Report for Group Discussion: Moral Dilemma

Last week, we were divided into some small groups and we discussed one topic "the moral dilemma". In the story, "I" was forced to make a hard choice in a very serious situation. "I" have a wife and an 18-year-old son. When we are at the airport getting ready to head home, a sniffer dog stops at my son's bag and begins to get a bit more active. The armed officer asks "Whose bag is this?" My son looks a little nervous. I know that he has smoked a little marijuana in his time. I see my wife in the corner of my eye and she is about to step forward and claim it as her own. What would I say in this case?

After I read the story, I was in a very hard dilemma. First, I thought that the son should say that the bag was his own. He was 18 years old, so he must answer for the question. But, "I" was his father and her husband. With considering the fact, I cannot easily think the son should take responsibility and do his duty. In the group discussion, there were some kinds of ideas. One of them was that "I don't know." However, this was not a good answer to the question. If the officer checked up the bag, it got clear that the bag was the son's. To make matters worse, the officer might blame me for the lie.

If either of "I" and the wife claim it as theirs, the two would end to be blamed for lying, and the son would suffer from a feeling of guilt. If the son claims it as his own, the parents would feel very sorry and so sad for the son's punishment.

I am still in the hard dilemma.