Ethical Issues In High School

Brittany and Nicole are the model of friendship. They grew up in the same neighborhood, attended the same school, and even went to church together every Sunday morning. As their senior year of high school comes to a close, the two friends decide to go to an end-of-year party. Brittany, the more introverted of the two, sees a young man by the name of Danny, whom she has always liked, as they enter the party. Nicole, however, sees Danny less as a love interest and more as a Machiavellian threat who would do whatever it took to achieve his goals, as seen by his behavior in various competitive academic pursuits. As the energy of the party begins to escalate, alcohol is served to the recent graduates. Brittany begins talking to Danny, and Nicole watches warily as Danny goes to get them a couple of drinks. During her sleuthing, Nicole sees Danny slip a white powder into Brittany’s vodka shot. Nicole stares on in horror as her friend begins showing more and more signs of fatigue, until finally her eyes roll back in her head and she falls on a nearby couch. Danny laughs and blames the sudden lack of fine motor skills on an inability to handle alcohol and

First, by drugging Brittany, Danny was robbing her of her consciousness and in turn, her ability to say no to a sexual encounter. Second, if Danny takes any non-consensual action in the closed bedroom, it is rape, a clearly immoral act. But morals are not the only tenants being broken by these actions. Both of these illicit behaviors break federal and state laws. The act of drugging another person, regardless of further actions pursued while the individual is drugged, is considered second degree assault according to USLegal.com and is punishable by up to 15 years in prison. This, coupled with the fact that Danny may try to sexually assault Brittany, an even larger criminal charge, means that this incident could hold lifelong repercussions for both