Every year I stand before classrooms of high school seniors and I teach them to consider what is Right. What is Justice? I encourage to have a voice. I tell them that we all have a responsibility to speak for those that do not have voice. To stand up for those that have been disenfranchised. It is easy to say isn't it? It is easy to tell kids what Right is in the theoretical realm. The idea that of course you would allow the husband to take the only medication that will save his live. Of course you understand that the train conductor must kill his own child to save the entire train of people who are too children.
However, when it becomes personal it really is difficult. When you consider the face of your child on those tracks obviously the choice changes. I know it would for me, no matter how self it may be. I would still a million dollars from a bank if it would save my husband and I would willingly go to jail for life for it as well. But some situations are not so black and white, even when they are personal. Some things in life are grey.
Frankly, most things in life are grey. There is so little that is black and white. We as a society attempt to clarify some things. We draw lines in the sand. No person can run for president under 35. Is a 34 year old lacking that much competence in comparison? Roe v Wade permits abortion however few would agree to third trimester abortions unless it was medically warranted. We draw lines in order to make the choices that we face in life black and white.
How do I as teacher have my students be motivated more by truth than by fear? Even better, how do I do the same for myself?
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