Teaching Morality
How Religious Educators Can Teach Teens Moral Decision Making
Classroom techniques to teach middle schoolers how to "do the right thing" in their everyday lives.
Your star student in religion class knows all his prayers and can recite the Gifts of the Holy Spirit on cue. The sweetheart with the ponytail raises her hand at every question and is the first to help you clean up after a craft. They both leave your class and join the countless young people who make middle school a cruel and unusual world.
As children find their place in the world of their peers, they’re faced with extreme expectations. It’s like a tug-of-war. On one end of the rope are TV, movies, music, magazines, the Internet and peers, all pulling as hard as they can. On the other side of the rope is the Church. Powerful, yes, but it sometimes stands alone in its efforts to remind our kids what Jesus wants them to do.
How do religious educators ensure that their lessons will stay with their students throughout the week? What will make them remember the third commandment when they’re sitting at an unsupervised “cool kids’” lunch table? How do you get them to remember the Beatitudes on the bus?
If you find that your lessons aren't being carried into your students' lives, try bringing their lives into your classroom.
The game "What Would You Do" presents scenarios that teens face in their everyday lives. Not only will it give you insight into why teen-agers do what they do, but it might give them some pause over their own actions.
Before class prepare some scenarios with your students in mind. In class read the scenario and ask them, "What would you do?" If they choose Response A, they go to the left side of the room; Response B they go to the right side of the room.
Scenarios may include:
- It’s the Christmas season and you pick a family from the Giving Tree at church. Your parents give you $50 to buy them gifts. While shopping, you find a CD that you want. It’s only $14. You could still buy some nice gifts for the Giving Tree family with the $36 remaining. Do you -
A – Spend the whole $50 on the family and keep saving up for the CD
B – Use some of the money for the CD and bargain shop for the Giving Tree gifts
- Your little brother has been getting in trouble lately for what seems like every little thing. Your mom has told him that if he keeps it up, he’ll be punished. One day, he comes home feeling bad because he’s had a terrible day at school. The two of you are in the kitchen and he flings his book bag onto the counter and a drinking glass gets broken. You -
A – Tell your mom your brother broke the glass
B – Tell your mom your brother broke the glass but emphasize that it was an accident.
- You are in the school cafeteria at an after-school activity. You’re sitting with your group of friends when you see a new student sitting alone. Do you -
A – Leave your friends, go to the new student and invite him/her to join you
B – Ignore the new student and just be thankful you have friends to sit with
Ask your students to be honest about their choices and to explain why they chose their answers. Have them give examples of their own experiences in similar situations.
This exercise should lead to a discussion about leadership. Who decides if a new student is invited into your group? Why can’t you be the one who decides? Expect some blank stares, shrugs and you-just-don’t-understand looks.
Adults often don’t understand. You may remember being faced with these situations, but forget how painful it was to do the right thing.
As religion teachers, all you can do is keep pulling on your side of the rope, digging in your heels and giving it all you've got, And occasionally challenging your students to blur the separation between their spirituality and their everyday lives. And keep asking, “What would you do?”
For more Catholic religious education lesson ideas, see:
