The question of whether ethics belongs in schools as a classroom has caused debates in directives, teachers, parents, and students. Is ethics a vital tool for shaping character or something better off left to personal experience and family life?
As schools aim to prepare students for the real world, some argue that teaching ethics can build stronger values and better decision-making skills, while others see it as a subject that risks conflict with individual beliefs. Fewer than 27% of schools require students to take an ethics-related course, and 10.2% of schools require ethics to be taught more directly. At TCS, students have mixed feelings; some see it as a way to build behavior and relationships, while others question its place in an already extensive curriculum.
For senior Samuel Zuñiga, the idea of ethics in school feels necessary, but the stage in which it’s taught is key. He believes it could play a role in shaping younger students as they begin to build their identity.
“I do think it’s necessary but probably not like in 11th grade or 12th grade, but I do think 9th grade or 10th grade will be required first because it starts to mold your values and who you are, and this is a very important thing to your future life,” Zuñiga said.
Zuñiga’s perspective bounds ethics to personal identity, something Zuñiga has relied on for his whole life. He remembers moments where his good values guided him through tough choices.
“Yeah, obviously my ethics go from my identity and sometimes I take decisions where it’s because of my identity and of my ethics and values that I have. So yeah, I have made several decisions with my ethics,” Zuñiga said.
Not everyone agrees that schools should take the lead, though. Senior Susana Pertuz argues that ethics might be better taught at home by family members rather than teachers.
“Yes, I think it’s something that should be taught at home because a kid receives information better when it’s taught by someone like their parents, which are like their idols instead of someone like a teacher, that they don’t really pay that much attention to, so yes,” Pertuz said.
Pertuz also worries about the potential downsides of an ethics class. She fears it could force or push beliefs onto students, not permitting them the chance to find their own moral principles.
“I believe that, yes, they could end up imposing beliefs and I think that students should find their own beliefs and their own ways of thinking and schools should not be in charge of making them believe certain things because that’s something that you should do and you should find out yourself,” Pertuz said.
The debate gets trickier when considering how ethics might fit into a diverse school like TCS. Senior Emilio Agudelo wonders if blending it with other subjects might work better than a class by itself.
“I think that if they teach us ethics in combination with other classes and the relationship between the subject and ethics, it would be more beneficial than if it was alone,” Agudelo said.
On the other hand, Zuñiga sees real-world value in an ethics class. He believes it could shape how students treat others and navigate their futures, both personally and professionally.
“Yeah, it will. It will help students learn about their lives and how I said before in their future life. It’s very important in your decisions, very important in how you treat people in different things, so I do think it’s very important,” Zuñiga said.
However, Agudelo isn’t convinced that it is a priority. While he sees some benefits, he’d rather focus on subjects with a monetary payoff.
“Not really, because I think that there are other more important things than ethics. I would prefer taking like economics or finance class,” Agudelo said.
Pertuz sees ethics as something best guided by parents and family, and she also raises concerns about how students might respond to such class, especially as they grow older and their priorities change.
“I believe that if students are young, they will take it seriously, but they wouldn’t learn much from it. However, when students are older, like seniors in high school, they would not take it seriously at all because these kids only focus on making their friends laugh and on being that class clown, so no, they won’t take it seriously,” Pertuz said.
Agudelo suggests that the integration of such a class should be done in a practical, real-life way, and he also sees how an ethics class might help students sharpen their thinking to real-world dilemmas and not only traditional coursework.
“I think that it would improve critical thinking because you would think about how your actions affect others and not just about you,” Agudelo said.