Prompt
For the past year, you have walked a family's dog every weekday afternoon, and you have a key to their house. Their son, Owen, is 16. He is often home when you arrive, and over the months he has started chatting with you about school, his friends and how much pressure he feels from his parents. His mother, Carla, calls you. She says his grades have dropped sharply, and she suspects he is skipping school and having friends over while she and her husband are at work. She asks you to text her whenever he is home during school hours, tell her who is with him, and look around his room if you get the chance. She offers you an extra $50 a week. You earn $200 a week from this job, and it pays for most of your groceries. What would you do?
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What this question tests
- Professionalism and integrity
- Ethical reasoning
- Communication
How to approach this question
This MMI station tests whether you can stay within the limits of the job you were hired for when a worried parent and a teenager who confides in you pull in opposite directions. Name everyone involved. Carla has a real right to know about her son. Owen has started to trust you. You have a financial incentive that could cloud your judgment. Separate the requests, because reporting his whereabouts, naming his friends and searching his room are very different steps. Weigh honesty with Carla against Owen's privacy, consider encouraging the two of them to talk directly, and then decide what you'll accept and decline. If a follow-up has the teenager asking you to keep his secret, think about what you've already promised his mother and whether he deserves a fair chance to tell her himself.
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