Ethics

I am currently taking a class called "Business Ethics." This class is required in the Business Administration Degree I am currently pursuing. Prior to going into the class I bascially thought that most people were ethical...rarely running into someone who had extremely poor ethics. However, after my first Business Ethics class my opinion has unfortunately changed.

My class is dominated by 20 and 21 year old youth, with perhaps a total of 5 nontraditional students. The discussion in class tonight focused on different dillemas individuals find themselves in and whether the choices they made in the situations were ethical or unethical, in our opinion. The discussion that ensued was shocking to say the least.

I typcially consider myself a virtuous person. However, like many others I have found myself with pens that belong to the office in my purse or even making a copy of a personal document on office equipment and using office paper. However, the issues in this class were larger than having a pen in your purse that belongs to work, they dealt with issues such as stealing, lieing and falsification of documents. At one point the professor posed the question, "Would you steal food from a grocery store if this was the only way you had to feed your starving child?" One young man, about 21 years old, spoke up and said, "I would just steal less than $10.00...they won't arrest you for that." He was not making a joke but was very serious. My first thought was are you kidding me? Is this the generation of Americans who are going to run our government and businesses. Parents have you been sleeping for a long time? Wake up!

Step up to the plate America and her parents...let's teach our children the value in having high ethical standards! This greatly saddened me! We can and must do better!