Undergraduate / Macaulay Honors College - significant risk you have taken or ethical dilemma [6]

Prompt: Evaluate a significant risk you have taken or ethical dilemma you have faced and discuss its impact on you.

I was enjoying my weekend when I received an instant message on my computer from an acquaintance. She was in the 8th grade and was a year older than I was at the time. I was confused as to why she wanted to talk to me. It turns out that a good friend of mine had stolen her cell phone several days earlier. He had asked to borrow her phone and ran away with it after she had given it to him. She wanted his information in order to identify him to the police. It so happened that I was not very fond of her and as a result, my first thought was to protect my friend by playing dumb. This was followed by accusations of me lying. However, I stuck to my story in determination to protect my friend.

For the first few days following the confrontation, I felt good about myself. I protected my friend because I felt that he in turn would do the same for me. However, as the days passed, my guilt began to accumulate. I began to realize that though he was a good friend, he was in fact a criminal as well. Though the questioning had ceased, the idea that I had helped a criminal continued to gnaw at me. Did protecting him make me a criminal? Did the fact that he was my friend override the fact that he had stolen from someone else? For days this dilemma nagged at me as I weighed my options. However, upon speaking to my friend about his actions, the answer became clear. It turned out that he had stolen her phone in order to obtain money for drugs. It was obvious to me then that his means did not justify the ends. He had taken advantage of her kindness in order to satisfy his own greed. Yes, he was my friend but lying to protect him did not benefit anyone in the situation. By protecting him, I helped him to believe that he can easily get away with crime and provided an incentive for him to continue to steal for abysmal reasons.

Several days after realizing this, I met up with the girl and provided her with the information she needed about him. However, I accompanied this with an attempt to persuade her to not take drastic actions. After all, he was still my friend and I would hate to see him in jail. After the police confronted him, a consensus was made between him and her family. He reimbursed her with the money it cost her to buy the phone and he was taken into rehabilitation for his drug addiction.

Though he was angry with me and accused me of betrayal, a large burden was lifted off my shoulders. He had learned a valuable lesson about stealing and was recuperating from his drug issues. In the end, I did what I felt was best not just for one person, but for everyone involved.

Feel free to criticize! Tear it up if you must.