Students test their values in workshop on ethics

Erin Herbst had to pick four people to die Thursday.

She had five to choose from -- three men and two women, all of whom desperately needed a heart transplant but only one of whom could actually receive the heart.

"I'm sympathetic. Make me feel sorry for their family and that's it," the Central High School senior said.

The decision -- part of an ethics workshop -- was an eye-opening experience that taught Herbst and 76 other students from local high schools about their own values and morals.

Students from Central, Notre Dame Regional and Saxony Lutheran high schools attended the workshop, titled "Ethical Decision Making in the Workplace and Society," which was organized by the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce.

They worked through various ethical dilemmas and learned about the characteristics that influence their decision making.

"Everything we're doing here is to prepare them for job interviews and ethical decisions," said Sharon Mueller, who helped organize the event.

Mueller was one of 11 local business people who served as table leaders for the workshop, helping the students work through hypothetical situations and mediating discussion. Each student filled out a worksheet of things that were important to them and then used their answers to find their values.

"This is bringing an awareness of what is important to me," said Amanda Berry, a student at Saxony Lutheran.

The workshop was facilitated by David Lankford, a representative of the Missouri Chamber of Commerce.

Lankford discussed the values and ethics that shape each individual's personal choices and explained the decision-making process.

He also talked about how values are acquired -- from children absorbing values through their family, to modeling others' behavior, to testing values against the "real world."

Part of the testing process included the hypothetical heart transplant dilemma.

After lengthy discussion, Herbst and the four other students at her table chose a 52-year-old Japanese man for the transplant; a man who, according to his hypothetical biography, is active in church and charity work.

cclark@semissourian.com

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