ABSTRACT
Cultivating an ethical school is never a finished task, just as living an ethical life is never a final accomplishment. Much of ethical experience is complex and saturated with ambiguity. To be sure, many ethical choices are simple and straightforward. Should I walk out of the store without paying for the merchandise? Should I falsely accuse someone of breaking the window, when I am the one who broke it? Usually, the answers to these ethical questions pose no problems. But other situations may not be so clear. If we put ourselves in a student’s place, we would have to struggle with many of their questions. How should I treat a bully who is picking on my older brother? How should I respond to the demands of a drunken parent? How should I respond to a police officer who uses an ethnic slur when addressing me? How do I respond to my best friend who wants to copy my homework? How do I respond when my classmates are scapegoating a student I don’t like? How do I respond to a reckless driver who pulls out of a side street just in front of me, without even slowing down at the stop sign? How do I respond to another person who shoves me against the lockers in the school corridor? How do I respond when I see some of my friends making fun of a handicapped person? For many young people, the complexities of social life—when their own identities are only in the process of being formed, and their loyalties uncertain—leave them morally conflicted or uncertain. Not a few adults face similar uncertainties as they confront ethical choices.
