Faith CoLab: Tapestry of Faith: Virtue Ethics: An Ethical Development Program for High School Youth

Activity 3: Dilemma

Part of Virtue Ethics

Activity time: 20 minutes

Materials for Activity

Preparation for Activity

  • Adapt the Leader Resource to include just the dilemmas you plan to use in this activity. Make copies-for yourself, for volunteer role-players, and, if you wish, for all participants.
  • Find a space for the role play actors to rehearse, away from the regular meeting space.

Description of Activity

Youth role play scenarios involving ethical dilemmas.

Instead of discussing the dilemmas, as they have done in previous workshops, invite the youth to role play them. Seek volunteers to enact both dilemmas. Let the volunteers decide on roles, and give them five minutes to rehearse. Have the youth present two role plays for each scenario: one demonstrating respect and one demonstrating disrespect. Ask them to keep each role play under two minutes. Encourage the actors to be as dramatic as they like and, if they wish, to add layers to the dilemmas as written.

While the actors rehearse, open the floor for responses to the dilemmas. Ask participants if this reminds them of other dilemmas they have encountered or heard of, real or fictional. For each dilemma, ask "How could respect play a part in this dilemma?"

Conduct the role plays. Thank the actors. Discuss what participants liked about the respectful solutions.