When I was a sophomore in high school I posted a video on my twitter that I would quickly regret. The video was of me asking my best friend who had down syndrome if she would like to have a sleepover for her birthday. Her mother had expressed to me that she had never had a sleepover. Once this video was posted it became viral amongst my county and neighboring counties. A boy who went to a different school, but was very well known for being a cyberbully was also in the popular friend group. When the boy saw my video he began to bully me and my friend. He tweeted very derogatory names and said some of the most hurtful things I have ever experienced. When saw these notifications popping up on my phone I had no clue what to do. I had so many thoughts running through my head. Would the girl’s mom be mad I posted this because I didn’t ask her permission? Do I tattle on a extremely popular person or do I just block him and “problem solved”? I even thought, do I just say nothing? Is what this young man did ethical? I eventually became the moral agent when I screenshotted all his tweets before they disappeared and brought them to my principle as well as his principles attention.

 

As all those thoughts went through my head, I also began having internal conflict of pros and cons to each decision I could make. If tattled on the popular guy then my social status within the school would decrease. As shallow as that sounds; it did cross my mind. A pro was that he would get in trouble and be held to accountability for his actions. If I blocked him or just let it go then I would be letting myself down. I valued special education more than anything and it would be unethical of me to not say anything to him and stand up for her. It was, and still is, extremely important to me to be an advocate for individuals who may not be able to advocate for themselves. What he did was not ethical, he was not being a good social media citizen. This situation I believe portrays deontological ethics; the ability to always choose the right thing to do. You could also call this teleological ethics because it was the greatest amount of good for everyone involved, although he would get in trouble for his actions.

 

With all the pros and cons I decided it is important for me to bring attention to this situation by administrators. I believe my decision was what was best for everyone involved. No one was harmed by my action to alert the administrators.

 

What would you do?