2011 – National 3rd Grade 3rd Place Award Winner:

Peter Wilson, Minnesota.



Do the ends justify the means? What does it mean or how does it feel to do the right thing?

Sometimes the ends do not justify the means. Sometimes they do. Each situation must be examined to know if the ends justify the means.

For example, it does not justify the means to spank a child who is doing something wrong just to make them stop. The ends only teach the child that violence is the way to solve a problem. Then they will spank their children and their children will spank their children and they could become criminals. Violence is not a good end to anything. Sometimes the ends do justify the means. If my mom needs to work long hours to earn money to feed me and buy video games for me. Then the end justifies the means even if I miss my mom while she is at work and she can’t spend more time with me which makes me feel bad.

There is not one answer to this question. Sometimes even good ends can make me feel bad. But violence doesn’t make anyone feel good. So it is never a good end.

 



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