You thought being a responsible kid was having to do chores, such as taking out the garbage, loading the dishwasher or looking after your younger siblings for a few minutes. Well, you’re right - those are part of being responsible.
Surprise! There is more to being responsible than just doing stuff. As a person, whether you are a kid or grown up, you also have moral responsibility. What on earth is that, you wonder?
Moral responsibility can be tricky but important. For example, suppose you promise your elderly neighbours that you would feed their pets while they are away for a month’s holiday.
During that month your mom and dad later decide to go on a camping trip for four or five days. It would be your moral responsibility to find a friend or a neighbour to feed the cats while you are away camping.
But what if you choose to ignore feeding the pets or forget about the poor animals while you’re on the camping trip?
Does that mean it’s not your fault if the pets go hungry or die of starvation?
I think you know the answer… you would get praise for being a good responsible kid if you looked after the pets’ well being whether it was you doing the feeding or not.
You would get blamed if the pets suffered. You would not feel good about it either when you stopped to think about it.
In the same way, Noranda wanted to find out if Jade acted responsibly while babysitting.
She also needed to know if Susan Brown and Tricia were acting responsibly by spreading rumours about Jade’s babysitting.
Like Noranda in the story, sometimes in your life there will be a little stirring inside of you pushing you to seek out some truth about other people instead of listening to gossip.
When you take the steps to find what really happens and what was really said, you may discover some surprising answers.
You will also discover things you didn’t know about yourself. It’s a journey worth taking.
