David Machajewski - The Right Thing to Do: Ethical Responsibility

Published in 2020 by The Rosen Publishing Group, Inc.

29 East 21st Street, New York, NY 10010

Copyright 2020 by The Rosen Publishing Group, Inc.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer.

Editor: Rachel Gintner

Cover Design: Michael Flynn

Photo Credits: Cover Nattapong Wongloungud/EyeEm/Getty Images; cover, pp. ;

Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Machajewski, David.

Title: The right thing to do: ethical responsibility / David Machajewski.

Description: New York: PowerKids Press, 2020. | Series: Spotlight on social and emotional learning | Includes glossary and index.

Identifiers: ISBN 9781725306844 (pbk.) | ISBN 9781725306875 (library bound) | ISBN 9781725306851 (6pack)

Subjects: LCSH: Responsibility--Juvenile literature. | Ethics--Juvenile literature. | Values--Juvenile literature. | Conduct of life--Juvenile literature.

Classification: LCC BJ1451.R24 M3525 2020 | DDC 179.9--dc23

Manufactured in the United States of America

CPSIA Compliance Information: Batch #CWPK20. For further information contact Rosen Publishing, New York, New York at 1-800-237-9932.

Contents

CHAPTER ONE

DECISIONS, DECISIONS

Picture thisyou have a big team project due tomorrow. Your role, or part, is to write a report about your teams work. You begin writing the first sentence, and suddenly the phone rings. One of your friends is inviting you to go see a movie you really want to see. You start to walk out the door, but you suddenly get an uncomfortable feeling in your stomach. Going to the movies would be awesome, but what will happen if you show up to school without a report?

You have control over your actions during tricky situations like this one. When you consider the consequences your actions will have on other people or things, youre on your way to ethical responsibility. Ethical responsibility is the ability to make choices that benefit not just you, but also other people and the world around you.

Some studies show young people make over 3,000 decisions a day. Decisions can be easy, such as choosing what to eat for lunch, but others are much harder.

CHAPTER TWO

UNPACKING ETHICAL RESPONSIBILITY

Growing up comes with many responsibilities, such as helping clean up after meals or completing homework on time. But what makes a responsibility ethical?

Remember the story of the boy who cried wolf? The moral of this story is clearlying usually causes more harm than good.

The word ethics relates to decisions about whether certain actions are right or wrong. When you make a decision that has to do with ethics, your morals are put to the test. You might remember the word moral from fairy tales or other stories. Many of these stories have a moral, which in this case means a lesson, at the end. Usually, honest and brave characters are rewarded, and dishonest or greedy characters are punished. A persons morals or ethics are the ideas that lead someone to behave one way or the other.

Even though fairy tale endings are uncommon in real life, these stories teach us something important. Ethical responsibility involves making choices between right and wrong.

CHAPTER THREE

GO WITH YOUR GUT!

If you ever wonder whether a situation calls for ethical responsibility, a good course to take is to pause and check how youre feeling. Just as your stomach growls around lunchtime, or you get goose bumps when you feel scared, your body gives signals when situations require you to make a choice between right or wrong.

For example, a queasy, or nervous, feeling in your stomach can signal that you feel worried. Breathing faster, sweating, or feeling restlesswhich are part of the bodys fight or flight responseare common responses to dangerous situations. These signs are your bodys way of telling you to slow down and really consider the effects of your actions. Your body cant force you to make the right decision, but we all have a feeling for right and wrong. Your feelings provide clues about the ethics of a situation.

Nervous habitssuch as chewing your fingernailsare also signals that you may feel worried about a situation.

CHAPTER FOUR

LET YOUR VALUES BE YOUR GUIDE

Understanding when situations call for ethical responsibility is a good step toward making the right choices. Choosing between right and wrong can still feel . When it comes to moral decisions, there isnt usually a single correct answer. Instead, everyone must make decisions based on their opinion of what is fair and right.

Your character, or how you think, feel, and behave, can help guide you toward the best course of action when youre faced with tricky situations. Every person has a

In the next few chapters, well explore what these three values mean and why they matter when it comes to ethical responsibility.

At its heart, your character is the sum of who you are and how you act. The choices you make, and how you approach the world, make up your character.

CHAPTER FIVE

THE MEANING OF INTEGRITY

Imagine youre riding your bike down the street. You spot something that looks out of placea wallet on the ground! You open it and see a lot of money. You also notice a drivers license, or permit, belonging to your neighbor. What do you do next?

When faced with a , ask yourself what feels fair. You might think, I found this wallet, so now it belongs to me. But even if that feels fair, does it feel honest? Would you be comfortable telling your parents or friends that you took the wallet? Probably not.

Even though you might want to take the money, the person who lost it would certainly miss it. Returning the wallet would be the fair and honest thing to do. By doing so, you would be showing integrity. Integrity means doing the right thing, even when no ones watching.

Have you faced a dilemma recently? Think about your first thoughts, the people involved, and your final decisionhow did you make your choice?

CHAPTER SIX

COMPASSION COUNTS

Having compassion for others is a bit like having a superpower. It encourages you to spring into action when someone needs your help.