Ethics

-Where do people learn about ethics? From family, school, religious leaders, television, friends, etc.?

      As children, we learn about ethics from our parents, school, church, or anything that has more knowledge than us. That is because they have lived longer and children understand that they need someone to learn from. Yet, children steal, cheat, and disobey their elders anyway, despite being taught what is "right and wrong". This shows that children have a mind of their own and can create their own idea of morals and ethics. 

-What is the difference between ethics and morality?

      Morals are things taught directly by families, friends, and anything that has direct influence on a single person. Each person can have different morals, even a married couple. Morals plays a large part in defining who we are as a person and also defines differences between us and other people, kind of like personalities and character. Ethics is considered a more worldly idea of accepted morals. A whole nation can have a general form of accepted ethics, and when another country does something outside of those ethical standards, then it is a big deal. For example, it is generally accepted worldwide that murdering is wrong. That is ethics. So when a country is found murdering people, it is "unethical" and "wrong" and many other countries may step in to stop the one area from doing such a thing. (But what do you do when the country that is stopping the murdering, is found killing the people? [topic for debate]). Ethics is a broader more widely accepted idea of morals, often can be applied worldwide, whereas morals are on a much smaller scale and can be applied to one specific person.

-What makes some people more ethical than others?

      Some people can be more ethical than others because they choose to follow the ethics they know. These are most likely the rule followers and try to be correct. Some people who are considered "not ethical" actually do know that is ethically accepted, but they chose to go against it. These people are often law breakers. Rules and laws are not what create ethics, but they often reflect the ethics of a state or country. That is why third world countries are CONSIDERED less ethical (whether or not they are actually), because other countries do not know the standards that they live by (shown by laws and governments). 

-Can people follow different codes of ethics?

     Yes, people can follow different codes of ethics, but it often causes great debate and is often put down, depending on how outrageous the ethics are from what is accepted. Take religious sacrifices for example. Some religions, especially older and smaller ones, believe in religious sacrifices to "the gods" for prosperity and for forgiveness. Sacrifices could be human or animal, but either one is frowned upon and illegal in the United States. Codes of ethics held by people who believe sacrifice is okay are different than the people who created the laws of the US (which laws are believed in by the majority of US citizens).

-Discuss an ethical dilemma you might face in the area of study you have chosen for your mentorship? How will you handle the situation?

     At the moment, I am in the middle of a mentorship change, but in the field I plan on entering there could be many ethical issues. I plan on doing something along the lines of broadcasting or journalism, where the opinions and ethics of the viewers matter substantially. People that are creating the broadcasts or writing the newspapers must take the ethics of the region into consideration if they want to be accepted. If I say something ethically unaccepted to either the viewers or my coworkers, people may not trust me to do a good story and could stop watching or reading the program. I must make sure I stay in coordinance with the morals and ethics of the region of Hall County. If I ever step out of line in this way, I will do my best to either explain my point of view kindly or correct myself, depending on how severe what I did was.