RS 35: Reflection: Is Our Future in Good Hands?

Read the following two excerpts.  What is your reaction?  Are you concerned by some of these survey results?  Some say, “The survey results do prompt concerns about teens’.  Reflect by answering the above questions. Your reflection must include a discussion about conscience in terms of what you’ve learned in class.   Serious and thoughtful comments only please.  The rubric which will be used is called reflection rubric.

Today’s teenagers say they are confident in their ability to make ethical business decisions. And if it takes lying and cheating to get to the top … oh, well.

Nearly half of students polled in a Junior Achievement survey said they think it’s OK to lie to their parents, and more than a third of them think they need to break the rules at school to succeed.

The survey of 750 students ages 12 to 17 was conducted by Deloitte, a global accounting and consulting firm.

Eighty percent of students surveyed think they will be able to make ethical decisions when they enter the work force. On the other hand, 38 percent think that in order to succeed, rules must be broken. Forty percent think it is acceptable to lie to their parents, and 61 percent of them say they have done so in the past year.

In what the survey sponsors called a troubling sign, only 54 percent said they look to their parents as role models. The other students said they have no role model at all, or look to their friends.

“There is a troubling incongruent between the degree to which teens feel ethically prepared to enter the work force, and the unethical behaviors in which they engage,” said David W. Miller, director of the Princeton University Faith and Work Initiative.

“The survey results do prompt concerns about teens’ future workplace behavior and forecast serious challenges to businessmen around how they will need to prepare and train these future leaders.” (Full article)

[Note:  This article is based on an American survey]

Teens agree with their parents’ values. A nearly unanimous 98 percent of those surveyed said their parents had set a good example of right and wrong. When we asked teens how their own attitudes about right and wrong compared with their parents’, 70 percent said “pretty much the same.”

One of our most disturbing findings concerned the problem of cheating in school. Seventy-four percent told us that teens “in general” think it is usually or sometimes okay. When we asked individuals if they personally thought that cheating is “usually okay, sometimes okay or never okay,” a still surprisingly large 38 percent said it was usually or sometimes okay.

Teens polled expressed a strong sense of responsibility for their fellow man. Eighty-three percent considered it essential to “take action to help” if they heard someone screaming or saw them being attacked. Seventy percent of our teens felt it essential to report a crime they had witnessed. Even more encouraging, our poll showed that teenagers have a strong foundation in faith and morals. Nearly three out of four (71 percent) report they believe in God; 18 percent of those polled go to a house of worship once or more a week. We also asked teens what they would do if they found themselves “unsure of what was right or wrong.” The majority, 43 percent, said they would try to do “what would be best for everyone involved.” Only one in ten would take the self-serving path of “doing what would help me to get ahead.”  (Full article)

[Note:  This article is based on a Canadian survey]

Ethical Values Assignment

Ethical values (Core ethical values) and (Medical values)

Six  values that are commonly used in medical ethics discussions

  1. Autonomy –  a person has the right to make their own choices.  In Medicine, the patient has the right to refuse or choose their treatment.
  2. Beneficence – decisions involve having the  other person’s best interests in mind; a practitioner should act in the best interest of the patient.
  3. Non-maleficence – “first, do no harm”
  4. Justice – to provide what a person is entitled to;  concerns the distribution of scarce health resources, and the decision of who gets what treatment
  5. Dignity – Humans are to be honoured and treated with respect; the patient (and the person treating the patient) have the right to dignity.
  6. Fidelity – Keeping promises, being honest, telling the truth;  the concept of informed consent has increased in importance

Directions:  Select one of the bioethical issues below and using the handout provided in class, come to an informed decision on the issue you selected.

Bioethical Issues

  1. (Should having a baby after menopause be allowed?) Is 66 to old to have a baby?
  2. (Should collecting sperm after a man has died be allowed?)   Judge OKs Dead Son’s Sperm and Judge OKs …
  3. (Should euthanasia or Abortion allowed legally?)  Decriminalizing euthanasia and   Euthanasia Bill and End of Life Decisions
  4. (When should organs be harvested for organ donation?) When does death occur? and   Doctors Debate

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RS 35: Reflection: Is Conscience Something to Pay Attention to?

Religious Studies 35 Reflection Question

In the article Conscience and truth. it says “Catholic moral theology teaches that conscience is the highest norm and that one must always follow it, even against opposing dictates of legitimate authority”.  Pope Benedict XVI, (before he was pope) once said Conscience is the highest norm … and one must follow it even against authority”.

Produce a  typewritten unified response to the following.

Select the page titled Temptation  and read the hypothetical situation presented along with the question it poses.   Answer the question, being mindful of the information given above as well as what you have learned about conscience in class.  Your answer must clearly explain your reasons for the decision and must reflect some things learned in class.  Upon providing your decision with its reasons, then analyze your response by explaining what your decision says about your conscience.  What is motivating you to make the decision you’ve made?  Is your decision motivated by your conscience, by your superego, or is it motivated because of selfish motives (id or ego)?  Be honest.  There is no right and wrong answer.  What is important here is your self reflection.  I’m hoping that you will discover something about yourself.  This assignment will be graded using the reflection rubric.  You can view this rubric by clicking the reflection rubric page.