Guilt is an interesting concept in ethics, in particular the difference between “feeling guilty” versus “being guilty”. The riddle, story and questions on this theme below are also attached, with a few extra teacher tips.
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Riddle
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Riddles are great warm-up activity for P4C. Solving them requires intellectual risk-taking and collaborative thinking. The answer to this one is “guilt”.
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The greedy, I eat.
Thieves, I rob.
Murderers, I stab.
Nobody wants me,
But those who never have me, nobody wants.
What am I?
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Krang! Ting-ling-ling-ling. Ling.
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The glass shivered to the floor, and the football dropped and rolled back guiltily from the scene of the crime. John, who had kicked the ball, and his sister Lucy, who was in goal, stared through the window that wasn’t there, and their grandmother, open-mouthed, stared back.
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John’s grandad came out of the house, and looked at the window frame and the glass spread over the driveway.
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“Stupid kids!” he shouted. “You can pay for that out of your pocket money.”
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“Sorry,” said John. “It was an accident.”
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“Well, you shouldn’t be kicking that ball around here anyway.”
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“I should have saved it,” said Lucy. “I’m a rubbish goalkeeper.”
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“It’s my fault,” said John’s grandmother. “I said to be careful, but I should have told them to play away from the house.”
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John got a broom and swept the glass into a pile. His grandad got some gloves and took the remaining glass out of the frame, and then cut a piece of wood to cover the hole until the glaziers could come.
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John felt guilty about breaking the window.
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Lucy felt guilty about not making the save.
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Their dad picked them up later and heard what had happened. He felt guilty about leaving them at their grandparents where there wasn’t much to do.
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Their grandad felt guilty about shouting at them.
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Their grandmother felt guilty about asking them to be careful, because that was a daft thing to ask kids if they are playing football.
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Questions
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Who was right to feel guilty?
When should you feel guilty?
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Best wishes,
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Jason