Alexis Dawson

English 12th

Concord Highschool

Mrs. Osterhout

October 7, 2021

Finding Right, Wrong, and Personal Moral

Building moral is all about how you find out what is right and wrong to you in life. In the

beginning of our lives we learn everything about the world from our parents or other adult

figures. We hold authority in the people who teach us discipline and what is right and wrong.

Then you have to grow from your parents' rule and your values of fairness and learn how to deal

with the cards life gives you. You'll have to face situations that challenge your own morals and

decide whether you rebel and act against ways you would have never thought or act out in

positive ways and in altruism. Everyone has differing morals and we learn how they differ

through moral cognitive development. We also learn what is right and wrong through our

changing or betrayal of our own morals in situations we sometimes cannot control.

Most children are parent pleasers which mean they want to know what their parents wish from

them and do it to make them proud. Some children learn to follow their parents' rules through

discipline. These factors imprint on children for what's right and what is wrong. In the short

story, “The Storyteller” by Jodi Picoult , readers are presented with characters on a train, an aunt,

three kids and a stranger. The Aunt goes on to tell the children a story that had the message that

if you do good things then only good things will happen to you. The stranger on the train
challenged the Aunt's unrealistic story by telling a story that showed that if you do good things,

bad , uncontrollable outside factors can negatively impact you. The stranger told the kids the

truth about life and what really happens. No matter who you are, everyone faces challenges in

life and you have to face them. Just because you do things to please other people and you are

positive doesn't mean you are entitled and that life gives you a free pass and doesn't let anything

touch you. Children are innocent and they do not yet know how the world works. They just know

that their parents protect them and that they should follow their parents' rules.

A lot of people perceive fairness to be right and unfairness to be wrong. People compare

themselves to others and notice their advantages that they don't have. We shouldnt waste our

time stumbling over the fact that the world should be fair and try to level the playing field for

everyone. All you can do is accept what position or situation you are in and personally grow

from it. What matters is your attitude and drive for yourself. It is about what you accomplish and

if you have the drive to do so for yourself. You can't wait around for someone to help you have

the same advantages as someone else, you have to earn them yourself and that's only realistic.

When bad things happen to you, you should not pity yourself and dwell on that it happened to

you and not another person who probably deserves it more, you have to accept it and grow from

it. In the article “Life isn’t fair, deal with it” written by Mike Myatt, Myatt goes to explain how

people with rough lives impacted by poverty, abuse, divorce, drug addiction, and many other

problems man faces, they have overcome it and grown to be better people. He says that

“Regardless of the challenges they faced, they had the character to choose contribution over

complaint.” Just because something is fair doesn't mean it's right, we shouldnt envy people and

expect fairness.
 Sometimes good people act out in bad ways and challenge their own morals. They have to

evaluate what is right and wrong by questioning if it is their nature to do the right thing. When

people are faced with sudden challenging moments this person may be filled with guilt, fear, and

a lot of stress. In the article “What makes good people do bad things¨ by Melissa Dittmann,

Zimbardo emplains, ¨The line between good and evil is permeable.¨ This means that anyone,

whether they are good or bad, can move across the line of good and evil. Zimbardo also goes on

to say, ¨ you really don't need a motive, all you really need is a situation that facilitates moving

across that line of good and evil.”(Paragraph 15). This is true. It is like the concept where an

angel and devil sit one on each side of someone's shoulders. When a moral-confusing situation

comes about, this person may decide to want to do the right thing but chose the devil because it

feels right for the situation. People tend to be more willing to rebel against their personal morals

when they are with a group of people because they feel forced to follow the crowd, or

manipulated to maintain status. Once someone who has maintained a good moral all their life,

does a bad thing, they face consequences. When morally good people betray their morals and do

a bad act, their ideology of what is right and wrong is changed and their morals don't seem to be

set in stone. After the consequences of this act, right and wrong have to be relearned. To wrap,

morals are influenced by rebelling against them.

Society sees doing things for yourself in some cases is wrong and selfish. But doing things for

others is moral and selfless. Anyone can help anybody to do a good thing but it is wrong to do it

for the benefit of yourself. If someone does it to truly help the other person and not themselves,

this is altruism. Some people will go out of their way, go out of keeping to themselves just to
help someone. Most people believe altruism constitutes the essence of morality. Risking things

that could benefit you just to help someone else is truly good. The world is corrupted with people

who take, steal, lie, and cheat because they only care about themselves. The right thing to do is

influence the community around you to be a more positive place by helping your neighbor.

Empathy is the root cause for helping others. Sometimes we need to put ourselves in someone

else’s shoes who is struggling. Once we see what they are going through, we will take more

appreciation for our own lives and see where they are struggling to have the things you do. This

is when you decide to be selfish and flaunt your advantages or you help others to reach your

advantages because you see how much they are hurting. When people are put in this situation

they have to decide between right and wrong, walking by or helping out.

It is known everyone has differing morals. This difference is impacted by age, cognitive

development, experiences, how they were raised, and how they are treated. Some people keep

their morals strictly while others lack morals. It is hard to recognize everyone's morals so they

were put in measured categories. Lawrence Kohlberg, an American psychologist, had made a

way to measure people's moral development. He made a series of delemias and asked people to

answer the questions given along with them so their moral type can be deciphered. He explains

how there are six stages or moral development. Many of these stages occur in accordance with

our age. We learn what is right and wrong through these stages. Kohlberg said there are 6 stages

of moral development and three main levels. Level 1 consists of values of external events, level 2

is of performing socially accepted rules, and level three being of shared standards, rights and

principles. As we grow up, we learn what is right and wrong from our parents. Then when we are
teens to early adults we do what is told from social and community laws. Sometimes people

develop their own morals when they grow even older.

Morals are proved to be very unique and personal, they arise from personal experience and are

created through struggle. Some people's morals might be driven by a bigger group's morals as in

a country's morals. Some people such as soldiers may be super patriotic for their country and

vow to do anything to help protect and serve citizens, but personal morals may conflict. War

changes people's perspectives about their country and what is personally right and wrong to do.

Morals may seem clear and easy in peacetime but war asks a lot from soldiers. War asks them to

first fight against or for a cause they themselves might not fully believe in and then asks soldiers

to fight and kill. In the article written by Rachel Martin, “For Many Returning Vets, ‘Moral

Injury’ Just as Difficult” , Rachel hosts an interview with a man who has been affected by moral

injury by being forced to betray his morals in war. Timothy Kudo, a former marine captain,

explains that he was put into an unsettling situation where he had to kill someone and the effects

were just as damaging and painful as the physical wounds are. He pledged to go to war but

realised the horror of killing. Kudo had gone against his own personal morals to serve his

country.

When a force changes your morals or challenges them, it can be very detrimental to your

mental health. Your morals may change and you may be left questioning what is right and wrong

and if you did the right thing. You may put yourself in guilt until you recover and forgive

yourself for a long time. Kudo stated “- Or that’s the only thing that they think about, or that they

can’t move on in some ways. It’s not something that you ever forget; just like any tragedy or

trauma that you encounter, lives with you forever.” (Paragraph Going against what you believe
is right can just impact you in a way where your morals are more self enforced and are clearer in

your mind.

Morals are developed with age, experience and personal beliefs. Your parents inflict your

moral building with discipline. Then you become aware of others and their struggles that they

have to use morals to get through. You may choose to help them out or walk right by. You may

notice that others are doing better than yourself or acquire better advantages than you. Fairness is

not always right and sometimes you have to build your own morals to help grow yourself

mentally and work for what you want. There is always going to be an angel and a devil sitting on

your shoulder, the choice has to be made of which one is right and wrong. Everyone goes

through different stages of building their own unique morals. You must regulate your life by the

standards you admire when you are at your best.