This is #25 of an ongoing series of moral and ethical discussion starters from the case files of Charis Denison. These situations are very real and are changed monthly. Please try them out with your students and share your results with us. You can find the complete archive of dilemmas here.

THE SITUATION
(present this to your students)

Ben said good-bye to his friends and started heading for home. He was in a great mood. He had two weeks off from school for winter break, he had just passed the test for his driver’s license, and with no homework he could hang out with his friends whenever he wanted to. Things couldn’t be better. He turned his iPod up and smiled. As he passed the last row of stores before the hill leading to his house something caught his eye at the bank. Something was sticking out of the ATM machine. As he got closer, he saw it was cash.

Ben looked around. There was nobody. No cars, nobody walking nearby. Someone must have just used the machine and then forgotten to take the money. Whoever it was, was gone now. He walked over to the machine and took the money out. Sixty dollars. There was also a receipt sticking out.

Ben looked around again. Still no one. He could turn the money in at the bank tomorrow—it was after hours now. But, really, it was sixty bucks! Probably not much to the customer, but it would make a difference as to how many Christmas gifts he could get for his family.. or new music for his iPod.

Does it really count if you only do something like this once? Ben thought this over. It’s not like he’s a thief or anything. Someone messed up by leaving the cash there in the first place. He felt pretty good about taking it. It’s a one-time deal. And no one ever needs to know. He put the money in his pocket, crumpled up the receipt, and walked away.

As the next song started playing, Ben remembered something his grandfather always said, “Every time you lie, you get closer to being a liar.” But this wasn’t the same thing. Was it? He turned up the volume and headed up the hill to home.

For an archive of previous dilemmas, click here.

© Copyright Elkind+Sweet Communications, Inc. All rights are reserved. The material in this website is intended for non-commercial educational use. It may not be republished on the web or anywhere else without written permission of the publisher. Please see our terms of use.

NOTES FOR THE FACILITATOR
(this is for you)

There is a great scene in the film, “To Die For” where Nicole Kidman’s character says, “ What’s the point of doing something good if no one is watching.” This case is classic because, while predictably trite, we have ALL been here. Something like this has happened in some form to all of us. And in that moment, in some sense we all made a choice to be a hero or a liar. Besides, Ben seems like a good kid, sort of like us. Does that make us want to excuse him, or does it make us feel more frustration at his choice?

For a case like this, it is great to get some real debate going and then bring up the test many use to guide their sense of ethics: what if every one did what I am about to do? This can apply to a good deed or a bad one, but makes stuff like this a bit more concrete. It is helpful to get everyone to come up with a moment in their lives where they made a choice (positive or negative) and apply this test. Then, go around and ask each person to share the snapshot of the world they just created. What does it look like? Would you want to live there? A nice chance for a discussion about ownership and accountability here if you have the energy to take it on.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
(also, debate topics, writing assignments, etc.)

After initially teaching middle and high school English and Creative Writing, Charis began to develop curricula and publish articles related to social justice, ethics, human development, community involvement, and experiential education.  She has received national recognition for her work in those fields, as well as for her community-based work with American teens and Tibetan refugees in Central Asia.

Charis co-wrote Tolerance for Others, a middle school human development text, with Leni Wildflower.  She currently works as the national Service-Learning consultant for the Durango Institute for Co-Curricular Education.

Charis also teaches at Marin Academy in San Rafael, California, and runs Prajna Consulting.  Through Prajna she consults with schools, parents, students, and businesses both organizationally and individually.  Charis also facilitates workshops and speaks on a wide variety of topics.

Charis can be reached at:
cdenison@prajnaconsulting.com

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© Copyright Elkind+Sweet Communications, Inc. All rights are reserved. The material in this website is intended for non-commercial educational use. It may not be republished on the web or anywhere else without written permission of the publisher. Please see our terms of use.