An Ol' Broad's Ramblings
Kids and Ethics Part I
Over the weekend, I was at a retreat that I participate in every year. The retreat is held at a monastery, which means no internet, no TV and very sporadic cell phone reception. This “forces” one to be introspective and reflect. It is something I look forward to every year. I share a room at the monastery with one of my closest friends, who teaches business courses at the high school level. One of our traditions is that on Saturday evening, I help her grade papers. Usually it’s various types of correspondence, resumes, etc. This year, however, it was something completely different.
The children, who are juniors and seniors, were asked three questions regarding ethics. The responses they gave so stunned me that I asked permission to use their answers on this blog. I will do a separate post for each question asked, and would be most grateful for your input. The first question was:
If you could succeed at someone else’s expense, would you do it? There is a chance you could get caught; if you do, jail time. If not, you are free and a rich person.
Depending on what it is I probably wouldn’t do it. If it was for billions of dollars of course I would because it’s all about risk reward and I figure even if I do jail time I would at least be able to hide some money and have it when I get out.
I would not succeed at someone else’s expense because that is not right…I would rather not be rich then possibly get in trouble and take something from someone. Something they probably worked really hard on for a long time. I also would not do it because I believe what comes around goes around and it is not worth the risk
I would not succeed at someone else’s expense because that is just wrong. There is a fine line between wanting to succeed yourself and using someone else to succeed. I also wouldn’t feel good about myself because I used someone else to succeed.
If I could succeed at someone else’s expense, and there was a risk of jail time if I was caught, but if I made it out alive was a rich person, I think I would not do it. Reason being is because to succeed and get money has a certain level of satisfaction. You feel great about the hard work you just put forth and the reward you get once you see that pay check, or that new care or house. That you just bought with the money you worked hard to get. So to cheat and make someone else pay for it I feel is wrong and not worth it. In the end you would always be thinking about how you just screwed that guy over. The money you just got would not feel right. You also would not have earned it, you wouldn’t feel that extra reward.
If there was a chance that I could succeed at someone’s expense would I do it or not. Yes I would do it I’m not going to lie. I know that succeeding at someone’s expense means that I win and they lose but that’s a chance I would have to take and even thought I could get caught and do possible jail time but that’s a chance I’m willing to take because I know that if I don’t get caught I will be rich and a free man.
If I had the chance I would succeed at someone else’s expense. If you do get caught then you are going to go to court and let the jury decide. There is always room for risk.
No. I would only do that if there was no jail time if I got caught. That is kind of obvious. Why would I risk going to jail. Now if there was no penalty and it was benefiting me and my family, I would do it.
I might do it depending on whose expense it was and how it would benefit me. Some reasons that I would do it would be if I get a lot of money and knew that I would not get caught. On the other hand if I knew there was a good chance that I might get caught then I probably would not do it.
I probably would not do it because the consequences of getting caught would prevent me from going through with it. I think there are better ways to get rich. However it depends on if I absolutely needed the money then my decision would most likely be different.
I would take the opportunity to become rich over someone else because in this world everyone is looking out for themselves and the person that I would be doing this to would more than likely do the same thing to me so there is no point in worrying about other people’s feelings.
No, I would not succeed at someone else’s expense if there was a chance of getting caught. I would choose my freedom over getting rich any day. You could still end up getting rich without doing it through someone else’s expense and without the risk of getting put in jail.
I wouldn’t because money isn’t worth jail time. I would just work hard and be successful without hurting someone else.
No, because I wouldn’t think it would be right and that someone will find out and eventually gets caught. I wouldn’t want that type of pressure on me for the situation and would want that haunting me in the future. I wouldn’t want karma to get back at me.
Note that of those who said they would not take the risk, most stated that the reason is the fear of being caught…NOT because it’s just the wrong thing to do. What are we teaching these kids? What ever happened to right and wrong? Of course, current events certainly don’t help. After all, there is the former governor of Illinois who will stand trial for corruption, yet may be starring in a reality TV show. We have tax cheats appointed to the president’s cabinet.
My question to you is this: Are you surprised at these answers? Saddened? What was your first thought when you read this?
Saddened , the loss of integrity . It has become a nation with out moral thoughts . You get millions for spilling hot coffee on yourself , what kind of fuss would have been heard if the morning coffee were cold ?
I wonder if we can figure out which kids come from Christian conservative homes, and which ones come from “progressive” homes. Hmmmm…. let me think here….
@olbroad Hmmm – I think I can take an “educated” guess
I noticed that no one , whether they think this wrong or not, said that God was looking on everything they did, and they would answer to Him. No one mentioned their parents and how disappointed their parents would be. Only one mentioned that he/she was looking forward to succeeding on his/her own steam.
Several were okay with jail time, if that’s what it took to get the money. Can’t help but think these kids have already had close contact with others quite familiar with incarceration. Generally, I think most kids of this age would be petrified at the though of being in jail.
Sixteen, seventeen years old – this is old enough to know the difference between right and wrong.
@Maggie Yes, I noticed that too. Quite said, isn’t it?
I’m not so sure that they are familiar with incarceration – I just think that today’s generation thinks that they are omnipotent. I have a feeling if they spent a day or two in jail, their answers might just drastically change. From my keyboard to God’s ears.
But you’re absolutely right – that IS old enough to know right from wrong – stay tuned. The answers to the next question will be quite interesting.
First, my anal-retentive self noticed that the majority of these high-schoolers couldn’t put a sentence together without the help of a judge in the first place.
Second, the lack of any oversight from those who were supposed to be raising them – as Maggie mentioned, no problems with disappointing the parents or God.
Third – grading papers at a retreat? Come on, you were there to get AWAY from the world…
@cary I’m quite anal-retentive as well, which is why my friend trusts me to grade. The sad part is, what you are reading is AFTER I did a bit of editing…just enough so readers could actually make sense of it.
As far as grading papers at the retreat – it’s tradition!
I still got a lot out of the retreat…
In Japan there is honor; we have winning and losing. We do not fear loss of “face” or reputation, we fear laws. I don’t know why answering this would have been easy for me (no, you don’t screw people over for money or any other reason short of war), but asking these questions and discussing that answers with juniors and seniors in high school is way too late. Kindergarten may be too late, if you get my drift. Certainly teaching “business ethics” in college or a MBA program is way too late.
What I would like to see is the same set of questions asked on the same age children in Japan, in Norway and Denmark, in Russia, in Spain. I know the answers would vary by country, but why?