What counts as false witness?

[hopeforfaith]

Hey I would like to ask what does false witness entail? Let’s say, if I, as a prefect, didn’t report somebody and her record is clean if nobody ever reports, (I am not in a position to approve those records or (name removed by moderator)ut data into the record) Then, am I bearing false witness or am I just not carrying out my duty? I asked someone I know who learnt Catechism and he said not reminding them about their faults isn’t bearing false witness. But he didn’t say anything about no reporting them.

 

[JRKH]

Sounds to me like your job as prefect is either too complicated for you, or else it is a great learning experience…

To you question…

Without knowing all of the details of the prefect’s job, I assume that, as prefect your job is to report the truth. The Question then is, “did you observe anyone breaking the rules?” How do you answer this?
Note here that the question does not need to be physically asked each time. The nature of the job makes the question and the answer implicit. Thus by not reporting you are saying, “No I did not observe anyone breaking the rules”.
Now if you DID observe rules being broken and you (by making no report) say that you did NOT observe this…you are bearing false witness. After all, you DID witness and your obligation as a prefect is to report…
This is the strictest reading on this matter based on what you have presented. A talk with the person in charge of the prefects might help you to understand better what he/she expects.

Now - as for “reminding someone of their faults”…It is certainly a kindness to charitably let them know if they are doing something wrong - to take into account possible lack of knowledge, special circumstance etc. Doing so is sort of like the traffic cop “letting you off with a warning” instead of writing a ticket. Of course there will be only so many “warnings” and then he will write a ticket…So do be compassionate, but watch out for people taking advantage of you.

Peace
James

 

[hopeforfaith]

So I’ve talked to my moderator and I’m quite happy about how she understood my difficulty and made my responsibilities really clear.

One thing I forgot to tell her though was how I observed one of the prefects in our class using her phone as well. I did tell my moderator about my classmates using their phones. Do I need to get specific and perhaps tell the head prefect or other deputies to reflect the problem? Though technically speaking, classmates counts prefects in our class. BUt last time when I told my moderators about something I’ve noticed , she said “it’s settled” because they noticed too and didn’t continue about that except telling us to remind people about that. Last time during our meeting, they did tell us we have to discipline ourselves first before doing our duty. Does that count as settled?

 

[JRKH]

In your first sentence you say that your moderator made your duties clear.
Then you ask a question here that make it seem that your duties are still not clear…

I think you need to go back to your moderator with this.

Peace
James

 

[AlanFromWichita]

I agree with James. One more talk is in order. Except when you say “you noticed something,” that could be quite a range of things. It sounds like they put up with a certain level of issues, and if that’s the case, you need it explained to you how, in any given situation, you are to determine if it’s reportable. If you come to them every time someone coughs without covering, that’s probably too much and you will not be helping them. If they don’t want all the rules enforced all the time, maybe they can give you some guidelines?

So like James said, one more trip to the moderator is in order.

 

[hopeforfaith]

well, here’s an update. I went to my moderator today and I think hse told me to remind students of their faults, if they’re my classmates, I do them when I feel comfortable to. So that’s settled… basically I think she included everything.

But there’s something today that I really have my doubts about. I know what my prefect duties are: like things with electronic devices, uniform, etc. But I saw my classmates cheating. The one in front of me was glancing at the one next to her during a test, while that girl who was next to her was looking at a sheet of paper that I later realized was a cheat sheet of some sort. Though our teacher was already aware of the problem and tried to patrol around the classroom as much as possible, she didn’t exactly punish them right there. Maybe she knew and will take marks off as she warned, but I don’t know as I buried my face in my hands.

After the test, my classmates were talking about how they cheated. How they were “successful” etc.

Am I bearing false witness if I don’t tell this to the teacher? But I don’t know if she knows. I don’t think it’s a prefect duty anymore. I just want to ask “Why do I need to be in a class with so many people who cheat, break rules?”

 

[AlanFromWichita]

Am I bearing false witness if I don’t tell this to the teacher? But I don’t know if she knows. I don’t think it’s a prefect duty anymore. I just want to ask “Why do I need to be in a class with so many people who cheat, break rules?”

If the teacher already knows about it, then I don’t see that you have to say anything about it. I don’t see the problem if you want to mention it, but also I don’t see the value unless you think you might be among the suspects.

I taught for a community college, and I was astounded at the cheating. Bad enough in math that I was teaching; the English professors told me some horror stories. I get the impression if the cheaters were eliminated they would lose half their students.

Apparently this is “the way it’s done” these days. I don’t know what to do about it but I will NEVER buy into it. I might want to reform the educational system that might be giving them tests on irrelevant material, or unrealistic expectations given the point the class is in their learning curve, but I can’t accept that this is what is comes down to – cheating.

But this cheating is on the hearts of those cheating and on the minds of the teacher.

Alan

 

[tgrath]

If the teacher already knows about it, then I don’t see that you have to say anything about it. I don’t see the problem if you want to mention it, but also I don’t see the value unless you think you might be among the suspects.

I taught for a community college, and I was astounded at the cheating. Bad enough in math that I was teaching; the English professors told me some horror stories. I get the impression if the cheaters were eliminated they would lose half their students.

Apparently this is “the way it’s done” these days. I don’t know what to do about it but I will NEVER buy into it. I might want to reform the educational system that might be giving them tests on irrelevant material, or unrealistic expectations given the point the class is in their learning curve, but I can’t accept that this is what is comes down to – cheating.

But this cheating is on the hearts of those cheating and on the minds of the teacher.

Alan

That is a good reason to make exams “open notes” and “open book”. Then there is no way to cheat, short of pilfering the exam in advance. Particularly with math and science, there is no reason not to allow notes during an exam if one is testing mastery of a subject.

I appreciate the OP’s conscientiousness in bringing this topic up. It sounds like you are handling things well, balancing charity against duty.

 

[AlanFromWichita]

That is a good reason to make exams “open notes” and “open book”. Then there is no way to cheat, short of pilfering the exam in advance. Particularly with math and science, there is no reason not to allow notes during an exam if one is testing mastery of a subject.

Yes, I much prefer open books/notes. I even experimented with exams where they were supposed to help each other. They still find ways, but it’s not important for this thread.

I appreciate the OP’s conscientiousness in bringing this topic up. It sounds like you are handling things well, balancing charity against duty.

Agree.

 

[hopeforfaith]

Yes, I much prefer open books/notes. I even experimented with exams where they were supposed to help each other. They still find ways, but it’s not important for this thread.

Agree.

Thanks guys, for your encouragement.

Actually, I want to ask do I have to clarify “the truth” if I accidentally said something else? Even if it’s trivial? Like my friend asked me if what I’m holding is my stuff and I said yes immediately because some were mine. But then I realized some arn’t, they were some borrowed notes. But I promised my friend not to tell anyone about those notes. I don’t see the need to clarify to my friend “Hey! Those weren’t my stuff I was carrying yesterday”

But under what circumstance do I need to clarify?