EXCELLENCE & ETHICS

When you’re faced with a difficult decision, one in which the “right thing”  isn’t clear, what do you do?

For centuries philosophers ranging from Socrates to sidewalk seers have attempted to tackle this topic, often through the discussion of moral dilemmas; scenarios in which a character must choose from two or more courses of action, each of which appears to present a moral conflict.  Moral dilemmas cause us to think through seemingly straightforward options that are in reality incredibly complex.

Discussions of moral dilemmas tend to occur with higher frequency the closer one gets to a university lecture hall, but as Harvard professor Michael Sandel points out to students in his “Justice” course, we are challenged daily to answer the question of “What’s the right thing to do?” not with theoretical or philosophical discourse, but with real thoughts, words, and actions. (Sandel’s book, Justice:  What’s the Right Thing to Do? is based on his course and video of his lectures are available here).

Most adults can come up with some kind of answer for the question posed at the top of this post.  We learn to incorporate our experiences, beliefs, and opinions into the act of making “good” decisions…or at least that’s the idea; a quick glance at the front page of a daily newspaper is all it takes to see that this isn’t always the case.

Or, if you’d really like to get shaken up, ask a young person if they know of anyone who has ever been a victim of cyber-bullying.

Just last week I watched a gym full of middle school students answer this very question when it was posed during a presentation on “Sexting & Cyber-Bullying.”  Students were asked to respond with a show of hands, and they complied…every single one of them.

What I would have found even more interesting is if the presenter had asked the question “How many of you believe that cyber-bullying is wrong?”  My guess is that the vast majority of hands would have stayed up.  So if our students know that this behavior is not only improper, but more accurately defined as crude and violent, then why do so many participate in it?

While bullying and harassment existed long before the concept of cyber-anything, we’re learning the hard way that the emotional toll students bear from facing these acts is significant, and it would be unwise to assume that those exhibiting manifestations such as self-harm, violence against others, etc. are the only ones being affected.

So if we as educators believe that this is not right, that this kind of harassment should have no place in our schools and our classrooms…What can we do about it?

Many schools (often as a result of local, state, or federal mandates) host presentations on a) why cyber-bullying is bad and b) the kind of trouble you can get in if you do it.  There may be a place for this kind of presentation, but we’re fooling ourselves if we believe that the ‘inform-then-scare’ strategy is a viable solution to any problem.  In addition (or perhaps even instead), we must focus on teaching students strategies for making decisions that are “good” and “right” ones.  That’s not to say that we need to force them into abiding by our view of right-and-wrong acts, but rather that we must empower them with the skills and abilities to reason through those decisions in depth.

One tool you can use with students to help them develop good decision making skills is the Power2Achieve Integrity-in-Action Checklist, which provides 9 “tests” used to evaluate a decision.

• The Golden Rule Test
• The Fairness Test
• The Truth Test
• The Conscience Test
• The Parent Test
• The Front-Page Test
• The What-If-Everybody-Did-This-Test
• The Religion Test

(Click here to download a PDF of the Power2Achieve Integrity-In-Action checklist to use w/students)

By creating opportunities for students to practice using the Integrity-in-Action checklist with hypothetical and real life scenarios, challenging students to use it in their own decision-making, and following up with discussions about how the checklist helped them think more deeply about their decisions (and hopefully led to making good ones), we can help them develop the skills needed to face now-issues like cyber-bullying, cheating, and deciding what to do on a Friday night with their friends; as well as issues they will face in the future as active community members, voters, parents, etc.

As educators, we are charged not only with teaching content knowledge and “hard-skills,” but also with preparing students to face the most fundamental of questions: “What’s the right thing to do?”

After all, typing a message to a classmate that reads “I HATE YOU,” takes the same number of keystrokes as typing one that reads “THANK YOU.”  Helping our students develop the skills used in determining which kind of message to send is at least as important, if not more so, than teaching them how to type it.

note:  you can also see this blog post and others @ New Teacher Camp (ntcamp.org)