Morality and ethics have been a large part of my life during my time as a student and child learning how to live ethically from the people I looked up to and through my time as an educator focusing on bringing ethics into my practice. There have been many instances in my life where I have had to make ethical choices and because of this I have grown into a more moral person. Both positive moral decisions and moments where I have let my ethics dissipate because of a situation have allowed me to define my moral code. Society and their values also have had a very large impact on how I have developed as an ethical human and have been a big reason as to why I have broken some of my ethical barriers. I have had many struggles approaching moral dilemmas because I do have a tendency to avoid confrontation and conflict. In my role as an educator and coach I have had more of an opportunity to impact my students and players ethically and because of this I have had an opportunity to learn a great deal about my morals.
I was initially brought up with a strong focus on ethics in my life because it was a focus for my parents. Even from a young age my parents had a focus on making sure I knew the difference between right and wrong. There are multiple incidents that I remember where I had to deal with ethical dilemmas during my youth and through the use of my parents teachings I was able to navigate adolescence with a strong moral compass. One incident that has really stood out to me as defining a piece of my morality. I was playing in a concrete compound at the elementary school when one student hit another student with a stick. Being in grade 4 I decided to confront my peer and ended hitting him with the stick I had. This devolved into a fight and caused me to have a black eye for the next while. Thinking back on this from an ethical standpoint is very interesting however because although my parents and supervising teacher told me that I did the right thing by standing up for the other student I would argue now that I did not properly deal with the situation. Allowing a situation to devolve into physical violence can cause an ethical dilemma for many because it brings in the issue of self-preservation against the preservation of another. In this situation the biggest issue that I dealt with was that I used violence to try and solve the problem rather than trying to talk to the aggressor first or going to get a teacher. The way that I dealt with the conflict was obviously not ideal thinking back on it but it does bring up and interesting moral question which I still think about at times today. The question is, can acting violently towards another person in a situation where a life is not in danger be considered ethical or is the inclusion of violence automatically unethical? I believe personally that using violence in a situation such as the one that I found myself in can be justified if the other person is acting in a violent manner to a third party.
Self-reflection is another part that has made me a moral person and has helped me develop my ethical code. The act of looking back on the choices you have made in particularly difficult situations is the most effective way of developing a strong moral code in my opinion. The more time I have spent looking back on my actions the more confident I have felt about my decisions the next time a similar situation has arisen. This has been very important to me however when I look at some of the situations where I do not believe I acted in a moral fashion. One of the biggest struggles I have had that also encompasses the influence of popular culture is the use of the term “gay” and the misconception of the term. Growing up I did use the term on an often basis especially when playing hockey and other sports where my more competitive side would come out. I never had associated the term with the people who did identify as homosexuals but I also did not realize how hurtful the term was to many people who were interested in the same sex. Having an uncle who was in a relationship with another man made me realize how hurtful that term could be when he had come to watch me play a hockey game and heard another player using the term when in a heated argument on the ice. The use of the term for me changed when my uncle brought up the use of that term in the car ride home. Since then I have done my best to not use the term and especially when coaching or teaching I have made an effort to correct people who do use derogatory language such as homophobic, transphobic, or racial slurs. This moral change came about for me because of my experiences growing up and through the people I know and look up to as well as through looking back on times where I may have acted in an immoral fashion.
Although this has been a brief summary of significant events in my life that have shaped me morally I believe it gives insight into who I am as an ethical being. I have definitely had lapses in the ethical structure of my life but through the use of self-reflection on my mistakes I believe I have made are large majority of my choices with my sense of morality in mind. Overall I hope to continue growing my morality and my ability to stand up for my ethics. Moving into the career of being a teacher I believe that I should have my morality more firm than ever because there will be many new situations which challenge my ethics and cause me to reassess how I should be conducting myself.