When you were away, your 10 year old son stole ten rupees from your pocket and bought chocolates for himself and for his 8 year old sister. Your daughter tells you and your husband about her brother’s generosity with a happy face. Your husband has been strict with your children, especially with his son whom he considers a spoilt kid. As a police officer he is known for his honesty and strictness in the department. Knowing his son stole from his pocket, he is enraged and slaps his son in front of you and your daughter.
Identify ethical issues in the case study and explain what you would have done if you were in your husband’s place. (200 Words)
Ethical Issue in above case study have two sides on one hand son stolen money & on other side he shared chocolates with his younger sister. As stealing is bad habit there can’t be any favorable argument in this regard but on the other hand there is also another face which shows generosity & love for younger siblings.
Now there is an ethical dilemma for mother in this situation as she can’t defend her son as his husband is honest and strict police officer & must have highly hatred feeling for thief’s & stealing whether big or small. But if we see other aspect mother can defend his son by saying that may be because of their strictness son does not comfortable in sharing his views to them so before taking any harsh action they need to clarify why he did so & actually what was there in his mind while doing so.
If I would have been there at my husband’s place that instead of slapping my son in front of everyone I will calmly sit with him & will interact with him regarding other study or sports matter to make him comfortable to share his thoughts. Then i would ask him about the situation or things what made him to take this step. I will try to understand the root cause for the same as reason can be my/our (my wife’s) strictness towards them which is not letting him to feel free to share or ask such small thing from us. Whatever be the reasons emerge out for the same I will try to remove or work on that cause along with this I will share some stories with him stating the negative consequences of stealing and its impact on him. I will also try to show him some small story videos having moral of being honest & its positive impact on life, as virtual media have much larger impact on children when compare to statements.