Easiest way to explain what morality to a 13-year-old?

Question

Basicly, give me a definition to the word "morality" that a 13-year-old would understand.

Answer 1

You SHOULD have started as soon as she was able to understand you!
I think you waited too long!!

Answer 2

"Give me the measure of good by which one could judge all other things." -plato or socrates. (I forget and I prolly screwed it up.)
But there is no set definition of morality. No one knows. From Kant, to Plato, to the Pope everyone is still confused and argueing over no only the details but the basic concepts of what is right and what is wrong. I think there was a psychologist named Erickson? Piaget? I forget that too, but he divided the phases of moral development into three phases. The first phase a child defines right and wrong by pleasure or pain. He will not steal a cookie out of the cookie hjar because it is "bad." Or in otherwords he will get spanked. As you get older you define what is right and wrong by convention or the law. One does not spead, steal, or lie to an officer because it is against the law which is why you will go to jail. The next phase is a phase that most people do not reach. It is the phase for the lawmakers, the people who are confused about right and wrong. In this phase they define right and wrong by abstract ideas and principles and they "realize" that though something may be illegal it may not be wrong and though something may be legal it may not be right. You could explain to your kid what is right and wrong then by basing the explenation on what phase of moral development you find him in. You can find out by asking him an ethical dilema and see hopw he answers it and what HIS reasoning is.

Answer 3

Unless he/she's a masochist, the Golden Rule should explain all there is to know.

“Do unto others as you would have done unto yourself.”

-Confucius (551BC), Hillel (100BC), Veda Vyasa (500BC), Jesus etc


EDIT: Wow. Everyone appears to have jumped to the conclusion you're talking about your child. Besides, most kids don't fully understand the concept of morality and ethics until they are about 12-13 anyway. Most kids work on a basic "How can I avoid punishment and will this benefit me" kind of morality. We know that this is not morality, but selfishness disguised as a moral code. True morality isn't really grasped until the late teenage years.

Answer 4

I assume you are focusing on sex for this conversation. I would say all the "wait" and whatever, but combining that with specific, scientific reasons for waiting for sex, not having unprotected sex if something does happen, etc. is also warranted. Most young teens claim they don't know that oral sex is opening one up to STDs, for example. Putting the two together will help to put the morality part into perspective--it's there for a reason.

Answer 5

Based on the dictionary morality is: conformity to the rules of right conduct;

I also agree with the person above who said morality is conduct that doesn't harm others.

Answer 6

I think a 13-year-old aught to at that age already have a grasp on the concept of morality. I would worry if they didn't...

Answer 7

"If it makes you a little nervous and sick to your stomach to think about doing it, it's wrong."

Worked for my kids as a physical guideline. Other than that, kids don't need morality explained to them. We all have morals, we're born with them.

Answer 8

Take a white, or clean cloth, and rub mud or dirt into as you explain that morality keeps our souls, our thoughts, ourselves clean and that being immoral stains us.

And with repentance, we can wash the clothe (ourselves) clean again, yet the clothe, us, will never quite be the same again.

Answer 9

If you wouldn't want someone to do it to you, they wouldn't want you to do it to them. You choose not to do those harmful actions because you recognize the worth of other human beings. That is morality.

Answer 10

You could say that when ever he was disiplined or corrected on issues during his childhood were based on morality.