Ethics in school and at home

by | Dec 6, 2008 | Culture | 0 comments

Ethics in school and at home

A recently circulated e-mail emphasized that the Bible says though shalt not kill. It went onto say that schools no longer teach Christianity or Judaism and therefore children don’t learn this “rule”. The conclusion was that this results in incidents such as school shootings.

The author was of course referring to the Ten Commandments. I think all the major religions and philosophies of the world teach something along those lines. No matter what anyone’s personal religious views are, parents and teachers can and should be, bringing up children to know and respect a set of ethical values. During the teenage years, being the turbulent stage that they are, it is very helpful for a teenager to have an ethical religion or philosophy to hold on to: to be their guidance when confused and to give them a greater reason to hold out against peer pressure.

At www.globalethics.org there is a list of what they call universal values – honesty, respect, responsibility, fairness (justice) and compassion (love).

If we all followed those universal values and brought children up to do the same would it reduce incidents such as the one at Skielik and the West Rand samurai sword killing?

Related Articles

It’s a generational thing

It’s a generational thing

Have you noticed that your attitudes and values are different from that of your parents or grandparents? Perhaps they keep the old wrapping paper to reuse, saying “waste not, want not” and get upset when you change jobs after “only” five years.If you have children in...

Wow that meeting was worthwhile!

Wow that meeting was worthwhile!

You've probably noticed a lot of articles recently on ‘psychological safety’. It’s an in-topic, however it isn’t new. Experienced facilitators have long known what it takes for people to voice their opinions, explore their concerns and doubts, be open to the different...

The most destructive emotion?

The most destructive emotion?

Yesterday I was writing a response to a friend who had just offloaded how she was feeling annoyed with herself for having offered to do something that felt like too big an ask. As I wrote, “I think that the balance between giving and receiving is a key. And it’s not...

0 Comments

Submit a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *