The Stinger

Day after day I waddle from class to class, and day after day I hear one shocking derogatory comment or another. A kid looks down with her face painted with malice and contempt and says, “Danny*, you’re wearing three shades of purple.” Or, on another occasion, I overheard a blend of poetry and meanness: “Susan, isn’t your headgear (referring to her glasses and braces) a little heavy?” And day after day, I shake my head in disgust and I move on without giving it a second thought because it has nothing to do with me, nothing to do with my friends. And yet—for some mysterious reasons—those who are provoked with these harsh words choose not to draw their swords. Danny mutters somewhat of a reply, “Purple…my favorite.” Susan tips the rims of her glasses against her nose and quickly runs her tongue over her braces. Then these incidents hit me like an umbrella to the eye: this school experience is not only learning about numbers and letters but also is learning about ethical values that will guide us throughout our lives.  Of course, that we point fingers at the teachers for our careless slip of the tongue would be deeply wrong, not to mention unfair. I believe in our educators. For example, as a consequence, the kid severely marked with malice and contempt got called out by a teacher and her friend started laughing at her instead. However, their respectable endeavors to correct how we sometimes say before we think, not think before we say, is not sufficient to draw a clear line between our ethical values and our apathy. Thus, the consequences of students’ inconsiderate actions, so discouraged by their teachers, can’t prevent them from using bad judgment; for they only can punish those who have committed the act. They can wash our mouths with soap until we foam and gag, but they can’t tell us what to say and how to think. Besides, by the basic law of human nature, don’t we look with green-eyed jealousy at the other side of the fence and at the other pasture of grass?

However, the school certainly can help to form our ethical values that solidify our character. It’s like the way a teacher not only tells us to keep our eyes on our own Scantron answer sheet but tells us the importance of Honesty. It’s like the way a cafeteria lady wishes us a nice day as she swipes our plastic student ID cards to show good Citizenship. It’s like the way a crossing guard, as he gets ready to leave, asks us how our day has been to show that he Cares. The California Department of Education calls this character education. The Josephson Institute of Ethics calls this the six pillars of character: trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring, and citizenship. And here and now, these ways must start in every classroom and counter and road!

Criticisms against teaching ethical values in school claim that ethics is affiliated with personal religious, political, and cultural beliefs. But the concern for this unfair use of persuasion arises despite the fact that ethical values have nothing to do with religions, politics, and cultures. An ethical person can be religious, but it’s not necessarily the other way around. Besides, in context of being a good student and citizen, we don’t have to bring them up.

In the end, it’s left to us to show good character. We can choose to pick up a stray water bottle off the ground. We can choose to voice our opinions on gang violence after we lost one of our own. We can choose to “give your change to change the world” not as a special occasion but always. These choices aren’t up to our teachers, nor our parents. These are up to us.