Integrity

Integrity

By Courtney Cordova

Open Ended

What is integrity?

Integrity- Definition

integrity

[ in-teg-ri-tee ]

noun

1. adherence to moral and ethical principles; soundness of moral character; honesty.

Basically: Integrity is deciding what the right thing is based on your moral and ethical principles, then doing the right thing, no matter what. If something or someone is trying to prevent you from doing the right thing, you do it anyway - even in the face of peer pressure.

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Poll

Do you always do the right thing no matter what?

• Yes

• No

• Depends

Open Ended

What makes it hard to do the right thing?

Moral & Ethical Principles

​Morals: Principles or habits with respect to right or wrong conduct. While morals also prescribe dos and don'ts, morality is ultimately a personal compass of right and wrong. Morals are individual and internal. We all have a moral code of what we think is right and wrong. 

Ethics: The rules of conduct recognized in respect to a particular class of human actions or a particular group or culture. It is part of our society - what the society, generally, believes is good and wrong, and how we should act within society in order to benefit society and do the right thing.

Basically, you follow your morals because you believe in something being right or wrong. You follow ethics because society tells you something is right or wrong. ​

Poll

What do you think is more important? Ethics or morals?

• Ethics

• Morals

Open Ended

Does an ethical person have to also have strong morals? Why or why not?

Open Ended

Is “being kind” an ethical rule, a moral rule, or both? Why?

Integrity & Kindness

Kindness and integrity are just about the most fundamental, important morals there are. A person who has integrity is going to do the right thing in most situations, if not all situations, because they have the self-confidence to stand up for themselves and others. A person who is kind is going to treat other people well. That is why kindness is a is so important. We will not always agree with each other. We will not be perfect every day. We will have bad days. But as long as we are trying to be kind to each other, we can get through our bad days, grow, and have better ones.

You don’t have to interact with people who don’t treat you right.

...For the most part.

There are obviously some exceptions to this, but for the most part, if someone isn’t being kind to you, the simplest choice is to just stop interacting with them. This includes friends. Friends should be nice to you. That’s why you have them. If your friends treat you unkindly, they aren’t your friends. And if the person treating you unkindly isn’t a friend, then they don’t matter. Their opinion just doesn’t matter at all. So just walk away.

Open Ended

What are some things that can make it hard to walk away?

It is more important to respect yourself than to give someone the power to make you act violently or dramatically.

Poll

Is it realistic to expect us to be able to behave perfectly every day?

• Yes

• No

What to do when we’ve messed up.

You mean to be kind. You really do. But yesterday your boyfriend broke up with you, or you found out your girlfriend cheated on you, or your parents treated you unfairly because they didn’t understand a situation, or something else happened that just really sucked, and you had a hard time handling it. So you took your anger out on a friend or teacher or fellow student who didn’t deserve it.

Oops.

Now what?

Subject | Subject

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I might get mad at the class on a bad day. I will try very hard not to. But I am human, and I make mistakes.

I might misinterpret something. I might mishear something and think someone said something they didn’t.

When and if these things happen, tell me. Be calm, but tell me, so I can learn, reflect, and apologize.

I have apologized to students before. I have apologized to whole classes when I’ve recognized I had a bad day and made a mistake.

Give me grace, and I will give you grace. And if you feel I didn’t, tell me, so we can talk about it.

I make mistakes too.

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