ETHICAL ISSUES AND PRACTICES IN MY LIFE

Ethics and daily life are inseparable. By knowing ethics, knowing what is right and wrong,
what is good and bad, a person can direct his life in a right and good manner. The purpose of
behaving ethically is happiness. A person who conducts himself ethically is a happy person,
though some may deny it. Beyond that, behaving ethically can create harmonious relationship
and consequently peaceful community.

Based on such reason, we cannot dismiss ethics from our daily life but we have to be guided
by it. We have to subscribe to it. By knowing ethics, we are guided in decision making and
our behaviour. When we are encountering many problems, at least, we know how to deal
with the problems and how to behave in a certain situation. It is a fact that in some
circumstances, we often do not know how to solve some ethical problems and even we do not
know how to behave in ethical manner. Thus, ethics will guide us on how to deal with a
problem in a particular time and particular situation.

The Reason Why We Need Ethics

The First reason is that we may get more light for our daily problems. We often encounter
moral dilemma in our life. We some time reach a point that as if we are at a cross road, either
going to the right or to the left, there is no better choice. Going to the right is wrong and
going to the left is also wrong. Within such situation, one has to decide because not deciding
would mean avoiding responsibility and it would be morally wrong. Thus, the concern is how
are we going to decide in dealing with those problems? On what ground are we going to
decide? Ethics will guide us in those situations. Thus, ethics play an important role to guide
our decision in our daily problems. Second reason is that it makes clearer to us why one act
is better than another. It is only through ethics we can compare two acts or persons because
one is good and is bad. Third reason is that Morality is the best way of living. Fourth reason
is that morality helps us to see what are the prevalent sins and moral dangers of our day and
thus arouse us to put the weight of our blame and praise where they are needed.

The purpose of ethic was clear at the beginning. The goal of a theory of ethics was to
determine what is good, both for the individual and for the society as a whole. For the
Greeks, Ethics was to develop virtuous and moral character. They believe that such character
would make one know the right thing to do and live the right way of life. Later, philosophers
have taken different positions in defining what is good, on how to deal with conflicting

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priorities of individuals versus the whole, over the universality of ethical principles versus
“situation ethics” in which what is right depends upon the circumstances rather than on some
general law and over whether goodness is determined by the results of the action or the
means by results are achieved.

There are certain things that you read daily in newspapers - corruption, bribery, food
adulteration, kidnapping, violence and murder. What is happening to our society? Why are
people running after money by killing their conscience? There is a gradual erosion of values
from the society. Few of us are engaged in accumulating wealth and gaining power through
unfair means. Why are we allowing this to happen in our society? We can join hands to
prevent the degradation of values in our society. It is important that each one of us follows
values in every sphere of life. What will happen to our society if values are not practiced?
You can think of so many answers to this question:

• loss of life and damage to public property;

• break down of families;

• no law and order;

• crime and corruption;

• alcohol and drug abuse;

• abuse of women, children and other vulnerable members of the society and

• indiscreet use and wastage of resources.

There will be total imbalance in the society, if all its members do not practice values and
ethics. Crime and chaos will rule and life will become difficult. Hence, it becomes our
responsibility as an individual to live ethically

EXAMPLES OF ETHICAL DILEMMAS AND ETHICAL PRACTICES IN MY

PERSONAL LIFE

1. Reporting an accident

Many of us have been involved in situations where we scratch another car on the way out of a
tight spot in a parking area. The ethical question is whether to inform the owner of the car
and, if so, how to do it. These incidents create ethical dilemmas because the way we deal with
them says a lot about our character and whether we act in our own interests or the interests of

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others. As the following situation illustrates, the way we react may depend on whether
anyone was watching. I pulled out of a tight space in a parking lot and dented the car next to
me. I was quite sure no one saw me.

Some people may be tempted to simply leave and avoid the hassle of reporting the incident.
This is especially true if the accident will cause insurance rates to go up. Ignoring the
situation may be the easiest solution but is it the most ethically appropriate? I also did the
same.

What should have been ethically done?

I should have made a reasonable effort to identify the owner of the vehicle and notify them
about what happened or I should have left a written notice with my contact information.
Ethically speaking, it shouldn’t matter whether someone witnessed what you did or not.
Doing the right thing is not relative to the situation but is based on the ethical standards of
honesty, integrity, and, in the case of the car accident, personal responsibility. A person of
integrity acts on principle about right and wrong and accepts the consequences of their
actions. Anticipating how our actions become public is important to ethical behavior because
most people want to be respected for their actions and leaving the scene is likely to create a
negative response by those in the know.

The moral of the story is ethics is easier said than done.

2. Internet Dilemma

The Internet is full of ethical dilemmas. It is one of the most common ethical dilemma that
almost every person is facing in their daily lives. Every person is an internet user and using
internet for various purposes. Like every student, I also face number of internet dilemmas
such as:

Do I post a picture of a sleepover I’ve been invited to, even though I know other kids in the
class who were left out and will see these posts?

Do I download a song or video that I have not purchased the rights to?

Do I copy and paste the work of another and include it in my school assignment without
crediting the author?

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These are just a few examples of ethical dilemmas posed by the online world, and oftentimes
kids too young to engage in ethical thinking are in possession of a connected device that asks
them to make decisions like these all the time.

It takes about 12 years of life for children to develop the cognitive capacity for ethical
thinking. And good judgment? Well, that takes almost 25 years to develop! That’s why it’s so
important for adults to discuss possible online ethical scenarios with their children offline,
and before they have the chance to make mistakes that the Internet will never forget.

3. Environmental ethics

They are around you every moment of the day:

Do I use the most fuel efficient means of transportation?

Does my home heating and electricity come from renewables? What is my least impactful
energy option?

Do I consume more than I need to? What happens to all the packaging on the things I buy?
How much trash do I generate? Do I know where it ends up?

Am I careful in my use of water? How much water does my landscaping consume? How
efficient are the water fixtures in my home?

Am I aware of the many extinction events chased by human encroachment on, or pollution
of, global habitats? What do I do to minimize my contribution to that?

I am not saying this in some kind of holier-than-thou sense, I could do better on most of these
myself. I just think we will collectively make more progress if we focus on what we can do
locally rather than waiting for some political consensus to magically emerge and clean up the
messes we have created / inherited.

4. Not accepting the fault

At school, I along with my group members were assigned a project. I was unwell due to
which I couldn’t contribute much to the project and hence, the submission was delayed and
the teacher warned to deduct the marks of all group members. In this situation, anyone would
have been in a dilemma whether to tell the truth to the teacher or remain quiet and let others
also suffer.

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What should have been ethically done?

I chose to behave in an ethical manner in this situation. I told the teacher that owing to bad
health, I couldn’t do my part of the project on time. Many times, a person has to face this
situation wherein because of his act, other might be at loss. Here, the person should accept his
fault and should not put others at blame.

5. Cheating

People often struggle with cheating because of the importance placed on grades. A teen who
needs a certain grade to stay on an athletic team might justify cheating because being kicked
off the team penalizes him and his teammates. People on the other end of cheating also
struggle with making the right choices.

We might give a peer the answers to a test, knowing that the friend will appreciate and
respect our sacrifice. Or, we might willingly help a peer cheat so he can fit in with a
particular social clique to increase his popularity.

6. Lying

We often face the ethical dilemma of lying because we don't want to disappoint our friends or
their parents. We also lie to cover our tracks, get out of doing chores, fit in with peers and
protect other people. I have lied about my whereabouts or my grades because I didn’t wanted
my parents to worry or overreact. I have lied about a conversation with a peer because I
didn’t wanted to hurt my friend's feelings.

Mostly people have trouble deciding whether to lie because they don't want to face the
consequences of their actions. They might assume that what a peer or family member doesn't
know can't hurt them.

7. Snitching

Snitching and tattle-tailing are discouraged for most teenagers because they don't want to
upset or betray their peers. However, sometimes teens must decide between disloyalty to their
friends and their personal safety. Sometimes this ethical dilemma also involves the well-
being of their friends.

One of my close friends started consumption of alcohol and I was afraid that if tell this to his
parents, it might affect our friendship. He will start hating me but still I chose to tell his

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parents about his addiction because I was worried that my friend might self-destruct. Teens
often weigh the pros and cons of snitching before they choose which road to take.

8. Confidentiality and Privacy

Both in personal and professional life, a person encounters a problem where either he needs
to keep any sort of information to himself and not misuse any data or information for his own
profit. In personal life, sharing others i.e peer, family members etc. secrets with anyone else
or in professional life, using company’s confidential data for one own’s gain or leaking the
information is not an ethical conduct. Ethically, he should keep the confidential data to
himself.

9. Ghosting in the workplace

Ghosting occurs when someone you believe cares about you, such as a person you have been
dating, disappears from contact without any explanation at all—no phone call, email, or text.
They just seem to disappear.

Ghosting in the context of interviewing for a job can create an ethical dilemma.

Ghosting occurs when a candidate abruptly disengages from the interview process without
explanation. The candidate might fail to inform the interviewer that they have accepted
another position. In some cases, a candidate has accepted a position only to accept a second
one and not inform the first employer.

Consider the following facts. You are interviewing for a job. You’ve gone through interviews
at five companies and are anxiously awaiting the responses. You get your first offer and
verbally commit to taking the job. You will not start to work for another two weeks. Shortly
after accepting the first offer, a second one comes in. It’s the better of the two offers and from
your preferred employer. Since you haven’t started work for the first employer you face an
ethical dilemma: Decline the second offer because you have already accepted the first or
accept the second offer. There is something to be said, ethically, to living up to your word
and staying with the first acceptance. It does reflect a sense of honesty and personal
responsibility. However, many people in this situation might take a more self-interested
position and bow out of the first offer and accept the second. There’s nothing wrong with
accepting the second offer as long as your reasons are explained to the first employer. They

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have a right to know why you changed your mind. It may help them in the recruiting process
going forward.

In many cases, such as this, it’s not so much what your decision is but how you explain it that
counts. After all, the first employer probably doesn’t want you to work for them if you will
regret accepting their job offer. You have a responsibility to inform the first employer
because it made an offer, held a position open for you, and will need to fill it once informed
of your decision. Failing to inform this employer means a position that would otherwise be
closed is really open because you plan to renege on the offer. Ghosting the first employer is a
selfish act. You are doing what is easiest not what is ethically appropriate. The key ethical
issue is trustworthiness.

Imagine if you didn’t tell the first employer and just disappeared and then the second
employer somehow found out about the ghosting. Would they be just as anxious to have you
come aboard? Should they be concerned about whether you will be a trusted employee? Your
word is your bond and while our minds may change over time it is important to fully explain
to the affected parties why that has occurred. Transparency is the key to developing trusted
relationships whether in a dating situation or when interviewing for a job.

CONCLUSION

All of us imbibe the same set of ethics and yet some of us discover unjust and unethical
shortcuts to success. Is it always important to be ethically, right? Daily, we have problems
Ethical and moral ; These two elements define the personality, the attitude and the behavior
of a person. These issues include privacy and confidentiality, issues related to socially
vulnerable populations, health insurance discrimination, employment discrimination,
individual responsibility, issues related to race and ethnicity, and implementation. Ethics in a
way help us to deal with the society and help us live in it with others in harmony. Ethics
maintain the solidarity of the society. Every individual is instilled with ethics by their parents
and social institutions. These morals help us take decisions in everyday life.