Ethical Issues for Tomorrow's Leaders

Mark Twain said, “It is curious that physical courage should be so common in the world, and moral courage so rare.”  Ethics Day is an event that brings together business leaders, educators, government officials and high school students for an interactive exploration of various ethical challenges facing students and people in the world today.  Eighty students from Alhambra, Vicente and Briones high schools met together on May 17^th to grapple with some very important issues.  They respectfully listened to the perspectives of others and worked to find reasonable solutions.  Making decisions that are ethical requires the ability to make distinctions between competing choices.  To do this a person needs to develop the ability to evaluate complex, ambiguous, and incomplete facts and to consider the implications of their choices.  They must also develop the appropriate skills required to implement those choices. 

Martin Luther King said, “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that really matter.”  I was heartened to see that the students of Martinez are willing and able to lift their voices for things that really matter.  This was not an easy task; yet it is an essential life lesson.   They learned that there are many right answers and that together they can explore ideas that they may not have considered on their own.  They can agree to disagree in a respectful manner. 

At times we lament about all that is wrong with education and that the problems we face seem insurmountable.  I am proud to be part of a system that is truly dedicated, in words and actions, to educating the whole child; a system that cares not only about the content and skills we teach but about the character development that we help to nurture.  Martinez is on the right track and we can look forward to the endless possibilities that these new leaders will bring to our community.