VIRTUE ETHICS: AN ETHICAL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM FOR HIGH SCHOOL YOUTH A Tapestry of Faith Program for Youth BY JESSICA YORK JUDITH A. FREDIANI, DEVELOPMENTAL EDITOR © Copyright 2012 Unitarian Universalist Association. This program and additional resources are available on the UUA.org web site at www.uua.org/re/tapestry. 1 ABOUT THE AUTHORS Jessica York is the director of the Faith Development office of the Unitarian Universalist Association. A native of Birmingham, Alabama, she previously served the Unitarian Universalist Church of Birmingham as director of religious education for several years before joining UUA staff as the Youth Programs Director in 2007. She is an Our Whole Lives Sexuality Education trainer for the elementary level and has taught in public elementary schools with a focus on special needs and hearing impaired children. A former theater stage manager, Jessica has owned and consulted to programs providing theater arts education for children. She holds a B.A. in biology from Yale University and has done graduate work in fine arts at Tulane University. Her other Tapestry of Faith programs include Creating Home (co-author) and Signs of Our Faith. 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS WORKSHOP 1: DECISION MAKING ................................................................................................................................... 11 WORKSHOP 2: MODERATION ........................................................................................................................................... 24 WORKSHOP 3: INTEGRITY ................................................................................................................................................. 36 WORKSHOP 4: RESPECT ................................................................................................................................................... 49 WORKSHOP 5: FAIRNESS .................................................................................................................................................. 59 WORKSHOP 6: RESPONSIBILITY ...................................................................................................................................... 71 WORKSHOP 7: COMPASSION ........................................................................................................................................... 84 WORKSHOP 8: HUMILITY ................................................................................................................................................... 98 WORKSHOP 9: GENEROSITY .......................................................................................................................................... 111 WORKSHOP 10: COURAGE .............................................................................................................................................. 129 WORKSHOP 11: FORGIVENESS ...................................................................................................................................... 139 WORKSHOP 12: LOYALTY ................................................................................................................................................ 154 Note: If you add or delete text in this program, you may change the accuracy of the table of contents. The Table of Contents is an auto-generated list; if you change content and want an accurate representation of the page numbers listed in the TOC, click the table and click “Update Field.” Then, click “Update page numbers only.” Click OK. 3 THE PROGRAM LEADERS Live a good life. If there are gods and they are No particular background is needed to lead Virtue just, then they will not care how devout you have Ethics. Leaders should bring an open mind and an open been, but will welcome you based on the virtues heart. They should be ready to support youth to decide you have lived by. If there are gods, but unjust, for themselves if and how they wish to practice virtues in then you should not want to worship them. If their lives. there are no gods, then you will be gone, but will have lived a noble life that will live on in the Look for leaders who are flexible and can stay calm and memories of your loved ones. — Marcus non-judgmental when youth share from personal Aurelius experience. Leaders should understand their role as mandated reporters (see Before You Start). If the youth We make hundreds of decisions every day. Some are have had previous, positive experiences with a leader, small. Some are life changing, although we may not that is a plus. know their significance when we make them. This program's premise—in the words of the Buddha, recited Youth Leadership in every workshop Opening—is that "our thoughts and Because these workshops follow a standard template, it actions become habits and our habits shape our would be possible for youth to co-lead this program with character." We have some control over our character. adults. You could begin the program without a youth co- We can shape the person we want to be by making leader, and after presenting a few workshops ask if intentional, thoughtful decisions. anyone would like to volunteer to assist in leading In Workshop 1, youth explore how we make decisions. activities. Adult leaders often have more time and Subsequent workshops each present a virtue commonly resources for preparation, so consider keeping those considered ethical. Participants question what they have responsibilities yourself. If you decide to explore been taught about each virtue, how the virtue operates additional virtues not included in these workshops, seek in the real world, and whether and how they might topic suggestions from youth. Invite anyone who practice it. In each workshop, the youth practice ethical suggests a topic to help you plan and lead the decision making in response to hypothetical situations workshop. and stories they share from their own experiences. PARTICIPANTS The virtues presented in this program were selected, from a large number one might cultivate, to provide a Virtue Ethics is designed for use with high school-age gateway into ethical decision making and character youth. All youth do not arrive at each developmental development. It is hoped that youth will use these virtues stage at the same time, yet knowing what to expect throughout their lives. overall from fourteen- to eighteen-year-olds can be helpful, especially for first-time leaders. In her book, GOALS Nurturing Children and Youth: A Developmental Guidebook (Boston: Unitarian Universalist Association, This program will: 2005), Tracey Hurd discusses typical developmental • Build capacity to identify messages received characteristics of older youth: from media, family, religion, peers, and society • practices increased cognitive skills about specific virtues, and to discern how to apply these virtues in real life • expresses growing interest in abstract values and moral principles • Demonstrate the healthy practice of virtues • engages in moral relativism • Explore personal experiences relevant to a variety of virtues • becomes less egocentric and more interested in the larger society • Engage group processing of a variety of ethical dilemmas • struggles with gender and sexual identities • Invite a grappling with ethical choices that pit • continues to develop ethnic or racial identity one virtue or belief against another deeply held • needs to belong and have a sense of self worth value • demonstrates empathy • Encourage participants to lead intentional, ethical lives. • conceptualizes religion as an outside authority that can be questioned 4 • questions faith, sometimes leading to deeper FAMILIES ownership of personal faith or disillusionment An adolescent’s notion of family expands to include their • deepens or attenuates religious or spiritual close friends, while the home family remains a identity touchstone. This curriculum is designed to include the • explores sexuality family and friends of participants as well as your wider faith community. Two features engage these important • navigates greater risks relating to alcohol, drug people in the program’s themes and ideas: use, and unsafe sexual activity 1. Each workshop provides a Taking It Home handout • sustains the personal fable that "it couldn't with ideas for youth to lead conversations and activities happen to me" with their friends and family. Collect the email addresses • considers friendships and peers important, with of participants’ parents/caregivers so you can send them some shifting of alliances. the Taking It Home section after each workshop. 2. Each workshop offers a Faith in Action activity. Most INTEGRATING ALL PARTICIPANTS of these engage congregational leaders and/or parents/caregivers to interact with the youth about the No one should be excluded from this program or its topics the youth are exploring. activities by real or perceived physical or other PROGRAM STRUCTURE limitations. Inclusiveness sometimes requires adaptation; you may need to modify an activity or use an After the first one, all workshops share the same basic alternate activity to fully include youth with a range of structure. Activities explore the meaning of a particular physical and cognitive abilities and learning styles. virtue and its "upside" and "downside," the virtue's role in participants' lives so far, hypothetical dilemmas, and Take note of activities that might pose difficulties for finally, ways the youth could incorporate the virtue into youth who are differently abled. All spaces, indoor and their actions and