as trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring and citizenship. As you explore ethics with your students, invite them to compare the six pillars with the very real counter-examples they encounter in their day-to-day lives. Ecouraged your students to analyze and verbally communicate their thoughts. Here are some ideas for discussion questions that can also be used in a debate-like format:
- What do you think about friends canceling plans with friends when something better comes along?
- What do you think of copying information from a website without accurately footnoting the source – like a cut and paste?
- What do you think of copying or letting others copy homework from you?
- What do you think about students cheating on tests – even if getting a good grade is critical to their getting the water polo scholarship they need in order to afford college?
- What do you think about kids who drink even though the legal drinking age is 21?
- What do you think of kids smoking pot even thought it’s illegal?
As you take students through questions like these, encourage them to probe deeper by asking, “Why do you think students do ____________?” “Do you think there are ‘levels’ of cheating that are okay?” “Do you think __________ is okay to do because ‘all kids do it?’” “What would you do in that situation?” (By the way, surveys continue to demonstrate that teens overestimate how many of their peers are doing certain behaviors, such as having sex and smoking pot. It is important for youth to know that not “everybody is doing it.”)
Teaching ethics is difficult when students encounter so many real-life counter messages. Nonetheless, discussions like these will help students dig for an understanding of ethics and in the course of discovery be able to answer the questions, “What is ethics?” and as importantly, “What is it for them?”
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