Code of Ethics

As a volunteer at an organization, you are expected to abide by certain standards set by the organization.
Oftentimes there are gray areas and each individual must have a firm understanding of their own morals,
ethics, and standards in order to make the right decision. Having a well-thought-out code of ethics is also a
critical component of growing up, as it will shape the steps you take as you navigate life.

Choose 5 major ethics/values that you find most important -- here is a good list to start your thinking. This is a
set of moral principles that guide you as a person, things that you believe critical to your own success and
well-being as well as the well-being of society as a whole.

Please address each of the following with one paragraph for each, and leave the questions above each
response. This is not an essay, so it won’t follow the traditional 5-paragraph structure.

What are the five values that you find most important and why?
Five values that I believe that are the most important are Honesty, Accountability, Process, Empathy, and
Diligence. WIthout any of these values people will end up making extreme mistakes. How honesty is a
reflection of a person’s ethics. Accountability is important because it is a person's willingness to take
responsibility to protect others. Process is important because it is a person's diligence to do the right thing.
Empathy is a person’s ability to understand others and their situation. All of these traits are major parts of
people’s morals and ethics.

What influences (i.e. parents, religion, society, etc.) have helped form your view of ethics and morals?
I believe that everything influences your viewpoint on ethics and morals but the most major factors for me are
my family, friends, and society. My family is who taught me and raised me so they also taught me my morals at
first. I chose who my friends are because I personally feel more relatable to them and look up to them. Society
has a major influence due to the media talking about controversial topics that I would have not known about
otherwise. All of these factors are heavily influenced by ethics and morals because I interact with them almost
every day.

How do you expect those values to impact your choices throughout life? Predict some possible
challenges you may face, considering your goals after high school, and how your values will shape
your decisions in response to those challenges.
My values are how I choose what I am going to do. Everyday people are required to make decisions and their
values are what decide what they are going to choose. Challenges I may face after highschool may just be
deciding what I want to do or pursue. High School has everything laid out in a straight path but after it is up to
you to decide what you want to do. Other than the challenge of numerous options there are no immediate
consequences to not doing things and it is up to you to decide when and where you are going to do something.
If you procrastinate it may not have immediate effects but it will build up and overwhelm you all at one time. I
will try to be proactive and not wait for anything to tell me to do something because nothing will happen other
than myself.

Define civic virtue and what makes a “good citizen” in our society. Why is it important to have civic
virtue and what are the benefits to society?
civic virtue is defined as personal qualities that contribute to the government or community. To be a good
citizen having civic virtues is a great way to benefit the society because it means that your values align with
helping the community. If everyone had civic virtues then they would improve their community out of caring
about their community. That community would be very strong and people would be helping each other when
they needed it. Currently people do not have the most civic virtues which is why there are some communities
that are not the best but there are still communities that are great because of their civic virtues. Without civic
virtues people would not want to support their community and the community would slowly go away.

Describe a specific example of an ethical dilemma that you have experienced and how you handled it.
This can be something you are proud of or something that you regret. Reflect on your choices, your
reasoning, and what you would do differently in the future.

An ethical dilemma that I had encountered was realizing that if I was to cheat on certain assignments the
teacher would never know about it. Other people were also cheating on the assignment, but I chose to
continue doing the assignment myself because the process of doing the work helped me learn the material but
cheating would not help me out at all with learning. Other than not understanding the material the teacher put
their trust in the students to do the assignment. Although it may be difficult finding the time for all of the
assignments if your day is overbooked it was your responsibility to do them when you signed up for everything
that may be conflicting. I chose to do the assignment because the morals outweigh the less effort I would be
putting in.

Why is it important for each individual to have a code of ethics?

It is important for individuals to have a code of ethics because that is what tells a person what they should do
based on what they value. Each decision that a person makes is based on what they value more. WIthout
something to tell you what is right or wrong you would be making decisions blindly or not at all. It is also
important for individuals to have a good set of ethics that are not bad. Having poor ethics is almost just as bad
as not having a code of ethics. The type of person someone is is heavily influenced by their code of ethics. A
personal code of ethics drives them to do what they want to do. A code of ethics is the foundation of who a
person is and that is why it is so important.

What has this assignment taught you?

This assignment taught me alot about ethics and how I see my own ethics. I have learned that I value hard
work, dedication, individualism, and other factors that contribute to a person’s code of ethics. I did not think
about how important ethics were before this assignment but I realized after doing the assignment that a
person’s ethics are an extremely big part of who someone is. Throughout learning more about my code of
ethics I learned more about myself and my values. I have also learned from this assignment that other people
have completely different codes of ethics.