Tattling policy no replacement for ethics
COMMENTARY
Issue date: 4/21/05 Section: Opinion/Editorial
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America has reached a new low.
In an article in USA Today April 18, a school board in Georgia joined the student sellout bandwagon and teamed up with CrimeStoppers, an organization that awards students to turn in peers for drugs, vandalism, theft or firearms.
Students are being taught to sell one another out. This isn't teaching them to do the right thing, but to do the right thing so long as money is involved. If students will tell a school official about a gun being brought to school only when a reward is present, there is a bigger issue that needs to be addressed.
Instead of teaching their students to tattle on their friends for money, schools should be focusing on the more important issues at hand. For example, students aren't being taught what it means to be a good citizen. If children and young adults are lacking in this area, there will be no hope for future society.
Russ Skiba, a professor of educational psychology at Indiana University-Bloomington, told USA Today, "There's a balance here between creating a society of snitches and creating a sense of community responsibility."
Good point.
Moral duties can't be bought. It is both a person's social responsibility and moral duty to rat someone out if they are putting themselves or others in danger. Money shouldn't be an issue.
If a person is waiting in the lunch line at Marletto's and sees a shotgun in the coat pocket of the person in front of them, that's not something they're going to just shrug off - money or no money.
It's doubtful a person would think: "I would turn them in, but $100 won't cover my book fees. Maybe I can scout the dorms for someone with explosives under their bed. I bet that would pay for both fall and spring."
Telling an authority figure, such as a school official, when a gun is brought to school should be first instinct. There shouldn't be a weighing of pros and cons for the situation, or a weighing of how much money the tattler will receive when they turn in the guilty party.
If a student bears witness to such an event, that stomach-dropping-to-the-ground, weak-in-the-knees feeling should make him or her think fast. At a time like this, gut instinct would be screaming for the person to do something about what they saw.
Doing the right thing should be the first thing that comes to mind. If someone fails to report a firearm and that person with the shotgun goes off the handle and shoots up Marletto's, there's no doubt the person who stayed silent will feel an overwhelming sense of guilt.
If a program such as Student CrimeStoppers is being implemented in both primary and secondary schools, students aren't being taught to do the right thing. They are instead being taught that everything has a price, including a person's own personal code of ethics.
While organizations like Student CrimeStoppers are helping to prevent school violence, they are also teaching children and young adults that greed and a personal gain is worth more than making the right decision.
Stephanie Kiszczak, a junior journalism major, is the culture editor for The Journal.
