ar in school with regard to morality? Can those who have wrongly persecuted their family be trusted? The possible questions which might surface in the minds of these girls is endless. The full impact on their identity formation is impossible to determine. Environment Many children today are growing up in conditions that do not provide the moral and ethical framework which is necessary to develop good character (Schaeffer, 1998). There is also the influence from the media. The messages adolescents are receiving from advertising are rarely consistent with those they hear in school. Increasingly the Internet may also have potential negative impacts on what adolescents perceive as moral. The information which is easily accessible over the so-called information superhighway runs the full range of the moral spectrum. Marital conflicts, spousal and child abuse, and inconsistent discipline at home are all related to antisocial behaviors in adolescents (Hinshaw and Anderson, 1996). Possibly, the most influential environmental condition which can create moral and values conflict for the adolescent is the factor of peer pressure. Surrounded by their equally confused peers, adolescents frequently make poor decisions which result in harmful, and sometimes lethal, consequences (Schaeffer, 1998). Personal Experience My personal experience with the possible conflicts which can arise from value and character issues involved my youngest son. One day he came home 1 looking rather disheveled and he was obviously distressed. When I questioned him as to what had happened to him he appeared embarrassed and was hesitant in telling me what had occurred. He began to relate to me the story of how two other children in his class had attacked him after school. Although he did escape any serious injury he was left with a small cut on his right hand. The cut was caused when one of his attackers had dug his nails into my son’s hand. This occurred at the same tim...
