While I was in high school I noticed that one of my classmates was about to cheat on the constitution test. Though I disapproved of him doing so I just decided not to negotiate by discussing the problem with him or by informing anyone to prevent it from happening. This decision was out of concern for myself, contemplatively I can see that a lot of circumstances related to that particular situation led me to make that decision that I made for that situation.
I discovered the boy’s intention through his arrogance. Something a attention seeker does, he couldn’t stop himself from informing others of his plans in advance, even though he was very secluded as to how he would perform this task. All I knew was that he had access to source materials
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Firstly, I did not entirely trust the decision of my teachers. I was concerned that I may have been blamed for leaking out information and would have to face any discipline coming out of that. The kid could be some type of bully or even a thug. Secondly, there was the saying back in high school “snitches get stitches”. The idea of being a “snitch” was not welcomed and I knew that among my friends even the fact of informing would be treated as being a “snitch” among my classmates. Thirdly, this was the constitution test, the boy’s decision made no difference to me, his test score would be graded along with thousands, even tens of thousands of others taking the same test. Finally, there was the sense that the boy’s actions were none of my business because it wasn't affecting me. I’m not the boy, I was not a member of the school authority, and I was not a representative of the examination board. I didn’t care for the boy, neither liked or disliked him, and informing him to authorities would have felt somehow pointless, a cruel act. This was an ethical dilemma even though, it wasn't mine it was for others to keep their school under
Groves, S. L., & Groves, D. L. (1981). Professional Discretion and Personal Liability of Teachers in Relation to Grades and Records. Education, 101(4), 335-340.
The situation that I have thought of is, when I was on the jury for juveniles who committed first offenses. While I was listening to the lawyers depend these kids, I looked on the list and saw a familiar name. The name was a person I went to kindergarten with. She was being convicted of shoplifting. I could not believe it. All the thoughts of that soft, kind-hearted person went out the window. My behaviors were changed by the environmental influences. My thoughts were overcome with coldness. I felt that she choose her situation. Somewhere along she became part of the wrong crowd and never changed her situation. I also think that the situation changed what I thought of her.
In document C, the school suspended the student, but that was because the student caused a threat against the targeted student, S.N. If the student did not target S.N. and say the students name and harm her directly then there would probably be no suspension. J.S created a MySpace profile (“the profile”) making fun of her middle school principal, James McGonigle. The profile did not name the principal or his school, but did include a photo of him and contained some vulgar and offensive language. J.S. did not name the principal or the school, she did not directly target the principal even though a photo of the principal was on the page.
Psychological research and application have established that it is not only people with learning disability or major mental illness that are susceptible to make false confessions. In order for a confession to be false, a person must either confess to a crime that he or she is completely innocent of or overstate his or her involvement in the crime. False confessions can be either voluntary or coerced. Although it is methodologically difficult to establish the frequency of false confessions, anecdotal evidence such as self-reports and case studies indicate that reported cases are only the ‘tip of the iceberg’. It appears that young people are particularly vulnerable and often make false confessions in order to protect others. Standardized psychological tests have been devised in order to assess personality factors such as suggestibility and compliance that render some people more vulnerable than others. The reason people make false confessions is typically due to a combination of factors such as psychological vulnerabilities, nature of the custodial confinement and the police interviewing tactics. Notorious cases of false confessions which have lead to the wrongful convictions of innocent people subsequently spending years in prison represent some of the worst cases of miscarriage of justice in Britain. One such cases, that of Engin Raghip of the so-called ‘Tottenham three’ will be discussed in the context of admissibility of psychological evidence in order to demonstrate how the judiciary has increasingly come to accept the psychological notion that most people, under certain circumstances, are susceptible to making false confessions.
Earlier this year I was challenged by a situation that allowed me question my values and morals. This has forced me to make an ethical decision based on my upbringing and my knowledge of what is morally right. Earlier this semester on my way home, I was encountered by a homeless man who asked me for money, enough to feed his family. He also explained to me that he bears two young daughters and that he lost his home during hurricane Sandy. At that
Lawrence Kohlberg theorized that morality has more to do with decisions than fixed behaviors. After studying several groups of people and their responses to certain moral problems, he was able to identify “three main levels of moral reasoning, with two substages within each level” (Passer & Smith, 2011). Prior to coming to West Point, my moral decisions were made along the lines of conventional moral reasoning, the second level, by conforming to the expectations of society. Within this level, I reasoned at stage three where morality is based on winning approval from parents, authority figures, and peers. During my first year of high school, I remember taking the AP World History exam and finding myself wanting to cheat on
One of the very first friends I’ve made at Sacred Heart told me about her first test in Italian class. She was sitting in between two people who decided to cheat. They were whispering around her, asking for the letter answer to a multiple choice question. My friend, knowing that they were both excellent students who were most likely striving for a perfect score at any cost, looked down at her paper and saw that she didn’t have the same answer as the girls who cheated. Despite the tempting chance to seemingly get a question right, my friend knew her standards and morals that she set for herself and did not change her answer. Her response to this situation was an example of integrity. Many other people cannot resist the temptation of cheating. This could be for a plethora of reasons, whether they are overwhelmed by their looming workload or they simply did not have the impetus to study. My literary genre teacher told my class about a student he had a couple years ago who was extremely desperate to receive a good grade on her vocabulary test. She wrote the answers on a piece of paper and stapled it inside her skirt. This unique way of cheating is a very clear example of dishonesty. As for her, my teacher had caught her and immediately lost all trust in
No one likes a tattle tell. Parents often scold children for such behavior and most people look at “snitching” in a negative light, that is – until they are the one’s directly affected by someone’s decision not to tell.
As a young kid in the fifth grade you don’t really consider the other kids feelings that you have help contribute upon putting down and making fun of until you are forced to see all the hurt you have caused to that individual. It was on a Friday afternoon school was getting ready to dismiss when a couple of kids and I surrounded and made fun of one individual I knew the decision to do so was wrong because it felt wrong but I decided to do so anyway because I didn’t want to be on the receiving end. As a result to being involved in the bullying I was giving detention that next Saturday morning by one of my favorite teachers which made me feel even more ashamed of my actions, the next morning I attended my detention
After that event, I made things very clear what I would never do again. From then on I never did something just because everyone else did. I would assess the situation and decide whether the action was worth it’s consequences. This event prevented me from becoming one of those people who break the law just because they can, or because it gives them an adrenalin rush. My actions on that fateful day were definitely not worth the consequences that I suffered, and because of that, I have been very obedient of the laws and rules that are around me.
An example that comes to mind is when I was working in the intensive care unit (ICU). While getting report from the off going nurse, I was told more about the patients socioeconomical status, how she smelled, and that the staff put her in the room that was farthest from the nurses station due to her smelling like cat urine and cigarette smoke. The nurse reported that she only had checked on the patient once during the time that she had been in the unit and that the patient was not really that sick. After finishing with report, I proceeded to complete an assessment and check on the patient every hour as I would for any other patient in the ICU. The patient ended up going into hypovolemic shock and required transfer to a larger hospital. If I would have only checked on the patient every four hours, as this was the minimum for the unit, chances are that this patient would have passed away. Due to my ethics, values, and morals the patient made it through the night and was able to return to her family later that same
Revealing a student’s education record or even just one test without permission is a definite no. A student’s educational record is supposed to remain private between the student, parents and teacher. A teacher cannot release information without consent and if they do release the information without consent, the teacher could be fired. The Family Educational Right to Privacy Act restricts a teacher’s ability to share a student’s educational record without permission. It is unethical and potentially harmful to the student for a teacher to share a student’s grade with the class. Releasing educational records without permission is not the only unethical thing a teacher can do and I will go into further depth on this later in my writing.
Overall, moral values and integrity play a major part in the choices we make. Deciding weather to cheat or to work hard and apply oneself can be a moral dilemma. Struggling with wanting a higher grade or gaining the approval of others can be a factor in that decision. However we all have to face the consequences of our actions. I prefer to make errors on my exams and endeavor to learn from them. I believe that learning from mistakes is part of gaining wisdom which is only earned through time and experience. In addition if the cheater wants to someday gain the trust of others. The perpetrator will be faced with the need to reestablish an honest reputation, all of which will take hard work and honest application.
"People! Come on! All of us are cutting history. Who wants to go take that stupid exam? We're going to BreadSticks instead. Let's go!" says the coolest kid in your class. Do you do what you know is right and go take the history exam? Or do you give in and go with the crowd? As you grow older, you'll be faced with some challenging decisions. Some don't have a clear right or wrong answer - should you practice the piano or text your girlfriend? Other decisions involve serious moral questions - should you cut class, should you lie to your parents? Making decisions on your own is hard enough, but when other people get involved and pressure you to make a certain choice, it can be much harder.
We headed down to the principal’s office. My heart was pounding. It felt like it was pumping more blood then it needed to pump. The time it took to reach the principal’s office felt like a million years. We were in the office and my teacher showed the picture to the principal. There it was; the inevitable. This was bound to happen. How did I not see this coming? Why did I just ignore my noggin? The principal said, “How ignorant! Three days of in-school-suspension.” My life was draining by the second. It felt as if I was thrown into a dark chamber filled with corpses. Now I realized to always listen to the authority. My life lesson learned: Take policies seriously. No matter what you say to get out of situations, policy always comes out first.