Ethics and mercy in responding to underage drinking

¶ … Autobiographical)

Subtopic 1: Ethical Problems

Description of Concrete Experience: Those of us who work in high school education know that, day-to-day, ethics is a main area of concern. Obviously there are some ethical issues that are purely school-related -- like copying a homework assignment, or cheating on a math test. These are against the rules of academics, but they are not illegal. However, when ethical issues in a high school environment venture into a territory that involves violations of the law, those of us who work in high schools can sometimes feel out of our depth. This is what happened to me, when I had to confront issues related to widespread underage drinking in the inner-city high school where I work. However, although this was an experience that was part of my job, a large portion of this experience took place when I was off the time-clock in my actual workplace -- it reflects, I think, my involvement and commitment to the community of people, adults and students, that I work with day in and day out. Although I would like to retain my humility, I would like to think of this as a story about how I helped to save a young man's life. But the truth is that this is merely a story about underage drinking gone wrong, and tragedy averted for a number of reasons -- it involves a drunk driving accident, but it is very fortunate that there were no fatalities. But for me, as the adult who was ultimately invited by the students to serve as their advisor when they got into trouble, this is a story about an important aspect of ethics: balancing justice with mercy. I am not about to condone underage drinking, but I am also not eager to see a promising young life upended by jail time for a mistake that too many young people make.

Reflection: Although the events that will be narrated in this experiential essay happened several years ago, and although I will change the names of all students and other persons involved, nonetheless this incident is as fresh in my mind as though it happened yesterday. Very often we regard certain forms of ethical restriction as a way of simply impinging on people's personal happiness, particularly when the unethical behavior does not violate any laws. But we have ethics for solid reasons, and one of the most salient reasons we have ethics is for safety. Do young people in our society have too easy an access to alcohol despite the official age restrictions on drinking? Of course they do. But what happens when young people have access to alcohol? The simple answer is that the age restrictions are there for the safety of the young people, even if they do not often realize that. Young persons may not know their limits, their inexperience may make it more difficult to gauge their level of intoxication or impairment, and most importantly there is a crucial window of time -- from age sixteen to the twenty-first birthday -- when a young person is not legally allowed to drink, but is legally allowed to operate a car. These are not issues that stem from a desire to prevent the young from having a good time. They are issues that stem from a desire to prevent the young from dying young. There is a reason the word "toxic" lurks in the word "intoxication" -- my colleagues in the science department at the high school where I work could explain the precise amount of alcohol required for alcohol poisoning, but this is a real phenomenon. We are dealing with something that is regulated because it is dangerous.

Generalization/Principles/theories: Underage drinking belongs to a specific category of ethical problem, of what is referred to by some as a "scofflaw." The idea is that this is a law that is basically unenforceable and routinely violated, and people apply this sort of terminology to various activities ranging from jaywalking to marijuana smoking. But when a person works in an educational environment, as I do, these laws are nothing to be scoffed at. I don't know that I have ever seen a student jaywalking, and I certainly don't know that I would report him or her to authorities if I did -- perhaps I would, if only for that student's own physical safety. But an issue like marijuana should not seem like a "scofflaw" to anyone -- in this case it could very well be my job that is on the line if I were to look the other way. But I have never had to look the other way when it comes to drugs, because I think the students who encounter me are wise enough to understand I'm the sort of man who would have a zero-tolerance policy on the subject. However, alcohol laws are regarded as "scofflaws" because alcohol is actually a legal substance -- it is just regulated, and those regulations involve age restrictions.

Testing and Application: The experience that I had -- in which I served as an advocate for a young man from my high school who had been behind the wheel in a drunk driving accident -- is one in which a lot of lessons can be learned. But I think the chief application of this experience is about our laws and our legal system, and how they relate to our own sense of ethics as a society. In my opinion, it is not only foolish but also unethical to seek a legal solution, like imprisonment, when a more ethical solution exists, like treatment. For those who have a worse problem with alcohol than any students at my high school ever have -- for people who are alcoholics, in other words -- it is routine to understand alcoholism as a disease. A disease requires treatment, not punishment. However, the ravages that such a disease can wreak upon families and upon society at large should not be underestimated. I know this because I grew up as a teenager with an alcoholic stepfather. The problems that my students had, in drinking illegally and engaging in behavior that was reckless and downright stupid, were not problems that I had, because I understood firsthand that heavy drinking was a dangerous thing. I knew what effects my stepfather's drinking had upon my mother and myself. But as an adult, and especially as an adult working in a high school, my goal is to embody responsibility in myself, and teach responsibility to the young people I come in contact with. I think ultimately I managed that, in this particular experience. We all face ethical problems in our professional lives. This is one where I am proud of the way I handled it.

Subtopic 3: Cultural Aspects of Political Systems

Description of Concrete Experience: The American justice system is, by and large, a political and politicized system. To say that it has a certain cultural bias, insofar as it frequently is biased against African-Americans, is a well-documented fact. These are issues that every African-American is aware of, whether it is Professor Angela Davis writing deeply-researched books about the entrenched bias of what she calls the "prison-industrial system," or whether it is just a young man like Trayvon Martin, who suddenly finds himself being "profiled" for no discernible reason whatsoever. To approach this system without anger, and instead to understand that it might be necessary to argue for what is right, is not always easy. But in some sense, on that Friday night, it was slightly easier for me because -- being around my students, as they were shamefaced, and as some of them were being handcuffed, because this was their free time when normally they would not have to face a teacher -- I was able to adopt my own role as an educator. If the students know that I am tough but fair, then I felt it would be easy to speak to the police who had Wallace in custody and impress them with the same attitude. The police and I had something in common that night, we were both interested in making certain that justice was served.

Reflection: It was not easy for me to approach the police at first, however, because I was aware that this was an odd position for an educator to be in. However, I think we could say that having to deal with at risk youth at all -- to live in a society where such a category of student even exists -- is also an odd position for an educator to be in. But it is a fact of life, and I was aware what needed to be done, especially if Wallace had no parent that could be called. I approached one of the officers and asked if I could speak to whomever was in charge. I introduced myself, and said that I was a teacher at the high school, and that I knew all of the students present, and that they had called me to come and offer support. The police described what had happened -- apparently the students had been drinking in a nearby park, and then drove out to ostensibly regroup at someone's home, when the vehicle had struck a telephone pole. I asked them if Wallace was the driver, and they confirmed it. I said that I would like to vouch for him, as a good young man in a very difficult family situation. I understood that he had not had a lot of supervision, and had a tough home life, but I also had come down because I felt someone needed to make it clear that if this young man had a problem, he was likely to need treatment rather than incarceration. The police seemed slightly dismissive but I think were impressed with my seriousness, and I certainly gave them my card with my cell phone number, and said that if they had difficulty contacting Wallace's mother, which they might, they should certainly not hesitate to contact me.

Generalization/Principles/theories: This is not a situation that any educator wants to be in. It was not clear what appropriate behavior would have entailed -- perhaps a refusal to get involved. But working with at risk youth means a willingness to place yourself between the youth and the risk, and to try to lessen any damage. I knew Wallace had broken the law, and I was certainly not there to pretend that he had not. But in some sense, I felt that my duty here was no different from what it would be if Wallace had asked me to write him a recommendation for college. Teachers do not lie on behalf of their students in such circumstances. Teachers help others (whether it is a college admissions board or a local police department) to see their students the way they should be seen, by an adult who has extensive daily contact with them. In this case, I wanted to make sure that the sort of behavior police engage in too frequently could be prevented. There are cultural and political factors at work in a situation like this, which may very well require someone to speak up and be heard.

Testing and Application: I do