Writng for Academic Discussion Should a second chance given to those who were accused in a scandal? - revised -

Do you think people or organizations accused in a scandal should be given a second chance Why or why not?  (ethics)

 

 

☆Let’s Think

1.        If you had made a severe mistake, would you want society to give you a second chance?

2.        Do you forget about a misbehavior of your friend? Why?

3.        How is a criminal given a second chance?

4.        Should politicians who have lied to the voters and worked for themselves to make money be forgiven?

5.        Is it ok to forgive a company that has contaminated the environment and killed a large number of people?

 

 

☆Hints for Points

1.        If the person or the organization shows a true remorse, has profusely apologized, has taken responsibility and made compensation, and has been behaving well, you should trust them.

 

2.        When the public impact of a scandal is strong, the person or the organization will be stigmatized as a lesson.

 

3.        People like drug addicts should be accepted when they come back to society after rehabilitation. They need public support so that they can rebuild their lives.

 

4.        When it comes to white collar crimes, society should keep talking about what they did in the past. Those financial crimes committed by corporations and governments have grave public impacts.

 

5.        Even if an organization publicly apologizes for its mistake and makes compensations, you should keep an eye on them. Corporations intentionally sell defective products if the profit is larger than the cost of losing law suits between consumers and them.

 

6.        Those who took advantage of their employee, subordinates or any person in a weak position, knowing that they won’t be punished because they are in power and are protected by the system, must be condemned by the public forever.

 

 

☆Sample Answer for Ideas and Expressions

【Thesis】 Although I don’t know who has the authority to give someone a second chance, I believe those who have repented enough should not be prevented from tying to start all over again.

【Supporting Details】If giving a second chance means accepting someone as part of society after the person has made up for the wrong doing through a sort of process such as serving in jail, paying a fine, or spending days of self-inflicted penance, it should be applied to anyone. No one is perfect. Everyone makes a mistake. When the reflection of the past and realization of the mistake make the person regret and remorse, society has no reason not to welcome back the person.

【Reservation】In reality, it is often the case that those people who are correctly penitent get cornered by stigmatization and bullying by self-righteous people and prevented from coming back, often going back to the wrong way of life or committing suicide in a worst-case scenario. On the other hand, those who should be the last to be given a second chance go unpunished or come back after lying low for a while. This is socially harmful. Not only does it send a wrong message to society that a certain bad behavior is condoned but also those brazen-faced people like politicians or celebrities who got away with scandal with impunity will come back much worse than before. Donald Trump, the president of the U.S.A., for example, is a shameless felon convicted and arrested multiple times, and his second term has been a dictatorship since day one and now the country is on the verge of collapse. A system to prevent these human disasters is needed.

【Conclusion】Other than those utterly shameless, heinous individuals, psychopaths if you will, however, society should support the person who has paid the price well enough. (301 words)

Write your response in 10 minutes. Show each other your responses. Write down questions or suggestions to each other’s response.

 

 

                                                   DRAFT