Ethical dilemmas, part 2

Hello everyone,

I was reading a book a few weeks ago that posed some ethical questions that teachers frequently face. I wanted to give the book credit, but I've put it down, and it has since been consumed by the bookshelf monster. Many of the ideas were planted by the good seeds of the book, and, like weeds in the soil itself, have grown into what I write today.

We do not check our politics or our religion or our profound ethical beliefs at the door when we become teachers. They are part and parcel of who we are, and we wouldn't be any good without them. Sometimes, however, the expression of a deeply held belief is restricted by law from the classroom; other deeply held beliefs are proscribed by custom; some are best suppressed for pedagogical reasons.

For example, if there were two teachers, one who believed that the government should be overthrown with violence, and the other who believed that the entire world must convert to his religion or go to hell, both would be (and should be) restricted by law from expressing their views in many contexts.

Two teachers, one who believed that Halloween is evil and another who thought that Christmas was blasphemous, would both be required by custom to tolerate observances of the two holidays in the school around them.

Two English teachers, one an ardent Democrat and another a committed Republican, would be pedagogically immoral if they gave better grades to essays that reflected their points of view.

This constant tension between what a teacher believes and what a teacher can or should express creates all sorts of problems in a school environment.

How does a teacher deal with it? The best way, I think, is to consider beforehand some possible ethical dilemmas that you may face, then decide how you're going to react if they arise. In the event that something happens in the real world, and you react, you need to review (without beating yourself up) whether or not you balanced your personal ethics with the law, with custom, and with pedagogy.

Let me give some examples of situations that I have experienced, have seen others experience, or just imagined. I will start with some easy ones:

A girl reveals in a private journal that her father has been "sexually harassing" her. (You report it.)

A girl tells her friends that a teacher has fondled her, but she doesn't want to tell the police. The friends tell you. (You report it.)

A girl tells you that her boyfriend has revealed that an administrator has smoked marijuana with him and photographed him in the gym dressing room. The girl says that the boy will deny it if reported. (You report it.)

A boy reveals that he has run away from an abusive home and is sleeping in an abandoned building. He begs you not to tell on him. (You report it.)

A student reveals, in a journal, an ambiguous suggestion of suicide. (You report it.)

A student writes, in a journal, a list of people he wants to kill; you are not sure if he's serious because the tone of the passage seems ironic. (By now you've caught the pattern. You report it.)

When you report situations above that were written in journals, try to get a photocopy of the page in which the situation was revealed. While you may inwardly rebel against such a breach of trust, the law requires it, and your obligation to protect the student must outweigh any squeamishness about privacy rights.

Now, here are some that may be answered a variety of ways. Some of these may be easy for you; some may be hard:

A girl comes to you, reveals that she is pregnant, and asks for advice on getting an abortion.

A student reveals a drug addiction and begs you not to tell the parents.

A boy reveals that he is gay and asks you to donate to a charity supporting gay marriage.

A class asks, "Are you Christian or Catholic?"

A class asks, "What does your religion teach about this?"

A student in a class asks, "Is there really a god?"

A boy asks, in front of the class, "Is it a sin to have sex with a girl you aren't married to?"

The curriculum requires you to teach something you are morally opposed to.

A boy asks what you think of professional wrestling; the boy loves professional wrestling more than anything else.

A girl reveals the name of a drug dealer on campus; she begs you not to tell on the drug dealer because her source of the information would be put in physical danger.

A girl criticizes you for eating meat at lunch.

An African-American student uses the "n" word.

A Mexican-American student speaks disparagingly of undocumented immigrants.

You are asked to attend the funeral of a student, and you are unfamiliar with the rituals of the family of the student.

I would like to discuss these in the coming days. If there are other situations that occur to you that you would like to have discussed in an open forum, write back. Please don't reveal names when you do. Meanwhile, try to plan ahead. If you get caught with a question that you're not ready to answer, however, feel free to treat it like any other question you're not sure of. Simply say, "I don't know. Let me think about it." Then think about it.

Jeff Combe