An example of a moral problem in a school setting is gossiping through social media.

This
problem takes place in a grade 9 classroom, where students are sharing and sending a private
Facebook message from one student to the rest of the class. This allows for the message to be
interpreted by different people in different ways and taken out of context resulting in a form of
bullying to the student. This student now feels uncomfortable to be around their classmates
and feels like they are being secluded from the class.

Catholic Approach:
To approach this situation as a Catholic teacher, I would use Divine Law and refer to the 10
commandments. Specifically, “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbour” and
“You shall love your neighbor as yourself”. I would have a discussion with the class and remind
them that the church teaches we must tell the truth in order to live together in a functioning
society. Gossiping and spreading rumours through social media and in person completely break
these commandments. I would have my students write reflections on how they feel about
being involved in gossip (when they gossip, if they are gossiped about), etc. and if they think it
is wrong or not. This ties into the natural law where we use our reasoning to naturally know
right action, where we should always respect our lives and others.

Non-Catholic Approach:
To approach this situation as a Non-Catholic teacher, you could simply start of with a discussion
on cyber bullying and conflict seen through social media and how it affects the environment in
a classroom when it is brought to school. Addressing the situation and how to resolve conflicts
from online behaviour would be the main way to solve the problem.

I think both approaches need to be combined for full affect. Addressing the deep reasons and
consequences of why gossiping hurts and why it does against Jesus’ teachings and morals is
extremely important, but also looking at the effects of cyber bullying and how it plays a huge
role in our society is also very important.