Acting Ethically
Definition: When there is respect for others’ ideas, there is honesty and compassion for others within a person.
Criteria for Acting Ethically:
Being ethical, in my opinion, is one of the most important traits a person can have. It is also one of the most fragile and complicated topics. Being ethical can be interpreted so differently from one person to another that event the situation results in different “ethical” outcomes. Personally I have been in a position where the line between being ethical and unethical was a little blurred.
When I was in High School, I was witness of an unethical action of one of my classmates and was not sure what to do. Our Chemistry teacher had accidently left the day’s exam key on her desk and went on a break while students where switching from one class to another. I arrived to my class and as I walked inside I spotted 2 other students hovering around the teacher’s desk. Me being curious, asked them what they were up to and was shocked to hear that they were taking pictures of the exam key and were planning to share them with their friends to earn a good grade. They asked me if I was interested to get the picture too and knowing it was the wrong thing to do, I laughed and told them they were crazy! Since they figured I was not going to help them or receive the notes they begged me not to say anything. I was not sure if I was supposed to stay true to them and not say a word or if I was supposed to “do the right thing” and let the teacher know. At the time, I believed that pretending that I didn’t see anything was the best thing to do and that way I would avoid any problems to myself and to the students getting the exam key. I was frustrated with myself but didn’t want to be a “snob” so I kept my mouth shut. It turned out that after the exams were graded the teacher suspected some cheating and discovered that her exam key had been acquired. I felt guilty for not saying anything earlier in time to avoid further complications. Although the other students faced consequences and I didn’t part of me still felt punished because my guilty conscious nagged me all the time about how I should have said something. That day I learned that being ethical does not mean doing what is best for myself or doing what is best for others. Instead, being ethical is doing what is best for a community and always being honest. This has definitely been a lesson that has allowed me to make more ethical decisions in which honesty rules.
Criteria for Acting Ethically:
- Open-minded
- Respectful
- Honest
- Humble
- Caring
Being ethical, in my opinion, is one of the most important traits a person can have. It is also one of the most fragile and complicated topics. Being ethical can be interpreted so differently from one person to another that event the situation results in different “ethical” outcomes. Personally I have been in a position where the line between being ethical and unethical was a little blurred.
When I was in High School, I was witness of an unethical action of one of my classmates and was not sure what to do. Our Chemistry teacher had accidently left the day’s exam key on her desk and went on a break while students where switching from one class to another. I arrived to my class and as I walked inside I spotted 2 other students hovering around the teacher’s desk. Me being curious, asked them what they were up to and was shocked to hear that they were taking pictures of the exam key and were planning to share them with their friends to earn a good grade. They asked me if I was interested to get the picture too and knowing it was the wrong thing to do, I laughed and told them they were crazy! Since they figured I was not going to help them or receive the notes they begged me not to say anything. I was not sure if I was supposed to stay true to them and not say a word or if I was supposed to “do the right thing” and let the teacher know. At the time, I believed that pretending that I didn’t see anything was the best thing to do and that way I would avoid any problems to myself and to the students getting the exam key. I was frustrated with myself but didn’t want to be a “snob” so I kept my mouth shut. It turned out that after the exams were graded the teacher suspected some cheating and discovered that her exam key had been acquired. I felt guilty for not saying anything earlier in time to avoid further complications. Although the other students faced consequences and I didn’t part of me still felt punished because my guilty conscious nagged me all the time about how I should have said something. That day I learned that being ethical does not mean doing what is best for myself or doing what is best for others. Instead, being ethical is doing what is best for a community and always being honest. This has definitely been a lesson that has allowed me to make more ethical decisions in which honesty rules.