LAWS * ETHICS

Since values demand so much from us, wouldn’t it just be easier

to lay down some rules with kids and expect them to follow the rules.

Plato once asked his students, “Don’t laws equal ethics?” Plato’s response was “Ethics equal laws only in a perfect society.” Since we do not live in a perfect society, laws and ethics imply something different.

Laws come from ethics. If all people would follow a prescribed set of laws and rules, then we would be able to observe ethical lives. Laws are decided upon by a governing body of a particular community to instruct its members in their standards and codes. Ethics are universal principles of right and wrong that guide moral decision making.

If we just emphasize laws and rules, we might observe students making better choices temporarily. However, it may not create a meaningful long term sustained change; ie, once people are out of the sight of the highway patrol car, their behavior tends to change. Behavior should come from internal ethics so that it is more meaningful and sustaining.

Rules are made because someone has to determine what color the traffic signal light will represent. Someone decided red would stand for stop and that green would stand for go. Many of life’s decisions are not as simple as the color of a traffic signal. They come from a deep sense of conviction and belief.

VALUE VENTURE STEP – Invite children to identify three to five rules they follow, then to identify the ethic behind each rule. By asking “why,” the ethic will often be discovered. Children will be able to draw their own inferences of how rules come from ethics, not ethics from rules.