Collegiate Seniors Compete in 8th Annual Ethics Bowl

Two teams of Collegiate School seniors went head to head during the final round of the school’s 8th Annual Ethics Bowl, held in the Craigie Board Room of the Sharp Academic Commons this morning.
In the Ethics Bowl, student teams compete by presenting a position related to a real-world ethical case, with an emphasis on economics and public policy decision-making. Unlike a traditional debate, Ethics Bowl participants are not assigned opposing views; instead the competition depends on how thoughtfully teams have examined their case and how clearly they can state their position.
 
Each team could choose from a list of cases compiled by the National High School Ethics Bowl.

Team A - comprised of Olivia Brown, Jack Kachel, Nick Morrison, Kyle Riopelle, Jack Sroba and Virginia Syer tackled “Contraception Controversy”:

If a business owner opposes a certain practice on religious grounds, and they provide employees with benefits that make it easier to engage in that practice, does that make the business owner complicit when employees choose to engage in that practice? Why or why not? Is this different than taxpayers’ objections to other governmental spending; are we complicit for all those things our tax money supports, even if we disagree with the spending?
 
Team B’s Anna Galanides, Sam Hunter, Austin Jupe, Parker Reed and Kate Surgner handled “Tobacco 21”:

Is the state ever justified in restricting people’s choices if doing so brings about good individual and public health consequences? If so, under which conditions? In this case, should the age at which people can purchase tobacco depend on the age at which they can engage in other activities? Why or why not?
 
In January, the team of seniors will have the opportunity to represent Collegiate at the Virginia High School Ethics Bowl, which will beheld on the Collegiate campus, and will compete for a chance to go to the National High School Ethics Bowl at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in April.
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