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The bold text is the
facilitator’s questions. The text in square brackets is responses of
the educands or a note from me about the question.
Is it wrong to steal?
[Responses: yes because a) people work hard for what they have b) it
will cause great disappointment and inconvenience c) people will worry
all the time d) people will have to spend more money to replace the
stolen items e) most people won’t like you f) if you get caught you’ll
be fined or maybe go to jail and g) eventually you’d feel bad because
people despise thieves.
What if the people were very
rich and wouldn’t miss, say a TV, and you know there is no chance at
all of being caught – is it still wrong? [Responses: yes because
of the reasons given above].
Would you really feel bad?
What if you stole £100 – you could have a great time with that money?
Also wouldn’t other members of the theft gang praise you and think you
were a hero? [Response: When the joy of spending the £100 is over
you’d know you hurt others – also the praise of a gang doesn’t make up
for being despised by everyone else].
Is this really so, that with
time you would feel bad and worthless? Has anyone watched TV
programmes where prisoners talk about their crimes? [Hopefully
some will have and in almost every case thieves regret what they have
done and feel much better when they go straight].
What if someone has £100 in
his wallet – would it be okay to take £10? [Responses: a) no, for
reasons already discussed b) yes because you are not really hurting
them and they wouldn’t know].
When you steal something, can
you ever tell how much you are hurting someone? [Response: a) yes
– if you steal children’s Christmas presents you know you will hurt
them b) no – you can’t see the pain you cause.
Has anyone every had anything
stolen from them? How did it affect you and your family [Allow
lots of personal stories to come out and focus on the pain and hurt
caused].
What do you think could be done
to help people not steal? [Making people part of the solution
often pre-empts irresponsible behaviour – and who knows if we ask this
question enough, maybe we’ll uncover some innovative solutions].
Admittedly, the example dialogue
I’ve just given is very preliminary. Lots more research and practice
has to happen before we can refine it to a level where we get
youngsters and others empathising enough to prevent potential theft
behaviour.
You can get more
in-depth knowledge of how a values education approach to moral
education could work by reading the e-report
What is
Values Education and so What?
Dr Bill would be delighted to talk at your next conference or event
and give more details on how dialogues in moral education could work
to alleviate social problems. Contact him on
bill@valueseducation.co.uk
Copyright © 2008 Values Education Ltd
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following details are retained. “A values education article from CAVE
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