And I wanted to compare the results on that site to the ones from you all.

You’re the new kid in the neighborhood. This neighborhood runs alongside a fast-moving stretch of a four-lane highway. On each side of the highway are nice little houses with yards. You meet the other kids. They seem friendly enough. Soon after meeting them you discover that they have a rule: Never, ever go near the road.

No child is permitted within ten paces of the road. The grass in the yards reveals that they obey this rule unfailingly. The grass is green and untrampled for the ten paces closest to the road. There is a visible line in the grass between the yellow grass where they travel freely, and the green grass where they Do Not Go. They seem to even be a bit apprehensive about getting close to this line. They do so only at need, and only for a few seconds before running back to their friends near the center of the yard. Nobody ever told them explicitly that approaching the road would lead to death, but the rules were laid out so firmly and so carefully and with such sternness that the kids have concluded it would. None of them has even had the nerve to test this theory.

While it isn’t nearly as deadly as they think, the highway can be pretty dangerous if you’re careless. You figure that whoever made the rule was probably thinking, better safe than sorry.

To help make friends, you have brought with you a brand-new bright red kickball. The kids admire the ball and welcome you into their group. A game of kickball starts up. Once the game is going strong and everyone is having fun the unthinkable happens: Your ball gets knocked right over the road and lands in the opposite yard. Your new friends are horrified. They act as though the ball had just plunged into a pit of deadly vipers.

As far as they are concerned, the ball is gone forever. It’s unrecoverable. But you know better. You’ve been around roads like this before and you’ve been taught how to cross them. You could, if you wanted, walk right up to the edge of the road, wait for a gap in traffic, and get to the opposite side with little risk. You’ve done it before and you know it’s not that hard. Your parents never made any rules against crossing the road, and none of the other parents has any authority over you, so by doing so you won’t be breaking any rules. However, you also know you will be utterly smashing a taboo for these kids. To them just getting near the road is a suicidal act. To cross is unthinkable.

You could do it. You could get your ball and bring it back, but to do so you would overthrow their thinking in regards to the highway. Once they knew the road could be crossed, they would inevitably want to do it themselves. Sooner or later, they would try it on their own. They might not do it right away. They might not do it when you’re around, but it will happen. You could tell them not to do as you do, but you’re a smart kid and you know that telling them not to do something you are doing is tantamount to a dare. Are you going to let the new kid get away with that? Get over there and show him he’s not so special.

So what do you do? It took you a little while to learn to cross safely. Crossing takes patience and clear thinking. If you choose to break this taboo, are you willing to take on the responsibility of teaching all of them how to do it? If so, you will be aiding them in defying the rules. You are free to cross, but teaching these other kids against the will of their parents is quite another thing. What about the younger hyperactive kid that is watching you? He doesn’t seem to have the patience or the maturity for crossing safely, and you don’t have the authority to forbid him. He wouldn’t listen to you anyway. In fact, he’s most likely going to be the first of the kids to get up the nerve to try.

You are free to cross. No rules forbid you from doing so. It is (for you) reasonably safe. Your new ball is over there. Should you follow the overbearing rules and accept the loss of your ball? Or do you get the ball, knowing that to do so may lead one of these kids to endanger themselves?

We’re talking about kids, but approach the question with your grown-up mind: Would you get the ball?

 

Someone put a long time in composing this entire situation lol.

But I guess it all depends what age the kids are. Until I was 8 I probably listened to everything my parents told me, and then after that, well, I didn't listen to them as much.

So after eight years old I'd get the ball.

 

That is WAY too deep, I think. lol

But knowing me, I'd cross the street and just tell everybody not to do it. Thing is, regardless of if you cross the street or not, eventually one of the kids will see someone cross it successfully and then wouldn't that too ruin their idea that crossing the road will get you killed? So I figure, better learn sooner than later.

 

Holy hell. Someone BROKE IT DOWN!

Id tell mom and make her do it

Seriously....I dont think id go get it. The wording of the story makes the "dont get near the road" issue seem like life or death. Knowing I could do it doesnt mean the other kids are capable of doing it safely. If one of those kids were to try it and die.... id have to live with that on my conscience for the rest of my life...all over a $2 ball.

 

I voted yes. My reasoning was that to me the key factor is this; "If you choose to break this taboo, are you willing to take on the responsibility of teaching all of them how to do it?" No, I'm not. Now if it had not been forbidden for them to cross, then I wouldn't have a problem teaching them how to. I think that the fact it's been forbidden brings on the aspect of responsibility. There's no "danger" in teaching someone something that is allowed to be done. You're not taking on the responsibilty of teaching them how to break the rules then, you're simply teaching them how to do something. So if I teach them, and one of them gets killed by a car, I don't feel I bear any responsibilty for that, as they were allowed to do it in the first place.

But if they're not allowed, and I teach them, and one of them gets killed by a car, then I do bear responsibility for it, as I am the one that taught them how to break the rule. So I refuse take that responsibilty to begin with, by not teaching them how.

That doesn't mean I'm not going to go get my damn red ball back. After all, I mowed a **** load of lawns to earn the money I used to buy it. ;-)


I posted it here because I too thought is was a pretty deep scenario and thought it was pretty cool.

 

I guess I'm the jerk who's cheap and is more worried about the $2 ball than helping kids....hmm, learn something new about myself everyday. lol

 

I'd get the ball and throw it at the kids. They're stupid and deserve to be hit with something.

 

I would throw candy in the road

 

I take it back I would tell them that they better go get my damn ball back or I would kill their parents, grind them into chilli and make them eat it.

 

cross the road and establish your dominance as their new leader.

 

Hahahaha!



I answered 'yes'. I've been in this scenario in real life (except it was with a frisbee) and I was the one that went to get it.

My parents taught me to look both ways before I crossed roads, so I knew I could do it and get back in one piece. The other kids didn't attempt to cross the road at all because they knew I'd go get it from that point on.

 

i would get some older person to get it.