David is a student in a school district where his mother is on the school board. Recently, three of his classmates posted a web site that openly attacks some of the teachers and students, using explicit and offensive language. It even goes as far as predicting which gay students will be the first to die of AIDS. Remarks about several teachers are scathing, suggesting that one fantasies about having sex with young girls and that two married teachers are having an affair. The site includes disgusting graphics.
Several weeks ago David learned the identities of the three students who created the website when one of them accidentally said something to him in a conversation. The other two quickly corralled David and pressured him not to reveal their names. He agreed, not thinking much about it at the time. David used to be close to one of the three students, but that friendship has faded.
Now, the school principal has obtained a program that allows him to identify each person who has visited the website. He is asking students to come forward with the names of the creators of the site, and if no one does, he is going to question each student who visited the site. David is one of those who did visit the site. He realizes he may be the only student who knows the names of the three kids who created the site. He can lie and say he doesn’t know, or he can break his promise not to tell.
David has always thought of himself as an ethical person with a pretty clear sense of right and wrong. Right now, however, he feels that either choice will end in disaster. What should David do?
- How might David make sense of this situation?
- What do you consider to be David’s responsibility?
- A common definition used to describe an ethical choice is a “choice between two rights.” How might you apply this to David’s situation?
- What would you do if you were in David’s place? How would that choice affect the others in this case?
- How might your decision be affected by whether or not you were close with one of the teachers or students that were humiliated on the site?
- How bound would you feel by the promise you made to the three students?
- Have you or someone you know ever been in a situation where you were expected to turn someone in? Share what that was like.
- Is there ever a point where the good of a community is more important to honour than the good of an individual relationship?