LO7: Considering the ethical implications of actions

Over the past two seasons, our club transitioned from a discussion based format onto a project-based one. The other leaders and I introduced an individual project which would allow each member of the club to explore a chosen field of stem in the context of society, economy, or policy. We would then publish their projects (coming in a variety of forms like videos, reports, infographics) on our own website. Like last season, the other leaders and I had planned a timeline for our initiated activities and made sure to give a clear overview to the other members of what we were looking for. We were going to check on progress by giving feedback on first drafts of the projects. However, this was a major hurdle we faced. A majority of the group did not stick to the given timeline and we had to end up extending many deadlines. Under normal circumstances, we would have reprimanded the club a bit more, but we made a conscious choice to let everyone have more time because we realised that everyone was under a lot of pressure. We decided not to make people more stressed, but we did set a final deadline which was still realistic.

There was a significant ethical challenge that I faced as well. As the leader of the club, there are certain responsibilities that I need to take care of. However a lot of the time, this comes with the challenge of balancing what my friends want. A few of the members of the club are some of my closest friends. At times, they ask if I can bend the rules (e.g. extend deadlines or help them edit early) for them because I’m their friend. As a friend, I would have loved to do that. But as one of the organisers, I know this would give them an unfair disadvantage. Although I knew it would be an awkward choice to outright tell them I couldn’t help them, I decided to anyway because I knew the principles I needed to uphold.