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Welcome to SEE's Reasoning with Ethics page. The following case (scroll down) and linked pages (right margin) are provided to help support class discussions or essay assignments with a focus on ethical reasoning, which is a supporting factor for ethical functioning and character formation. SEE will respond to your free subscription with a weekly email that includes a current events case and guided questions to support ethical discussions during the school year. SEE encourages the strategy described here to be applied beyond current events cases and to included analysis of relevant cases in history, literature and life. The Teacher Resources link offers files to fully utilize the weekly cases to strengthen student ethical awareness, judgment and suggested actions. Additional consulting services are also available to support the use of these cases.
Current Case |
Cases can be used as • Class discussion starters • Reading lessons • Essay prompts • Social studies, health or ethics class analysis |
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When is it "Right" to Tell?
December 10, 2018 Don’t be a snitch or a narc. Don’t be a tattletale. These messages are deeply embedded in our culture and are ignored at great social peril. Students and adults struggle with recognizing when it is “right” to tell, or to speak to authorities. In the modern age of terrorism, there are even civic ad-campaigns that try to convince us, “If you see something, say something.” But the two hurdles of taking the time and energy to get involved in another person’s business and the social risk of being labeled a snitch are daunting. |
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Ziarra Griffin, a sixth-grader in the Buffalo Public Schools appears to have determined the right time to tell. After her school bus hit a parked car and went on without informing the car owner, Ziarra choose to report the incident. The owner was a local college student, who was extremely grateful to read Ziarra’s note explaining what happened. The note was written and left even as her mother recalled that Ziarra needed to convince her this was the right thing to do.
The college student was so grateful for help in seeking justice that he worked to find and thank Ziarra in the meeting pictured here. |
So, when is it right to tell? What circumstances and core values point to the need to intervene and report an incident to authorities when it is not directly our business? What social skills might help one report an incident wisely?
Thoughts on the case? We want to hear them!
Ethics in action creates character